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H.H. the Dalai Lama
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Monthly Archives: February 2006
War of the Worlds, by Thomas L. Friedman
“I understand why Democrats were eager to turn the soft-on-terrorism card back on President Bush when it was revealed that P&O, the navigation company based in London — which has been managing the ports of New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia — had been bought by Dubai Ports World, a company owned by the Dubai monarchy in the United Arab Emirates, an Arab Gulf state, and that the Bush team had approved the Dubai takeover of the U.S. port operations….
“As a country, we must not go down this road of global ethnic profiling — looking for Arabs under our beds the way we once looked for commies. If we do — if America, the world’s beacon of pluralism and tolerance, goes down that road — we will take the rest of the world with us. We will sow the wind and we will reap the whirlwind.”
If there were a real security issue here, I’d join the critics. But the security argument is bogus and, I would add, borderline racist. Many U.S. ports are run today by foreign companies, but the U.S. Coast Guard still controls all aspects of port security, entry and exits; the U.S. Customs Service is still in charge of inspecting the containers; and U.S. longshoremen still handle the cargos…. More…
Do We Believe In Democracy, Or Do We Not?
I’m at a bit of a loss to understand the attitude of the United States and EU toward the situation in Palestine. As someone pointed out this morning on NPR, this isn’t Hamas, it’s the democratically elected government of Palestine. Are we for that sort of thing, or aren’t we?
The usual protocol with new governments is to cooperate with them until they mess you over, then impose sanctions, or wipe them off the map, or whatever the NeoCons are doing these days. One does not espouse democracy, and then dismiss the results thereof–at least not if one expects the rest of the world to have any faith in our national integrity.
The government of Palestine deserves the same treatment as any other duly-elected body. Treating them otherwise further erodes the credibility of the soi-disant democratic countries, and gives the rest of the world the impression that we only apply such theories to the people who suck up to us.
That’s if you believe that the US and its allies have any integrity left.
Execution halted after anaesthetists walk out
Prison officers at California’s San Quentin prison were forced to halt the execution of a man convicted of the rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl when two anaesthetists backed out for ethical reasons.
Vernell Crittendon, a prison spokesman, confirmed that the prison has until 11.59 pm tonight (0759 GMT Wednesday) to execute Morales. After that, the death warrant expires and officials would have to go back to the trial judge who imposed the death sentence in 1983 for another warrant.
Seeking another warrant could prove difficult for the state, however, since the original sentencing judge, Charles McGrath, joined Morales this month in asking Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for clemency in the case. Judge McGrath said that he no longer believed the credibility of a jailhouse informant whose testimony helped to send Morales to death row. MORE…
Hey, the judge says he was wrong…but what the heck, we’ve come this far….
Thou. Shalt. Not. Kill. (Except for revenge)
QUOTE
If cruelty is no longer declared unlawful, but instead is applied as a matter of policy, it alters the fundamental relationship of man to government. It destroys the whole notion of individual rights. The Constitution recognizes that man has an inherent right, not bestowed by the state or laws, to personal dignity, including the right to be free of cruelty. It applies to all human beings, not just in America—even those designated as ‘unlawful enemy combatants.’ If you make this exception, the whole Constitution crumbles….
– Alberto Moro, former US Navy General Counsel, on the abuse of prisoners by the Bush regime.
Where I’m coming from — part of a series
First, I need to say that while I have many problems with some so-called Christians, I have the utmost respect for the body of teachings attributed to Jesus, just as I have for the teachings of Mohammad, Moses, Confucius, the Hindu mystics and the other great buddhas of history. (See footnote) The later interpretations by more common men have caused innumerable problems in the world, but the original lessons themselves—lovingkindness, peaceful coexistence, non-violence and the other guidelines for living a good life—have changed very little in their various interpretations over the centuries. They were, are, and will remain useful tools for living with others, and with oneself.
I was raised in the Roman Catholic tradition—rather thoroughly. My mother, a widow, was a small-town priest’s housekeeper, and he was the closest thing to a real father that I remember. Not the healthiest man emotionally, he nonetheless tried his best to provide the fathering that he believed my younger brother and I needed, and mostly did a pretty good job of it. He showed us gentleness, and how to give to others. More importantly, he showed us by his example that these were the ways life ought to be lived, not just lip-service to some unreachable ideal.
I did the altar boy/Boy Scouts sponsored by the parish/CCD route, worked around the church grounds to earn pocket money, and generally had a great time during my small-town adolescence. Like most Catholic kids of my generation, I toyed with the idea of a vocation to the religious life—until I discovered the difference between boys and girls for real! That took care of celibacy.
Many of the trappings of organized religion, however, failed to make sense to me. Not wanting to insult anyone who has found their own path in that direction, I’ll say no more than to remark that it never really fit. Unlike many “fallen-away” Catholics I had no trauma associated with my religious upbringing, and bear no resentment toward the church nor its teachings. Their failure to “take” spared me the guilt—and compensating rejection and resentment—that often accompanies apostasy.
Nonetheless, I majored in anthropology, with a minor in comparative religion. In that respect, the apple fell not far from the tree. Over the years I looked at a great many paths. During the same period I suffered with increasing addictive disease—alcohol primarily, in my case—and the arrogance that goes along with that syndrome. That prevented me from looking in the old, tried-and-true places for spiritual succor—indeed, from admitting that I needed it at all. Only after becoming sober and receiving some guidance in facing reality from my 12-step program was I able to look again at my spiritual life (not to be confused with religion) and see in what direction my path had been leading me.
I have recently begun to use a term called NeoChristian. To me, this refers to people who purport to follow Christianity (which I understand means following the path laid out by The Christ) but instead cleave to a mishmash of beliefs that take their meaning from the Old Testament and some of the more apocryphal books of the New, such as the Revelations of John the Divine. Far from being followers of Jesus, they use these writings to justify behavior and attitudes that are diametrically at variance with the teachings of the founder of true Christianity. It is with these heretics that I have the problems mentioned above.
As to the way I write about such matters, you will discover that I show nothing but the greatest respect for the Great Teachers. My attitudes toward the beliefs of the current crop of spiritual dropouts are a different matter.
Namasté
“Buddha” is Sanskrit for “enlightened one.” It refers to men and women who have perfected the ways of living a reality-based life, and has nothing whatever to do with gods.
Beating a Dying Horse
I’m getting tired of all this fuss about evolution, creationism, and intelligent design. Just…tired. I don’t expect the faith-based to shut up, but I certainly wish the scientists would.
The point that both sides are missing is that there ought not be any conflict. Science, by its very nature, can have no opinion about matters of faith – they are completely foreign to it. Likewise, faith-based beliefs are not applicable to scientific issues. They lack foundations in empirical data that can be tested by peer review, the way science – all science – is done. Concepts that boil down to “because I believe it,” or “it seems logical,” are not science and can never be.
So why do we pay any attention to these issues? Children will grow up exposed to both concepts, as they have for decades. (There really aren’t three concepts here; intelligent design is just creation with a different schedule and fewer specifics.) The folks who have the ambition and brains to learn to understand scientific principles and apply them to their own quandaries will resolve their questions on their own, according to their ability and willingness to use what they have learned. Those who choose to remain ignorant will go their own way, doing as such folks have always done. Whether or not we agree with them, they are and will continue to be the majority.
[A pertinent aside: the Greeks proved mathematically that the Earth was round a couple of hundred years B.C.E. Due to other influences, however, most folk believed it was flat for some centuries afterward. The fact that a majority believed it had nothing to do with Truth.]
We live in a period when it is in the interest of our leaders and their associates to downgrade science in the public eye. Current scientific thought is anathema to their aims and those of their partners. We have seen this in their continued resistance to any findings, scientific or otherwise, that are not supportive of their interests. Of course the US is falling behind in science! How could we not?
What is of utmost importance is that there be accurate information, and training in clear, logical thinking – the ability to see reality – for all who choose to take advantage of it. It is not the business of science nor scientists to become involved in silly disputes about non-scientific issues. Scientists need to understand that ignorance is often engendered by people with axes to grind, that its adoption is almost always willful, and that regardless of the outcome of the current controversy, people will continue to make up their own minds based on the information they are willing to digest.
We need to do whatever we can to counter this concerted undermining of logic and scientific thought. Let’s do, and teach, science. Let the results speak for themselves. Those who purport continued disbelief in evolution, the basis of all the biological sciences, are free to reject the advances in medicine and other areas that evolve from them.
I suspect they won’t.
Namasté
Advocates of science, religion can co-exist
On this day in 1809, two of the most famous men of the 19th century were born under very different circumstances — one in a Kentucky log cabin, the other in an English country house complete with stable and servants’ quarters.
The first is, of course, Abraham Lincoln….
Churches celebrate Darwin`s birthday
US News
Churches celebrate Darwin`s birthday
By UPI
Feb 12, 2006, 19:00 GMT
NEW YORK, NY, United States (UPI) — Nearly 450 Christian churches in the United States are celebrating the 197th birthday of Charles Darwin Sunday.
The churches say Darwin`s theory of biological evolution is compatible with faith and that Christians have no need to choose between religion and science, the Chicago Tribune reported.
‘It`s to demonstrate, by Christian leaders and members of the clergy, that you don`t have to make that choice. You can have both,’ said Michael Zimmerman, dean of the College of Letters and Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, who organized the ‘Evolution Sunday’ event.
A variety of denominational and non-denominational churches, including Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Unitarian, Congregationalist, United Church of Christ, Baptist and a host of community churches, are participating in the event, which grew out of Zimmerman`s The Clergy Letter Project, another effort to dispel the perception among many Christians that faith and evolution are mutually exclusive, the newspaper said.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
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This notice cannot be removed without permission.
How full is my life, and in what order?
A professor stood before his philosophy class with some items in
front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a
large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf
balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed
that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of small pebbles and poured them
into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open
areas between the golf balls. He again asked the students again if
the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the
jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once
more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous
“yes.”
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table
and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the
empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to
recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the
important things: your family, your children, your health, your friends,
and your favorite passions, things that if everything else was lost and
only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the
other things that really do matter, like your job, your house, and your
car. The sand is everything else — the small stuff.”
“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no
room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If
you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will
never have room for the things that are important to you.”
“Pay attention,” he continued, “to the things that are critical to your
happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18 holes of golf. There
will always be time to clean the house and fix the garbage disposal.
Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your
priorities. The rest is just sand.”
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee
represented.
The professor smiled. “It’s to show you that no matter how
full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of
cups of coffee with a friend.”
–Origin Unknown
Various Publications Comment on the Danish Pasting of the Muslim Cartoons
“When we cover any sensitive issue we have to balance our duty to report the story faithfully with our responsibility not to unnecessarily shock or offend our audience. …In making such judgements it is the interests, needs and expectations of our audience as a whole which are our guiding principle.” – BBC
The Times on the “New” Free Speech – they don’t approve, either
Many people seem surprised that a multicultural crunch should have come over religion rather than race. Most incoming migrants from the Muslim world are in search of work and security. They have accepted racial discrimination and cultural subordination as the price of admission. Most Europeans, however surreptitiously, regard that subordination as reasonable.
What Muslims did not expect was that admission also required them to tolerate the ridicule of their faith and guilt by association with its wildest and most violent followers in the Middle East. Islam is an ancient and dignified religion. Like Christianity its teaching can be variously interpreted and used for bloodthirsty ends, but in itself Islam has purity and simplicity. Part of that purity lies in its abstraction and part of that abstraction is an aversion to icons.
The Danes must have known that a depiction of Allah as human or the prophet Muhammad as a terrorist would outrage Muslims. It is plain dumb to claim such blasphemy as just a joke concordant with the western way of life. Better claim it as intentionally savage, since that was how it was bound to seem. MORE…
When has making a point gone too far?
From today’s Washington Post:
Editor Fired as Cartoon Controversy Goes Global
As European Newspapers republished controversial images of the Muslim prophet Muhammad from a Danish daily, the cultural conflict between the Islamic world and the West over the drawings continued to flare around the world….
…”The cartoons include an image of the Prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse, and another portraying him holding a sword, his eyes covered by a black rectangle,” according to Agence France-Press. “A third pictured a middle-aged prophet standing in the desert with a walking stick, in front of a donkey and a sunset.” …
…”Islam forbids any representation of the Prophet,” the paper’s front page editorial says today. “The question is, are all those who are not Muslims obliged to honour that prohibition? Can you imagine a society that added up all the prohibitions of the different religions? What would remain of the freedom to think, to speak, or even to come and go freely?” More…
While there is much to be said for the logic of the statement in the final paragraph, nonetheless I must take the position that the subsequent publications of the cartoons are totally out of line. They smack of a grade-schooler’s “Oh…you don’t like that, huh? Well, how do you like this?“
The publication by the Danes may well have been an honest mistake. One assumes that Danish editors are not exactly up on Muslim tabus–though, perhaps, one could argue that they ought to be. But when papers in four other countries, entirely aware that the Muslim community has been violently aroused, do so after the fact, there is no excuse. It is gratuitous insult, couched in the language of “freedom of the press.”
If the defensive editors had their wits and ethics about them, they would have registered their protests without further stirring up the fire. To exacerbate an already dangerous situation is the height of poor judgement, and any deaths or injuries that result are as attributable to their excesses as to those of the Islamic fanatics who commit them.
There is no doubt that the reactions of certain of The Prophet’s followers are…well…uncivilized at best, on occasion. That the editors, knowing that, chose to provoke them further is inexcusable.
Some things I can do to help make the world run a little bit more smoothly…
Put a quarter in an expired parking meter;
tell the checkout person at the market what a good job they’re doing;
smile at the next five people I see, no matter who they are;
If that works out well, smile at five more;
phone someone I’ve neglected;
smile and let someone into line in traffic;
tell a loved one that they are, for no apparent reason;
pay an old person’s restaurant tab–anonymously;
do some shopping for a shut-in or elderly neighbor;
drop someone a note or a greeting card–by snail-mail;
call Mom;
offer to babysit so the kids can have a “date;”
call the police department and tell them everything’s OK and they’re doing a great job…..
