Extinction

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I’ve been thinking about the universe and what matters most. I begin with the knowledge that planet earth is just a small speck in a much, much larger universe, and while scientists debate the existence of a multiverse a la Marvel comics, all we know for sure is that this universe began with a bang, we have no idea what was happening before the bang which was theoretically before there was time, but since the bang, our universe has been expanding, with galaxies accelerating away from each other. In a couple of billion years if humans are still around the night sky will be dark as the stars will be too far away for us to see. Much more locally, our sun will eventually consume all the energy it has, and become a red giant that will be so large earth will be consumed. That is probably about 5 billion years away, but even so, it is coming. Planet earth will end. The universe will not notice. If humans are still around we will become extinct like all other life on this little blue marble.

So if we know that is our eventual future what should we be doing now? IMHO, we should start doing everything we can to preserve and improve our only planet and we should be doing everything we can to find another place to live. Failure to do either will end us. There will be no other life forms who will ever discover the existence of humanity and all we mucked up and accomplished. When 7 billion or more humans drop to their knees and pray for a god to save us, nothing will happen and we will finally accept that we made gods in our own image, then we will become extinct.

If my assumptions are true, and there is no evidence that they are flawed, then as a species we must learn to cooperate, tolerate and embrace humanity. No one nation can avoid these eventualities. What we consider “good” and “evil” must be redefined. We must accept that anything that benefits me but hurts you, or hurts others, or hurts the planet is evil. We must accept that collaboration is powerful, dictatorships, my way or the highway, top-down decision-making is evil. We must embrace each other regardless of race, gender, gender identity, beliefs, and income. When the end comes no one will care who has the most money or the most toys.

Organizations that grow rich at the expense of the planet must be seen as evil. We must stop global warming or we will never have the opportunity to find another place to live. That will turn economies and our social class system upside down, but upside down is better than not around.

And at the simplest level, we must honor truth, we must honor each other, and we must not insist on having our own way. We must, we absolutely must, recognize we are one species on one planet and we are racing to extinction. We have no time for the KKK, for Oath Keepers, Putin, Xi, Trump, or their ilk. Honoring those who would seek power and wealth is evil and is condemning us even faster.

5 billion years may seem like a long time to get our act together. I think getting our act together requires action much sooner than that. We may only have 100 years or so before our planet becomes uninhabitable.

So vote.

Tories

You might remember reading or hearing that in 1776 when our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence not everyone here was happy about it.  We glorify and glamorize the Patriots, those new Americans who took up arms against England and King George.  But, there were people who remained loyal to the King.  We called them Tories.  It was not good to be called a Tory, not in those barely united states.

But Tories were more in line with the rest of the world than were the Patriots.  Before our Declaration of Independence, governments fell into one of four general types:  a government that was ruled by a noble class and to be a ruler one must have been born into that bloodline.  Kings and Queens ruled by birthright and the thought of opposing such autocracies was rare and almost suicidal.  The second type of government was also autocratic and that was the military junta type.  In such governments, a strong-armed man would gain control of the military and beat everyone else into submission.  Again, it was not wise to challenge such autocratic authority.  Think of Napoleon as an example.  The third type was the demagogues using demagoguery to convince the common people that there were things to fear and things to be angry about, most of which were not true, but these men would use anger and fear to gain control and rule as autocrats.  Hitler was a great example of this type of demagogue and the government he set up was autocratic.  And finally, the theocracy form of government wherein religious rulers ruled by reference to some sort of holy book and threatened hellfire and damnation of the common people if they did not comply.  Think Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc.

Tories in the Americas supported autocracies ruled by bloodlines and where the common man would simply maintain his place in society, peasant, skilled craftsman, artisan, or nobility.  The American Tories did not want to see anything as bold as a democracy.

And that was the term that terrified autocracies around the world.  Democracy was to be of the people, by the people, for the people.  Democracies believed all men were created equal.  Democracies believed that all men had certain rights, given them at birth, that could not be separated from their humanity.  (I use the term “man” because it took us a while to understand that rights applied to women and minorities as well.)  Democracies believed people should vote for their leaders.  Democracies believed the government existed with the consent of the people.  Democracy was a brand new thing!  And when our forefathers penned our Declaration of Independence from the nobility of England a revolt not just in government structure but in the philosophy of government was initiated:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…

Had one studied Descartes, Hume, Espinosa, Plato, Aristotle, Newton, Bacon, and most importantly John Locke one would know this was a real revolution.  It displaced the powerful and wealthy by giving everyone the right to rule their government.  This was the opposite of an autocracy, it was a democracy.  It was the most liberal form of government ever conceived.  John Locke, the English philosopher is called the father of liberalism for his thinking.  Our Founding Fathers read every word of his and loved every word of his.  We are not a nation ruled by the nobility, nor a nation ruled by the military, nor a nation ruled by a demagogue, not a nation ruled by a specific type of religious leader.  We are a nation ruled by the people.  A liberal, secular democracy.  Wow. 

If you do not understand the above it is very difficult to understand America.

In a democracy citizens’ rights are protected, they are not dismissed.  They surely are not dismissed for religious reasons.  In a democracy, citizens are encouraged to vote.  They surely are not restricted or oppressed for voting.  In a democracy, no man is above the law.  Surely not the wealthy, not the pious, not the military, not anyone.  The law applies to all citizens.  In a democracy, truth matters, and respect for the law matters. 

It occurs to me as we approach the mid-term elections that the Republican Party has become a group of Torries.  They want their religious perspective to become law at the expense of citizens’ rights.  They only want certain people to vote.  If they do not like the outcome of an election they declare fraud.  They monger fear of immigrants and others in our society.  They foster anger along racial lines.  They seek to improve the wealth of those at the very top at the expense of everyone else.  They seek to put all the power in the hands of those at the very top of the capitalist ladder, rather than have citizens govern and restrain unbridled money-making.  Yep, Republicans are the Tories.  They are conservative.  They support a man who lost an election but falsely declared the outcomes fraudulent.  They have celebrated religious beliefs becoming the law of the land.  They do not support the civil rights of anyone other than their chosen group.  They even talk about a Constitutional Convention to rewrite our constitution so that it aligns with autocracies, not democracies.  They oppose supporting other nations fighting for freedom and democracy.  They oppose our membership in organizations that defend democracy and hold autocracies at bay.  Quite frankly, I can in no way see the signers of the Declaration of Independence supporting anything they stand for.  They are un-American.

Please vote on November 8.  Please vote for our democracy.  Be wise and careful:  Be a Patriot.  The Tories are coming and they want to take our democracy away. 

Sometimes it is Hard to Know

Sometimes it is hard to know. 

To know if you are on the right side of things.  You want to be a good person, you see yourself as a good person, but you want to be sure what you think and feel is the right way to think and feel.

Especially when there are those you love who think and feel so differently.  You love them, but you can’t be on opposite sides and both be on the right side, can you?  How would that work?  You see a movie you just love, or a song that touches your heart, or some beauty that brings tears to your eyes and peace to your soul, and you want everyone you care for to see it as you do, hear it as you do, feel it as you do.  When they laugh, frown, shrug, or scorn you are hurt.  Deeply.  How can they miss it?  How can they not see it?  You love them.  If they do not love what you love can they love you?

Sometimes it is hard to know.

This is how I know.  

Does your love include or exclude?  Is it only for some or is it for everyone?  Does it help you to hurt others, or hurt you to not help others?  Does your love promote, advance, and support all around you, or does your love insult, put down, belittle or use some around you?  Does what you love and hold dear advance all humans and all humanity, or does what you love and hold dear sort and select some humans who are worthy of what you love and deny other humans what you love? 

What I shall love, what I will know is the right side of things, will be those things I love that I use to promote all others.  I use to apply to all others.  I use to include all others.  I use to support all others. 

If those things I love are used to exclude some, hurt some, demean some, abandon some, deny some, blame some, and deprive some then I will know I am on the wrong side of things.  I am not following what my heart knows to be true.  I am living in fear and anger and selfishness and desirous of wealth at the expense of the poor and power at the expense of the powerless.  These things are not the right things.

When beauty touches the heart it does so differently for each heart.  When truth touches the heart, it does so for every heart.  Walk in truth, love your beauty and you will be on the right side of things.

Then you will know.

Lies

 During Trump’s 4 year term as POTUS, he told a remarkable 30,573 lies.  Wow.  His followers believed most of them.  And after being soundly defeated in the 2020 Presidential election the man continues to spread false and misleading statements.  Most amazing to me, he seems to avoid any and all consequences for those lies.

One of the lasting legacies of the Trump Presidency is the acceptance of lies and the telling of lies without consequences.  Seems to me that if Trump can get away with it, and we are a nation where everyone is created equally, then I should be able to get away with telling a few lies I would love to spread.  Without consequences, of course.  Here goes:

Mitch McConnell is outed as a female cross-dresser.

Greg Abbott’s daughter was raped by a Republican and is now pregnant.

Lauren Bobert’s nude photos of her using an AK 47 as a sex toy are leaked online.

Marjorie Taylor Green is outed as a trans female.

Rand Paul dies of Covid after refusing vaccinations.

Josh Hawley is gay.

Susan Collins diagnosed with Aboulomania

Steve Bannon’s shrine to Adolph Hitler was discovered in his closet.

Charges against Matt Gaetz were dropped when it is revealed he does not have a penis.

Proud Boys discovered to be a gay men’s club

The Koch brothers admit their name is pronounced: “cock.”

Ted Cruz failed his citizenship test and is now an undocumented immigrant from Cuba

Manchin reveals huge monetary support from RNC

Kyrsten Sinema caught in bed with Joni Ernst

Jim Jordan ambushed by white men with AK 47s

The rapture occurs leaving all evangelicals here.

Donald Trump’s DNA reveals he is an albino African American.

 

That was fun.  Open to more ideas:

The Big Guy Returns

The big guy returned from his sabbatical in the year of the earth 4,543,292,022.  (Earthlings referred to this same year as 2022 which he found quaint.)  He had been very busy creating new stars, new galaxies, new planets, new life forms, and new laws of physics when he grew bored and decided to check in on earth, one of his first efforts to populate the universe with sentient beings.  Frankly, he was shocked by what he found. 

Humans were mucking it up.  Given the gift of sentient life, it appeared that some humans who could not use their big-guy-given brains were propelling the planet toward extinction.  Sentient yes, sapient no.  Time to intervene.  He hated to do this, but he had done it before with a great flood, a parting of seas, walls at Jericho, Egyptian babies, etc., and even the creation of his de-facto self on the planet did not seem to have worked.  Some humans just did not get it.  Giving up their sapience for oblivious self-service, greed, and fear was reversing one of his most creative life forms to obliviousness and unconsciousness.  No, it was not time to wipe them all out again.  But yes, it was time for a wake-up call. 

After careful thought regarding what options would likely work best, he settled on a series of miracles that would happen simultaneously throughout the planet.  Perhaps a swift change in reality would awaken the selfish, squabbling idiots.

The ground rules would remain the same with just a few minor twists.  Love your neighbor as you love yourself.  (Who is your neighbor?  Every human, you dim wit.)  And, do to others what you would have them do to you.  The new twist would be, have done to you what you have done to others.  This should be enough to get them thinking, he thought.  When to implement his plan?  Should the implementation be sudden and universal, or one human at a time?  He chose sudden, universal, and without warning.  No prophets this time.  No one listened to them anyway.

He chose September 22 as the implementation day.  This was the fall equinox, and what better day to promote equality and universal love than a day when sunshine and darkness were exactly equal.  On that day the following will happen:

Every white person who harbored bigotry and fear of other people based on their race and/or skin color will awake to discover that their skin had turned fire engine red.  Other humans who were born in various shades of beige and brown found them laughable.  The newly colored humans will be totally freaked out and have nowhere to turn for help and no way to hide their new color.  Non-bigoted white people who fought for equality and justice and the end of discrimination remained “white.”  The KKK immediately disbanded, as did other supremacist and hate groups.

Every person who supported building barriers along national lines to keep people out will awake to find themselves outside those barriers.  Every person who supported building barriers to keep people in will find themselves stuck inside those barriers unable to leave.

Every person who believed that sexual identity and sexual preferences other than binary heterosexuality was a defect and not worthy of love or protection will awake to be anything other than binary heterosexual.  They will awake either homosexual, transsexual, pansexual, etc., and subject to the discriminatory laws regarding such groups.

Every person with accumulated wealth equal to or over $1 million (the global top 1%) will awake to find themselves penniless and homeless unless their efforts had been sincere to improve the status of living for those less fortunate.  Preachers were not eligible for this exception.  Evidence qualifying for exception included support of programs that fed the hungry, clothed the naked, educated everyone, and healed the sick.  To escape poverty each of these newly poor people will work three separate jobs at minimum wage.  Most of them will likely be bright red anyway.

Every male who opposed abortion will awaken with his sex organs exchanged for female sex organs.  Every woman who opposed abortion will awaken with male sex organs that would never become flaccid.  Every time an anti-abortion male wants to have sex he will have to find another willing male. Each coupling will result in a pregnancy for the anti-abortion male.  Every time an anti-abortion female wants to have sex she will have to find a willing pro-choice female to participate and each coupling will result in pregnancy for the pro-choice female, likely ending the possibility of sexual activity for anti-abortion females, which will likely not be much of a change. 

Every person who believed and voted as though their nation was better off in 1950 will suddenly and completely lose all advancements that have occurred since that time. Cell phones, TVs, microwaves, air travel, modern medicine, polio and other vaccines, automobiles built since 1950, dentistry and medicinal pain medication, internet, computers, air conditioning, etc.  These backward-thinking people will be forced to live the rest of their lives as though it was 1950.  Most of them will likely be bright red.

Every elected official who had consciously, malevolently, and selfishly lied to his or her public will awake to find their genitals and their noses had anatomically swapped places.  It would be obvious now who was a dick and who was a pussy, and those very politicians would have to actually smell their own crap.  All Trump judicial appointees will likely start wearing masks, as will Trump, McConnell, Cruz, Abbott, and the vast majority of conservative politicians.

Every male who supported unlimited weapon ownership and use will lose their genitals altogether.  The big guy figured that those males didn’t have much to lose anyway if they felt the need to have weapons to feel safe while around their neighbors.  Women who support unlimited weapon ownership will not lose their genitals, but their sex drive would increase even though they were likely now paired with a eunuch.

The leader of any nation-state who used his or her position to increase his or her wealth or used his or her position to attempt to increase the land mass of their nation, or used his or her position to decrease the liberties of other humans will lose both arms and both legs and be at the mercy of good-hearted anti-war, pro-liberty people.  These leaders will be powerless.  They could not go anywhere without assistance, eat without assistance, even go to the bathroom without assistance, etc. 

The combined impact of all these new rules would result in a large population of bright red people with their genitals all messed up or gone, their wealth all gone, and for some their arms and legs.  The world will turn to those who retained their original skin color, retained their genitals, retained the location of their genitals, and retained whatever financial comforts they enjoyed to serve as leaders and model humans.  Everyone converted by this implementation would be told that it was the big guy who ordained the changes and they better get right with the ground rules before his next visit.

The big guy left and the world changed.

The rules are simple:  Love your neighbor as you love yourself, and do to others what you would have others do to you.  No exceptions.  “Neighbors” and “others” include all human beings, all races, all ethnicities, and all sexual preferences.   Simple. 

Humans cannot have it both ways:  One cannot claim to love the big guy and not follow his rules.   

Nothing Supreme About Supremacists

The arrest of 31 members of the Patriot Front, a white supremacist group, before a Pride Rally in Idaho, (Idaho?) inspired me to attempt to understand where such foolishness arises.  The entire event is confusing to me as it appears not only are they anti any race other than Anglo from Europe, but they are also anti any people with different sexual preferences.  I cannot determine if they are just ignorant or hateful.  Perhaps both.

Just a few random facts reveal the foolishness of their position.  White Europeans invaded the Americas where millions of indigenous people already lived.  Carrying disease and superior weaponry the European Anglos killed over 2,000,000 native Americans, took their land, ignored their culture, refused to honor treaties, and marched them into reservations, aka, internment camps.  Why celebrate one of the most massive instances of genocide ever recorded?  If we want to return the US to its native people that’s one thing.  Attempting to return it to the invaders and overlords is another.  No grounds for such a move. 

Worse, now that many of the remaining indigenous people in this hemisphere are attempting to migrate to the US it is the very like-minded group that attempted to exterminate them in the first place that is blocking their return.  If the “patriots” truly propose a return of control to the settlers of this nation they should be promoting our native Americans and the Hispanic migrants.  But, that is not the case.

Meanwhile, it was the same white Europeans who imported black people from Africa.  This was not a migration from one continent to another.  This was kidnapping based on the obscene notion that anything that promotes profit is good; human rights can be denied if they conflict with profit.  Do you think the Patriots get that?  I don’t. 

Funny if one thinks about it in context.  Black people here had no choice in the matter.  White people here had no choice in the matter.  It is not as though white supremacists did a better job of picking their parents than anyone else.  It is just luck that genetically made them white folks.  The same is true for every person and every shade of pigment on the planet. 

There is nothing special about white supremacists.  They did nothing to earn their “whiteness.”  It was luck of the draw.  To claim another human being is inferior because of the degree and shade of pigment in their skin is ludicrous.  That makes as much sense to me as believing white horses are superior to brown horses.  They are both horses!

One of the themes I continue to see in conservative conversations is the theme of blame.  When things are not going their way there is always someone else at fault.  One wonders if any of these folks will ever stand up and say we have been wrong and now we will attempt to make it right.  Another theme is the consistent proposals for simple solutions to highly complex problems.  Immigration problems?  Build a wall.  Growing population diversity?  Deport non-Anglos.  Democrats winning elections? Make voting harder for Democrats and accuse them of fraud even if there is none. But, for other problems do not dare ask the government to help solve the problem.  Ha.

One might argue that anyone who judges people or fears people or hates people based on skin color is likely less bright than others.  The same would be true about judging people based on their sexual preference and sexual identity.  Or on their religious belief.  But people who practice those kinds of decisions may possess a “stupid gene” we have yet to identify.  And only in that way are the supremacists different than the rest of us. 

Someone may want to point out to these folks that Jesus was not a white person and, therefore, is subject to the same discrimination they advocate.  And while we’re at it, someone should point out that Jesus was also a Jew since the Patriot Front is antisemitic as well. Someone may want to point out that real patriots adhere to the notions embedded by our founding fathers including the notion that all men are created equal.  For this group to claim patriotism is like those guys in the bar who want to convince someone they were a Navy Seal when they most certainly were not. 

Pathetic.  Misinformed.  Bigots.  Perhaps dangerous.  But surely not “supreme” in any way they have earned.  They are neither patriots nor at the front.  They are more like the Fascist Butt than the Patriot Front.

If Vulcans Ruled

Great passions and tremendous pain abound in our nation after the mass shooting of children and teachers in Uvalde.  Such passion, so many thoughts, and prayers, and so much pain has occurred after each of the 213 mass shootings this year.  And after the 693 such events in 2021, and the 611 in 2020, and on and on.  If I never loved I never would have cried.  (Paul Simon) 

I love Star Trek.  And, I love the Vulcans, Spock in particular.  Imagine a culture where emotions have been mastered and do not enter into decision-making.  Imagine a culture where logic, reasoning, and science are the basis of all decision-making.  Wow.  I wonder what we would be doing in the USA if we were all Vulcans.  Allow me to hypothesize.

If we start with our core principles our task is made simpler.  One of our dearest notions is that all men are created equal.  That does not mean all men are created the same.  That does not serve as an endorsement of intelligent design.  It is simply the language used in the latter part of the 18^th Century.  Such a statement has now been articulated and clarified.  When the word “men” was used in 1789, it meant everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, political beliefs, or sexual orientation.  It meant everyone.  If we were Vulcans and given this notion it becomes clear that people who practice, espouse, or secretly hide bigotry are un-American and are likely mentally ill.  There is no evidence that any one of the groups mentioned above is somehow superior or inferior to other groups.  People who hold such views should be referred to counselors and denied the opportunity to be a candidate for public office.

The second part of the core statement is that after we accept everyone is equal we also assume everyone has rights; civil liberties that are attached to each person and cannot be denied or taken away without due process of law.  The theme here is equal rights.  So, if men earn more money than women for the same job that is not equal.  If white males control in a nation where white males represent only 31% of the population that is not equal.  If we deny admission to people from some countries then we are not promoting equal rights.  If law enforcement defends and protects some people, but not all, we are denying equal rights.  If we have evidence we are denying jobs, education, or housing opportunities to people based on race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation we are denying equal rights.  If we deny one gender the right to control their bodies but allow it for the other gender we are denying equal rights.  If we are denying rights and equality we are violating our core principles.  Again, folks who espouse or practice such behaviors are un-American and should be referred to counselors.

A third core principle is the separation of church and state.  Our founders knew all too well what happens when one religious belief is enforced by the government and other beliefs are thereby persecuted and discriminated against.  It is on that basis that churches are exempt from paying taxes on their revenue and their property.  However, once a religious group enters the political arena supporting one candidate over another, or one position on an issue over another, or seeking to have their beliefs enacted into law they have violated the core principle of separation of church and state.  Vulcans would immediately begin to tax those churches.

Further, any elected official who supports including a religious belief into law should be immediately removed from office and impeached.  Laws against abortion are based on the beliefs of religious groups.  Politicians who would take away a woman’s rights should be removed from office.  Politicians who ban books based on their religious perspective regarding sexual preference should be removed from office.  Politicians who attempt to re-write history based on their religious perspective should be removed from office.  Politicians who promote “putting God back in schools” or requiring children to pledge loyalty to a god should be immediately removed from office.  Why such un-American people are allowed to continue to serve as elected officials after they have sworn to protect and defend the US Constitution is illogical.  To be clear, religion, by its definition, is illogical.

The data is robust, and the science is clear:  where there are more guns there are more deaths by firearms.  When and where gun control becomes stricter the number of deaths by firearms decreases.  The US leads the world in deaths by firearm and in the relative ease of acquitting weapons.  Logic would dictate that the number of guns must be restricted, gun ownership must be monitored and the individuals seeking gun ownership should pass certification tests and be able to articulate the reason they need a gun.  Self-defense with no evidence of an attack is not a valid reason.  Fear is not a valid reason if the fear is irrational.  Living alone in the wilderness with predators is a justifiable fear.  Logically, the only people who say they oppose such regulations are the people who manufacture and sell guns as their income will decrease and the death of children does not mean as much to them as income.  The banter supplied by the gun lobby is ludicrous and illogical.  Only good guys with guns can stop bad guys with guns.  What a fallacy.  How does one detect a good guy vs a bad guy standing at the counter ready to purchase a gun?  We are all good guys and bad guys at some point in our lives so applying the logic of that statement means no one should have guns, or everyone should have guns.  Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.  That is misstated.  To be accurate and logical the statement could read, guns don’t kill people, people with guns kill people.  On and on, no motto justifies ignoring the data and ignoring the deaths other than the profit motive.  If one believes that the Second Amendment defends gun ownership one needs to take a course in constitutional law and American history.  Those who argue for unlimited gun ownership in the face of all the science and all the data could be labeled delusional and therefore not qualified to own a weapon.

We the people.  Of the people, by the people, for the people.  People rule in a democracy.  Corporations are not people.  The logical thing to do is to make corporate donations to political candidates illegal.  Likewise, PACs that exist to support one group over another should be illegal.  There should be a cap on the amount of money any one person can give to a candidate.  Our decision-making would start reflecting human interests, not corporate interests.

Climate change is real.  Global warming is real.  Logic dictates that if we want to continue to live on this planet (as though we have other options) we must immediately do all that we can to end the use of fossil fuels.  It will hurt, but it must be done, much as a leg with gangrene must be cut off, the oil industry and its subsidiaries must become illegal.  Cars must be electric.  Homes must use electricity, not gas.  Solar panels must be installed everywhere.  Wind turbines are installed everywhere.  Hot pursuit of fusion must occur.  Cruises must be canceled until a ship can demonstrate it is powered by something other than a polluting engine.  Same for airlines.  We must stop making plastic stuff.  We need to go through the industrial revolution again, this time with energy all coming from renewable sources.  Consumption of fossil fuels should be treated as an addiction to a controlled substance.  Help first, prison second.

We are a nation of laws, not of individuals.  Each individual must stand on equal footing before the law.  If a District Attorney, a Grand Jury, a Judge, or an arm of Congress issues a subpoena for documents and/or a person’s testimony, that evidence and that person must be delivered to the agent issuing the subpoena.  Arguing that some people are too important to abide by subpoenas undermines our democracy and our legal system. The punishment for failure to comply with a subpoena should be imprisonment.

Likewise, should the US House of Representatives pass articles of impeachment against a president, the Senate must conduct a trial, in public and before the nation.  To allow the Senate for purely political reasons to simply say no, we will not try this person, does not maintain the notion that we are a nation of laws, not individuals. 

Anyone who promotes the overthrow of our democracy, by law, has committed treason. Such folks should be tried as traitors whether they verbally encourage insurrection, or publicly deny the sanctity of the courts, the law, or the vote.

Those would be the first steps taken, I think, should we live in secular democracy governed by law, reason, science, and a constitution that defines how people will conduct such a government.  Spock would be proud.

Live long and prosper.

I Grieve. I Vote.

This is not new. It is hardly news. Since Charles Whitman climbed the Texas Tower in 1966 and killed 18 people we have had mass shootings at schools. In fact, there have been school shootings as far back as 1840. It is not new that conservatives claim rights defined in the 2nd Amendment as the basis of opposing gun control legislation. It is not new that flag-waving right-wingers warn against any attempt to restrict the purchase of weapons or identify red flags that might prohibit individuals identified as disturbed from obtaining firearms. The discourse between those horrified by the ease of weapon possession in this country and those who somehow think it is a sacred right has boiled down to logic vs. belief, individual freedom vs. community well-being, gun manufacturers, vs. grieving family and community members. It is not different from the vaccinated vs. the anti-vaxers. In this nation will we allow individuals to exhibit behaviors that are harmful, nay terminal, to the group? So far, the answer is “yes.” And our children are dying. Adults are dying. And we remain content with a misread rule from 1791 designed by Madison to arm citizens if needed, against a tyrannical government. So sad that the attempts at tyranny have come from pro-guns groups.

This is not new. But one wonders when it will be enough.

Can we tell the good guys from the bad guys? No. So the notion that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun is as nonsensical as saying the only way to stop someone with a gun is by someone else with a gun so give everyone a gun.

If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. Exactly. If heroin is outlawed only addicts and drug dealers will have heroin.

And here in Texas, we are going in the opposite direction. No license is needed to own or carry. Therefore, no surprise children are dying. If you are a gun-carrying conservative you should celebrate the deaths in Uvalde as it is an indicator of your freedom to carry a weapon rather than the freedom of the rest of us to live.

I grieve. I vote.

A New Raptura

The term “rapture” for evangelical and fundamentalist Christians is taken from ancient Latin “raptura” and means to be kidnapped, snatched away, or seized, a term very unlike modern associations of joy, and intense pleasure.  Nope, those who believe in the Biblical Rapture believe all previous believers will be called into the clouds to meet Jesus, then all current believers will be snatched away to join that group in the clouds.  The Bible does not mention the term rapture, but the current fundamentalist concept began to take hold in the late 1800s.

I have often thought of that event held dear in the hearts of some believers, as a horrible event.  2,000 years ago there were no automobiles, airliners, battleships, aircraft carriers, International Space Station, satellite operators, or even amusement park employees, so the snatching of believers might have left some sheep unguarded but would not likely cause much death and mayhem.  In the current high-tech society, the disappearance of a large number of people who are snatched away would result in multiple deaths and a huge amount of emotional pain.  So, if a loving God intends to do such a thing he does not seem very loving to me at all.

What further bothers me, assuming the perspective of a believer, is that those who are snatched are willing to be snatched, leaving family, friends, and loved ones behind.  How selfish is that?  Why not hang around and help?

The expression, “the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”  So, the long-range plan for humanity is to snatch up all the good men?  Duh.  That seems counterproductive.  Let’s leave all the nonbelievers, all the evildoers in charge while good folks consort in the clouds.

So, I propose a change in the way Christians view the rapture.  It should not be the seizure and elevation of believers but should be a casting down of the wicked.  God has done that before via the great flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, Pharaoh's army, etc., etc.  Why not at the end times?

If we believed that the day would come that all non-believers, all evildoers, all liars, all criminals, all those who grossly sinned against their fellow man by placing power and money above all else, should be cast down rather than all the good guys being sucked up.  Think of the ways we could improve the human condition!

Folks like Trump, McConnell, Greene, Boebert, McCarthy, Cruz, Abbott, Hawley, etc., etc. would be cast down and quickly disappear leaving the good solid people who understand the New Testament and the US Consitution in charge.  Then we would have the ability to establish heaven on earth where no one goes hungry, without shelter, in need of medical attention, or education, is shut out when seeking asylum, or belittles other humans because of race, ethnicity, gender, gender preference, or wealth.  Those who will say and do anything to achieve personal power would be the first to go, and I would say good riddance.

It may take a reverse rapture for the current supporters of the vile to realize they are on the wrong side and have been lied to and have had their fears and angers ignited by the accelerant of bigotry.  And, Biden could appoint 5 or 6 judges when the others disappear. 

Time for a new raptura. 

Closed Hearts, Closed Doors, Closed Minds

 As a former Methodist I was sad to hear that the Methodist Bishops have concluded there is no compromise available on the issue of non-heterosexual marriages and clergy so the church will split.  The conservative wing, those who will not support same-sex marriage and homosexual clergy, will establish a new Methodist Church known as the Global Methodists.  As I recover from my sadness I begin to laugh.  So much for the motto, “Open Hearts, Open Doors, Open Minds.”

In 1785 Methodists officially opposed slavery and called for emancipation.  Southern Methodists fought back and the church at first mollified its position, then reinforced the original position.  Members of the church who supported slavery, left the church.  In hindsight, it should be safe to say that bigotry drove the split.  Today is no different.  Those who not only do not recognize the existence of the LGBTQ community are splitting from a church that recognizes same-sex marriage and heterosexual clergy.  Geeze.  Some Methodists are slow learners and the new “global” church shall be scorned in years to come by those who continue to have imaginary friends.  For some, politics and religion are a sacrilegious mix worse than gays and straights.

(I would further suggest the moniker for the new churches should be "Provincial Methodists," as the term "global' implies a worldwide view and liberal thinking.)

As the new church begins its lobbying efforts to attract current Methodists to join them the issues will look like they are logistical:  what happens to church property?  What happens to established fund balances?  etc.  Moot as far as I am concerned.  The issue is bigotry versus love and acceptance as equals those humans who are different from the majority, the same issue present in discussions of racial bigotry.  Rejecting a person because of their race is the same process as rejecting someone because of their sexual preference. 

No doubt both sides will rail against the other side citing Bible verses and interpretations to sanctify their sanctimonious positions.  I find that equally laughable as the Bible is so full of conflicting statements that almost anyone can find a verse supporting their particular point of view.  I would simply point out that those who support inerrancy and the literal so-called truth of the Bible stand on shakey ground if they do not support stoning to death anyone who has premarital sex, anyone who commits adultery, anyone who gets a divorce, and anyone who disobeys their parents.  The 4,000year-old Bronze Age philosophy reflected in the Bible is simply not appropriate for the 21^st Century any more than the owner's manual for a Model T is useful for reference on a model Tesla.

It may not be immediately obvious, but I suspect this split will accelerate the growth of the fastest growing group in American religious categories:  The “None.”  As science advances, as fact replaces faith, in fact, faith only exists without facts, the number of people opting out of organized religion is escalating.  If facts confirmed Christianity everyone would be a Christian.  Or, if prayers were answered there would be no doctors.

Still, for mostly historical and sentimental reasons, I regret to see the split.  I have long held that there is no such thing as a conservative Christian and this split continues to prove my point.

Regardless of faith or lack thereof, I support Open Hears, Open Minds, and Open Doors.  Those who judge others by superficial characteristics and/or characteristics determined at birth, who would build walls against other people, who would exclude other people from a place at the table, and who would perceive that some humans are superior to others are not the people who will advance humanity in generations to come.  They represent roadblocks to improvement and to faith.  

Mandate Freedom?

I saw a sign on a rear window of an SUV in the grocery store parking lot.  The message was written using red tape.  It read:  “Mandate Freedom.”

Mandate freedom?  My head swirls.  This is the most oxymoronic phrase I have seen in a long time.  It is right up there with “Christian conservative,” “empathetic Republican,” “benevolent billionaire,” “jumbo shrimp,” and “hot water heater.” 

A mandate is an authoritative command.  A mandate is a rule or policy or procedure that is required regardless of circumstance.  Freedom is the antithesis of a mandate.  Freedom is life without mandates.  To promote a governmental command to instill freedom would be laughable if not so scary.

After some brief googling I learn that there are T-shirts available with this phrase from a variety of sellers.  Good thing my first encounter with this nonsense was with an inanimate rear window rather than an apparent human.  My guffaw would likely have been offensive and I might be pressed to teach a mini-lesson on freedom and mandates.

And yet, it appears, this is where we are in these United States.  We are regressing along the curve of human evolution in so many ways and with such speed that I fear Darwin would feel obligated to re-write the Origin of the Species.  To wit:

Belief in the paranormal, the supernatural, and imaginary beings remains rampant in a society that has advanced due to science. 

There is a total loss of respect and appreciation for knowledge and expertise.  There are those among us who choose to believe theories espoused by those with opinions rather than education while those who are skilled, trained, and knowledgeable in the field are either ignored or vilified.

Rational thought, reasonable discourse, critical thinking, deductive reasoning, the scientific method, and problem-solving are skills not only frowned upon by many but in some cases, they are banned or characterized as evil.

Lack of integrity, lack of honesty, promotion of false assumptions and theories, and institutionalized lying are now the hallmark of political discourse for many.  Stop the steal, Trump won, Russia is our friend, North Korea is our friend, tariffs are effective, trickle-down economic theory, isolationism, America first, America is used by its allies, minorities and women have no rights, the liberal elite control everything, and confronted with facts claims of fraud abound.  I didn’t lose, the other side cheated.  This transparently false landscape is painted over and over by many elected leaders and pundits and is believed by many who do not value critical thinking.

Acceptance of cognitive dissonance.  Many feel freedom and individual rights should be paramount in a democracy while at the same time seeking to mandate a way of thinking espoused by a few.  Religious freedom is important, but only for Christians.  History is important, but only history that is purged of evidence of issues conservatives disagree with.  Being told what to do is abhorrent unless those who are told what to do are not part of the conservative camp.  They can oppose mask mandates and vaccine mandates while supporting mandates regarding a woman’s uterus.  Freedom now means freedom to think and act as I think and act but not freedom to think differently, act differently, or be different from the norms established by conservatives.  Heterosexuality is good, everything else is bad, Christianity should rule but Muslim practices should be banned, etc.  Mandating my worldview is more important than freedom while they scream for freedom to discriminate, persecute, and treat others as second-class citizens.  Such dissonance only exists in the minds of those too fearful or unable to rationally confront their beliefs.

The evidence is pretty clear.  Unless we return to a secular democracy grounded in science and rational thought, supportive of individual rights, and wherein truth and integrity have a deep meaning we will continue to regress.  All men (sic) are created equal and all men (sic) have inalienable rights.  If we cannot agree on that we have abandoned our core values.  At that point, I worry that the United States will no longer be united and our grand democratic experiment will have failed. 

Republican Beliefs

If I’m a Republican:

I see the world as competitive, not collaborative.

I believe winning is everything, and if you are not cheating you are not trying.

I do not believe in fair play, level playing fields, or integrity.  I believe in winning.

I believe lying is essential to acquiring and maintaining power.

I am opposed to anything President Biden proposes regardless of its merits.

I am opposed to anyone President Biden nominates regardless of his or her qualifications.

I believe Trump won the 2020 election and Biden stole it from him.

I do not think homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, or transsexual people should have any rights and there is something wrong with those people.

I do not support court-ordered or legislative restrictions on the right to bear arms. 

I do not support court-ordered or legislative restrictions on my freedom to worship.  I do support restrictions on beliefs other than mine.

I support court-ordered restrictions on freedom of speech as it applies to people who hold different opinions than I do. 

I do not support court-ordered restrictions on the separation of church and state. 

I do not support the constitutional statements that all men (sic) are created equal and have equal rights.

I do not think women should be able to make decisions about what is growing in their bodies.

I oppose increasing the national debt for programs that help all our citizens, especially those most in need.

I support increasing the national debt for programs that help our wealthiest people and important industries.

I oppose the recognition that all economies are connected and that globalization is a byproduct of communication and transportation.

I oppose the rights of Democrats to vote and I support legislation that hinders the Democratic vote

I oppose the rights of Democrats to be represented by Democrats and support the drawing of representative districts in such a way as to minimize the possibility of a Democrat winning an election.

I oppose the Equal Rights Amendment.

I oppose expertise, knowledge, and science, and prefer to trust non-educated talk show hosts. 

I do support the fruits of science in my personal life inclusive of computers, cell phones, TV, microwaves, and modern medicine.

I oppose immigration to our nation unless the immigrants are white people from Canada, Western Europe, Australia, or New Zealand.

I oppose immigration from any nation of poor people of color.

I support sending immigrants of color back to their country of origin.

I support cutting defense, health, and human services budgets to build an ineffective wall on our southern border.

I believe big pharmacy, medicine, defense contractors, hedge fund managers, millionaires, billionaires, the petrochemical industry, and the NRA deserve our protection and promotion.

I believe whites are superior to all other races and men are superior to women.

I do not support quality education for all children in America; only affluent white children.

I believe white law enforcement officers if they feel threatened have the right to shoot and/or kill people of color.  I believe people of color automatically make white law enforcement officers feel threatened.

I believe that protesting against white law enforcement officers for shooting and killing people of color is un-American.

I believe the law enforcement motto of “to protect and to serve” applies only to white citizens.

I believe our nation should be an evangelical, fundamentalist, Christian nation and that all our laws and policies should protect and promote that religious belief.

I believe if an election yields an outcome I do not like I am authorized to practice civil disobedience inclusive of attacks on our government.

I believe any historical or current fact, process, or procedure that reveals the folly and negative impact of any of these beliefs should be censored from our educational system.

I believe that any subpoena of any documents or persons which show illegal activity on our part should be blocked.

I believe books that highlight any historical or current fact, process, or procedure that reveals the folly of such beliefs should be banned if not burned.

I believe we are a nation founded by white, Christian males.

I oppose the government telling me what I can or cannot do including the protection of minority rights regardless if those are minorities are of race, culture, sexual orientation, and/or religious beliefs.

I believe CEOs should be protected by law, but labor should not.

I oppose any scientific research that disagrees with my belief system including research on the planet’s climate and pandemic.

I believe the government’s role in our nation should be to protect and promote those individuals and enterprises that we declare to be winners and that we should suppress and ignore the needs of those people and enterprises we perceive to be losers.

I believe the role of the US Supreme Court is to protect the laws and policies that promote the above beliefs.

Great American Myths

 As a nation, we seem to be stuck between two ideologies that are becoming less flexible and more polarized.  I am fascinated by that for a variety of reasons, mainly because one of those ideologies is based on mythology and the other is based on science, logic, fact, and reason.  I would never have believed that as a nation wherein citizens have embraced the advancement of science and technology as in cell phones, TV, space exploration, electric cars, microwaves, modern medicine, etc., we would even be having such a dichotomy of ideologies.  But we are.

It seems to me we should identify the mythical portions of an ideology so that those who strongly believe something and discover their beliefs are myths have the opportunity to awaken and endorse reality.  The question is, can those people handle the truth?  Some of the following are facetious.  Most not.

Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Mother Nature, Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, Superman, the Avengers, et.al.  On the surface, most adults understand these are myths and most adults promote the mythology to children to instill magic and mystery if not behavior manipulation.  As a nation, we seem to have decided that this set of myths is OK to perpetrate on children, especially since such belief yields high revenue in the private sector.  But, they are myths. 

2020 Election Results.  The myth circulated by Donald Trump and his supporters is that Trump actually won the election and somehow Biden stole it from him via fraudulent votes.  Does not seem to matter to these folks that no fraudulent votes have ever been found or reported and that every lawsuit claiming fraudulent votes has been tossed out of court for lack of evidence.  Biden won by 7 million votes.  Anything else is a myth.

Trickle Down, Supply Side Economics.  This economic philosophy has never worked.  George Bush and Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan have all proved beyond any doubt that cutting the taxes of the wealthiest Americans and most profitable corporations do not lead to increased hiring, increased production, or anything but the increased wealth of the wealthiest.  Given additional money wealthy people invest.  To stimulate the economy the government must put money in the hands of lower and working-class Americans.  Given additional money, these groups go out and spend thereby increasing demand, hiring, etc.  Trickle Down is a myth that only benefits the wealthy.

Any economic organization other than private-sector capitalism is socialism and/or communism and is bad.  Bad for whom, or bad in what way?  This myth is almost funny in that those who believe it and perpetrate it are either capitalists or ignorant.  Of course, private-sector folks want to abolish productivity and success via a socialistic enterprise.  If those folks cannot abolish such an enterprise they will scheme to collect some of the tax dollars for themselves.  Schools are socialistic.  So is law enforcement.  So are prisons.  So is the military.  On and on.  Anytime any enterprise is funded by tax dollars, where the capital investment is public and subject to bid laws, where decisions are made by an elected body rather than a CEO, and where salaries are set by an elected body you are looking at a socialistic organization.  It sure as hell is not free enterprise.  So, the private sector wages war on public sector activities while opening charter schools, private prisons, private security firms, etc., etc.  Others who believe this myth are for the most part confusing totalitarian decision-making with socialism and communism.  I do not know of a democratic communist state though China claims to be.  But there are dozens of democratic socialist states, most of whom are outperforming us economically.

The Government that Governs Least Governs Best.  This myth is the correlated to the myth that what is good for business is good for the USA.  The problem is that without regulations and watchdogs American citizens are seriously at risk.  Our economic system is built on the notion of making a profit.  Anything that can advance that goal is therefore OK.  So, meatpackers do not need to worry about contaminated meat, toy manufacturers do not need to worry about safety issues for kids, car manufacturers would not worry about fuel efficiency and exhaust regulations, factories would not need to worry about safety for the workers, on and on and on.  If left unregulated the private sector would not implement any of these safety measures and no one company would implement them because they would then be at a competitive disadvantage with others in their field.  And it seems that we do not even need to talk about regulating banks, mortgages, hedge funds, etc., after the debacle of 2008.  It is clear that CEOs and corporate boards hate these government regulations and clearly, they would not be needed if it was economical to do the right thing.  It is not, so the government that responds to threats to its citizens and seeks to protect its citizens is the government that governs best.

And the issue of protecting civil liberties is a different topic.  If the government does not do so, no one else will.  When the government stops protecting civil liberties then we are violating the core premises of this democracy:  all people are created equal and have certain inalienable rights.  Even women, and Blacks, and liberals, and atheists and those who would kneel during the national anthem.  There are those among us who, if they had their way, would convert Biblical commandments into law, just as Muslims convert their commandments into law; they would send all people of color somewhere else, they would ensure women maintain a second-class citizen role, ensure that skin color and zip code determine the quality of education, and on and on.  Those who think like this have absolutely no interest in protecting or expanding civil liberties or civil rights.  Those who think like this stormed the Capital on January 6.  Those who think like this do not understand what the land of the free really means.

COVID.  The mythology surrounding the pandemic should never have evolved.  It did so because we had a President who downplayed the virus and contested science from the beginning.  That planted skepticism in the minds of his supporters and we continue to reap the deathly rewards of that skepticism.  We know how Covid spreads.  We know how to combat it via vaccinations.  But for some reason unfathomable to me Trump morphed from the notion that Covid was a hoax, it was no worse than the flu, he declared we had it under control, he would not support masks and social distancing, and then he took credit for the development of vaccines that had been in the works for years before he ever took office, but he would not tell his supporters to get vaccinated.  That is, until very recently with a caveat:  do what you think best. Over 800,000 Americans have died from this disease and the variants are wreaking further havoc among those not vaccinated.  Vaccination is not a civil liberties question any more than a stop sign is.  We all agree that to live in a nation where we must take precautions we may not like, but we do so to protect ourselves and our fellow citizens.  So, click your seatbelt, have car insurance, have a driver’s license and a fishing license and hunting license, and wear a helmet when you play football.  These are not civil liberty issues.  These are rational public health and safety issues.  And to those who believe that the vaccines are a cover for microchip insertion or DNA collection I would simply say grow up.  Such mythology has absolutely no basis in fact or reality and anyone who promotes those beliefs is placing thousands at risk and, in my humble opinion, should be arrested just as we arrest people who intentionally spread HIV.  The parents who are suing school districts because they require masks should be reported to CPS for placing their children at risk.  Yes, masks should be mandated.  Yes, vaccinations should be mandated.  Only because there are folks too dense to see the truth of this international threat and listen to media sources more interested in making up conspiracy theories than they are in helping people.  We certainly did not have such folks around for polio, smallpox, measles, mumps, tetanus, diphtheria, etc.

Global Warming.  As far back as the late 1800’s scientists began warning us about global warming as the result of the release of greenhouse gases from the consumption of fossil fuels.  The litany of scientific analysis of our fragile climate extends from then to the present day.  Global temperatures are rising.  The cause is the consumption of fossil fuels.  If you want to track those studies check out the timeline found at https://history.aip.org/climate/timeline.htm.  Climate change deniers are simply whistling in the dark, hoping that the changes we see are not so bad, are the result of natural climate cycles on earth, and that the end is not near.  Climate change deniers also make a ton of money on finding, refining, and distributing the extracts of fossil fuels, the chief cause of climate change.  They do not want to admit that they are poisoning planet earth, perhaps beyond recovery, any more than tobacco companies wanted to admit that smoking was addictive and promoted lung cancer, or that Coca-Cola was a beloved drink due to the cocaine mixed in the brew.  So big oil has committed millions of dollars to hire scientists who will conduct a study and proclaim climate change is no big deal.  (At first, their mission was to claim there was no evidence of global warming, but the evidence for that is now so vast that the task has changed.)  States like Texas that have provided safe harbor for big oil clearly do not want the myth exposed.  We are experiencing global warming and we must reduce if not eliminate the burning of fossil fuels.  If we cannot do that we will destroy the only planet we have.  To think otherwise is to believe in a myth that is not supported by any independent scientific research.

Supreme Being.  There is no evidence beyond fervent belief that there is a supreme being.  Belief is not truth.  Belief precedes truth and knowledge.  Reason dictates there is not a supreme being.  There are approximately 1000 deities worshipped on our planet right now and each set of believers are convinced their god is the one true God and all the other believers are infidels.  Everyone is an atheist for every deity except their own deity.  However, there is no evidence that such a creature exists other than through myth.  And if he or she or they or it exists, that being is either impotent, incompetent, or not caring and does not merit worship.

This supposed Supreme Being evidently picks sides, picks winners, decides who lives and who dies, and empowers people to commit atrocities by the belief that this being is on their side.  Ridiculous.  If you believe in a supreme being and believe that such a being cares who wins an election or an athletic competition or which child lives and which child dies you are the victim of mythological propaganda.  If you believe that your particular religious beliefs should become the law of the land then simply look at Afghanistan under the Taliban to see how well that works out. 

The notion that a god makes a list and checks it twice to decide who goes to heaven and who goes to hell is absurd.  If God exists all he has to do is show up.  Why would a supreme being be so willing to commit genocide?  Why would a supreme being advocate the dominance of men over women?  Why would a supreme being prescribe death by stoning for premarital sex or adultery?  Did anyone go to heaven before Jesus?  If so, why was there a Jesus?  On and on and on.  If you want to read a book that is most likely to convince you there is no god I highly recommend the Bible.  Not the passages the preacher chooses.  Start at the beginning and read it like any other book

Life after death.  The expression says it all.  The belief that there is life after death has no foundation, in reality, any more than life before birth.  All life forms on this planet expire.  Those that are sentient and have self-awareness simply cease to exist as do single-celled critters.  This myth provides some glimmer of hope that humans are an eternal species with an infinite life span.  We are not.  Hand in hand with this myth is that there is a heaven and a hell.  Equally ludicrous.  We can detect light emitting from behind a black hole millions of light-years away from us.  The thought that some places house billions of souls, (whatever those things are), for eternity and these places are not measurable or observable is a myth. 

Pro-Life.  Somebody somewhere posited that aborting a blastocyst, an embryo or a fetus was an act of infanticide or the killing of a child.  This mental image holds great power among those who believe that abortion is morally wrong because it is in effect murder.  That of course is a myth.  Many of the supporters of this myth aggressively insist that their view of this medical procedure, aborting a growth inside a woman, is an issue of homicide, and are known to promote legislation that makes such procedures illegal, they protest at clinics where such procedures are performed and even attack the medical personnel who perform the procedure.  This is one of the saddest myths in our nation today.

The growth that is terminated is not a baby.  A baby has a name.  When a mother loses her baby to death there is great grief.  This is not what is happening at all.  If you believe that is the case do what I do and request that the pro-life person simply send you the names of the dead babies so that condolences can be offered to the parents.  I never get a name because this is what the mother and the doctor have decided to do.  For anyone else to morn is at least patronizing and at most the application of a given set of beliefs on other people. 

Some base their myth on a religious holy book, but that book does not mention abortion.  The Bible, the Christian Holy Book, makes it very clear in the second creation story found in Genesis 2 that life does not begin until the first breath.  Approximately 20% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, a term that means automatic abortion.  For those who argue abortion is immoral what shall you do with the miscarriages?  Again, religion enters the picture with the common answer that the loss of this growth was the will of some god.  Before birth, the growth in the womb is on total life support.  It receives its oxygen and food and blood from the mother.  Growths that exist solely because of full-time life support are always subject to termination.  Tapeworms exist in the human body, they have a heartbeat, they have a brain, and yet no one screams when they are removed.

What reveals that this belief is a myth is that the very people who believe the myth are not pro-life for children or others who are already born.  This group tends to support the death penalty where jurors decide a full-fledged grown-up human being may be killed, but opposes the termination of growth inside a woman is hypocrisy to the nth degree.  Further, the same group tends not to support child welfare, increased spending on public schools, more CPS officers, etc.  This group claims to be pro-life but that means pro-life pre-birth because once a child is born they do not support programs to improve the quality of life of these actual babies.  Pro-Life is a religious based, hypocritical myth that many who hold the myth to be true would enforce this myth on all women rather than allowing a woman and her health care provider to make conscious, scientific and sociological decisions.  The very men who scream about government control regarding masks are willing to control a woman’s body.  Should be blasphemy.  It is, to those who think.

Fox News (et al) is News:  In the beginning, there was ABC, CBS, and NBC, all vying for viewers.  The competition, however, centered on the anchor more than the facts.  All 3 networks scrupulously reported facts, and if they had something to say regarding their opinion of the facts, that something was labeled an editorial.  One never doubted the facts as reported and all three networks, though competing to scoop the other two, reported the same basic facts.

Cable TV changed all that as did Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.  Now the media choices are overwhelming.  I can find “news sources” that are pro-Catholic, pro-guns, pro-Protestant, pro-evangelical, pro-Republican, pro-Democrat, pro-vaccines and masks and anti-vaccines and masks.  This smorgasbord has had two effects in my humble opinion.  The first clear effect has been to drive us to the notion that there are “alternative facts.”  That is, what one believes becomes fact and the repetition of lies becomes fact by repetition.  The second clear indicator is that folks want to hear what they agree with and do not want to be confused by the facts.  Facts become irrelevant in this environment.  Who agrees with me is the litmus test for listening.

But truth abides and facts reside.  There is only one set of facts for any given situation and we have lost the ability to discern facts from efforts to attract and maintain an audience.

Fox News, and their conservative ilk,  is not news.  It may be news on the local level when reporting a shooting, a high-speed chase, and a robbery at a convenience store.  Other local networks will cover the same stories reporting much the same facts.  But once the conversation becomes elevated to state and national issues, facts disappear and opinions and beliefs rule.  The more outlandish the opinion and belief the more likely the network will attract folks who are not critical thinkers or who are not prone to fact check the news.  Media sources that circulate conspiracy theories (Trump won, the vaccine is harmful, cow de-wormer works on Covid, masks are a violation of rights, life begins at 6 weeks in the womb, Biden blew the Afghanistan evacuation, and Democrats are coming to take guns away,) are almost all BS and serve no purpose but to keep the unread and illiterate faithful believers riled up.  Why?  Because that generates advertising revenue based on viewership and fund-raising for the conspiracy theory crowd. 

We could end a bunch of this by simply requiring news networks to scroll a message at the bottom of the screen that says, “The following report is a conspiracy theory with no basis in fact.”  Hannity, Carlson, et al would have the scrolling message permanently affixed to their shows.

I am watching my grandson wrestle with the myth of Santa Claus.  I think he knows, as do many of his classmates, that Santa is not real.  And he is deeply saddened now that evidently, all the adults in his life have lied to him.  He really wants Santa to be real because such a creature would be wonderful to have around.  When I first took out all my religious beliefs and unpacked them it became clear to me there was no god.  I sat with my preacher to discuss this because it unnerved me tremendously.  I had always believed in god.  I had always prayed and gone to church and sung in the choir, etc., etc.  I really wanted there to be such a being as a god, but it was clear there was no evidence that such a being exists.  The preacher said not to worry, many people go through a stage in their faith journey where they are mad at god.  I laughed.  I am no more mad at god than I am at Santa.  Neither exists.  To be angry at them would be pure folly.  I am angry and unnerved by the lies and deceit that have been fed to me my entire life. 

As those who really confront the myths listed here will experience anger too, I think.  It is hard to accept the truth if one believes otherwise.  But our nation will not exist as a secular democracy until we accept truth as the bedrock, not mythology. 

We believe all men and women are created equal.  We believe every living human has rights that should be protected.  We believe there should be a wall of separation between religious beliefs and the government so that the government never tells people what to believe or whether to believe anything at all.  We believe our government is of the people, by the people, and for the people, and we discern their will via the vote.  Any attempt to deny folks the right to vote is un-American. 

And in my humble opinion, any attempt to undo the outcomes of a fair and just election should be treated as treason.  That’s not a fact.  That’s a belief.

The earth is not flat.  We have been to the moon.  Consumption of fossil fuels is killing our planet.  Zeus is not real. Biden won.  Let’s get on with the governance of America as the people have willed.