I'm afraid of my apples

I worry about the Granny Smith apples in the fridge. We have a drought on here in Indiana, no lawn sprinkling allowed, etc. But if it don't rain in Indianapolis in the summertime, then God didn't make little green apples. And yet, there they are. Are they Satanic apples?

And I still hurt.

And I want to cry.

With all the complications they warned me about from undergoing two different surgeries at the same time, nobody mentioned any of these.

Installing Love

Here's an oldie, but a goodie:

Customer Service Rep: Can you install LOVE?

Customer: I can do that. I'm not very technical, but I think I am ready to install now. What do I do first?

Customer Service Rep: The first step is to open your HEART. Have you located your HEART?

Customer: Yes I have, but there are several programs running right now. Is it okay to install while they are running?

Customer Service Rep: What programs are running?

Customer: Let me see.... I have PASTHURT.EXE, LOWESTEEM.EXE, GRUDGE.EXE, and RESENTMENT.COM running right now.

Customer Service Rep: No problem. LOVE will automatically erase PASTHURT.EXE from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory, but it will no longer disrupt other programs. LOVE will eventually overwrite LOWESTEEM.EXE with a module of its own called HIGHESTEEMEXE. However, you have to completely turn off GRUDGE.EXE and RESENTMENT.COM. Those programs prevent LOVE from being properly installed. Can you turn those off?

Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Customer Service Rep: My pleasure. Go to your Start menu and invoke FORGIVENESS.EXE. Do this as many times as necessary until GRUDGE.EXE and RESENTMENT.COM have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, I'm done. LOVE has started installing itself automatically. Is that normal?

Customer Service Rep: Yes it is. You should receive a message that says it will reinstall for the life of your HEART. Do you see that message?

Customer: Yes I do. Is it completely installed?

Customer Service Rep: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other HEARTS in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops...I have an error message already. What should I do?

Customer Service Rep: What does the message say?

Customer: It says, "ERROR 412 - PROGRAM NOT RUN ON INTERNAL COMPONENTS". What does that mean?

Customer Service Rep: Don't worry, that's a common problem. It means that the LOVE program is set up to run on external HEARTS but has not yet been run on your HEART. It is one of those complicated programming things, but in non-technical terms it means you have to "LOVE" your own machine before it can "LOVE" others.

Customer: So what should I do?

Customer Service Rep: Can you find the directory called "SELF-ACCEPTANCE"?

Customer: Yes, I have it.

Customer Service Rep: Excellent, you are getting good at this.

Customer: Thank you.

Customer Service Rep: You're welcome. Click on the following files and then copy them to the "MYHEART" directory: FORGIVESELF.DOC, SELFESTEEM.TXT, REALIZEWORTH.TXT, and GOODNESS.DOC. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching any faulty programming. Also, you need to delete SELFCRITIC.EXE from all directories, and then empty your recycle bin afterwards to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My HEART is filling up with really neat files. SMILE.MPG is playing on my monitor right now and it shows that WARMTH.COM, PEACE.EXE, and CONTENTMENT.COM are copying themselves all over my HEART!

Customer Service Rep: Then LOVE is installed and running. You should be able to handle it from here. One more thing before I go...

Customer: Yes?

Customer Service Rep: LOVE is freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everybody you meet. They will in turn share it with other people and they will return some really neat modules back to you.

Customer: I will. Thank you for your help.

How can you possibly disagree with me?

Here I am, about sixty six hours out of surgery- surgery made much more complicated and invasive than expected because during the course of the scheduled procedures, they found and removed a two-lb benign tumor! I’ve been advised not to make any important decisions, sign any contracts, nor attempt to drive or cook because I’m taking narcotic pain pills, muscle relaxants, anti-inflamatories, and ferrous sulfate in the hopes of someday having red blood cells. So what’s a guy in my position supposed to do? Why, blog of course!

I’ve been wanting (during the lucid moments) for a month to comment on something the Ranting Rev said. I always read his stuff- while we don’t agree often, he has the enormously valuable knack of asking the right question. The “right question” I wished to address he asked in the comments section of Helpless But Not Hopeless : “Begs the question of how can positions be different if principles are alike?” This question is at the heart of all the devisive, bitter debate in America today- because most would say “They can’t- you must be either stupid, evil, or both.”
That belief- rarely stated aloud (except about Bush; people glory in calling HIM names) but always in the back of people’s minds- is the cause of all the shouts of “Nazi”, “Commie”, “Fascist”, and often “Racist” or “Homophobe”. As almost no one actually studies rhetoric or debate these days, it’s incomprehensible to most people how two people with the same morals, values, and desires can disagree about some pretty fundamental things. It is worth the effort to understand how this could be, both to civilize the state of politics and to understand how to come to a compromise everyone can live with.

The first thing to understand is that no belief or position is an island, complete unto itself. The “interdependent web” applies to concepts and ideas as much as to the environment. Any position will have ramifications and consequences- some of them unintended- that your opponent may be considering. For example, twenty-some odd years ago I opposed Gay Marriage. Was I a Bible-bashing fascist homophobe (as I was accused of being)? No- I was a small businessman who could only afford a really crappy health insurance plan for my employes. These were the early days of AIDS; the only treatments available were costing upwards of a quarter of a million dollars a year, and insurance companies were trying to find ways to dump gays from existing policies and prevent them from signing up for new ones. I was afraid that without insurance reform first, Gay Marriage would push all married couples into the same high-risk group and make health insurance out of reach. Fortunately, several major corporations decided to extend health coverage to spouses of gay employees, and used their clout to force the reforms Congress didn’t have the courage to pass. Stumbling point removed; I could now support Gay Marriage.

Sometimes your opponent may have experience or perspective that calls the basic precepts of your position into question. For example, many opponents of the new immigration reform bill call it an amnesty plan; proponents say that it is not because it calls for more enforcement, more papers, etc. Opponents say we’ve heard all that before- dating all the way back to Eisenhower, every immigration reform law has promised closed borders, more officers, more clerks to keep paperwork up to date- and fifty years later we’re still waiting. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. So are the proponents of the bill spending all their efforts trying to reassure everyone that this time the comprehensive parts really will happen? No- they’re just calling them anti-Hispanic bigots and saying they don’t know what’s good for America.

There is a truism in business that if a plan has no downsides to it, you’re missing something- go over it again. It helps to grill all your positions now and again to see if conditions have changed, if it still makes sense. Read your opponents positions to see if they also make sense- do NOT presume that you know why he opposes you. There was an exercise in debate class that I found invaluable for personal growth in finding my way philosophically and politically. This was a formal debate that you had a week to prepare for, and winning it was major extra credit. The catch? You didn’t know until you took the podium which side you would be arguing, for or against! Can you imagine how much I studied that subject? Can you say that you have given all your positions the same comprehensive study from both sides?

Of course you can. But most people just read the proposal, say “This is a civil rights issue; therefore I’m for it. Anyone against it is a bad guy.” and believe the issue settled. From then on, they aren’t debating the issue, they’re debating the morals of their opponents. This is a shame. I had friendships cool over the Gay Marriage issue- were they rekindled once we were on the same side? No; I do not enjoy being insulted, and I found I could not respect the thought processes of someone who would do so. Who knows? Had they listened to me at the time, and joined with me in writing Congressmen, we might today have better health insurance laws AND Gay Marriage.

Personal update, plus random notes

A number of people have written, both email and comments, asking how I was doing- and I'm grateful for the concern. I haven't been posting because I've frankly felt terrible. My red cell count had gotten down to 6.5, (13-14 is normal), for which I received a transfusion. It's currently hovering around 10, which is good enough to stand up with only dizziness rather than fainting, but still leaves me too weak (especially when combined with pain that mere Vicodin is no longer coping with) to even follow long posts, let alone write one. In about 12 hours I will be undergoing two operations that should clear most of this up, followed a few weeks later by a procedure in which I swallow a digital camera that radios pictures to a receiver/recorder I will be wearing. (surprizingly enough, they don't want the camera back) I hope to be back to regular blogging by then. Until then, everyone else keep up the good work and I'll follow you care of UUpdater.

As to the current controversies, I have little new to add, so I'll just recycle some old quotes. About the disaffiliated independent affiliates- don't do anything to make them feel not wanted. I said this in another context, and I believe it still applies: "... if all the UU Christians and UU Pagans left, the average age of the average congregation would approach triple digits, and the membership list would drop down to double digits- and half of them would be Buddhist."

About the brown bag controversy- this quote from another context sums it up well for me: "... and the UUA plays more with rhetoric than any other denomination I’m aware of. If the UUA could be considered to have a central doctrine at all, it would be that controling the rhetoric controls the reality."

So goodbye for now, and assuming I don't die on the table, I hope to be back blogging regularly in one-to weeks. Thanks, friends.

UPDATE
I'm told that both operations were successful! Recovery mode, full speed ahead!

The best I can manage: cat stories.

I have been unable to write of late; between the pain, the fatigue, and the meds, I’m having too much trouble with short-term memory and linear thought to work on my books or blog- but not writing is even more frustrating than writing crap, so I’ve been casting about for something I can still do in this condition. I find that older memories come through clearly, so perhaps I can reminisce.

I’ve written of our oldest cat, Laurie, twice before- here , and here . As I imply in those anecdotes, she can be a handful sometimes- in fact, in the early days, I didn’t even like her all that much. We took care of her because she had become what used to be called a “Chinese obligation”. I’m sure that’s not PC, but I don’t know what the modern term would be. Something tonight, however, reminded me of the incident in which she won my heart- the single deed that pays for all her sins.

This occurred about eight years ago, when she was actually the youngest of six, the bottom of the totem pole. Laurie was always more of a cat’s cat than a people’s cat; she worshipped the ground the Alpha Female, an imperial Siamese named Gato, walked on, even though the love was never returned. She accepted that newcomers get hazed, and never caused any fuss among the cats. (She reserved her temper for the inferior humans) She took abuse from the Alpha Male- a light ginger/dark cream tabby named Tommyknocker- in good humor, even though he was a third her size.

Then Gato got inoperable cancer. We were told that although she would get ever weaker, there would be no pain until the end- so there was no point spoiling her quality of life with treatments that would only buy her weeks and not cure her. So we treated Gato as usual, with the only symptoms at first being that she slept more than usual. It soon became apparent, even to the other cats, that she was sick. she was weak, she drooled, she could no longer yowel as only a Siamese cat can.

Then came the day when we put down a plate of tuna for Gato, and Tommyknocker shouldered her aside for first dibs. Laurie streaked across the kitchen like a furry missile and hit Tommyknocker so hard he rolled over twice before he could react. She sat stiffly in front of that plate of tuna- never even looking at it- until Gato came back and ate her share. Then, and only then, could the others re-enter the kitchen. From that moment until Gato went to the vet the last time, all food and treats were protected by Laurie until Gato exercised her right of first refusal. You could put a plate of Salmon down right in the middle of them, and they would all back off three feet and wait until Gato inspected the plate- even if it took an hour for her to wake up and smell it. God help them if they didn’t.

Laurie’s defense of Gato’s rights won my heart. Behavioral psychologists and vets and such can talk all they want about pecking orders, and pack mentality, etc.. Laurie was the biggest cat in the house by a 50% margin, and the baddest by an even bigger margin- she could have been dominant from the moment she entered the house had she wanted... but she gave an elegant old lady her dignity in her last days- and then returned to her place behind Mehitabel in the seniority list! In my book, she earned more brownie points than she will ever be able to spend in this life.

Update to “wistful VICTORY”

In my post wistful VICTORY , I reported that Wiccan veterans had finally won the right to have the symbol of their faith on their tombstone- something that the Veteran’s Administration had denied them for nearly a decade since the first request. Pictures have been released of the first five markers so engraved, and can be seen here . If you look closely, you will see that they are veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and both desert wars, and that there are multiple Purple Heart and Bronze Star winners.

This represents two victories to me. First and foremost for the veterans themselves; they’ve finally been accorded the religious liberty they died for. But secondly, this is a victory for all Pagans, and all those whose beliefs are out of the mainstream- even the biggest religious bigot will have to stop and think after seeing those headstones at Arlington.

Alternative Buddhist meditations

With the cover article of the latest UUWorld being about UU Buddhism, I thought I’d pass along these meditations from a Jewish Buddhist.

Sayings of the Jewish Buddhist

If there is no self,whose arthritis is this?

Be here now.
Be someplace else later.
Is that so complicated?

Drink tea and nourish life;
with the first sip, joy;
with the second sip, satisfaction;
with the third sip, peace;
with the fourth, a Danish.

Wherever you go, there you are.
Your luggage is another story.

Accept misfortune as a blessing.
Do not wish for perfect health,or a life without problems.
What would you talk about?

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single Oy.

There is no escaping karma.
In a previous life,
you never called,
you never wrote,
you never visited.
And whose fault was that?

Zen is not easy.
It takes effort to attain nothingness.
And then what do you have?
Bupkis.

The Tao does not speak.
The Tao does not blame.
The Tao does not take sides.
The Tao has no expectations.
The Tao demands nothing of others.
The Tao is not Jewish.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Forget this and attaining Enlightenmentwill be the least of your problems.

Let your mind be as a floating cloud.
Let your stillness be as a wooded glen.
And sit up straight.
You'll never meet the Buddha slouching like that.

Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers.
Each flower blossoms ten thousand times.
Each blossom has ten thousand petals.
You might want to see a specialist.

Be aware of your body.
Be aware of your perceptions.
Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.

The Torah says,
Love your neighbor as yourself.
The Buddha says,
There is no self.
So, maybe we're off the hook.

It’s all over but the cutting

After weeks of tests, scopes going up one end and down the other, (I do hope it wasn’t the same scope), and consulting with specialists, we now have a plan of action: in two weeks I undergo two surgeries simultaneously. A few weeks after that, barring complications, infections, etc., I should be pain-free for the first time this year!
Hey- perhaps being free from pain would allow linear thought, and my blog posts might start making sense! Nah, it would take more than that...

I'm on a liquid diet right now,

but not to lose weight. My posting has been a bit erratic lately, and I've not commented on all the fascinating entries all of you have made as I would have liked partially because my already complicated life has recently included tests that have involved drawing twelve vials of blood, an overnight hospital stay, and a transfusion. The liquid diet is in aid of a colonoscopy tomorrow- the closest thing to "solid" I'm having is Vicodin. I admit to being just a bit scared. If you think of me tomorrow, please chant "negative" three times- it would be much appreciated.

UPDATE:
Cancer, polyps, etc., all negative! Which, of course, means more tests; but on the other hand, almost all the really bad possibilities have been eliminated, and the probability is that what's left can be treated with outpatient surgery.

Why political parties matter

There is no greater perjorative these days than partisan; you could get a Catholic to denounce a Papal edict if you could convince him it was partisan politics. Ivory tower types of the left and right alike regularly boast of how they “vote the man, not the party”, and periodically posit new voting systems that would weaken or eliminate the effects of political parties. Of course, any working professional in government- or even an educated layman who understands how the world works- knows that anyone talking like that is a fool, even if he is a Harvard professor... and yet somehow, this has become the social zeitgeist.

Well, we here in Indianapolis have just received an object lesson in such foolishness, one that will cost us dearly before it’s done. Yesterday was our Primary Election- and the biggest debacle in state history. How big? well...
1. 5 polling places never opened at all. This is even worse than it sounds, as one of those was in the suburb of Southport, which only has two!
2. 45 polling places opened late- most around four hours late, but several up to ten hours late- out of the twelve they are open!
3. 100 more of the polling places that did open had one, two, three or more of the following problems: none of the personnel were trained, they were just volunteers pitching in; wrong ballots or no ballots delivered- meaning that even though the poll was “open”, voting was not possible for 6 to 10 hours; no keys or wrong keys for the voting machines; voting machine non-functional for a variety of reasons.
4. Today, as the official legal tallying of the election was to begin, no supervisors for the 40 workers showed up; so they were all sent home- at full pay- to try again tomorrow.
Newspaper articles about the election are here and here .

What lead up to this disaster? The party out of power- Democrats in this case, though it could well have happened to Republicans shut out as long as the Democrats were- spent all their time, money, and resources getting big names elected instead of party-building. First they won the mayor’s office, then a majority of the City/County Council... then when they won a majority of the votes for Secretary of State in Marion County, by State Constitution that gave them control of the elections as well. Therein lies the problem... Lots of money and clever consultants can get a man elected; but only a political party can govern. That was the Marion County Democratic Party’s mistake; they got the keys to power without a grass-roots organization or a machine in place. The party running the election has to supply the county with 917 Inspectors (the trained, legally responsible election officer), 1,834 trained Clerks and Judges, and hopefully 917 elected Precinct Committeemen who can supervise all that, make sure it comes off. (The other party must supply clerks, judges, and committeemen as well) They only came up with 700 Inspectors, and nobody knows how many of the rest of the list were available. (the loss of the legally responsible Inspector renders the rest moot) The only thing we can be sure of is that they didn’t have the Precinct Committeemen either; otherwise they would have stepped up and taken over for the missing Inspectors.

This lack of Committeemen is potentially troubling in another way. If an elected official dies, or is thrown in jail, or otherwise cannot fullfil his duties, who replaces him? In Indiana, his successor is chosen by a vote of the Precinct Committeemen of the same party. Suppose the mayor were to die tommorrow? There is literally no mechanism in place to replace him- first the County Democratic party would have to convene and appoint a bunch of Committeemen, and then hope they all show up to vote!

My point to all this is not to run down the Marion County Democratic Party- I’m sure they recruited plenty of people; the problem is that the only way to tell if your recruits are reliable is to see if they show up, and this time the party had a run of bad luck. In future elections, those who did show up will be highly rewarded, and those who didn’t will be shunned like lepers.

No, my point is to make people understand that the country is not run just by elected officials, or even by the paid government employees; it is run by millions of volunteers, who are coordinated by the political parties. Just to run the Indianapolis elections require 6,419 poll workers, plus the gophers to fetch their lunches, etc., on top of the legal government officials! When you sneer at political parties, you are sneering at a poor clerk, working 12 hours straight to run that election, receiving only a $50 per diem for food and babysitting. And that’s just elections- when you sneer at partisan politics, you are sneering at tens of millions of volunteers all over the country, doing all the strange, ad hoc jobs that must be done to keep society running, but are uneconomical to hire government staff for.

Many people are proud to have participated in democracy because they voted one year in four for President. Those who have given to or worked for a candidate give themselves special airs... I say those things are the minimum necessary to consider one’s self a full citizen! I say that the election debacle was not the fault of the poor clerk, or the County Democratic Party; no, the blame lies with the fact that out of a population of a million, the election failed for a lack of 150 Inspectors! It is the people of Indianapolis who should be ashamed- and any citizen anywhere who has not taken his turn volunteering.

Glitch

For some reason, "comments" turned themselves off on my last two posts, and I had to go into each one individually and turn them back on- if it happens to you, just "edit draft", and "post options" in the bottom left corner of the box has comments options.

Thanks to Kitty and CC for the heads-up!

The church gender gap

Periodically it is noted that nearly all churches have more women regularly attending than men, and Phil’s Little blog on the Prarie notes that not only do we UUs share this gender gap, but that it is an impediment to growth. What he does not do is examine at length why this is so, and we need to understand why in order to address it.

*Disclaimer* I am not a sociologist, and have no formal studies to back up the following opinions, but I believe them valid none the less. As Bob Dylan said, “You don’t have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”

The first problem for the UUA is that men tend to be more conservative than women- the gender gap that is noted at the polls. As the UUA is more liberal than society at large, this exaggerates the gap. I don’t see what can be done about this portion of the gap.

Second, men tend to be consumers more than joiners. They need and value church and spirituality as much as they need and value a doctor or lawyer- and treat tham all the same way. They’ll gladly pay the maintenance fees to ensure they’re there when they need them, but until then, unless the doctor or the minister wants to be a fishing buddy, it’s “Eat right and exercise- gotcha, doc! I’ll be back when my leg is broken.” If you want him to attend, you must offer something that makes him want to attend.

This next reason probably applies more to middle and lower class churches than to UU congregations, who have far fewer members who work with their hands. Men are more likely to have jobs that are physically brutal. There was a ten year period in my life when Sunday was the only day of the week free from pain, and I seldom wasted it going to church. It takes a pretty good incentive to overcome that factor.

Lastly, I believe men have less patience for word games than women do- and the UUA plays more with rhetoric than any other denomination I’m aware of. If the UUA could be considered to have a central doctrine at all, it would be that controling the rhetoric controls the reality. For example, even Libertarians who believe in open borders are likely to say “ ‘undocumented immigrants’? Puh-leeze... they are not citizens, and therefore are aliens. They entered the country illegally, and are therfore illegal aliens- don’t you own a freaking dictionary? Give them amnesty and green cards, fine, I’m down with that. But they are in fact illegal aliens, and what’s more, it’s not racist to say so!”, or “What’s a living wage? If you think the minimum wage should be $12.00/hr, just say so!” Maybe we should make the eminent UU Matt Groening the official arbitor of language for our social issues- say it the way Bart would; men will respect the honesty.

Truth or dare...

We all in the UU blogosphere have recommended to each other blogs and websites that make you think... places where important discussions take place... places where we can learn new outlooks, new thoughts. But these aren’t the only places you check daily! You know what I mean... come on, there are websites you check every day that you would try to cover the screen if someone you knew walked up on you suddenly- don’t try to tell me otherwise. Well, I’m going to admit to a few of them right now - dare ya to match me!

The DM of the Rings . Yes, I am one of those nerds who have been playing role-playing games since their inception more than thirty years ago. This web-comic is made by another long time role-player, and if you’re a gamer, it’s coffee-through-the-nose funny.

Oh My Gods! . Another web-comic... if you are, or know, a Pagan, you will see yourself and all your friends in this strip.

This one is a real guilty pleasure... even though I check it every day, I cannot bring myself to comment. Or even to admit to the title- just look .

I heard us being held up as a good example

and I didn’t like it. This actually happened last Monday, but I had forgotten about it until something reminded me this morning. I was stuck on a difficult passage on what I was writing, so I headed downstairs for lunch and some talk radio- that usually gets the synapses firing. (at least)

Dialing around, I found Bill O’Riley and listened for a while. He was talking about a book he has out that blames all of mankind’s ills on something he calls “secular progressives”- and as I’ve lately been reading that all mankind’s ills come from religion, I found it fascinating. His definition of “secular progressives” is a little more complicated than a simple secular/religious dichotomy, and he was giving examples of people who were “sp’s”. (apparently, many of them live in San Francisco)

One of his callers said that an atheist could not be a moral person, that without God’s laws there could be no morality. Bill objected, holding us up as an example. “Look at Unitarians,” he said, “They are atheists and secular humanists, and they’re perfectly decent, moral people.” He then went on to explain the additional factors that made one a secular progressive.

I was disappointed and upset that O’Riley, an educated man, could hold and propagate that belief, and considered calling him to correct his mistaken impression. Then I caught myself, and laughed- how could I convince Bill O’Riley that you don’t have to be an atheist secular humanist to be a Unitarian Universalist when I can’t even convince the Unitarians?

Get rich blogging

I’ve figured out how we can all get rich off the blogosphere! No, this is not a pyramid scheme; it involves the sale of a real product we all use, that is valued differently under different circumstances- a difference we can leverage into riches!

I’m talking about intellectual property, our thoughts. Thoughts have a universally agreed upon value- they are worth two cents. However... it is also understood that those receiving them need only give a penny for your thoughts. Thus, for every thought transaction, there is a loose penny in the system, unaccounted for. Currently, these loose pennies float until they finally attach at random to fees, credits, or payments somewhere- this is why it’s nearly impossible to balance a checkbook to the penny nowadays.

I propose that when each of you post a new thought, you send those pennies to me, (I accept PayPal), and then post a comment to this post with your name and dream goal. When I reach my dream goal, paying off the mortgage, (as a starving artist, that would take a lot of pressure off me), I will start forwarding them to the blogger at the top of the comment list. A penny a thought may not sound like much, but think how many blogs there are- and a lot of them at our end of the blogosphere are actual certified thinkers! If we can get this system working smoothly, we should all be rolling in dough in no time!

P.S. Don’t look at me like that- this is at least as workable as most of the proposals that will be floated by Presidential candidates between now and November 2008, and people give millions of dollars to them.

wistful VICTORY!!!

A long battle with the Veteran’s Administration ended in victory today for Pagan veterans, and all those who believe in equality under the law. Until now, the VA has steadfastly refused to allow the Pentacle- a five pointed star within a circle, symbol of Wicca and other Pagan faiths- to be put on tombstones of fallen soldiers, even if “Wiccan” was the religion listed on their dog tags. (see my previous post an issue worth supporting ) The VA allows symbols for 38 faiths- including Eckankar, Humanism, and even Atheism... but NOT Wicca.

In this press release from the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, a settlement was announced in a lawsuit the AU brought against the VA. “In the lawsuit, Americans United represented Roberta Stewart, whose husband, Sgt. Patrick Stewart, was killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2005; Karen DePolito, whose husband, Jerome Birnbaum, is a veteran of the Korean War who died last year; Circle Sanctuary, a prominent Wiccan congregation; Jill Medicine Heart Combs, whose husband is severely ill; and the Isis Invicta Military Mission, a Wiccan and Pagan congregation serving military personnel.”

“This settlement has forced the Bush Administration into acknowledging that there are no second class religions in America, including among our nation’s veterans,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. “It is a proud day for religious freedom in the United States.”

As a Pagan, a solitary syncretic Wiccan if you want specifics, I’m happy that my government finally recognizes that the blood of our heros spills as red as that of anyone elses’. But I headlined this as a wistful victory... because as a UU, I’m ashamed that I could never get other UUs interested in this cause, that we were not co-sponsors of that lawsuit. I could never figure out whether it was the witches we didn’t give a damn about, or the veterans.

Ok, ok, that last sentence was harsh, and over the top... but the fact remains that in the 55 weeks since I first wrote about it, I’ve never received comment one, not on the blog, not on the letter tacked on the wall at church, nor have I seen anyone else get any better reaction than I have; explain it how you will.

Thinkers blogs

uuMomma has tagged me in the “Thinking Blog” meme (which started here )- which was quite flattering, as we frequently disagree- but she likes me anyway! (Why do I feel like Sally Fields accepting an Oscar?) So now it’s my turn to reach out and touch five bloggers!

Several of my regulars I cannot pick, because they’ve already been mentioned- as well they should be, because they are on everyone’s favorite’s list: ChailceBlog , Peacebang , Ms. Kitty‘s Saloon and Road Show , Philocrites . One blog I check regularly I cannot mention for other reasons, but we all know him- his initials are RE, and he hails from Montreal. This may surprise some of you, but I can’t help it- despite everything, I still hope for the day when he returns to the light side.

Ok, five of my daily favorites...
1. The Happy Feminist . Simply the best feminist writing anywhere, any format.

2. The Wild Hunt . Pagan news and music- and he hangs out with UUs.

3. Trivium . Very well written look from a lay leader’s perspective.

4. Bill Baar’s West Side . It is said that the essence of youth is beauty; of age, perspective. Bill and I both have perspective.

5. It’s All One Thing . Where there’s a Will, there’s a story.

Only religion can do it

There has been much discussion recently about the role of religion in society, following on the heels of a number of high-profile books and essays saying that religion is the root of all our problems, and should be eliminated in the best interest of mankind. I have come to the reverse conclusion- that if mankind is ever to enter the golden age we are on the verge of, it must and will be religion that will usher us there.

My thoughts jelled while reading the abortion discussion at Ms. Kitty‘s Saloon and Road Show . People are sometimes surprised to find out how strongly pro-life I am, because I do not call for legislation. My position is that it is not possible to write a law that will not be abused by one side or the other, that this is one of many issues that cannot be solved by the government- one must change hearts and minds. In fact, this is true of all the great issues, because of the very nature of government itself.

Government can only coerce, by virtue of having armed men at its command. Government is not equiped to persuade, and has no moral authority to place its values and judgments above your own. Individual statesmen can be persuasive, but they are only by virtue of their own personal integrity. Outlawing something only allows you to punish the perpetrator; it does not prevent the action from occurring. This is why there has been so little call for new laws in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre- we have learned from Iraq that if a man is willing to die in the process, the full armed might of the US may not be enough to stop him.

If you really want to stop a given behavior, not merely punish it, you must do so by moral persuasion. This is something religion is uniquely equiped to do- but not just any religion. To be truly effective at such persuasion, the religion must have two features, the first of which is that any judgments made must be based on behavior, not belief or intent. Bizarre things happen when belief trumps behavior; people will kill themselves or others in the search for eternal life. They will deny their children medical care, snuffing out their young lives to buy them lives in another reality. The religion of the future of mankind must deal with one reality at a time.

The second thing it must do is truly preach the interconnectedness of all things. I don’t mean environmentalism, which is the only thing most people seem to think of when that phrase is used; I mean the fact that actions have far reaching consequences, that karma acts in the here and now, not the next life. Perhaps it would be better to use the more evocative term Adam Smith used when he wrote of this concept as applied to the economy: the invisible hand. Its actions are not always understood until afterwards- the law of unintended consequences- but the reaction of the invisible hand is unstoppable, more certain than death or taxes.

What do I mean, truly preach the invisible hand? I could envision a prison ministry going like this... you pull out an 8 x 10 glossy of a young child- “look at this- good looking kid, isn’t he? He lives in Africa. $500 a year would buy him a glass of milk and some green vegetables every day- but we can’t afford to give it to him because it costs $30,000 a year to keep you here in prison. You, there- how long are you in for?”

“Three more years.”

“Oooo... sorry...” as you speak, you take out a pen and scratch the eyes out of the picture. “This kid can’t wait that long- he and sixty more just like him will go blind from vitamin A deficiency. Here, keep the picture- he won’t need it. You- I’m told you’re a drug dealer?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, they gave me a list of your customers; many are going into rehab. Oh, hey, this is ironic; it turns out your grandmother needs drugs, too, drugs that aren’t covered by Medicaid. But you know, we only have so much money for public medicine, and we have to spend it on rehab- addicts kill people for drug money, little old ladies don’t. So Bob is getting what would have been your Granny’s 80th year of life instead; Jenny gets her 79th year... oh, wow, there another dozen names on this list. Here, take the list; you can explain it to your grandmother when she comes to visit you tomorrow- she still loves you, you know. The rest of you- when you’re out there acting like a big shot, you’re sentencing your friends and family to a form of slavery to pay for it, and you’re sentencing other more needy people to death. When you’re ready to admit that you’re the ones screwing up your own lives, not “the man”, and you want to turn it around, come see me.”

The effects of the invisible hand are, of course, world-wide. As I discuss here , according to the United Nations, there’s enough food right now to cure hunger today. The technology and resources exist to give everyone safe water and sanitation. In fact, the resources exist right now to give everyone on Earth a lifestyle equivalent to lower-to-middle class American- don’t take my word for it; Google around and run the numbers. So why don’t we? A combination of mismangagement, red tape- and money.

So what are we spending the money on instead? Again, you can prove it to yourself by Googling around and using a calculator, but I’ll go ahead and give it to you: crime. Take all the money spent on Law Enforcement and the Criminal Justice System, add in the cost of private security, lawyers, and the schools to teach them, factor in how much manufacturing goes into locks, security doors and barriers, cost of insurance, lost productivity... it’s literally trillions of dollars. Cut crime by 50% world-wide, and Sally Struthers will never have to cut another commercial about famine in Ethiopia. End civil wars as well, and Darfur will look like Muncie, Indiana.

But governments can’t do it- if they could, it would be done already. But religions could- religions have made far greater impact upon the world’s zeitgeist than this before. So what religions are candidates for this role? Liberal Christians- the UUA, UCC, others- might understand about deeds, not words, and interconnectedness, but are so hamstrung by their horror of being “judgmental” as to be utterly incapable of speaking truth to poverty (as opposed to speaking truth to power, which everybody and their blogger is doing). Pagans and NeoPagans understand “one reality at a time” and “the invisible hand” better than the Christians, as they are merely extensions of their “Rede” and “Karma” and “Three-fold Law”- but are hamstrung by their total lack of organization. Most Buddhists get it, but are no stronger a force in most G-8 countries than the Wiccans. There is no religion today positioned to take us into the promised land.
But what about the future? What religion will be the first to step up and lead mankind into its golden age?

My money is on the NeoPagans. The UUs have the organization, history, and money to do it, but have shown no desire to grow beyond a debating society. The UCC depends on defectors from the mainline Christian churches for their growth, and I just don’t think that’s good enough. The Pagans have no organization, but they have the energy, enthusiaism, and are perhaps the fastest growing faith in America. I’m betting the Pagans can grow an organization faster than the UUs can change from talkers to doers. So mote it be.

Update to “An Inconvenient Truth”

In my post of last November 27, An Inconvenient Truth , I pointed out that the hurricane statistics quoted in Al Gore’s movie are at considerable variance with the historical record, and that his predictions for the 2006 hurricane season could not have been more wrong if he had tried. He is making the same predictions for the 2007 season- that there will be a dramatic increase in the number and intensity of hurricanes- and I must say I admire his consistancy; the beauty of weather prediction is that if you stick to your guns, no matter what you say you will eventually be right.

But then Tuesday, there was this story out of University of Miami's Rosenstiel School and a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lab in Princeton, New Jersey, claiming that Global Warming may be making hurricanes milder, not more intense: “The study, to be published on Wednesday in Geophysical Research Letters, found that climate model simulations show a "robust increase" in wind shear in the tropical Atlantic during the 21st century from global warming.

Wind shear, a difference in wind speed or direction at different altitudes, tends to tear apart tropical cyclones, preventing nascent ones from growing and already-formed hurricanes from becoming the monster storms that cause the most damage.”

So as we enter the hurricane season this summer, we can be sure of the following:

If there is an increase in the number or intensity of hurricanes, that is proof of Global Warming.

If there is a decrease in the number or intensity of hurricanes, that is proof of Global Warming.

Even if Global Warming means never again Katrina, we must fight it now, while it’s still a theory; if we wait for hard evidence, it will be too late.

The best way to fight Global Warming is the Kyoto Accords, which have the following bullet points: 1. China, which will surpass the US this year as the world’s leading greenhouse gas producer, and several other third world countries will be exempt from any regulation. 2. The G-8 nations will have modest restrictions. 3. The US will have draconian restrictions, crippling our economy.

If you question any of the above, you’re a mouth breathing, Fox listening, Creation claiming, Holocaust denying, Religious Right Wingnut.

A Military Chaplain Repents

is the title of this interview
with Rev. George B. Zabelka (deceased), former chaplain of the 509th Composite Group- the bomber squadron that dropped the Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (Hat tip to The Witches‘ Voice ) This interview is an absolute must read for anyone considering the question of whether the UUA should become a peace church- no matter which side you’re on.

To dance like no one was watching

Jamie Goodwin at Trivium is always a good read, but his recent post Speaking In Tongues resonated with me even more than usual.

Like Jamie, I was raised in a fundamental tradition- Apostolic in his case, Baptist in mine. After trying a pose of atheism- which my soul could no more accept than fundamentalism- I ended up as a NeoPagan and a UU. And like Jamie, I harbor no hurts or ill will toward the faith of my childhood, and treasure the time spent there.

Jamie and I are in the minority in that position- the vast majority of UUs I have met who are former Christians are contemptous of their Christian upbringing. They seem to believe that they have grown above and beyond those forms of Christianity, that those beliefs were lower rungs on the ladder to higher understanding. Some will state openly and some will only imply what most clearly believe- that the old fashioned John 3:16 Christianity is for the intellectually or emotionally impaired. Not me. I have no illusions that I could fence with the likes of C.S. Lewis or W. F. Buckley. My path is not better than theirs, I have not grown beyond them, I have merely grown away from them. I am on a different path because I have different emotional and spiritual needs, not because I am more intelligent than they.

Because we do not despise where we came from, Jamie and I are both capable of seeing that in some ways, modern UU has thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Our horror of ritual, for one thing. UUs are almost unique in shunning ritual; nearly all other religions recognize that ritual is a unifying factor, that it is a trigger for joy and comraderie. The ritual that Jamie misses is speaking in tongues- one of the very rituals most ridiculed by those who believe they are above such trailer-trash holy-roller stuff. Of course, those people have no theological arguments for their attitudes, merely cultural prejudice; they equate dour New England reserve with intellectual advancement, and “making a joyful noise” with more primitive cultures worthy of a “National Geographic” article.

They are missing what makes “being taken by the spirit” one of the oldest and most universal of religious rituals. Whether it is a VooDoo congregate channelling a Loa, or a Wiccan “drawing down the Moon”, or a Pentacostal “speaking in tongues”. or a Baptist “making a joyful noise”, they are letting go, “dancing as if no one were watching, singing as if no one were listening”. It is a catharsis, and more- it is your concious connecting with your subconcious, leaving you more whole and healthy than you were before. It is a revelatory experience; you cannot hide internal conflicts from yourself during such an experience.

But alas, it is an experience the average UU will never know. Or if they do, if they find a safe place in which they can truly let go, to bring forth what is within and share, it will not be within the confines of a UU service.

Working class Unitarians?

Doug Muder has written what is in my opinion the finest UU blog post to date, entitled Unitarian Universalism and the Working Class . Go and read it before reading the rest of this post. In fact, go read it even if you never read the rest of this post.

I am a working class Unitarian, as obviously Doug is. He describes mindsets and attitudes from the working class that the upper classes might not understand, attitudes necessary for survival. He closes by asking, “The question I want to leave you with is whether Unitarian Universalism is bringing the world a message about life, or just a message about our lives? Can we speak in words that make sense both in the high place and in the maze?” This is possibly the most important question ever asked of UUs, and not just for the purpose of recruiting from the lower classes; it is vitally important because if we are not speaking truths that are universal, we’re not speaking truth at all!

Lessons learned from growing up poor are often in direct contradiction to lessons taught at UUA GA workshops. Let’s take a composite poor person’s life, part mine and part several friends- call him “Don”, because he might be a she, spelled “Dawn“- to see what I mean. Don’s parents drilled him in the lesson Doug mentions, “Second chances. Rich kids, professional kids – they get them. The door never completely closes on you. If your parents are doctors or lawyers, you can flunk out of two or three colleges. It’ll work out...In the working class it’s not that way...What if you had one shot? You wouldn’t blow it, would you?” And so Dawn works like a dog all through High School. Because he’s not a natural student, he spends hours every night studying rather than hanging with his friends. he works summers and weekends at the kind of menial jobs a teenager can get because he’s going to need every penny at college.

Don attends a community college or state school because even with a Pell grant and loans, that’s what he can afford. He also works while going to school. Some “Dawns” will earn enough in their blue collar day job that they can’t bear to go on with the dual life- I didn’t have the stamina nor, I’ll admit, the discipline to work full time and still finish school. Upon graduation, or upon getting his journeyman badge if he dropped out of college, he lands an entry level position behind peers with degrees from fancier schools. Don spends the decade of his 20’s, perhaps longer, either working overtime or a second job to cover the crushing student debt load (and possibly credit card debt as well) he picked up in college. Finally, somewhere in his late 30’s or 40’s, he’s down to one job and has time to think about things like re-connecting with a spiritual life; he wanders into a UU church.


Here he learns that he’s a “winner in life’s lottery”, that those with less are “less fortunate”. This is in direct contrdiction to his life experience... he’s been working 50-60 hours per week since he was 13 years old, working his youth away when his peers were having fun, and now learns the fruits of this discipline are considered “good fortune”. His life experience is that anyone who stays away from drugs, finishes high school, and doesn’t have/father a child out of wedlock can earn a decent living; outside of a physical or mental handicap, poverty is the result of bad life choices, usually multiple bad choices... but if he dares say so he’ll be denounced as a heartless Republican and shunned.

At other workshops, he’ll learn that all he has is not good fortune, but the result of “privilege”- either “White Privilege”, or “Male Privilege”, or (shudder) the dreaded “White Male Privilege”! He contemplates his scarred and callused hands, the varicose veins from being on his feet 12-14 hours a day working two jobs for a quarter of a century, and wonders how hard he’d have had to work without all that “privilege”...

In the mainstream Christian church in which he was raised, “envy” was one of the deadly sins. His life experience confirmed this; envy leads only to schadenfreude, and the inability to enjoy those blessing one does possess. Here, he learns that envy is a virtue, not a sin; the problem is not that the poor don’t have enough but that the rich have too much- it is the gap that is the problem. In his parent’s day, the diseases of the poor were kwishiorkor, pellagra, rickets, scurvy- many hundreds of thousands died in the United States before WWII from simple dietary deficiencies due to extreme poverty...today, the diseases of the poor are diabetes and heart disease from overweight- but the UUA teaches that things are worse than ever because the gap is bigger.

To Don/Dawn, the UUA does not exist in the real world, or at least not in the world inhabited by the bottom three quintiles. Don longs for a church that preaches personal responsibility, because choices have consequences; the UUA teaches that personal results have societal causes. Problems that Don sees as caused by correctable human flaws that should be preached about are seen by the UUA as societal inequities that can only be cured by political action. Oh, well, he shrugs, at least the UUA works with people from both parties- the Democrats and the Greens.

Doug ends his piece with “My hunch, my faith – or maybe just what I need to believe to do what I do – is that we can find such a message, that there can be a truth that encompasses all times and all places, a wisdom big enough for all people.” My faith is that there is just such a message. My sadness is that I don’t believe we have any intention of looking for it- that we would rather surrender the working class to the Religious Right than to admit that any position the GA’s have voted on was wrong.

New belief quiz

QuizFarm has a new belief quiz that is interesting, but flawed in my opinion. Try it before you read my score below, which I’ll compare with my Belief-O-Matic results. I’m interested to see if you get the same surprising results I did.

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Ok, first my Belief-O-Matic results:
1. NeoPagan, 100%
2. New Age, 100%
3. Unitarian Universalism, 98%
4. Liberal Quaker, 97%
5. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestant, 91%

Considering that I admit to being a NeoPagan and a pledge-paying member of a UU congregation, I’d say they were reasonably close.

The QuizFarm results:
You scored as Islam.
Your beliefs are most similar to those of Islam. Do more research on Islam and possibly consider taking the shahadah and officially becoming a Muslim, if you aren't already. Despite the actions of some - who go against the teachings of Islam - Islam is a religion of peace; the word "islam" means "peace through submission to God." "Muslim" means "one who submits to God." Islam is the third of the three Abrahamic faiths, and it shares much with Judaism in Christianity; its differences are the acceptance of Muhammad as the last and final prophet, and the oneness of God - in other words, that Jesus, though he was a revered prophet, was not in fact God, and only one God exists. Apparently the Taliban could not read (though their name means "students"), because the Qur'an states that men and women are equal as believers, and that all believers should be educated and seek knowledge. Modesty in dress and behavior is required in Islam for both men and women to preserve the values of society and move the emphasis from superificial appearance to intelligence, knowledge, and God.
Islam 83%
Satanism 79%
agnosticism 67%
Paganism 63%
Hinduism 58%
Buddhism 50%
Judaism 46%
Christianity 29%
atheism 8%

Ok, I can understand the high Satanism score- Satanists are quite Libertarian, as am I (although to my mind, they take the next step to full libertine). But Islam 83%? Surely the author of this test must be very niave about what is and isn’t tolerated within the faith of Islam. Yeah, yeah, religion of peace, got it... but would the average Imam take it peacefully if he knew that someone in his flock who professed to be Muslim was also a panentheist, an animist, and practiced religious witchcraft? If I have a reader more knowlegeable of Islam than I, (which wouldn’t take much, I’ll admit), perhaps they could tell me if that would be within the acceptable range of practices? Can Islam be syncretic with Wicca?

Update to “Not in my day”

A couple weeks ago I posted about some 12 year olds who had sex during class in my local school system; I had been surprized that A. They had the nerve, B. The teacher never noticed. Well, after seeing this story , my school system appears to be just average. I quote from the story: “Four students - two 11-year-old girls, a 12-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy - were arrested on charges of obscenity, a felony... The investigation showed that two males and two females had sex in the classroom while the 11-year-old boy acted as a lookout, Buckley said.”

What makes this story more interesting, though, is that the kids had a perfect diversion- they were screwing during a special school assembly. The purpose of the assembly was to discuss a stabbing death involving one of their students... I guess the school officials were under the illusion that the kids might have been upset. Evidently, they were more resilient than the school administration imagined.

Write me off as an old fogey if you will- I just don’t remember grade school being like that forty years ago.

Three proofs of Spring

I received three very welcome proofs that Spring has in fact arrived this past weekend. The first was when our winter depressive cat , Laurie, asked to go outside for the first time in months. True, she only dashed from green spot amidst the brown to green, and asked to come back in after eating only six early-blooming violets- but she had gone outside of her own volition for the first time in months.

The second sign of Spring was when one of our younger cats, Tabitha, found a full grown fieldmouse and brought it into the house. She dropped it on the living room floor, and a soccer game ensued; she and her sister Hillary on one side, older brothers Simon and Garfunkle on the other. Alas, it would appear that fieldmice are not of adequately robust construction for such games; with only three goals scored, the game had to be called on account of equipment breakage.

For the last proof, we turn from the fieldmouse to die fledermaus- our own namesake species, the Indiana Brown Bat. Two of them were in my backyard Saturday night, tumbling through the sky as only a bat can. I sometimes wonder if those amazing aerobatics are really necessary to catch bugs, or if they do it just because they can?

A new fundamentalism

There’s an interesting article in the International Herald Tribune, A new fundamentalism? Some decry strident tone of fellow atheists . Reasonable atheists are starting to challenge the vicious, insulting language of the branch of atheism more correctly described as “anti-theism”, currently led by men such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. “BOSTON: Atheists are under attack these days for being too militant, for not just disbelieving in religious faith but for trying to eradicate it. And who is leveling these accusations? Other atheists, it turns out.” And none too soon, say I.

While Greg Epstein, who holds the partially endowed post of humanist chaplain at Harvard University, and Pulitzer Prize-winning scientist E.O. Wilson decry the language of the "atheist fundamentalists", there are attempts to put a decent spin on the nasty habits of Harris and Dawkins, such as the statement in the article that “His (Dawkins) attempt to win converts is clear in "The God Delusion," when he writes of his hope that "religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down." I don’t see how anyone can believe that for a split second; it’s quite clearly an attempt to deflect justified anger- when, in all of human history, has anyone ever gained a convert by saying “Your God is ‘a psychotic delinquent’, your insanity is destroying the world, and teaching your faith to your children is worse than sexually molesting them.” Dawkins cannot pretend that that is the sort of rhetoric one uses to persuade people.

Sam Harris, of course, sees things differently. “Harris, author of "Letter to a Christian Nation," sees the disagreement as overblown... Harris also rejected the term "atheist fundamentalist," calling it "a silly play upon words." Sorry, Sam, but the term is fully justified. You admit to “intellectual intolerance”, saying "We do not jail people for being stupid, but we do stop listening to them after a while." Any statement about God that is stated as known fact is a religious statement, even if that statement is “He doesn’t exist”; you, Sam, are a religious fundamentalist, and a bigot to boot. There is no virtue in expressing contempt for your fellow man.

Genuinely depressing

A Tip of the Hat to UU Enforcer for bringing this You Tube advertisement by and for Starr King School of Ministry. *sigh* It “encapsulates” (to quote the ad) nearly all that’s wrong with our denomination.

The raise the least issue first, it’s just plain bad on its own level as an advertisement; I doubt it’d get a “C” from a high school AV teacher. In fact, if you didn’t speak English, you wouldn’t recognize it as an ad at all- the format and feel is that of a memorial for someone or thing deceased. It opens with still red credit panels, followed by one person very stiffly speaking a short paragraph, followed by a still photo slide show of people you don’t know, followed by still panel credits, with the soundtrack being a single piano playing some slow, doleful tune. As a college-level effort, it’s pretty sad.

The sole speaker is a student, Neal Anderson. Here is what he says: “I chose Starr King School for the Ministry because it best encapsulated the values that I have and the values that I wanted to expand upon. The explicit dedication to educating to counter oppression was very important to my call to ministry. I wanted to grow in my understanding of how Unitarian Universalism can live the countering of oppression in the world, and also how we as Unitarian Universalists can build sustainable and justice centered communities.”

Good God. I’m sure Neal is a perfectly nice fellow, but is there something about UUism makes one incapable of speaking English? I haven’t heard language like that since those humorless, dedicated students in the 70’s who actually carried the “little red book” and spoke of “dialectics”. And look what he calls a “call to ministry”; no mention whatsoever of actually ministering to anyone. A minister is counselor of first choice for many people, someone to help you make sense of the tragedies and absurdities of life, someone who may not help you find the answers, but at least helps you find the right questions. His statement of purpose makes him sound like one of those who will continuously harangue from the pulpit... the kind who answers “How could God allow my child to get cancer” with “Now you know the kind of heartbreak Palestinians living in Israel live with daily; won’t you write your Congressman?” (Yes, this is an exaggeration of an actual exchange)

What does it say about Starr King that they would consider that statement as the best one to put forward to entice people into the seminary? Personally, were I running a seminary, that statement wouldn’t have even earned him admission. Where is “The explicit dedication to educating to” help his neighbors find their spiritual path, to use our principles and purposes in our daily lives? I constantly get the feeling that many UUs, not to mention ministers, cannot bear such mundane duties, that it is beneath them, that the purpose of Unitarian Universalism is to deal with the BIG IMPORTANT ISSUES... we’re far too smart to deal with hunger by doling out meals, we know that we must lobby Washington to deal with the root causes!

*Sigh* It still hasn’t reached tipping point for me yet... but it’s not too far away, either.

A Tale of Two Papers

The above the fold headline of The Sunday Times: Iraqis: life is getting better . The above the fold headline of the Indianapolis Star, Monday: Poll: Iraqis losing hope . Says the Star: “Six in 10 Iraqis say their lives are going badly. Only one-third expect things to improve in the next year.”; says the Sunday Times: “By a majority of two to one, Iraqis believe military operations now under way will disarm all militias. More than half say security will improve after a withdrawal of multinational forces.”

Well, that certainly cleared that up.

Not in my day

Usually when an old curmudgeon like myself notes how the younger generation is going to Hell in a handbag, we are told that old fogies have been saying that for thousands of years, and a quote by Aristotle is brought up to demonstrate it. I still say what’s going on today is different from what went on in my day.

OK, perhaps I was a bit backwards not having had my first kiss yet by the 6th grade- but even the most forward of my classmates weren’t having sex during computer lab, as recently occurred in a local school. I can’t even decide which is the most important of reasons why this could not have happened when I was 12 years old.

Did you have a party for your 15th birthday? In my day such a party would have broken up and all gone home by 10:00- but this past weekend one 15 year old girl’s party here in town had a fight break out around 1:00 a.m., that ended up as a three car running firefight that left two dead . Again, I can’t even begin to state on how many levels that is wrong.

Now, I will admit that occasionally after a high school ball game a fight would occur... but I sure don’t remember it becoming a major riot that could tie up Times Square, with a subway firefight as happened Sunday . We’ve gotten used to the idea that winning an NBA championship requires a riot afterward; (I got some “what rubes” type ribbing from friends over the fact that Indianapolis had a polite Dome Rally after winning the Super Bowl), but for a high school game? What’s next- will shots be exchanged following a foul during the “hokey pokey” in kindergarten?

Missing a bet on Fox

The Nevada Democratic Party had scheduled a debate for the announced Presidential candidates in August, to be hosted by Fox News- until MoveOn.Org got wind of it, and raised such a ruckus that the debate has now been cancelled. Two different versions of the story are here and here .

It seems to me that the party is missing a bet here- the problem isn’t that Fox is involved, but that it’s the wrong division of Fox. What we have here, counting both major parties plus the Greens and the Libertarians is over a dozen candidates that have to be winnowed down to four for the final election. Fox has in place the best mechanism yet devised for doing just that- what they should have done is scheduled a special “Presidential Edition” of American Idol!

Look- more people vote for Idol candidates than for President- and they pay extra to do so. Make those 866 charges into campaign contributions; 30 or 40 million calls an evening add up to a lot of money- it could even the playing field for the less well financed candidates. People would actually hear more from each candidate on the “Idol” format than they do in standard debates, especially as the numbers of candidates get smaller each week; we’d have better informed voters. It would save the parties and the taxpayers a fortune; primaries are not paid for by commercials. And a lot of the candidates could well use advice from Simon Cowell!

A Conservative in a Liberal Faith

A conversation that began on CRAPonSundays and was continued on the ChaliceBlog here and here raises two old questions: 1. Is it proper and/or effective for a church to be involved in politics, and 2. How can a UU be a political conservative? As the political positions are derived from the PPs, a UU shouldn’t be a conservative. I will address the second question first, as the answer to that leads directly to the answer to the first.

Those who don’t understand how a good UU can be a political conservative have fallen afoul of a logical fallacy, mistaking the method or means for the desired end goal, leading to a false choice. Instead of asking “Is method A or method B the best way to achieve our goal?”, they ask “Do you agree with method A, or do you disagree with the goal?” For example, they might say “Do you support the Living Wage, or do you not care about the poor?” A conservative might say, as I did here , that the issue is not whether I care about the poor, but whether or not this program will in fact help the poor- and I know it will not. My concern for the poor is why I’m against it. Unfortunately, this basic question- will the proposed program actually work- never seems to be addressed in depth when “debating” the topic, only whether or not it follows the PPs. To a conservative’s ears, this sounds like “politicians’ logic”: Something must be done. This is something; therefore we must do it.

None of the general principles of a classic (not a religious right) conservative, things like fiscal responsibility, personal responsibility and personal action, that rights reside within the citizen and are only loaned to the government, not vice-versa, least government possible, and even that as local as possible, etc., are in conflict with the PPs- with one possible exception: Conservatives recognize that government is rarely the right vehicle to address the basic issues, that either the marketplace or other citizen organizations (like churches) are far more effective in issues where hearts and minds must be changed. This is in direct opposition to the current mindset of the majority of the UUA, who seem to believe that social justice comes only from the pages of a sternly-worded fax to a congressman.

That last leads me to why we, as a denomination rather than as individuals, should steer clear of politics- if you want to actually do something, rather than just make a statement, you don’t want to go to the government in the first place. If you look at the social advances we’ve made in the last half century or so, almost all of it came from social organizations and social pressure, rather than government action. Martin Luther King made his points from the pulpit talking about God, not from the Washington Advocacy Office talking about votes. MADD has done more to stop drunk driving with social pressure than any lawnorder politician ever accomplished- comedians like Foster Brooks used to base entire careers on how funny public drunkenness is; could you imagine such an act succeeding today? Why do you think there’s no more blackface humor or “I’m Cheryl-fly me!” style sexist advertising on TV? Changing public sensitivities, driven by social activists, not government projects. Disney and other private companies did more for gay rights by using their buying clout to force insurance companies to stop discriminating than anything the government has ever done, and it was groups like GLAD that created the social atmosphere that made it possible. Any government action that aided any of these things followed the social pressure from private groups; they didn’t lead it.

That being the case, I believe that every penny spent on the Washington Advocacy Office is wasted, as is every moment of time spent debating resolutions aimed at Congress. We should be talking directly to the people, not to politicians who quite frankly have no reason whatsoever to listen to us anyway. We could instead be asking the entertainment media to change the way certain issues are presented or referenced, like MADD and GLAD and anti-smoking groups and so many others did. We could be producing Public Service Announcements to be distributed to radio and TV stations. We could be training experts in given issues who would be able to speak to churches and clubs around the country, or giving lectures at Barnes and Nobles. You know- those things that are proven to work.

Missing in Action

Does anyone know whatever happened to The Happy Feminist ? I really miss her.

Freedom Vs. Truth

I believe I have mentioned before that what got me hooked into UU was the first sermon I heard by Reverend Bruce Clear- I know I have recommended his sermons here before . I am about to do so again- and amusingly, this sermon opens with a description of the sermon that hooked him into UU. And why does he tell that story? A teaser: “I tell this story to prepare you for what might sound a bit shocking to some ears, whether newcomers or long-timers. I am going to speak out this morning against truth. I declare that I don't believe in truth.” The full text is here .

Important announcement

I had hoped it would not be necessary to say the words- especially as for five crucial days I have been too sick to coherently blog. But catching up on the news, it seems that these days nothing can be taken for granted, and things that go without saying now need to be said. Therefore, I state this formally for the record: I am not the father of Anna Nicole's baby.

For UUs living outside New Orleans,

This is Shrove Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras. I said it that way because while most Protestant denominations pay scant attention to Lent and Mardi Gras, it seems that many UUs have taken a step beyond inattention to cultural illiteracy on the subject- which I think is a shame.

I’ve been thinking about this since doing coffee hour Sunday, with our service group, The Channing Club. When we do coffee hour, we like to decorate the table holding the cream, sugar, and snacks. This time we did a Mardi Gras theme, and I wore the green, purple, and yellow jester’s hat I picked up in New Orleans. A number of people asked why the hat, and I usually smiled and answered “Just confirming what everyone always suspected about me.” But there were a surprising number who actually hadn’t a clue about Mardi Gras. “Oh, what, is that this weekend?” “Well, Tuesday is technically Mardi Gras, but it’s actually the end of the whole Carnival season.” “Really!”

It surprised me how many knew how little about Mardi Gras, even to the point about not knowing about its connection to Lent. Of course, there wasn’t time while serving coffee for lectures on the subject, nor is it my place to do so. But a lot of Protestant denominations are rethinking their position on Lent, thinking they may have been hasty ditching it along with other Catholic practices in the schism, that it may have been one of the babies in the bathwater- and I think they may be right, and that it wouldn’t hurt we UUs to take another look at it.

Those who know Lent only from childhood Catholic friends who had to give up chocolate or gum or comic books for a month are unaware of the valuable symbolism involved. Lent commemorates Jesus' first step into his ministry- he spent forty days in the wilderness praying, fasting, learning to handle doubts and temptations. Those who practice Lent do so because they are aware that whether they like it or not, their lives too are a ministry; that the world will judge Christianity by the actions of Christians. The idea is to spend forty days out of the year in spiritual contemplation, practicing and testing your discipline and devotion.

This seems to me to be an excellent practice for UUs to adopt. It’s non-denominational; Jesus didn’t invent the practice- the forty day trial is a recurring theme in the Bible. For example, Moses stayed on the Mountain of God forty days (Exodus 24:18 and 34:28), Elijah traveled forty days before he reached the cave where he had his vision (1 Kings 19:8), Nineveh was given forty days to repent (Jonah 3:4). Thus, a UU Lent would include a tradition that Jews and Muslims could share as well, and excludes no one- though a Pagan, the Divine knows I could certainly use periods of discipline and contemplation. Even some atheists may benefit from a little introspection. I think if carefully thought out, a UU Lent could be a useful and unifying practice for us.

What do I believe about God?

Ms. Kitty has a truly marvelous entry in the latest UU Carnival, Ms. Kitty's Saloon and Road Show: Prophetic Atheism . At the end, she asks a question one almost never hears asked by a UU Minister: What do you believe about God?
Like Ms. Kitty, I cannot believe in the “old man on the throne” God. The ancient concepts of God, from Zeus to Jehovah, is not really a God, but a man writ large; a being who thinks as men think, who sees as men see (just better), who feels the same emotions men do, and acts upon them just as savagely as men do. This is the God that inspired Mark Twain to say, “God created man in his own image; man, being a gentleman, returned the favor.” For this reason I no longer even use the word “God” to refer to that which I worship, nor use the masculine pronoun; they have too much baggage- I say “the Divine”, and “She”.

I am a Panentheist: the Divine is part of the fabric of space-time itself, (I speculate on how it could have happened here ), and so is in everything. The Divine is not the creator, but the substance of creation- but She is also a living sentience. As She is in everything, I am also an animist.

The Divine does not manipulate the physical world; she does not cause natural disasters to punish, nor saves from disaster to reward.

The Divine operates through living agencies, by speaking directly to our souls. She does not compel, she only persuades; we are free to ignore her if we wish.

The Divine does not damn us for disbelief, nor punish us for disobedience; She dispenses her gifts unconditionally. Any price we pay for these “sins” we impose on ourselves, by denying ourselves her abundant joys and wisdom.

The Divine is not fed by our praise, nor diminished by the unbelievers’ ridicule. If you deny her, She will love you still; if you praise her, she cannot love you more. Just accept her, and be enriched.

What do you believe about God?

Do we choose to believe?

What is belief? There are many definitions, but the one that covers more uses of the word than any other I am aware of is the mental acceptance of the truth or factuality of a claim. The “claim” can be of any nature- a statement, an assumption, even the evidence of your senses- “I can’t believe my eyes.” Many attempt to make a distinction between what we know and what we believe, but this is a false distinction; as individuals, we have no source of information that can be trusted as absolute objective fact, not even our senses. As individuals, we live in a subjective world, a mental model that we hope is a close match to the objective world.

Belief is how we construct that mental model, and it is arrived at in many ways. We can largely trust our senses, but not completely; as Scrooge said to Marley, “a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats.” Even when operating in perfect order, our sense are still not adequate to determine fact, as they are subject to our perception- was that two faces, or a vase? Was that a bird or a bat- or a meaningless ink blot? Authority is another way we construct the model- but of course we must realize that those authorities are also fallible. Logic is another method, but logic has its limitations as well, and we cannot predict when a new discovery will upset the old rules. Belief is the weighing of all these factors- largely unconsciously- and assigning a level of trust to each claim.

What sorts of proofs and evidence we trust most is a function of our personality types. Some trust authority to a much higher degree than others- when faced with that old question, “Who you gonna believe- me, or your lying eyes?”, the answer would be, “You.” Some trust past experiences highly- how highly can be demonstrated by an anecdote I heard at a seminar. The speaker was an author, a blond Caucasian woman, who had been partly raised in China and so spoke several dialects like a native. She said that quite often she would ask a local something, and be told “I don’t speak English”- the local having been so accustomed to the “fact” that Westerners don’t/can’t learn Chinese that it didn’t sink in that she had addressed them in Chinese!
Some trust logic so highly that they feel no need to test a conclusion logically arrived at. This is why for centuries tomatoes were believed poisonous in Western Europe; the plant is a close relative of the Deadly Nightshade, and tasting your fingertips after handling the leaves and stems will tell you they contain some of the same toxins. Q.E.D.! When two or mores types of evidence agree, belief in the conclusion is strong indeed. It only makes sense that heavy objects fall faster than light objects; look, a rock falls faster than a feather! This was so convincing that it was believed for thousands of years.

What controls how our minds balance the different types of evidence? What makes a person prize logic so highly that he writes off his own powerful emotional experiences, as Scrooge did, as, “an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato.” What makes another trust authority so highly that if his reading of the Bible led him to believe there was an invisible bridge across the Grand Canyon, he would take the leap of faith and step out upon that bridge? What part does education play in assigning values to evidence, what part experience- and what part genetics?
I look at my own experience. Though raised in a devout atmosphere, at no time did the Bible stories seem any more real to me than Greek myths. I remember quite clearly, my age in single digits, lying awake at night wondering what was wrong with me that I couldn’t believe. Surely, at that age, that came from within- believe me when I say that fifty years ago in Indiana grade school children were NOT taught to question God or Christianity! On the other hand, despite years of trying on atheism- back when I bought into the false choice of either Jehovah or nothing- I could never accept that, either. Even though I share with Richard Dawkins a high I.Q., a technical education, and a tendency toward linear thinking, I cannot deny the Divinity my heart knows exists.

Is it possible that we can no more choose how we believe than we choose our sexuality?

Warning: low humor part 2

Taking a break from my work to pass along a very bad joke:

I understand that Fox has just bought a new sitcom based on the Space Shuttle on the strength of its first episode. "The plot was strange," said a Fox spokesman, "But the pilot was irresistible."

I'm still alive

It's been a while since I've posted, but it wasn't for lack of opinions. (strangely enough, I seem very well equiped with those) No, there have been a number of "real life intruding" incidents in a row, such as losing the furnace with real temperature 5 below, windchill 25 below; Imbolc, Superbowl preparations, coffeehour duty at church, game and victory celebrations (you do know I write from Indianapolis), meeting with book dealers, etc. I expect to resume my normal blogging pace shortly.