Grandmother's Lessons

tomatoes ripen by moonlight-

you get your biggest harvest

when it's full, in august.

water in the evening

(soak the ground,

not the plants)

pick the fruit in the morning.

-and they are a fruit-

so are the beans, cucumbers,

corn, squash and peppers;

so, eat your greens too.

give freely to friends,

neighbors, family, and

can or freeze what remains.

Doctor Laura and the First Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

 

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The inspiration for this was a “rant” by Dr. Laura Schlessinger, the typical backlash and her response, which led to a second backlash. All along the predictable, liberal v. conservative dispute over political correctness v. common sense. In this era, there were countless reactions online, on television, in print- it's just the way of things.

My feelings on this: she was [mostly] right, while being terribly wrong on a couple points.

To begin, nigger is just a word. Contextually it can be an inflammatory, derogatory, hateful, dreadful, despicable, deplorable, no-good word. Her use of it, altho questionable was ultimately justifiable, whether or not you agree with her reason for using it. Some of her other remarks during the rant were [borderline] racist. End of the day, right or wrong, her gaff should have been cause for discussion, not condemnation.

Dr. Laura, herself, attempted to tie this back to The First Amendment to Our Constitution, but she made a second gaff in her attempt to do so.

“With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility”
-Stan Lee
With any right given explicit provision in Our Constitution, there are implicit responsibilities. We have freedom of speech and freedom of the press, guaranteed to us. The typical reaction to anyone making claims similar to Dr Laura's (about the repression of those rights) is that Our Constitution does not guarantee the right to be heard or the right to earn money from speech.

The thing is, these freedoms are utterly meaningless if we, as an audience, don't put the necessary effort into understanding what's been said and the context in which it was said. That is our responsibility and our challenge, in the era of the sound bite and instant, online publication.

We undermine our values and ultimately our country when we don't step-back, sit-down and figure out what has been said and (perhaps more importantly) what was meant by it, before reacting. This is because, we close the door on important dialogues, we insulate ourselves and our ideologies, undermining our ability to participate, cooperate and realize our potential.

Remember, the punditry within the old-school press, the majority of the blogosphere, talk-show hosts on TV and radio earn a living from having an opinion. They aren't paid to be informative, they aren't paid to be right. They are paid to draw an audience, to sell opinion and to incite controversy. There is not much money in being earnest and rational, so we, the audience, need to be.

Hear.
Understand.
Think.
React.

My Atheism

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You worship 1 god that is 3 gods; not as water has 3 states, because your god is Father, Son and Ghost simultaneously. And you offer me a choice of 2 gods, that may be 3.

The first is a god that is love, compassion, benevolence, beneficence, understanding ─ this god is my reward, if I believe, worship, sacrifice, abstain all just right, as you proscribe.

The second god is vengeful, ireful, capricious, vindictive, ego driven ─ this god is my punishment for not believing, worshiping, sacrificing, abstaining all just right, as you proscribe.

If the second god is the God, then god is a tyrant undeserving of worship. If those 2 gods are truly 1 god, then your one god is a schizophrenic tyrant, undeserving of even a passing thought.

If the first god is the God and there is truly one god, and I am a product of her creation, an integral piece within her ineffable plan, then we have issue.

I have to question why you're attempting to alter my thoughts, my beliefs by converting me to your ways. There are so many of you, with so many differing practices and beliefs. Which alone gives me pause to doubt, at the very least, that you're worshiping the right god in the right way. Which in turn inspires doubt that there is a god. I suppose the difference is, you focus on the commonalities, but I would suggest, that only makes god and religion banal concepts.

I have to wonder, too, if there is a god, of whose plan we are all part, why you see fit to tinker in it. A mortal, a sinful creature of limited capacity. Can you really know god's will? You shrug pain and suffering off as unfortunately necessary but ultimately mysterious parts of the plan, while claiming that you know the plan well enough to know that I need to believe and behave as you do, because it is in the plan for me to do so, altho I may have freewill in the matter and my atheism may, in fact, be part of the plan.

I think, the god I could believe in, would care more about my character ─ that I am fair, just, rational, skeptical, compassionate, actively living, pursuing some purpose, experiencing the marvels of creation, and enjoying this life and this world which was created for us, than that I worship the correct way or even that I simply believe.

This is an essential fact, I believe you've missed: appreciating and embracing life celebrates your god's creation and thereby your god, more than the platitudes of prayer or prostrations of faith.

As to hell and heaven. If hell exists, the schizophrenic-tyrant god is the God and I would prefer the freedom of hell. If the god of love and compassionate-understanding is the God, I will have my place in heaven, because I will have lived a good and just life, I will have been marveled and humbled by all that exists and all that I have experienced. God being omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent would know the truth of my soul and being a god of love and compassionate-understanding, could not deny me entry for my atheism. This last god then, is not your god, but a product of my mind.

We end with the truth. I am an atheist. I am content with naturalistic explanations for existence, while my morality is defined by beneficence, liberty and equality. I have read your bible; I could defend my atheism from scripture. I could defend my atheism from scientific literature. I do not write in order to dismiss you or your belief, but share my perspective and hopefully foster understanding.

Phone and Drive

And so- the phone rang.
The ringtone was something by Huey Lewis & The News,
for the irony.
(Because the only good that comes Huey Lewis and the News is the irony).
despite the new laws and PSAs she answered while driving-
an adept multi-tasker, she wasn't concerned
with crashing, and there was no cop in sight.
Plus, to be fair, what killed her wasn't operating a secondary device
while driving, it was the news,
which caused her mind to blank
in the wrong moment, just when she needed to react.
But her heart is still beating.

Hourglass

to where do you turn for meaning,
the bible, dictionary, or koran?
are you buddhist
or pagan atheist?
do you pray to hindu statue,
the sun, or the east?

what answers do you hold?
what words dare you speak?

is your faith true and blind?
are you subject to your mind?

a victim of tinted skin?
and slave to tainted flesh?

is earth your mother;
sky your father-
count you crow and spider as your brother?
or be you darwinian primate,
of the highest might?

do you see that even
now we live in eden.
or perhaps this is ragnarok,
when soon some feathered serpent shall return,
as the ages of iron find there end.

so tell me now, do you seek to be content-
or strive to connect with divine intellect?
is chaos evil, and order good-
or have we misunderstood
the prophets teachings to our kind?

but then no mans hand
can grasp the sand.

Review: The Invention of Lying

The Invention of Lying has the feel of a British comedy, led by Ricky Gervais but supported by an altogether American cast. Perhaps because Gervais was co-writer & director, the supporting actors somehow have a fish-out-water feel, meanwhile the lone Brit is the only character that seems solid within the movie's alternate reality.

Within that reality, the human race lacks the ability for creative abstraction- lying. Most strikingly, this means there's no religion and no concept of fiction. That's as far as the concept is taken, because ultimately, the film isn't about our ability to imagine or tell lies. Taken to a fully literal and logical end, you'd have to wonder at the fact the human race was able to spread and develop to the same technological level we have, without the ability to first imagine something that doesn't presently exist.

Jokes

Dear folks who don't get jokes: that witty insight you made that seemed to be the last word, just took what was implicit and turned it explicit, after we'd all moved on.

Peace.

Death and Timothy

This story is not yet complete.

Death came early to the boy, at the tender age of three and would visit often then-after. At first, distraught by the ghastly figure, he cowered beneath blankets, clinging to a stuffed kangaroo, working up the courage to scream. Eventually, he fell asleep.

He would awake, comforted by the warmth of daylight through the window and relieved that the putrid odor was gone. The boy reasoned it best not to tell anyone, if he hid well and didn't acknowledge the robed apparition, it might vanish. After all, many things were imaginary.
Months passed, almost an entire year. Death visited every few nights. The boy would cower, surrounded by his favorite toys, clutching Garoo. Death would wait at the foot of the bed, watching the boy through the covers, considering.

Time's Elusive

time's elusive
for pensive
people
laugh
scream
and
hide

such waste
it is to be
a nation free
while some judge
based in ignorance
  but those of intelligence sit on the fence
based on relativity
thank Einstein
if you feel fine
like a mouse
in a lab coat

waste not want not
o what bull shit
go to the supermarket
get what you want
change your mind
then trash it

this
is
how
we
live
time's elusive

Atheist Blogroll and the Scarlet Letter

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My Blog, "Figuring it Out," has been added to The Atheist Blogroll. You can see the blogroll in my sidebar. The Atheist blogroll is a community building service provided free of charge to Atheist bloggers from around the world. If you would like to join, visit Mojoey at Deep Thoughts for more information.


Ahem... Canned intro out of the way, here's why I've joined the Atheist Blogroll and added the scarlet A to my blog. My reasoning all comes down to 2 words, community and awareness. In Babylon 5, the point is made that humanities strength comes from the fact we build communities- the concept seems trite and high-minded, but there is some truth in it.

Atheists are perceived as interlopers within our predominantly christian, typically religious society. Even by non-theists, including agnostics, atheism is seen as a defect of character- the conceit of pride. We are, in many ways, shunned from participating within our communities. To be an atheist in America, is to live closeted, pandering to christian ideologies.

I see 2 ways through this, not mutually exclusive. The first is to establish our own communities. I'm not referring to the trend of "atheist churches," or somewhere establishing an atheist state/nation. No, an atheist community should exist, primarily as an academic community. Atheism is, after-all, an incidental trait, a by-product of healthy scepticism, not a defining characteristic of our being. The second is to spread awareness of atheism and who exactly these atheists are- to become a ubiquitous group within our existing communities, so that it becomes acceptable, if not common, to live a rational life.

Joining the blogroll, is part of my effort to join that community, on the web. Linking to the both the blogroll and Richard Dawkins' Out Campaign are part of my efforts to spread awareness.

first– then– at last

first you're young,
brash and bold!
doorbell wrung–

swallow your tongue!
punches pulled?
hope on hold?


then you're old!
no time left,
hope bereft?

plant a poppy.

Poetry should be heard.

Skepticism

How can one know what to believe? What is truth? What is reality? The fact is, we take a lot on faith. We accept a lot, simply because it's common, maybe even mundane within our experience, and it's safe within that familiarity. But, we also choose what to believe (I think more typically) by rejecting that which runs counter to our expectations or experiences. Ideologies, philosophies, foods, memes, brands, people, etc. etc. are all rejected, because they're alien entities within our framework of the familiar.

It takes effort to move beyond rejecting that which runs counter to expectation. Skepticism is required and unfortunately, I don't believe skepticism is an innate human trait. Rather, it must be cultivated in children. Practiced and honed by the individual.