There have been a few "Life Altering Truths" for me.. Things that changed the way I thought, the way I looked at life.
#3 John Grisham's The Chamber
Before reading this book, I was an avid believer in an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I believed that murderers and rapist and molesters should have done to them exactly what was done to their victims. After reading this book, I still believe in the death penalty, but I believe now that death shouldn't be a punishment, but a solution to a problem that can't be solved by other means. I realized that humanity is what separated us from them, and if we take pleasure or satisfaction in the "act" of the death penalty, then we are no different than they are... we just have a slightly more deserving victim. I now support the death penalty, but by lethal injection only, because I AM NOT like they are.
#2 The Lie of Abraham Lincoln
As children we are taught that the Great Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves....
In high school, we were finally taught that Abraham Lincoln was simply a Great Politician, and did no such thing. My world was shattered when I discovered that Good 'ol Abe only freed the slaves in the Confederate States who didn't recognize him as president anyway and the Border States were allowed to keep their slaves until the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
When the truth was revealed, I not only lost faith in the validity of the history our country teaches it's children, but lost a hero in the process. And I share a birthday with the bum.
#1 Sweet Baby Jesus
As children the churches, and I went to almost all of them, teach you that Sweet Baby Jesus loves everyone equally, died for our sins, and that one day we would all join him in Heaven. They seem to ignore that Sweet Baby Jesus did all of his saving as an adult, but hey, all kids like babies. They don't tell you that there is such a thing as "Age of Accountability" after which Jesus only died for your sins if you, at the very least, "ask him into your heart" or get baptized. And then, not every one gets to Heaven and, depending on the religion, if you do get there, you probably won't get to his level anyway.
In truth, my problem isn't with the belief structures, it's with the way they dupe kids into thinking one way, only to spring the rules and regulations on them when they're finally deemed old enough to handle it. (For most of Christianity the "Age of Accountability" is 12, the Roman Catholic church sets that age as 7, the LDS church 8. And (I know not Christian, but still) Judaism 13, Baha'i 15... they can't even agree on a stinking age, no wonder there's wars.) After this point, you're only loved if you're forgiven and that's only if you pray for it, have communion, love the opposite sex, don't ingest caffeine, don't have sex unless married to the opposite sex, don't have tattoos, don't eat pork or shrimp, and some can't dance, wear perfume, make-up, or jewelry.
Life was so much simpler when it was "love thy neighbor as thy self", "do unto others as you would have them do unto you", and "judge not, least ye be judged".
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4 comments:
And with that folks, my work here is done. Thank you.
Only one "interest", ranting? What about "raving" or "shouting from the housetops"? My most recent rant deals with "artificial intelligence", but no one so far has taken me up on it.
Good luck anyway, and Happy Ranting.
Today's wiggly verification word is "mummoset"
RichardC-W
You should read "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It might restore your faith in the bum a bit. Yes, he was a master politician. But he used that to some good ends.
#1 - No matter how hard I try, I can't convince myself that we ever have a right to end someone else's life. It might stem from the fact that I don't believe in any sort of afterlife, and that when you die, you're just wormfood and dead - and if that's the case, if this is all there is - then ending someone's life is the most horrific thing imaginable for me. So, people say, they did it. Why shouldn't we? Because, I say, we're not them.
#2 Regarding Abraham Lincoln... remember that he was a man of his time - and in his time, there was a lot less black and white and a lot more gray. If we hold him to -today-'s morals, we're going to be disappointed.
#3 Ah guilt. Life is just so much better without it. When you're shameless, there's never anything to feel guilty about and you love yourself so much more!
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