Sitting at a bar, Drinking a beer...

You learn a lot when you sit at a bar with a beer and just keep your mouth shut.  For one thing you realize how stupid alcohol can make otherwise intelligent people.  Or not.  Since I did not know the person sitting beside me I have no idea whether or not he was smart before the alcohol kicked in.  but he was having a conversation with an elderly lady about the two newsworthy stories yesterday.  Obama giving the eulogy for the pastor shot and killed in Charleston with 8 others, and the Supreme Court decision on Gay Marriage.  It was quite obvious that he was not a fan of either while the lady was impressed with both.  But somewhere in the conversation he commented that 'today was the end of democracy in America.'  And I was thinking that perhaps I, myself, do not have a complete understanding of what democracy is, but this is how the conversation went in my head:

“You’re an idiot.  If this were a true democracy, I might agree with you, but the reality is that we generally don’t put things to a ‘vote of the people’ because that is why we have representatives.  In a republic, we send people to Washington, D.C. to speak for us.  And they do our bidding with the caveat that there is a constitution that has to be considered in all laws that we enact.”  I think the architects of the constitution were very thorough, but still, there was no accounting for progress.

Here is what I think is the real issue.  We are at a shift in thought in our country where people are beginning to realize the importance of equality.  Gender, racial, lifestyle, etc, but the representation hasn’t caught on to it…yet.  One of the reasons is that the people we are sending to represent us, for the most part, are career politicians.  And if I were to define ‘career politician’ I would have to include the phrase ‘out of touch with regular folks.’  Another reason is that there are millions of people with thousands of different ideas on issues that are not always cut and dry and that there are not enough people in congress to adequately represent all of us.  But that muddies it even more, because to rectify it would require growing government.

Do you see the dilemma?  I certainly do.  And  honestly I have no idea how to fix it.  But we have to be conscious of the needs of the people.  All the people.  We the people.

Perhaps if I had had more than one beer I could have added to his conversation…thank God I only had one.

The greatest of these is Love!

I lived in South Carolina for many years.  I went to college there and I worked and played there over the past many years. (since 1979)

In the early 70’s there were no black students at the university I attended.  They were not allowed.  It was a “Christian” university.  When blacks were finally allowed, there were rules in place to separate the blacks from whites by not allowing interracial dating.  That was not limited to blacks and whites, but also Asian, and Indian (India).  They justified it by using bible verses that talk about how races should be separate.

(for a complete understanding of the ignorance go to: http://www.drslewis.org/camille/2013/03/15/is-segregation-scriptural-by-bob-jones-sr-1960/)

Now I assure you that upon my arrival at this university I was unaware of the discrimination of races that were not white and I was completely immersed in this new religion that I had found after stepping away from Catholicism.  It wasn’t a main topic of conversation.  The brunt of the pressure had been eased in 1971 when BJU began accepting black applicants.  This was in no way willingly or philosophically in line with their beliefs, it was to avoid losing its tax status with the IRS.

While studying there I began to see the heavily racist attitude that was meant to be kept buried in the ‘good works’ that the university was selling to the public, yet at no time were there any doubts as to its stance on race.  But I have a strong suspicion that the university did not end up in South Carolina by accident.  It began in Florida, was resurrected in Tennessee, and finally found a permanent home in Carolina.  It gave honorary doctorates to the likes of George Wallace and Strom Thurmond.  But this was their culture…and it was in line with the states practices.

The idea of the flag of the Confederacy being about heritage, not hate has no basis in reality, it is merely what people say to justify their beliefs.  I mean blacks are an extremely important part of the Heritage of the south, but you will never see a black man or woman in a pick-up truck with a giant confederate flag waving from the bed.

The “black race” has taken nothing away from our culture, but has enriched it and made it fuller.  And the idea that the color of one’s skin makes them less of a person, or someone to be feared or repressed is just insane.  God is not a respecter of persons.  God does not see color like humans see color.  Jesus wasn’t a ‘white guy.’  Sorry if that bursts your bubble, but if Jesus were here today, many people (not all) in South Carolina wouldn’t even talk to him and would likely judge him based on the color of his skin.

It’s time to teach our children Love and acceptance, not hate and fear. 

A load of Crap!

Would you ever go up to Deepak Chopra after he finished speaking and ask “so who taught you that?”

Maybe not.  But how many times can you remember having an “AHA” moment, said something profound to another person or group and they say: “where did you hear that?” And because it originated in your mind, you have no chapter and verse that you can reference.  But perhaps you attribute to something or someone anyway because an insecurity says that it is easier to believe if someone of “importance” said it first.

I see it all the time on the internet and especially on Facebook.  You will see a meme that has a picture of Einstein, or Lincoln, or Ghandi, and it has a quotation that you have never before heard attributed to any of those people, and yet you believe it.  When in reality, someone had a great thought and figured it would be better received, and believed, if a famous person said it.

The fact is (I write tongue in cheek) is that nothing has value unless someone of importance is spouting it.  The Truth, however, is not the case.  There are wise people living quiet existences all over the world, and if it were only possible for them to be famous, even for just the moment when they say what it is that would inspire us, we would all be the better.

If it’s true, or rings true to your soul, does it really matter who says it?  If you have an enemy, and they say something life changing do you just throw your hand up, shout pffft, and ignore them?

I encourage you to listen. Please listen!  Listen with an open mind and an open heart.  And it doesn’t matter who is talking.  Old people, parents, single people, married people, teenagers, children.  Listen.

If you lay a seed in the sun it will not grow.  The sun alone will kill it.  If you soak it in water, in the dark, it may sprout, but it will never bear fruit.  If you stick it in sterile ground it will also come to naught.

Life, as well as plants, need many external influences to make it grow.  And even when you think that someone else is just spewing a load of crap…remember…fertilizer is a load of crap!

It's all been done (apologies to Barenaked Ladies)

I don’t know what it is about the wee hours of the night just before I fall off to sleep that brings out a creative surge in me.  Unfortunately for you, I do not get up at that time and head to my computer to write it down, so instead you are left with the dregs of a foggy morning brain.

But I will try…

Since the idea has been put in the mind of humans over many years (certainly within my lifetime) that there is nothing new under the sun, that there are no new thoughts, I began to ponder the reason for thinking at all.  If it has all been said and postulated it there any reason at all to continue?

Well, I don’t know who started spreading that crap around, but the reality is that until something is discovered and put to use it still has the good fortune to be considered new.  And thought is the one area that is the most excused for “not” being new.

In the 5^th century BCE a guy left his mansion and set out to discover what the world really looked like and what part he played in it.  He learned of peace, love, harmony, and the importance of treating others the way he would want to be treated.  He was pretty famous.  But then came along another guy, 500+ years later saying the same things and he became the figurehead of the largest religions (Christianity) in the world…but his message was the same. 

Balk at it all you want, but most learned scholars would be able to stand them side by side and compare more than contrast.

The thing is that preachers of peace are the fundamental basis for all that is good in the world, yet when you think of the religions that they have spawned (more indirectly than hands-on), they are based more on making every one believe their specific story and discounting all the rest.  Then comes dissension and then comes war.

Who out there believes that the basis for most (if not all) wars have a religious undertone?  Yes it’s true that resources are also a large factor, but have you ever heard someone argue “we are ________, the children of God, and so anyone not subscribing to our beliefs are infidels (sinners) and deserve to be proselytized?  I have, over and over.  Every race and creed have had it said to them at one time or another and many have been ‘made’ to observe in that time too.

There are no governmental answers to this problem.  They are personal and must be dealt with by each person as they, hopefully, become enlightened…even if only a little.