A Variety of Thoughts About Everything

 For a long time now there have been memes and other such stuff going around the internet, especially social media, that goes like this: "I saw a post that I didn't agree with I didn't get offended I didn't comment I didn't feel the need to change their mind I still like the person I just kept scrolling and went on with my day More should practice this" The first thing that I want to say is that I understand why this sentiment keeps getting put out there. The amount of noise going on in this world these days is amazing. And a lot of it is pretty ridiculous. And people get overwhelmed with all the noise and just wish it would stop. I get it. My problem with this sentiment is that it gives silence to those who are causing genuine harm to our society and those of us in it. And I am also reminded of the "Good" Germans of the 1920's, 30's, and 40's. They were the people who did not make noise. Did not see things as any more than a disagreement...

 When I was young my Mum used to take me to the Methodist church. When we lived way out in the country there was one about a mile away. Also out in the middle of nowhere. When we moved into the "big city", about 15,000 people, the church was about 2+ miles away. And for a lot of Sundays my Mom would dress me, and the brothers and sisters still at home, up nicely and take us to the service. This church had a 9 pin 2 lane bowling alley downstairs where one had to set the pins by hand. I discovered that fairly quickly. My Mom had a lot of us to watch so slipping away was not that difficult. And I always liked to explore. So I did and I found this bowling alley. So I would often go downstairs and hang out by myself in that bowling alley. I was the most social introvert you ever met. I craved company and hated having people around me. Weird I guess. I actually tried bowling once during the service. And of course, it made too much noise and one of the church folk came down and caug...

 In the old testament book of exodus there is a passage set in when Moses had gone up on the mountain to receive the tablets with the 10 commandments. And during the time that he was gone his brother Aaron used the collected gold to create the idol called the golden calf. And this was then denounced and etc by god and Moses. A lot of drama ensued a part of which was the death of 3,000 or so people. At the command of this god they were supposed to love. It says in this bible that their god is a jealous god. After all, the 1st commandment of the 10 commandments is "I am the lord your god... you shall no other gods before me". Needless to say this god found their golden idle calf to be highly offensive. Throughout the years of Greek Colonial times and then Roman Imperial times the Jewish people fell into worshipping something other than this god of theirs. In a variety of forms. There was a lot of conflict between the people who stayed "faithful" to their god and those...

 Freedom without Responsibility is just disguised tyranny. I was just thinking about things, nothing and everything if you know what I mean. And the above thought popped into my head. And I knew immediately that I needed to write about this. And I have absolutely no idea what to write about this. So I am gonna free style it. So this could be really nice or really weird. Who knows. From the beginning in the (Dis)United States of America we have had this fetish with "Freedom". Of course that only meant freedom for a very narrow class of people within the body of people that made up the Nation. And "Freedom" was the cry. Got into a revolution from Britain in order to be free of Taxes that were decided in London instead of by the Colonial Governments. After the revolution we set up a Confederation of States as the National Government in order to have freedom for the individual states with a powerless national government. And then had to invent a stronger national govern...

 There has been a picture and a story going around for a while that has been of very much interest to me. And it has received some very strong and emotional reactions from people. Some in support, most in condemnation. The picture was thus: A man standing over a little girl, maybe 3 or 4 years old in my judgement. And he was straddling her so that people would walk around them. This was in either a Grocery or Department store. He was not angry. Protective. He was talking with another adult while guarding his little girl. The little girl was having a massive melt down. The type that includes a lot of loud crying and yelling with tears and snot. And the adult was not trying to manage her or shush her or any of that. He was just letting her express herself in the way that she needed to express herself in that moment. And the story attached to the picture was of the father explaining to another person that she just needed to have a meltdown right then and that his only job was to prote...

 In Diane Duane's delightful book Spock's World there is a truly exceptional scene where the idea of IDIC, Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination, and the taking of delight in the differences that exist, came from. And it is in the middle of the Crisis of Awakening that happens to Surak. The person who saves this world from it's inhabitants. It goes as thus:    "But what do I do now? he thought.    He sat there all night, wondering that. Somehow he had to stop people from killing each other that was plain. Or rather, had to stop them hating each other the killing would take care of itself, after that. Nothing really difficult, he said to himself, finding it funny to be so earnest and dry, even sarcastic, over an impossibility … one which he was nonetheless committed to bring about. He had chosen, had chosen life, and he knew, somehow, that even the simple fact of the choice mattered; if he died right now, it would matter not a whit less. But it would matter ...