Wednesday, April 30, 2003
It's all in the Timing
I took these entries for March and April off of Blog*spot because it was taking my blog over seven minutes to load - on dial-up. I thought lightening the load would make it faster, and it did. (here it comes...) BUT in my haste to get these posts archived onto text files, I neglected to add the dates to them. (Doh!) I have been able to reconstruct some dates by looking up the relevant news items and most of them have *poof* gone the way of all electrons. On the others, I have included a notice that the date is approximate. I doubt very much that anyone will wander down these dusty corridors but in case you do, this is your caveat. BEWARE - TIME IS ELASTIC (wooooo ooooooooo ooooooooooo) This post was written on 6.10 and placed on 4.30 and 3.31Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Religion: bah!
The spiritual / mystical impulse, the desire to know the unity of all things. Among the highest and best attributes of Man.
Or
A set of caveats expressed in metaphor utilized to keep vast populations in check.
One of the primary useful constructs is that of ‘original sin;’ convincing the true believer that he is tainted right out of the box, as it ‘twere. From that leverage point a person or, more easily a population, might well be convinced that almost any satisfaction of need is “sin.” Eg: the need to think for oneself.
Another useful construct is that of the “common enemy” which creates a stronger “us” needed to oppose the evil “them.” To prevent any individual of “us” from meeting and learning that an individual of “them” is just a regular Schmoe, the taint of “other” must be bigger than both of them. It must be not human, but super-human. What is wrong with “them” is their god(s). And if we attempt to ally with “them,” our god(s) will strike us down. “They” will corrupt “us” or, worse, kill us for our sneakers. A lot of that around lately.
How do "we” know all that?
Because < !--insert name here--! > said so. Many, many moons ago.
Hell, (oops, cultural artifact…) I don’t believe what my neighbor’s sister’s friend’s brother’s wife said happened at the Piggly Wiggly. And that was just last week. And I know ‘em. All of ‘em. But the telephone-game principle is a part of human reality.
So, even if < !--insert name here--! > did have an epipheny long, long ago, it was probably a personal matter and surely has been lost to the mists of time.
Which makes it no good reason for me to hate anyone. Or fear anyone. Or love anyone. I prefer to do that based on anyone’s own merits.
As to that first suggested definition of religion, I agree that the search for the numinous can be one of the highest aspirations of a Human. But to accomplish it, even begin to sneak up on it, a human must search alone. Sitting in rows, being told how things are: therein can, at best, be found the comfort of the herd.
Perhaps you can sense my frustration, nay, even disgust. You read me well. Living in the State of Toleration, here on the Left Coast, (but, really, the weather * is * beautiful…no shoveling – minor quaking, quivering, really) (did I say, no shoveling, no freezing?) one hardly sees the devoutly religious and rarely hears the justification for judgement of perfect strangers based on their < !--insert random reason--! >. It wouldn’t be polite. So my head has been somewhat sand-covered.
Recent events and random readings outside my chosen domain have brought it again to my attention why I chose to go into “Sonoma Coma.” It is - unpleasant – to be immersed in the random paranoid ravings of religious grandiosity. The very idea that one individual *knows* The *Truth* for all of humanity galls me beyond telling. I tell you…
Stop it. All of you. You’re making a mess.
This rant inspired by a quote of Francis Porretto on a comment on Horsefeathers. Thank you, gentlemen, for inspiring me to get that off my chest.
Monday, April 28, 2003
LT SMASH writes
It never fails to amaze me how someone can train to become a member of * the * most technologically advanced fighting force in the history of our species and still have time to become so well educated. Maybe they * can * do more before breakfast than we can do all day…
LT SMASH has written an open letter to Jaques Chirac which I recommend highly to you.
His piece "On Leadership" and his discussion of his own leadership quandries are worthwhile reading for anyone looking for tips on how leadership done right creates loyal people. Search the mid-March archives for a post about the Dragon Lady.
Interlude
Went away for a couple of days to get snowed on, found some very pretty places in the Northern Sierras, and returned home to find the power had been out. My aged and ailing electron herder cannot take the shock of sudden de-electrification so he lost some more mental faculties. I had to un- and re- install aol and lost everything from my mail to my lists ad nauseum. I will be rebuilding for a day or two so go read Across the Atlantic's piece on Bush, the F3, and the Abraham Lincoln.
I agree. [Were I in Bush's position (thank everything I have no such compulsion) I would grab *that* chance in a heartbeat.] But moreover, as a friend pointed out, it shows that Bush "is in there on the level of the working man - he can take it." The President asked the man and women of the armed forces to do a very difficult thing, and they did it very, very well. It is the least he could do to thank them in person, the entirety symbolized by those serving on the aircraft carrier. It goes a step further in the joining with them for Bush to have arrived like one of them. Danger included.
And can't you see the look on the face of the Secret Service Agent in charge of that one! Beads of Sweat R Us. Not to mention that pilot! Special Recognition Points for Bravery all 'round.
Interlude
It never fails to amaze me how someone can train to become a member of * the * most technologically advanced fighting force in the history of our species and still have time to become so well educated. Maybe they * can * do more before breakfast than we can do all day…
LT SMASH has written an open letter to Jaques Chirac which I recommend highly to you.
His piece "On Leadership" and his discussion of his own leadership quandries are worthwhile reading for anyone looking for tips on how leadership done right creates loyal people. Search the mid-March archives for a post about the Dragon Lady.
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Dear Representative Lynn Woolsey;
[Open Letter]
I am appalled that our Congress would consider a bill such as HR 153.
Inasmuch as Donald Rumsfeld has guaranteed the people of Iraq that they will not have to be burdened with a theocracy I think it is concomitant upon the Representatives of the People of this country to confine their theocratic leanings to their own private lives and allow all other Americans to do the same.
Please vote against HR 153 and all others like it.
Sincerely,
Claire Barry
Go here and look for HR 153. In the bill are included various historical references to other times when Congress committed a similar offence (the last in 1865…), and this phrase:
Whereas, through prayer, fasting, and self-reflection, we may better recognize our own faults and shortcomings and submit to the wisdom and love of God in order that we may have guidance and strength in those daily actions and decisions we must take; and
That’s all very well and good, but it does not describe my ‘God.’
and, the summation:
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should issue a proclamation--
(1) designating a day for humility, prayer, and fasting for all people of the United States; and
(2) calling on all people of the United States--
(A) to observe the day as a time of prayer and fasting;
(B) to seek guidance from God to achieve a greater understanding of our own failings and to learn how we can do better in our everyday activities; and
(C) to gain resolve in meeting the challenges that confront our Nation.
It is my sense that the House of Representatives should use whatever means they deign appropriate to gain humility before all people of the United States and achieve a greater understanding of their own failings, resolve to do better and butt the Hell out of telling people how to relate to God. That is not an appropriate governmental area. It may be a cultural area. A familial area. Or any other kind of group you want to name.
It is not what the government of the United States of America ought to be telling its citizens to do.
Government + God = Theocracy.
”Frog speak with Forked Tongue,” reports Coyote.
Duplicitous: “marked by deliberate deceptiveness especially by pretending one set of feelings and acting under the influence of another; "she was a deceitful scheming little thing"- Israel Zangwill; "a double-dealing double agent"; "a double-faced infernal traitor and schemer"- W.M.Thackeray”
Lionel Mandrake generously includes the full text of the London Times story for us non-UK types whom they would charge large poundage to read. Highlights include descriptions of what and how diplomatic conversations held between the US and the french were reported directly to the Saddam inner circles, including our conversations preceding the war which might have given Saddam, et al sufficient warning to endanger Coalition troops. Not to mention the Iraqi people...
File under “Things that make me go ‘yecch.’”
Saturday, April 26, 2003
Not Here. . .
So, you're coming home from work, when suddenly armed government agents show up in the parking lot and take you away to prison. They also send a team, armed with assault rifles and bulletproof vests, into your home to confront your wife and kids. You don't know what you possibly could have done, and nobody will tell you anything. You stay in prison. Weeks go by.
The government never charges you with any crime, but it refuses to release any information about your case. You know this kind of thing happens all over the country: people can be held in solitary confinement for a year or more, for any cause, or for no cause at all. Maybe their papers weren't perfectly in order. Or maybe, like you, they're just "witnesses"--witnesses to some unspecified event, witnesses in a trial that will never occur.
Hey, what country are you in? Syria? North Korea? Ha ha! NO! You're an American, like Mike Hawash.
Pigdog.org sure has a way with words, doesn’t he? Read the rest of his article to see what I mean. Then read what is on Free Mike Hawash.org. “just a witness. . .”
Friday, April 25, 2003
Paying Attention
”The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” Time to start paying attention here at home, again, and support the booksellers and librarians who are almost single-handedly challenging restrictions on the right to read stemming from the PATRIOT act.(Thank you, Moorish Girl, ‘Literary Life’ section) I don’t know about you, but a book gathering place, be it store, library, or my own upstairs room is about my favorite place on earth. I want to read anything and everything. And I don’t want anyone looking over my shoulder making judgements on my habits. Or your habits. Or even Donald Rumsfeld’s habits.The threat, according to booksellers and librarians, comes from the federal government and a provision of the USA Patriot Act in Section 215 that authorizes the FBI to obtain "certain business records" based on warrants from secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act courts, which under changes instituted by USA Patriot do not require that the government show probable cause.”Secret courts?” “Not required to show probable cause?!” Yeah. What’s a constitution? And then, after they get the records of what one reads, the bookseller, or library is legally forbidden to tell anyone about it. Anyone – not just the lack-of-probable-cause accused. Anyone.
Judith Krug of the American Library Association said the law not only threatens First Amendment rights, it undermines the ability of Americans to be responsible citizens by creating a sense of fear about seeking information the administration might not want them to have.Didn’t we just go to a lot of trouble to overthrow a régime who sat on the other end of this particular continuum? This is America! We don’t take kindly to any “sense of fear” of our government ‘round here.
Ms Krug’s point is key to the whole argument:
"It is in my mind the most important right we enjoy in the Constitution, because without …free access to information we do not have what we need to govern ourselves. Any attempt to withhold information and ideas from the American public strikes right at the heart of this Constitutional republic."That is it. Knowledge is the antidote to fear. Knowledge, the ability to know when you don’t know enough, and the willingness to seek further knowledge is the key to being a citizen. Otherwise you’re just a consumer; a giant, pointless maw into which useless goods disappear. Kind of like a landfill.
There is some opposition to this travesty of the Constitution:
A bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., last month to exempt libraries and booksellers from the provisions of Section 215 of the Patriot Act. The bill has "about 70 co-sponsors, including a half-dozen Republicans," Sanders' chief of staff, Jeff Weaver said.An effort worth supporting. But I note it only excludes libraries and booksellers. What other businesses are open to this secret, without-probable-cause examination? Do I now have to monitor my hardware store purchases? Wonder if I am buying the wrong kind of fertilizer at the nursery? Wrong hair color? (not that I do…) Wrong food items? Too much wine? Too little Jack Daniels?
No, no, no. This kind of thinking is what people in other countries have to do. You know, countries whose governments are called “régimes.”
”He who is willing to give up liberty in exchange for security deserves neither.”
Update: A chill up my spine
So I finish writing the above and randomly pick one of my favorite daily reads. Hossein Derakhshan, a professional journalist, blogs from Iran:Now after three years, everything has changed. People don't tend to buy papers, don't like to talk politics and don't like the man they voted anymore. …Although many of them are free now, but virtually none of them are politically active. Since then, hardliners have made up huge files, containing every possible accusation they might have come up, for about every possible man or women who might have been of a little influence on the society, by his or her thoughts, writings, speeches and actions.Stay your course. Blog on.
Thursday, April 24, 2003
Which brings us to . . .
Here on the Left Coast, this is considered one of the prime Virtues. In fact, any remark that alludes to the background of anyone as a source for irritating thoughts/behavior under current discussion is trigger for immediate social censure. In other words, it is risky to even notice – out loud – that the person with whom one is talking is, in fact, black, Jewish, Islamic, even female. (Tho it is still quite in to bash white guys, the older the bashier.) The social pressure is so strong, in some circles as to insure shunning of one who would break the taboo with any regularity. Shades of communist ‘self- criticism’ groups. This is described as “tolerance.” Not as “acceptance” for it is not that.If I accept someone who is female “as is,” I can refer to her “girly notions” or “feminist leanings” when in conversation. If I accept that my friend is Muslim, I can give inquire as to my impression that her disinclination to wear crop tops may in fact, be based on her cultural Value of modesty. Not as judgement but as simple observation and acknowledgement of facts in evidence. But simply acknowledging these differences is verboten under the doctrinaire of “tolerance.” Although “diversity” is held up as a high Value, the opportunity to discuss the very things that make us different from one another is removed. Makes for a tippy-toe atmosphere.
Today I discovered Bernard Lewis’ discussion of religion based civilizations. Within it is this nugget about “tolerance:”
Tolerance is, of course, an extremely intolerant idea, because it means "I am the boss: I will allow you some, though not all, of the rights I enjoy as long as you behave yourself according to standards that I shall determine." That, I think, is a fair definition of religious tolerance as it is normally understood and applied.Well, he nailed that attitude dead on. His primary discussion is of the differences between triumphalist and relativist religious points of views described succinctly here:
For those taking the relativist approach to religion (in effect, "I have my god, you have your god, and others have theirs"), there may be specific political or economic reasons for objecting to someone else's beliefs, but in principle there is no theological problem. For those taking the triumphalist approach (classically summed up in the formula "I'm right, you're wrong, go to hell"), tolerance is a problem. Because the triumphalist's is the only true and complete religion, all other religions are at best incomplete and more probably false and evil; and since he is the privileged recipient of God's final message to humankind, it is surely his duty to bring it to others rather than keep it selfishly for himself.This article has helped me go further into understanding why there must be so much, uh, intolerance between the religious numbers in the American street and the Arab street. It still honks me off, but I geddit better.
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
Monstrou's thing's
Thi's drive's me nut's! Angry Flower say's it be'st.Recovering Secularists
Well, At least it’s not just me. (See "Unease" below) David Brooks, editor and political analyst, thinks so too.The theory of Secularization “…holds that as history moves forward, science displaces dogma and reason replaces unthinking obedience. …It's now clear that the secularization theory is untrue. The human race does not necessarily get less religious as it grows richer and better educated. We are living through one of the great periods of scientific progress and the creation of wealth. At the same time, we are in the midst of a religious boom. …Moreover, it is the denominations that refuse to adapt to secularism that are growing the fastest, while those that try to be "modern" and "relevant" are withering. Ecstatic forms of Christianity and "anti-modern" Islam are thriving. …A great Niagara of religious fervor is cascading down around them [secularists] while they stand obtuse and dry in the little cave of their own parochialism…It appears I am in need of a primer on spelunking. Mr. Brooks goes on to describe a six step program for “recovering secularists” including taking religious fervor seriously, not attempting to quantify it with sociological and economic theories, and actually allowing ourselves to feel the fear such fervor merits.
Many Americans have always sensed that we have a transcendent mission, although, fortunately, it is not a theological one. We instinctively feel, in ways that people from other places do not, that history is unfulfilled as long as there are nations in which people are not free. …Many Americans see history as ending in the triumph of freedom and constitutionalism, with religion not abandoned or suppressed but enriching democratic life.Ya gots me there, boss. To me, one’s religion has always seemed a personal, nay a private arena. It seems more than impolitic, quite impolite to go around criticizing another’s religious tenets. One’s character is to be judged on the basis of one’s actions. Is she kind to animals? Does he take time to help those less fortunate? Is she honest - with herself, and others? What one does is the measure of one’s caliber, not where one might go to worship of a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
But to view things this way presupposes each individual's situational ability to make his own choices free of restriction or direction by state or *other outside entity*. Without the right of self determination provided and protected by a constitutional democracy that enables the individual to make up her own mind - we're not talking about choices. We're talking about coercion.
Which brings right back ‘round to the zealot’s position that all nations must be forced to be free.
What is the emoticon for little springs coming out of one's ears?
Methinks I must think on…
Sunday, April 20, 2003
Blogger Arrested in Iran
We bloggers are asked to spread the word and keep the world watching. Samizdata is where I learned of this and who referred me to Editor: Myself, another Iranian blogger.Scroll to the bottom of his main site to find a list of other Iranian bloggers. (There is a picture of them, too, about the second post down.) I'm off to explore. I hope you go, too.
Friday, April 18, 2003
Kindness and Suspicion
Shoshana Johnson said: "More than once, a doctor said that they wanted to take good care of me to show that the Iraqi people had humanity. I appreciate the care that I was given. But I also know that there was a reason behind it. They didn't give me care just for the humanity of it." What “reason behind it” she assumes, she does not state. It is at that juncture, that split second of uncertainty where doubt creeps in and the desire to know for sure instead of wait in uncertainty can lead the mind to cynicism.
What leads us to believe good of each other; or to want to?
I just read Honeymoon in Purdah by Alison Wearing. I was drawn in by her statement, ”I have come to this place (Iran) because it frightens me; because it frightens the world. And because I don’t believe in fear. In giving it such power.” (She had me at, “I don’t believe in fear.”) The book is a series of moments, her trip through Iran over five months. The people she describes are kind, at times almost assaultively, so intent are they on their goal of making their guest happy. But mostly I am struck by the generosity of strangers with whom she has chance meetings inviting her to share tea and food, to stay in their homes. It seems that this is a cultural artifact in this area of the world. To sacrifice one’s self for the benefit of others, even strangers, is a-good-thing.
As a Value, it is not unheard of here in the ol’ USA. Some of the nicest and most helpful people I have encountered were native Manhattanites whom I asked for directions on the street. Just the other day two women stopped me in a parking lot to ask directions and it felt good to take the time with them to make sure they got their bearings and were safely on their way.
In times of trouble people pull together. It has been called reciprocal altruism, and is traced to the evolutionary hardwiring that developed into such human survival behavior as tribal group hunting, cultivation of crops, towns, in short, civilization. This is reputed to have first happened – or first been recorded – somewhere between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers.
Interesting. And around we go – it’s all connected.
Thursday, April 17, 2003
Unease
I have been noticing something. There is more reference to praying in the national media. There are more Fundamentalist Christians in public life talking about their religious tenets in such a way that takes it for granted their views are shared by the audience. I took a trip recently down half the length of CA on Hwy 99 and counted 6 major, new fundamentalist installations right along the freeway; each including a very large church, a school, and other community-type facilities. Very expensive. I am hearing vitriolic discussions in favor of the use of the phrase “under God” in the pledge of allegiance to the flag, and in the use of the phrase “God Bless America” as the sole appropriate expression of patriotic feeling.Is this indicative of a upsurge of Fundamentalist Christianity in America? I must admit I am somewhat sheltered here in my rural enclave. And I guess I don’t get out enough. But I am starting to feel a little nervous.
My unsettledness stems from what I perceive, and correct me if I am wrong – please, to be the underlying commonality in all fundamentalist religions: “If you ain’t one of us, you are bad/wrong/shouldn’t exist, and will go to hell.” Yep. Definite feelings of gooseyness ensue. See below for more discomfiting developments:
CAMP BUSHMASTER, Iraq - In this dry desert world near Najaf, where the Army V Corps combat support system sprawls across miles of scabrous dust, there's an oasis of sorts: a 500-gallon pool of pristine, cool water.It belongs to Army chaplain Josh Llano of Houston, who sees the water shortage, which has kept thousands of filthy soldiers from bathing for weeks, as an opportunity.
''It's simple. They want water. I have it, as long as they agree to get baptized,'' he said.
Ok. I read this, want to run in circles scream and shout ‘til I scare the chickens; but, I wait. Fog of war and all – this cannot be correct.
Army Chief of Chaplains Gaylord Gunhus said he believes Llano was simply joking with soldiers of the V Corps combat support system at Camp Bushmaster near Najaf.
“Joking” btw, isn’t that what abusers and bullies generally say when challenged? “I was only teasing. Can’t you take a joke? You’re too sensitive.”
Baptist Press reports: "I don't think the story suggested coercion," he said. "That's just how some people want to read it."
I’m too sensitive.
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{/if}
