You Know What Takes Guts?

Guts is throwing off your hand-me-down, 2000 year old religion you inherited from your parents, and they from theirs, ad infinitum, and realizing and accepting that we're all there is and we're all there ever was and there is no Heaven, no Hell, no "God" and that we just have to and ought to do what's right and good and beautiful and fair, just because it's the right thing to do and because this is all there is. Not because if you do anything bad you'll be punished, not at all.

Guts is accepting this is all there is.  Nothing to run to. Nothing further, bigger, better to hope or plan or work for.

Guts is realizing and accepting that this, the here and the now, the way it is now is what there is to work for. The people that are around you now, the people that are around all of us now.

That nothing else matters because there is nothing else.

The staring oblivion and the abyss in the eye.

The realizing and accepting and facing this is all there is.


But that's too much for too many people.

Most people.

Far too many.


Do you have that much guts?

Do you have that much courage?

Quote of the Day -- Sunday Edition

"Because morality is a social necessity, the moment faith in god is banished, man's gaze turns from god to man and he becomes socially conscious. Religious belief prevented the growth of a sense of realism. But atheism at once makes man realistic and alive to the needs of morality." 

--Gora

Christianity and Capitalism

People, in this nation, who consider themselves to be both Capitalists and Christians are only Capitalists.

Mark 10:21-22   Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Luke 12:16-21   Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."

And my personal favorite:

Matthew 19:24    Jesus said "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

Think happy thoughts.

And enjoy your Sunday.

Link:  9 Jesus Quotes About The Poor

Quote of the Day -- Sunday Edition

“Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual; and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.

If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism."

--Albert Einstein

Links:

Buddhism

Basics of Buddhism

A Basic Buddhism Guide: Buddhism and the God-idea

Albert Einstein

Quote of the Day -- Sunday Edition

“Unfortunately a religious group defines itself foremost by its creation story, the supernatural narrative that explains how humans came into existence. And this story is also the heart of tribalism. No matter how gentle and high-minded, or subtly explained, the core belief assures its members that God favors them above all others. 

It teaches that members of other religions worship the wrong gods, use wrong rituals, follow false prophets, and believe fantastic creation stories. There is no way around the soul-satisfying but cruel discrimination that organized religions by definition must practice among themselves. I doubt there ever has been an imam who suggested that his followers try Roman Catholicism or a priest who urged the reverse.”

―Edward O. Wilson, The Meaning of Human Existence

One More Shooting and Slaughter of American Innocents

Coincidentally and eve ironically, I got this political cartoon from none other than the Salt Lake City Tribune.

Quote of the Day -- Sunday Edition

“It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate into a populace, that they are incapable of exercising the sovereignty. Usurpation is then an easy attainment, and an usurper soon found. The people themselves become the willing instruments of their own debasement and ruin. Let us, then, look to the great cause, and endeavor to preserve it in full force. 

Let us by all wise and constitutional measures promote intelligence among the people as the best means of preserving our liberties.”

~Founding Father James Monroe, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1817

To Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and All In the Republican Party and Right Wing

For the Religionists, Upset by This Week's Supreme Court Ruling on Equality

This applies to Right Wing Christians, Mormons, Islamists, Muslims, Hasidic Jews, all y'all.

You realize you're all in the same figurative boat on this, right?

You get that, right?

Getting Back to "Biblical Principles"

With thanks to Dr. Bob Minor for the link. (click on picture for easier viewing).

Thoughts. On the world

The problem with most humans is that in order to live and be able to hopefully understand or make sense of it--life--is that we anthropomorphize it.

We give life and/or the universe human characteristics. We anthropomorphize our worlds and so, the universe.  We give the cold, uncaring, ever-progressing--however slowly--universe a personality and rules.  And we do this so much so we name it.

For a lot of us, it can be merely “god” or “God.” For others, a lot of others, we take it further than that, even. We give, usually him, a specific name. Some examples are, of course, Jesus, Yahweh, Mohammed, Allah, or any number of monikers. We complicate things, the world, the universe and so, our lives and our own worlds.

The only real rule is love.

Love everything. Be kind. Share. Smile. Help one another.  All good stems from one rule, this one rule.

Love.

Quote of the day--on inherited religion

Quote of the day--on "the Lord's day"

Think about it.

Mittens, drowning his sorrows

In case you missed it:

The crystal clear evolution of Willard "Mitt" Romney

First he was the very Left Wing, Liberal Governor of Massachusetts. tried to out Left Wing Ted Kennedy, he was so Liberal.

Then, years later, as we got closer to the 2000's and Mr. Romney got closer to running for the Presidency, he got further and further Right Wing. Due to the Tea Party pull, strength and power, he got extreme Right Wing on us all. He was then trying to out-Right Wing the likes of Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Michelle Bachmann and all, again, as we know.

Now, Willard is zeroing in on the last 2 weeks of the biggest presidential campaign run of his life and now, now he's come to the realization he has to be perceived as real and realistic so he's taking a far more middle-of-the-road tack so he's appearing centrist.

Like the Salt Lake City Tribune newspaper that did not and would not endorse him, shouldn't we all come to the conclusion that there are just too many Mitt Romneys out there in the world and that there's no telling what this man stands for, besides supporting big business and the wealthy?

So you know a bit more about that Republican candidate for the presidency

Quote of the day

While I am loathe to quote Brigham Young, I thoroughly agree with this one:

“You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.” ―-Brigham Young

Black in America

What it's been like--as near as I can tell, since I'm white--to be a Black American in the last 100 years, for a lot of them, if not all:

--You may, or may not, be hired for a job;

--If you are hired for a job, it may well be for an entry-level and/or low-paying job;

--The job may also be either dirty or looked down on or both (e.g., janitor, etc.);

--If you get hired, it is likely for low-paying work;

--Consequently, because you are quite likely paid little, you also likely can't afford much of a house for your home. It will not be big, it will not be grand and it cannot be in a more "exclusive" area, if you can even afford to buy. You may have to rent;

--If you need or want a loan for a home, the chances are high you could be charged a higher interest rate by the bank or financial company (see link below);

--If you want or need a car, the car dealer may well charge you a higher price than he or she would charge a white person--just because they can;

--Many white people in your country--and even Hispanics--may well assume you are "dirty" and/or threatening and/or ignorant, just because of your color;

--One religion, at minimum, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (also known as the Mormons) had as their official policy, from the pulpit, until as late as 1979, that you, as a Black American, could belong to the religion, sure, and they'd take your money but you could never become part of their higher "priesthood" because of your color. Also, the reason is that it's based on a passage from the Bible (Go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_and_mark_of_Cain). Further, some religions--mostly fundamentalist "Christian" ones, still believe this, either formally or informally;

--Finally, to cap all this off, as if all that isn't enough, far too many people of your own country is far too likely to think you are poor because you are lazy and that it's your own fault.

The indignity.

Try understanding all this, let along living with those kinds of pressures.

This, then, is why far too many people just don't "get it" about discrimination and the status of Black Americans in the United States.

Links: http://www.latimes.com/business/money/fi-mo-wells-bias-20120712,0,4185138.story

http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/02/18/us-usa-farmers-pigford-idUSTRE61H5XD20100218

http://www.slaverybyanothername.com/

I'm so old...

...I remember when the first commercial ad, paid for at the top of the recommended list to the right of your main, selected video on YouTube wasn't about or for Mormons.

THAT old...

Same-sex attraction: Transcending both time (history) and nature

I've said this before.

Most people either don't know or deny it but actually, same-sex attraction not only is nothing new and is not, actually, a sign of some moral degradation of our age. Far from it.

It transcends both humankind's history as well as nature.

Some proof I found by accident, earlier today, in an article:

When Same-Sex Marriage Was a Christian Rite

"Contrary to myth, Christianity's concept of marriage has not been set in stone since the days of Christ, but has constantly evolved as a concept and ritual. Prof. John Boswell, the late Chairman of Yale University’s history department, discovered that in addition to heterosexual marriage ceremonies in ancient Christian church liturgical documents, there were also ceremonies called the "Office of Same-Sex Union" (10th and 11th century), and the "Order for Uniting Two Men" (11th and 12th century).

These church rites had all the symbols of a heterosexual marriage: the whole community gathered in a church, a blessing of the couple before the altar was conducted with their right hands joined, holy vows were exchanged, a priest officiatied in the taking of the Eucharist and a wedding feast for the guests was celebrated afterwards. These elements all appear in contemporary illustrations of the holy union of the Byzantine Warrior-Emperor, Basil the First (867-886 CE) and his companion John."

"Contrary to myth, Christianity's concept of marriage has not been set in stone since the days of Christ, but has constantly evolved as a concept and ritual."

As much as some religious people--Christians, Muslims, Orthodox Jews, Mormons and others--won't like it, same-sex attraction has not only been around since the beginning of humanity but it was sanctioned in their own, early church. To hear so many Christian Fundamentalists speak of it, they would have us believe that marriage between a man and a woman is the only relationship ever given the okay by their churches and the only thing that has made sense in history and so, today.

It's just not true.

I know that whole thing about knowing history is inconvenient but saying anything other than this is at least untrue if not an out-and-out lie, like it or not.

Closing side note: The article has much more historical fact and proof of Christianity's acceptance and inclusion of same-sex couples in it, too, in case you're either interested or still not believing what's said here. Link: http://anthropologist.livejournal.com/1314574.html