I think we should be okay with Putin granting asylum to Syrian President Bassar al-Assad, as he hinted he might be willing to do. Too often, in our zeal for spreading freedom and democracy, we automatically demonize all kings and dictators as tyrants, and deny them the due process they, like every other human being, are entitled to, once they are forced out of office. We did it with Saddam Hussein and again with Muammar Gaddafi. Both of those guys are now dead, essentially lynched (literally in Saddam's case) by their political foes without being given any real chance to defend themselves.
We should remember something: Democracy is not for everyone. It requires an astute, sophisticated, educated public and a people who are inherently tolerant and modern in their thinking. Some countries are simply too backward for self-rule. They need to work toward it gradually. And, in the meantime , they need a strong "father figure" to keep order and control their destiny until they are mature enough to control it themselves.
We need to remember that before we hawkishly go seeking regime change around the world without considering the consequences of leaving a power vacuum and a public that has no idea what to do next.
Note: A friend responded to me on social media: If you read Revelations you will see where it's all coming together. Not in our lifetime but it's working. PRAISE THE LORD
...to which I replied:
As I've said before, I believe that our purpose is not to sit around twiddling our thumbs, waiting for Armageddon to rescue us from this sinful old place. We have an obligation to use our time wisely, to spend our worldly existence making the world better. Works and deeds do matter. Peter and James were right. Paul was not. But that's just my take on it. If there are, let's say, a thousand different versions of Christianity out there, and as many different opinions on these things...then---let's do the math---How many are likely to be right? Easy. Either ONE or NONE. How many are likely to be wrong? Also easy. Either ALL or 999. Those odds don't give me much faith in all these folks who swear up and down that theirs is the only correct religion.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Should we tolerate all religions---or only those that share our "God"?
I think the American people need to be educated on exactly what values ordinary Muslims hold. That's the only way we can determine if they are compatible with our American way of life or not and if we in this country should be expected to tolerate Islam as a legitimate religion.
Here in the U.S. most of us are of a Christian heritage and, as such, we tend to have a fairly modern enlightened take on God (as Jesus did). Most of us, I would say, view God (Allah--same thing) as being all about peace, forgiveness, non-violence, compassion, and making the world a nicer place. If some self-proclaimed religion teaches a value-system other than that, I'm thinking maybe they should be scratched from our "religious tolerance" list. Clearly, not every crazy group that calls itself a religion actually IS one, or has anything at all to do with God.
So, what about Islam? Where does it fit in? How many of us actually know what Muslims believe? I wish some network or publication would take it upon itself to provide us a truly in-depth, well-researched series on what the Quran actually teaches, what the clerics are really saying in the mosques, and what has been written by Muslim intellectuals over the years regarding Sharia law and how Muslims view tolerance and the rights of individuals (including women, minorities, eccentrics, etc.).
Educate us, if you will please, on whether we Christian Americans should trust and embrace the followers of Mohammed as our brothers and sisters....or not.
Here in the U.S. most of us are of a Christian heritage and, as such, we tend to have a fairly modern enlightened take on God (as Jesus did). Most of us, I would say, view God (Allah--same thing) as being all about peace, forgiveness, non-violence, compassion, and making the world a nicer place. If some self-proclaimed religion teaches a value-system other than that, I'm thinking maybe they should be scratched from our "religious tolerance" list. Clearly, not every crazy group that calls itself a religion actually IS one, or has anything at all to do with God.
So, what about Islam? Where does it fit in? How many of us actually know what Muslims believe? I wish some network or publication would take it upon itself to provide us a truly in-depth, well-researched series on what the Quran actually teaches, what the clerics are really saying in the mosques, and what has been written by Muslim intellectuals over the years regarding Sharia law and how Muslims view tolerance and the rights of individuals (including women, minorities, eccentrics, etc.).
Educate us, if you will please, on whether we Christian Americans should trust and embrace the followers of Mohammed as our brothers and sisters....or not.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Saturday, October 31, 2015
The 66 days of Christmas--Celebrating it the Naoi Meadow Way
Devotees of the Naoi Meadow Way and the Lucan Chapel have an interesting way of doing the holiday season. Notably, we stretch it out as long as we can! Sixty-six wonderful days! It actually begins on November 1st, All Saints Day, and runs all the way until January 6th, the Epiphany.
To understand why it starts so early, you have to realize the importance we place on the season of Advent, which begins this year (2015) on Sunday Nov. 29th and runs until Christmas Day--four Sundays hence. Since Advent is to be taken seriously as a time for prayer and contemplation--and not for chaos, excess or hubbub--we try as best we can to have our gift shopping already done prior to Advent Sunday. It is a tough challenge, but it is fun, and worth the effort.
In a perfect (nonprocrastination) world we would be making or buying Christmas gifts for our loved ones throughout the year. But, since that rarely happens, tradition calls for us to take care of it between All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and Advent Sunday (usually the last Sunday of November). Notice that this means we are typically finished with it prior to Black Friday and Cyber Monday and are able to relax while others are going nuts. Being a part of that crazed rush of lunacy would violate the reverence we attach to the Christmas season as well as our reluctance to promote or engage in crass consumerism.
November is also when we do our fall housecleaning--and, again, this is for a reason.
Each family's home is their most sacred space year-round; which is why we are not supposed to tolerate cursing, rudeness, or violent forms of entertainment within those rooms and halls. But, this season is especially significant as we prepare to open our doors and our hearts to the new savior child. Everything needs to be as spic 'n span as a church for the impending arrival of Jesus into our homes and our lives (and, of course, for the arrival of friends and loved ones for the holidays as well). So, a thorough fall cleaning of one's house is symbolic of the way we shine up our lives and sweep out the manger of our inner hearts to provide a new abode for Jesus.
Thus, the month of November is kept busy with shopping, artsy-craftsy stuff, and tidying up.
Then comes Thanksgiving. This is the last feast and hoop-la before the serious matter of Advent begins (sort of akin to Halloween before All Saints Day...and Fat Tuesday ahead of Lent). And it is a time for getting together with family and expressing gratitude to Jesus and the Father for having blessed us with good things and the wherewithall to come up with the gifts we have just spent the month gathering, making and stashing away in a safe place awaiting Christmas Eve.
Thanksgiving Day is for--what else!--eating...and watching football...and engaging in family fellowship and the usual merriment. Friday, for those who are so inclined, can be a fun party night. But then, come Advent Sunday, it is time to get serious about the meaning of the season. In the olden days, it was a time of fasting and prayer. We don't go quite that far; but we do make every effort to keep it blessed with the highest level of Christian values and make it a time of peace, beauty, contemplation, and celebration of (all) life.
Those next four weeks of Advent are when we relax and enjoy decorating our homes, trimming the tree, and baking the cookies. But it also when we turn our attention to the beautiful things that Jesus and his message of peace represent, the real meaning of the Christmas holiday. Services are attended. Family worship night is observed in the home each week. Hymns and caroles are sung and enjoyed. All indees are kept away. And, each morning, the children eagerly open the little glittery windows of the advent calendar, one by one, ticking off the days in anticipation of Christmas eve, the arrival of Old Saint Nick, and the most sacred birthday celebration ever.
And when Christmas finally gets here, it keeps right on going...for 12 more days! In some families, little token gifts are exchanged each day, just as in the song. Alas, however, all things must end. So, with hearts a bit heavy, we wrap it all up on January 6th, the Epiphany (which commemorates the arrival of the wise magi in Bethlehem), and poignantly go back out into the real world and return to our regular lives. Until next November 1st!
And that is pretty much how we do it. A splendidly long way to celebrate the real meaning of Christmas. And that, friends, is the Naoi Meadow Way. www.naoimeadow.org
To understand why it starts so early, you have to realize the importance we place on the season of Advent, which begins this year (2015) on Sunday Nov. 29th and runs until Christmas Day--four Sundays hence. Since Advent is to be taken seriously as a time for prayer and contemplation--and not for chaos, excess or hubbub--we try as best we can to have our gift shopping already done prior to Advent Sunday. It is a tough challenge, but it is fun, and worth the effort.
In a perfect (nonprocrastination) world we would be making or buying Christmas gifts for our loved ones throughout the year. But, since that rarely happens, tradition calls for us to take care of it between All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and Advent Sunday (usually the last Sunday of November). Notice that this means we are typically finished with it prior to Black Friday and Cyber Monday and are able to relax while others are going nuts. Being a part of that crazed rush of lunacy would violate the reverence we attach to the Christmas season as well as our reluctance to promote or engage in crass consumerism.
November is also when we do our fall housecleaning--and, again, this is for a reason.
Each family's home is their most sacred space year-round; which is why we are not supposed to tolerate cursing, rudeness, or violent forms of entertainment within those rooms and halls. But, this season is especially significant as we prepare to open our doors and our hearts to the new savior child. Everything needs to be as spic 'n span as a church for the impending arrival of Jesus into our homes and our lives (and, of course, for the arrival of friends and loved ones for the holidays as well). So, a thorough fall cleaning of one's house is symbolic of the way we shine up our lives and sweep out the manger of our inner hearts to provide a new abode for Jesus.
Thus, the month of November is kept busy with shopping, artsy-craftsy stuff, and tidying up.
Then comes Thanksgiving. This is the last feast and hoop-la before the serious matter of Advent begins (sort of akin to Halloween before All Saints Day...and Fat Tuesday ahead of Lent). And it is a time for getting together with family and expressing gratitude to Jesus and the Father for having blessed us with good things and the wherewithall to come up with the gifts we have just spent the month gathering, making and stashing away in a safe place awaiting Christmas Eve.
Thanksgiving Day is for--what else!--eating...and watching football...and engaging in family fellowship and the usual merriment. Friday, for those who are so inclined, can be a fun party night. But then, come Advent Sunday, it is time to get serious about the meaning of the season. In the olden days, it was a time of fasting and prayer. We don't go quite that far; but we do make every effort to keep it blessed with the highest level of Christian values and make it a time of peace, beauty, contemplation, and celebration of (all) life.
Those next four weeks of Advent are when we relax and enjoy decorating our homes, trimming the tree, and baking the cookies. But it also when we turn our attention to the beautiful things that Jesus and his message of peace represent, the real meaning of the Christmas holiday. Services are attended. Family worship night is observed in the home each week. Hymns and caroles are sung and enjoyed. All indees are kept away. And, each morning, the children eagerly open the little glittery windows of the advent calendar, one by one, ticking off the days in anticipation of Christmas eve, the arrival of Old Saint Nick, and the most sacred birthday celebration ever.
And when Christmas finally gets here, it keeps right on going...for 12 more days! In some families, little token gifts are exchanged each day, just as in the song. Alas, however, all things must end. So, with hearts a bit heavy, we wrap it all up on January 6th, the Epiphany (which commemorates the arrival of the wise magi in Bethlehem), and poignantly go back out into the real world and return to our regular lives. Until next November 1st!
And that is pretty much how we do it. A splendidly long way to celebrate the real meaning of Christmas. And that, friends, is the Naoi Meadow Way. www.naoimeadow.org
Thursday, October 15, 2015
It's time to update and rethink the Second Amendment
Back in the founding fathers' day, arms were basically muskets and dueling pistols. But in today's world, they might be everything from AK47's to pipe bombs to nuclear-armed drones. Certainly, an ordinary citizen should have the right to own a weapon for protection or sport. But in this age of technology-driven terrorism, foreign and domestic, we cannot afford to allow anyone and everyone to brandish weapons of mass killing.
Part of the problem, of course, is the archaic and confusing wording of the 2nd Amendment. I think it is high time that it be amended it in such a way that it accomplishes two things: (1) It would update the 'militia' section with more modern and relevant wording, such as: "Since a well-organized militia may become necessary in a time of crisis to the security of a state..."; and (2) Instead of the vague, ambiguous phrase 'right to keep and bear arms', it would distinguish between "ordinary" weapons and "exceptional" weapons--and define more specifically what kind of 'arms' might reasonably be needed by the everyday person for protection or sport...as opposed to those which are 'exceptional' in the sense that they serve no purpose other than mass killing and should therefore be reserved for trained and certified individuals who have registered as collectors, professional peace officers, persons threatened, etc.
Personally, I would limit the sale of weapons to people who are over eighteen and have proven themselves to have a stable personal history--continuous employment, for instance, and no police record. I would suggest wording in the amendment specifically stating that "Congress shall have the right to define what constitutes "ordinary" and "exceptional" weapons and shall from time to time update those definitions; and that the Congress shall defer to the individual states the responsibility of setting age-limits, mental and physical requirements, and other criteria for gun and weapon ownership"...or something to that effect.
Part of the problem, of course, is the archaic and confusing wording of the 2nd Amendment. I think it is high time that it be amended it in such a way that it accomplishes two things: (1) It would update the 'militia' section with more modern and relevant wording, such as: "Since a well-organized militia may become necessary in a time of crisis to the security of a state..."; and (2) Instead of the vague, ambiguous phrase 'right to keep and bear arms', it would distinguish between "ordinary" weapons and "exceptional" weapons--and define more specifically what kind of 'arms' might reasonably be needed by the everyday person for protection or sport...as opposed to those which are 'exceptional' in the sense that they serve no purpose other than mass killing and should therefore be reserved for trained and certified individuals who have registered as collectors, professional peace officers, persons threatened, etc.
Personally, I would limit the sale of weapons to people who are over eighteen and have proven themselves to have a stable personal history--continuous employment, for instance, and no police record. I would suggest wording in the amendment specifically stating that "Congress shall have the right to define what constitutes "ordinary" and "exceptional" weapons and shall from time to time update those definitions; and that the Congress shall defer to the individual states the responsibility of setting age-limits, mental and physical requirements, and other criteria for gun and weapon ownership"...or something to that effect.
Friday, October 9, 2015
Statistically, arming the public will cause more shooting deaths, not fewer
More shootings this week...and more talk about arming the public. The reason I doubt that that would ever work comes down to pure statistics--the numbers and odds of something happening. Keeping in mind how incredibly rare mass shootings are, let's see what would happen if we start inviting people to arm themselves--"just in case".
Scenario 1: Let's say one in five (20%) of all college students and professors carries a gun to class...along with some 20% of all high school and elementary school teachers and administrators. Of all the hundreds of thousands of schools across the country...and all the hundreds of millions of people who attend them, what do you think the chances are that a particular armed good guy would ever have the opportunity to use his or her weapon against a bad guy? Almost nil, I'd say--maybe one in 50 million? And, if there were, say, a 50% chance of him or her actually winning that confrontation, the chances go to perhaps one in 100 million of him or her successfully warding off an attacker. To me, given those odds, it would not be worth my time and effort to bother getting a gun, the training and the permits.
Now...Scenario 2: I would bet money that of the 20% who are eager for the chance to carry a gun to a classroom, many are people who either have some sort of bad-ass attitude or a dose of paranoia, or both. So, given the likelihood of those groups of armed good guys containing a few deranged morons, what do you suppose the odds would be of some student or teacher with an ax to grind or some personal or mental issues, going off the deep end and becoming the bad guy (the attacker)? Way higher, I'd say, than the Scenario 1 figures of 100 million to one.
So...bottom line: If I were in one of those classrooms, I would be much more worried about one of my fellow classmates packing heat and then going berserk than I would about some intruder storming in with guns blazing. Having classrooms full of armed people would make the chance of one of them CAUSING mass shooting deaths a lot greater than the chance of one of them ever PREVENTING mass shooting deaths.
(I know, it sounds like a convoluted argument. Sorry. But ponder it over and over, and see if it doesn't start to make sense).
Scenario 1: Let's say one in five (20%) of all college students and professors carries a gun to class...along with some 20% of all high school and elementary school teachers and administrators. Of all the hundreds of thousands of schools across the country...and all the hundreds of millions of people who attend them, what do you think the chances are that a particular armed good guy would ever have the opportunity to use his or her weapon against a bad guy? Almost nil, I'd say--maybe one in 50 million? And, if there were, say, a 50% chance of him or her actually winning that confrontation, the chances go to perhaps one in 100 million of him or her successfully warding off an attacker. To me, given those odds, it would not be worth my time and effort to bother getting a gun, the training and the permits.
Now...Scenario 2: I would bet money that of the 20% who are eager for the chance to carry a gun to a classroom, many are people who either have some sort of bad-ass attitude or a dose of paranoia, or both. So, given the likelihood of those groups of armed good guys containing a few deranged morons, what do you suppose the odds would be of some student or teacher with an ax to grind or some personal or mental issues, going off the deep end and becoming the bad guy (the attacker)? Way higher, I'd say, than the Scenario 1 figures of 100 million to one.
So...bottom line: If I were in one of those classrooms, I would be much more worried about one of my fellow classmates packing heat and then going berserk than I would about some intruder storming in with guns blazing. Having classrooms full of armed people would make the chance of one of them CAUSING mass shooting deaths a lot greater than the chance of one of them ever PREVENTING mass shooting deaths.
(I know, it sounds like a convoluted argument. Sorry. But ponder it over and over, and see if it doesn't start to make sense).
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Can we auto-correct humanity?
A favorite poem of mine. Gets right to the heart of our mixed up priorities, as I see it. I've been accused of being anti-technology...to which I reply, no....I am not anti-technology; just anti- obsessing-over-technology.
If you agree, look me up at The Naoi Meadow Way (my personal way of connecting with Jesus).
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