Religions and Conflict

There is no conflict between Christianity and Judaism

There is no conflict between Christianity and Islam; between Islam and Judaism; between Hinduism and Buddhism; Hinduism and Islam, or any pair of religions.

In fact, there is no conflict between any of these, and a secular perspective that values empirical evidence over revealed wisdom.  Many of the best minds in science and in religion are comfortable with toes dipped in each pool.  

The conflict is with those who lack the imagination or confidence to feel that their beliefs are right, without insisting that all others are wrong – and with those who manipulate them for their own purposes.  

Chablis-Drinking Liberal Elitist

The other day, a friend called me an elitist ‘chablis-drinking’ liberal.  

As much as I appreciate his comment, I really needed to set him straight.  I told him I don’t particularly care for chablis.  Much of what passes for ‘chablis’ in this country is just generic white wine - hardly worth using for cooking.  True chablis is grown and made exclusively in the Chablis subregion in the Burgundy region of France.  Though it uses the same grapes as white burgundy, it isn’t aged in oak, so it is missing the complexity that adds appeal to other white burgundy.  

But actually, I usually lean more toward the deep, righ reds anyway … mourvedre, well-blended cabernet, or tempranillo, for example.  

My friend thanked me, then suddenly pointed at his watch and said, ‘Hey, look at the time!  Gotta run!’

It’s good we had this talk - was happy to help my friend with his misperception.  This is just the kind of dialogue that can help gain understanding, and bridge the divides in our polarized society.  

CLIMATE CHANGE FRAUD

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE FRAUD ADMITTED

In a remarkable turnaround, Dr. James Hansen conceded that his research over three decades was mostly made up. 

“In the early 1980s, NASA needed to find a way to remain relevant, and to distract the public from the investigations that revealed that the so-called ‘Moon landings’ were all staged.  So, they put me in charge of a program to promulgate this apocalyptic theory about Global Warming.  I mean, we had all these satellites up there, not doing much other than navigation, weather reporting and spying.  We could tell people anything we wanted, and they’d just suck it up.

“It threw a scare into us a few years ago, when James Inhofe, the Senator from Oil, brought a snowball into the Senate chambers.  But his compelling testimony was soon forgotten, so we spun more yarns, and passed out more dollars to our lackeys in the research conspiracy industry.  But then this year, we knew we were had when it got cold in the mid-west, and the man with the biggest brain in the universe, revealed us as a mockery. 

“So, I admit it.  We’ve been making this up all along. We are ready to refund all the research money we have wasted; not to the government, but to those most in need – the fossil-fuel industry, whom we have slandered all these years.  We are ready to admit that coal, ‘beautiful, clean coal’, has been the answer all along. 

Fortunately, NASA has a new mission … MARS!!! 

Climate Change and Denial

There seems to be somewhat broad confusion on the issue of anthropogenic climate change – most notably among certain high-level political figures, who benefit from the confusion.

Climate scientists have never asserted that continuing human emissions of greenhouse gases would result in uniform temperature increases across the planet.  This was NEVER an outcome of research into this issue.  From the start, some models have predicted regions where they suspect the average temperatures may decrease.

The underlying driver is increasing global temperatures, but the effects vary widely.  As with El Niño / La Niña cycles—which causes flooding in some regions and drought in others—the effects of climate change will be all over the map.

Those who cherry pick data to find a glacier that is actually growing, or who look at a one-year anomalous plateau, while ignoring the broader trend, simple broadcast their foolishness and stubbornness.  This is embarrassing on an individual basis, but highly destructive when national or global leaders encourage denial of the science, and delay in addressing this increasingly dangerous crisis.

MLK Day Greeting

During the darkest times, I believe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would want us to focus on what we are capable of at our best, rather than at our worst. 

Nine years ago, a mere forty-odd years after Dr. King fought and died for the right for people of color to vote, and to live in dignity, the United States inaugurated a black man to the Presidency – not just a black man, but the son of a mixed marriage – which was still illegal in some states in King’s time.  

Then, four years later, we reelected him. 

We who supported President Obama—and I’d like to think that many who opposed him—did so, not because of the color of his skin, but for of the content of his character (and his policies).  Dr. King dedicated his life, and gave his last full measure of devotion to help steer this country to a place where this would be possible. 

Yes, we are back to a bleak time in our history, when hatred, prejudice and intolerance are again expressed openly.  But we need not look that far back to see a time when we were guided by the better angels of our nature, and take heart that we might soon return to that.  Dr. King shared this from Theodore Parker, “Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”  In times like today, this should give us hope – but we must remember, that arc doesn’t bend itself; it bends toward justice only when people of good will grab the end of that sucker, pull it toward justice, and won’t let go, no matter what. 

I wish you all a happy, thoughtful, and grateful Martin Luther King Junior Day.

Embarrassed vs. Ashamed

The last fifteen months have allowed me—all of us, really—the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the difference between the concepts of embarrassment and shame.  

I think it’s safe to say that the vast majority of Americans are embarrassed to have the buffoon who occupies the office President Obama left morally and ethically vacant a year ago.  There are certainly exceptions to this state of embarrassment – and it’s worth noting carefully now who they are – before denial and revisionism seek to rewrite history.  Once The Donald has retreated again to his rightful place on the covers of the pulp paper tabloids at the checkout stand, people like Lindsay Graham, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and the rest of the Republican congressional caucus will conveniently forget their familiarity.  On the other hand, your neighbor—the gun-nut, who is always grumbling about the 'deep state', the Trilateral Commission, and black helicopters—will remain loyal; at least he is legit.  

On the other hand, I don’t feel the slightest bit of shame about this creep being in office; shame is personal, and I did what I could to prevent it.  The current state of our politics is the result of decades of philosophical and intellectual decay, driven by the leaders and underwriters of the Republican Party.  Though I have never been a Republican, there are many whom I have respected, and still respect.  I have fond childhood memories of people like William F. Buckley, James Kilpatrick, and others, who could espouse and defend a coherent governing philosophy, in a way that posed a challenge to those opposing it.  In my imagination, I would grow up to be that opposing voice, sitting across from Buckley in his Firing Line studio; matching him point for point, fact for fact, smug expression for smug expression – all while holding grudging respect for one another’s skills.  These people are gone, and nobody has taken their place.  Intellectual lightweights like Dinesh D’Sousa, Thomas Sowell, and others presume to carry the mantle.  But they don’t measure up to their forebears – and even if they did, the Republicans no longer point to a coherent philosophy for support.  They have unilaterally surrendered the appeal to logos, and now rely entirely on pathos – whipping up anger among their credulous base.  In this, they have relied on such intellectual lights as Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones.  

Yes, it is embarrassing to know that the Current Occupant will have his portrait hung alongside more worthy predecessors.  But the shame belongs solely to those who have lost the ability, or willingness to use their heads in the attempt to discern reality from paranoid fantasy when selecting the leaders of our country.  

Cults and Outside News

A key step in cementing a cult leader’s hold on his followers is to isolate them from outside sources of information.  This may be done through overt censorship, by disallowing publications, or jamming unauthorized broadcasts, and blocking internet sites – as was done in the old Soviet Union, and is still done in China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere.  But there is a much easier way.  If a cult leader has enough sway over the minds of his followers, all he has to do is repeatedly and consistently discredit outside sources of information.  When this is successful there is no need to block access; cult members will do the censoring themselves, through peer pressure, and their own cognitive dissonance – the phenomenon by which people will reject input that directly conflicts with their core beliefs, rather than address the contradiction. 

Though less expensive to maintain than actual censorship, the brainwashing necessary to get people to self-censor doesn’t happen overnight.  It takes time and consistency – and a somewhat credulous population of cult members, who are willing to single-source a version of the truth. 

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/367156-trump-says-hell-give-dishonest-and-corrupt-media-awards-next-week