Thursday, October 31, 2019
Sunday, October 27, 2019
The Harvest
I was reading something today that reminded me, again, of a Bible quote -
"For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes."
My reading was discussing the growth of, well, I'd call them radical reactionaries, since I don't think they actually hold to conservative values (like Russell Kirk's sixth canon, since they reject 'existing traditions and customs' they don't like.)
Anyways, I think we are seeing the fruit of that particular tree. I think they have to have a high degree of cognitive dissonance to look at the fruits of their labor and call it good...
Too bad people are really good at finding ways to believe what they want to believe.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
A Never Trumper POV
I kind of want to stand up and applaud:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/trumps-tweet-makes-me-proud-be-human-scum/600685/
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Impeachment and Social Media
I generally try not to post political stuff on Facebook (I do more of that here, tbh, where I can write long rambling things that most people don't want to read. Let's me put more nuance than you generally get elsewhere).
I don't want to be like some of my relatives, that spit out so many political memes that people start filtering them out.
But...
Its important, sometimes, to make it clear that you disagree. Where silence can be taken as agreement, and people don't follow politics as closely (and apparently some 40% of people get their news from FB), it's sometimes more important to speak.
And while I don't generally like Democratic leadership, I think Trump is seriously threatening to undermine the Constitution right now.
Its not about Democrat vs Republican, it's about whether Congress can use the powers given it in the Constitution to rein in an out of control executive. Will our checks and balances work? Or not?
I could probably go into greater detail on how the Executive branch has grown in power over the last century. How Trump is, in some ways, just blatantly doing what others have done... Just to a far greater degree, and with no pretense of it being anything else. (or maybe that's the cynic in me coming out. Even if there wasn't anything legally wrong, Hunter Biden getting paid a lot to do little - the way other connected people do - is yet another example of how the rich perpetuate their built in advantages, and part of why Democrats don't seem to be on the side of the 'little guy' these days)
But...
That restraint was important. It set a limit, of sorts. They at least knew they had to at least try to make it look like it wasn't just about helping themselves. (And probably were able to convince themselves, in the process. Like the training my previous job gave on avoiding conflicts of interest, it can be hard to recognize one when you're in it.)
I don't know. I started reading Accidental Presidents, and the historical perspective is interesting. We haven't had members of Congress get into fist fights, for example. And a recent twitter thread (app update seems to be missing the ability to add the link to text, so here it is - https://twitter.com/michaelharriot/status/1186468302400507904?s=19) made me realize that there's a lot about the post civil war history that I didn't know...
So it may be an exaggeration to say that this is the most dangerous time in our history. But when the President tries telling his people to ignore congressional subpoenas, or says the Emoluments Clause is phony, and threatens to use his ability to pardon anyone who breaks the law to get what he wants done, he is showing over and over again that he has no respect at all for the Constitution.
And I don't know how anyone can claim to be 'conservative', or a patriot, and continue to support him.
Then there's the mess he made with the Kurds, and the way he hasn't met a dictator he doesn't like.
He's doing more to undermine America than anything that the Left has done.
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Posting For Future Reference
My aunt shared this on Facebook -
https://www.umnews.org/en/news/bishop-gay-daughter-sent-him-back-to-scriptures
And it fit with some thoughts I may or may not post about in the future, so I figured I'd share it here.
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Various Meandering Thoughts
Today has been a mixed bag - the weather is gorgeous. Just utterly, awesomely, beautiful out.
But when I read the news, it feels like the world is on fire.
I see that dichotomy in other things, as well. Like - I have a job, and it pays well enough that I'm paying off some bills and other things, but then there are other things I want to buy and am holding off on, because it's not quite in the need department. Like a new couch - mine's a bit broken, but it's possible I'll be moving within a year, so if it can last until then I'd rather just get rid of it here and get a new one at the new place - or replacing the over-the-range microwave now that the handle broke off. (Or maybe I can repair it? I'll have to look into it. It'd be nice to get some new appliances, but I it's more of a 'nice to have' then a true need, I suppose.)
I think the hardest part, though, is that feeling that it's all futile, sometimes. Like taking one step forward and two steps back, or vice versa. Things are better, but then there's always some unwanted expense somewhere. Whether it's furniture, appliances, dental, replacing a roof (I think it's okay for now? but probably needs replaced soon-ish.)
I don't know whether it's better or worse to imagine being in a place where none of that is worrisome. Like, how awesome would it be to have the resources to just do whatever? Replace the roof - and add in solar panels like I want? Get the new appliances, and not just whatever is a reasonable expense... go for the really fancy refrigerator with the door-in-a-door and built-in computer where you can have a family calendar and whatnot. Get the couch with the built-in USB charging ports...
Someday, I say to myself, as I do the responsible thing and convince myself not to spend money I don't really have. Someday.
But that's not why I started writing this post. Because I know that 'someday' isn't just wishful thinking. A lot of people tell themselves that, and that 'someday' never happens, but... eh. Well. Tech pays well enough that I'm fairly sure it's just a matter of time. For me, at least, and for such modest wishes. (Not so much for the 'someday' on my dreamhouse, ofc, though who knows? Life's been a bit of a crazy ride so far, and it's not over yet.)
I started writing it because - well, because the world does seem like a raging dumpster fire, and it's hard to feel like anything I do or say matters in changing that.
There are so many things I could rant or rave about - domestic politics, our betrayal of the Kurds (again), the Hong Kong protests - it's like we're just overwhelmed with awfulness, everywhere you look.
But this time I want to rant about something different, because the world is full of people speaking out about all that other stuff (though whether it will make a difference is another story entirely).
When I was on my modern slavery kick, they were talking about how economic slavery happens today. With charcoal makers, brick makers, and more...
And it's not something new. We've seen these tactics before, with company towns and company stores, for example. Basically, you pay people a pittance, and then you offer a way of covering all the unexpected expenses they can't afford on their pitiful wages.
Charge them for transportation to remote charcoal making locations, and an arm and a leg for the food they eat there... and then pay them so little that they wind up owing you.
Or 'generously' offer to give them an advance - to help pay for a sick family member, or to pay for a wedding - and then trap them in debt that they have little chance of ever getting out of. Oh, and pass that debt down generations for good measure.
Lo and behold, soon you have a group of workers that you utterly control, that's dependent entirely on you, and the dark side of human nature tends to rear it's ugly head.
I think, sometimes, that this is why our Founding Fathers valued small independent farmsteads so much. (And I wonder, sometimes, if the term 'wage-slave' says something about the loss of independence and freedom, as more and more of us are dependent on corporations to make our living... and makes it harder to take time off to protest or speak out.)
Some people note these things, and seem to think it's all deliberate. That, for example, student loan debt is a way that the rich and powerful keep students (historically the most likely to protest) too afraid to speak out. Or that healthcare, for example, is tied to your place of work so that they have another way of keeping you in line if you try to hold a strike for better wages.
I... have a hard time believing it. Not that the end result isn't the same, but that the rich and powerful really came together and said "you know what would be a good idea? Forcing people to go into horrendous debt to get college degrees. That'll keep 'em from causing trouble"?
I just- don't really see it. It's like... when you get large and complicated forces at play, you can get unintended consequences. When it works to our benefit, you can call it Adam Smith's 'invisible hand', but it doesn't always work to our benefit.
This is part of why I like studying all this weird and complicated stuff. I like trying to make sense of this complex, interrelated world, and get a better sense of what's connected where. The modern world is a 'wicked problem', and if you ignorantly go mucking around with it you're not going to get the result you want. (Like Trump, who famously doesn't study any of it, and then goes and creates the current disaster with the Kurds, and Turkey.)
Alas, even though I've amassed a somewhat decent-sized knowledge base, I haven't exactly found a market for it. Again with the 'does it even matter what our opinions are these days? Nobody seems to be listening... ' feeling. Cue fiddle playing, as I dramatically press my hand to my forehead and sigh. "Woe, woe is me!"
Sometimes, though... sometimes I just wish... I don't know. That it didn't seem so damn inevitable that The Powers That Be would grow out of touch and corrupt.
Those examples of modern slavery, with the charcoal and brick industries? I sometimes worry that that's exactly what we're coming to, as wages fail to keep up with inflation and our system continues to help the wealthy get wealthier and the poor get poorer.
It seems less a sign of a conspiracy, and more just people just doing what seems natural given their circumstances. It's just the circumstances of wealth and power always seem to lead to the same problems, eventually.
The Bible has a lot to say on that, btw, which is also why it's ironic that those who claim the loudest to believe in the Bible all too often support policies that go against it. Like that whole "Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and the stranger". In other words, don't try to take every last cent, but leave a portion of your profits for those in need and foreigners. (Actually, there's a whole lot in the Bible about being a 'good shepherd'. I've even thought about posting a bit about the term 'husbandry', with it's implication of care and cultivation, and what it means to 'husband' something... and how we seem to have fallen away from all of that. Husbandry is nurturing, you know? And I'm fairly sure the term 'husband' has something to do with this, which means its supposed to be about caring, cultivating, and other nurturing activities.)
But anyways. The inevitable decay of the upper classes tends to resolves itself. Eventually. The question is just "how messy is it going to be?"
I just wish... I dunno. Wish the people currently benefiting from the system were wiser, and didn't keep pushing things to the point where things inevitably get messy.
But when I read the news, it feels like the world is on fire.
I see that dichotomy in other things, as well. Like - I have a job, and it pays well enough that I'm paying off some bills and other things, but then there are other things I want to buy and am holding off on, because it's not quite in the need department. Like a new couch - mine's a bit broken, but it's possible I'll be moving within a year, so if it can last until then I'd rather just get rid of it here and get a new one at the new place - or replacing the over-the-range microwave now that the handle broke off. (Or maybe I can repair it? I'll have to look into it. It'd be nice to get some new appliances, but I it's more of a 'nice to have' then a true need, I suppose.)
I think the hardest part, though, is that feeling that it's all futile, sometimes. Like taking one step forward and two steps back, or vice versa. Things are better, but then there's always some unwanted expense somewhere. Whether it's furniture, appliances, dental, replacing a roof (I think it's okay for now? but probably needs replaced soon-ish.)
I don't know whether it's better or worse to imagine being in a place where none of that is worrisome. Like, how awesome would it be to have the resources to just do whatever? Replace the roof - and add in solar panels like I want? Get the new appliances, and not just whatever is a reasonable expense... go for the really fancy refrigerator with the door-in-a-door and built-in computer where you can have a family calendar and whatnot. Get the couch with the built-in USB charging ports...
Someday, I say to myself, as I do the responsible thing and convince myself not to spend money I don't really have. Someday.
But that's not why I started writing this post. Because I know that 'someday' isn't just wishful thinking. A lot of people tell themselves that, and that 'someday' never happens, but... eh. Well. Tech pays well enough that I'm fairly sure it's just a matter of time. For me, at least, and for such modest wishes. (Not so much for the 'someday' on my dreamhouse, ofc, though who knows? Life's been a bit of a crazy ride so far, and it's not over yet.)
I started writing it because - well, because the world does seem like a raging dumpster fire, and it's hard to feel like anything I do or say matters in changing that.
There are so many things I could rant or rave about - domestic politics, our betrayal of the Kurds (again), the Hong Kong protests - it's like we're just overwhelmed with awfulness, everywhere you look.
But this time I want to rant about something different, because the world is full of people speaking out about all that other stuff (though whether it will make a difference is another story entirely).
When I was on my modern slavery kick, they were talking about how economic slavery happens today. With charcoal makers, brick makers, and more...
And it's not something new. We've seen these tactics before, with company towns and company stores, for example. Basically, you pay people a pittance, and then you offer a way of covering all the unexpected expenses they can't afford on their pitiful wages.
Charge them for transportation to remote charcoal making locations, and an arm and a leg for the food they eat there... and then pay them so little that they wind up owing you.
Or 'generously' offer to give them an advance - to help pay for a sick family member, or to pay for a wedding - and then trap them in debt that they have little chance of ever getting out of. Oh, and pass that debt down generations for good measure.
Lo and behold, soon you have a group of workers that you utterly control, that's dependent entirely on you, and the dark side of human nature tends to rear it's ugly head.
I think, sometimes, that this is why our Founding Fathers valued small independent farmsteads so much. (And I wonder, sometimes, if the term 'wage-slave' says something about the loss of independence and freedom, as more and more of us are dependent on corporations to make our living... and makes it harder to take time off to protest or speak out.)
Some people note these things, and seem to think it's all deliberate. That, for example, student loan debt is a way that the rich and powerful keep students (historically the most likely to protest) too afraid to speak out. Or that healthcare, for example, is tied to your place of work so that they have another way of keeping you in line if you try to hold a strike for better wages.
I... have a hard time believing it. Not that the end result isn't the same, but that the rich and powerful really came together and said "you know what would be a good idea? Forcing people to go into horrendous debt to get college degrees. That'll keep 'em from causing trouble"?
I just- don't really see it. It's like... when you get large and complicated forces at play, you can get unintended consequences. When it works to our benefit, you can call it Adam Smith's 'invisible hand', but it doesn't always work to our benefit.
This is part of why I like studying all this weird and complicated stuff. I like trying to make sense of this complex, interrelated world, and get a better sense of what's connected where. The modern world is a 'wicked problem', and if you ignorantly go mucking around with it you're not going to get the result you want. (Like Trump, who famously doesn't study any of it, and then goes and creates the current disaster with the Kurds, and Turkey.)
Alas, even though I've amassed a somewhat decent-sized knowledge base, I haven't exactly found a market for it. Again with the 'does it even matter what our opinions are these days? Nobody seems to be listening... ' feeling. Cue fiddle playing, as I dramatically press my hand to my forehead and sigh. "Woe, woe is me!"
Sometimes, though... sometimes I just wish... I don't know. That it didn't seem so damn inevitable that The Powers That Be would grow out of touch and corrupt.
Those examples of modern slavery, with the charcoal and brick industries? I sometimes worry that that's exactly what we're coming to, as wages fail to keep up with inflation and our system continues to help the wealthy get wealthier and the poor get poorer.
It seems less a sign of a conspiracy, and more just people just doing what seems natural given their circumstances. It's just the circumstances of wealth and power always seem to lead to the same problems, eventually.
The Bible has a lot to say on that, btw, which is also why it's ironic that those who claim the loudest to believe in the Bible all too often support policies that go against it. Like that whole "Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and the stranger". In other words, don't try to take every last cent, but leave a portion of your profits for those in need and foreigners. (Actually, there's a whole lot in the Bible about being a 'good shepherd'. I've even thought about posting a bit about the term 'husbandry', with it's implication of care and cultivation, and what it means to 'husband' something... and how we seem to have fallen away from all of that. Husbandry is nurturing, you know? And I'm fairly sure the term 'husband' has something to do with this, which means its supposed to be about caring, cultivating, and other nurturing activities.)
But anyways. The inevitable decay of the upper classes tends to resolves itself. Eventually. The question is just "how messy is it going to be?"
I just wish... I dunno. Wish the people currently benefiting from the system were wiser, and didn't keep pushing things to the point where things inevitably get messy.
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Sunday, October 6, 2019
Also...
This is part of why the Dems suck.
Don't get me wrong. Student loan forgiveness would benefit many (right now, myself included), and our medical system is a disaster.
But Trump appealed to people in part because the normal Powers That Be have screwed things up pretty badly. Even worse, they're so stuck in a bubble they can't even see the how or why of it. Trump has been a disaster, but he wasn't the 'politics as usual' where the wealthy and powerful keep making rules in their favor.
Pointing out that his policies have been a disaster for farmers and blue collar workers, and that the rich and powerful have just gotten worse, will help.
At least, for those who aren't already fanatics, or have bought into a twisted version of Christianity where they think being led by one of the least Christian politicians is just because 'God works in mysterious ways' and not some sort of warning sign that you've strayed too far.
Don the Con
I was trying to remember what convinced me Trump was truly awful as President.
Like, I try not to let my biases get in the way, and I remember feeling like the protests shortly after his inauguration were premature. You have to let him show how he's going to lead, after all.
On FB I mentioned something to a relative about one of those things.
It was Trump's claim that he 'saved jobs' at a Carrier facility in Indianapolis. Now, I've got family in the area, and some of them are blue collar, so it's the sort of thing they like. But as most of the follow up stories show, he didn't really save much of anything.
The impeachment is important, but tbh most Americans have trouble caring about anything outside the US.
I think his opponents need to hammer him on how little he's actually done. He's a con artist - Don the Con - and I've never understood why so many people fall for it.
Friday, October 4, 2019
Really Upset Right Now
Something happened this week that shook me...
I really hate saying it that way. I don't know, like it's showing weakness or something.
Let me explain what happened.
So my Little, from Big Brothers Big Sisters, generally comes to my house after school. She's then picked up by her grandmother. Last year (while I was still a student, so generally home at the time) she got here around 3:50, and was gone by 4:10.
More or less. Sometimes her grandmother was late, or other things happened.
This year I have a job (yay!) and aren't at home. No big deal, she's old enough to handle that.
One of her classmates lives in the area, and sometimes hangs out with her.
Anyways. This week her grandmother was out of state, visiting relatives, and wasn't there to pick her up at the usual time... so my Little has basically been chilling at my place until her mom gets off work.
Tuesday I got off work and called her up, asked if she wanted dinner before I took her to her mom. We didn't have a lot of time, so I wanted it to be quick.
I get home, and she and her friend are outside my house... and freaked out because some white SUV (or was it one of those trucks with the cover for the pick up bed? I'm not sure... I saw it, and it was definitely big and white) had been acting weird. Slowed to a crawl, turned around, slowly drove past a second time, then turned into the parking lot of a nearby business. The girls also said something about hearing them say 'grab them' or something, but I dunno. Were the windows down? I wasn't there...
Anyways. Like I said, I did see a big white SUV in the parking lot, and it sure seemed to drive off soon after they saw me looking.
Now, my Little didn't come Wed. I think they were freaked out enough that she basically stayed at the school, though I'm not entirely clear on the details. She was here yesterday, no problem.
Today, at work, she messages me. Her spelling and grammar isn't the greatest (and it's messaging, so people aren't as picky what with autocorrect fails and all that) but I'll quote it exactly:
"Their was too old people across the street ask weird questions and it was a red van idk what they were doing but i figured I would let u know"
Her grandmother is back, btw, and had already picked her up so she was no longer there. I asked her what sorts of questions, and she said "Like do I live their and if they could have my hair if they could cut and that I was beautiful"
And, even if you don't know anything, I'm sure that sounds plenty creepy to you all... but I've been through a kick or two where I read up on organized crime (terrorists get funding that way, and other reasons) and human trafficking (the book Somebody's Daughter is informative. I hate to say 'good' about such a depressing topic, but worth reading) and it sounded all too much like what human traffickers do.
Except this wasn't some black and white text, with people I've never met, in some place like Las Vegas.
This, if it's what I think it is, is right on my own damn street, in my own town, and potentially targeting vulnerable girls like my Little and her friend.
It makes me angry, tbh. Scared and angry, though I hate saying that.
I wish I could just shake them and say "what the hell are you thinking? What do you see when you look at these girls? Do you even see them as human beings? I mean, you can't possibly, otherwise how could you do what you do? How do you look and see - what? a commodity? Money? - and not see young girls who have a right to live their own lives, ones without assholes like you in it."
I really hate saying it that way. I don't know, like it's showing weakness or something.
Let me explain what happened.
So my Little, from Big Brothers Big Sisters, generally comes to my house after school. She's then picked up by her grandmother. Last year (while I was still a student, so generally home at the time) she got here around 3:50, and was gone by 4:10.
More or less. Sometimes her grandmother was late, or other things happened.
This year I have a job (yay!) and aren't at home. No big deal, she's old enough to handle that.
One of her classmates lives in the area, and sometimes hangs out with her.
Anyways. This week her grandmother was out of state, visiting relatives, and wasn't there to pick her up at the usual time... so my Little has basically been chilling at my place until her mom gets off work.
Tuesday I got off work and called her up, asked if she wanted dinner before I took her to her mom. We didn't have a lot of time, so I wanted it to be quick.
I get home, and she and her friend are outside my house... and freaked out because some white SUV (or was it one of those trucks with the cover for the pick up bed? I'm not sure... I saw it, and it was definitely big and white) had been acting weird. Slowed to a crawl, turned around, slowly drove past a second time, then turned into the parking lot of a nearby business. The girls also said something about hearing them say 'grab them' or something, but I dunno. Were the windows down? I wasn't there...
Anyways. Like I said, I did see a big white SUV in the parking lot, and it sure seemed to drive off soon after they saw me looking.
Now, my Little didn't come Wed. I think they were freaked out enough that she basically stayed at the school, though I'm not entirely clear on the details. She was here yesterday, no problem.
Today, at work, she messages me. Her spelling and grammar isn't the greatest (and it's messaging, so people aren't as picky what with autocorrect fails and all that) but I'll quote it exactly:
"Their was too old people across the street ask weird questions and it was a red van idk what they were doing but i figured I would let u know"
Her grandmother is back, btw, and had already picked her up so she was no longer there. I asked her what sorts of questions, and she said "Like do I live their and if they could have my hair if they could cut and that I was beautiful"
And, even if you don't know anything, I'm sure that sounds plenty creepy to you all... but I've been through a kick or two where I read up on organized crime (terrorists get funding that way, and other reasons) and human trafficking (the book Somebody's Daughter is informative. I hate to say 'good' about such a depressing topic, but worth reading) and it sounded all too much like what human traffickers do.
Except this wasn't some black and white text, with people I've never met, in some place like Las Vegas.
This, if it's what I think it is, is right on my own damn street, in my own town, and potentially targeting vulnerable girls like my Little and her friend.
It makes me angry, tbh. Scared and angry, though I hate saying that.
I wish I could just shake them and say "what the hell are you thinking? What do you see when you look at these girls? Do you even see them as human beings? I mean, you can't possibly, otherwise how could you do what you do? How do you look and see - what? a commodity? Money? - and not see young girls who have a right to live their own lives, ones without assholes like you in it."
Thursday, October 3, 2019
The Good News and Some Thoughts On Current Events
Had a couple of things I thought about writing here. This article, from a conservative perspective, brought up quite a few thoughts on my end...
But now that it's time to post, I'm just not feeling it.
It just feels like... I dunno. Like there are forces at work that are determined to take us down the worst path, and they don't want to listen. Nobody wants to hear it.
So I'll write about the other thing.
Anyone who has been reading my blog has probably picked up on my interest in history (among many others, but those are less relevant to this post.) It's interesting to try and imagine what life was really like in the past, because we have a tendency to project onto it our own experiences... so it's hard to really understand what life was really like back then. Like Rome - most of us know Roman myths and legends, but our understanding is not the same. Romans apparently took their religion seriously, were devout in their own way, and it's hard for us to think about their beliefs that way. To us, legends of Jupiter, Minerva, and the like (more commonly, to me at least, known by their Greek counterparts Zeus and Athena) are more like folktales. Myths and legends. Ancient stories that have been passed down for centuries, but not beings that we believe in.
I never claim to be an expert, of course, but I filter various things I've read through my own understanding of people, and one of the things that has struck me is... how do I put it?
In the Old Testament, Abraham (or Abram at the time) asked his wife Sara (later Sarah) to say she was his sister in order to avoid trouble.
Think about that. Think about a world where someone was likely to murder you in order to take your wife. A threat that was commonplace enough that Abraham expected it and came up with a plan to avoid it. (A plan that involved letting a powerful man claim his wife for his own.)
It reminds me of all the strategizing and calculating that we think we need to do in order to make it in this imperfect world. Machiavellianism. Realpolitik. The attitude that "I got mine, how you do?" and "If you were in their position, you'd do it too."
So for Christians, Jesus came and overturned all that. He said that "the first shall be last, and the last shall be first."
He didn't succeed in a conventional and worldly way. He didn't make himself rich, or overthrow Roman rule and become a worldly King of the Jews (though apparently that's what some of his followers at the time expected, and our religion was shaped by some of the reconciliation we went through when it didn't happen).
He died like a criminal. Crucified on a cross.
And then you get the resurrection... and suddenly his disciples (who had mostly seemed interested in that worldly success, and kept missing the point of his sermons; who just a few days earlier had all fled, with Peter denying Jesus three times... ) were going around spreading the Good News.
From a historical perspective, there's no real evidence of what happened back then. It does make me think, though, of Napolean alleged quote that -
And I know all the Christian ways of saying what that message was, but I think at the heart of it was this:
Nice guys don't finish last.
Okay, that's the catchy way of summarizing it, drawing on the rather familiar saying that "Nice guys finish last", and it's meant to be far more inclusive than that.
And perhaps 'heart' isn't the right word, since the commandments Jesus said were most important were
But important though that is, it's not the part that made people go crazy for the story. (I mentioned early Christianity and fanfiction, and if you want a sense of that... look up the stories that never made it into the Bible. People were sharing and telling Jesus stories like crazy, though only a few were accepted into the Bible.)
So yes, we should all strive to love our neighbors as ourselves (and heal the sick, and hang out with prostitutes and tax collectors. You know, like Jesus did.)
But we're supposed to remember to be good people, to strive for that... and when the real world rears it's ugly head, when it seems like we just have to do wrong in order to survive - to practice realpolitick, or do whatever it is we're trying to justify because 'those evil _____ are winning and we have to do this or all is lost' we're supposed to remember that Jesus won despite 'losing' and dying like a criminal.
We're supposed to have faith, and resist worldly temptation.
Which is why I find the current state of affairs so horrifying, as the article I linked to above touches on.
When you think the battle "must be fought by any means necessary", when they are willing to overlook all the signs that someone isn't a good Christian because they think that's what it takes to win...
They've pretty much missed the entire point of the Book they claim to revere.
But now that it's time to post, I'm just not feeling it.
It just feels like... I dunno. Like there are forces at work that are determined to take us down the worst path, and they don't want to listen. Nobody wants to hear it.
So I'll write about the other thing.
Anyone who has been reading my blog has probably picked up on my interest in history (among many others, but those are less relevant to this post.) It's interesting to try and imagine what life was really like in the past, because we have a tendency to project onto it our own experiences... so it's hard to really understand what life was really like back then. Like Rome - most of us know Roman myths and legends, but our understanding is not the same. Romans apparently took their religion seriously, were devout in their own way, and it's hard for us to think about their beliefs that way. To us, legends of Jupiter, Minerva, and the like (more commonly, to me at least, known by their Greek counterparts Zeus and Athena) are more like folktales. Myths and legends. Ancient stories that have been passed down for centuries, but not beings that we believe in.
I never claim to be an expert, of course, but I filter various things I've read through my own understanding of people, and one of the things that has struck me is... how do I put it?
In the Old Testament, Abraham (or Abram at the time) asked his wife Sara (later Sarah) to say she was his sister in order to avoid trouble.
Think about that. Think about a world where someone was likely to murder you in order to take your wife. A threat that was commonplace enough that Abraham expected it and came up with a plan to avoid it. (A plan that involved letting a powerful man claim his wife for his own.)
It reminds me of all the strategizing and calculating that we think we need to do in order to make it in this imperfect world. Machiavellianism. Realpolitik. The attitude that "I got mine, how you do?" and "If you were in their position, you'd do it too."
So for Christians, Jesus came and overturned all that. He said that "the first shall be last, and the last shall be first."
He didn't succeed in a conventional and worldly way. He didn't make himself rich, or overthrow Roman rule and become a worldly King of the Jews (though apparently that's what some of his followers at the time expected, and our religion was shaped by some of the reconciliation we went through when it didn't happen).
He died like a criminal. Crucified on a cross.
And then you get the resurrection... and suddenly his disciples (who had mostly seemed interested in that worldly success, and kept missing the point of his sermons; who just a few days earlier had all fled, with Peter denying Jesus three times... ) were going around spreading the Good News.
From a historical perspective, there's no real evidence of what happened back then. It does make me think, though, of Napolean alleged quote that -
I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me . . . but to do this is was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lightened up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts. . . . Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time and space.Something mysterious happened, something that turned ordinary men and women into apostles willing to risk their lives... and their message was welcomed, was greeted joyously....
And I know all the Christian ways of saying what that message was, but I think at the heart of it was this:
Nice guys don't finish last.
Okay, that's the catchy way of summarizing it, drawing on the rather familiar saying that "Nice guys finish last", and it's meant to be far more inclusive than that.
And perhaps 'heart' isn't the right word, since the commandments Jesus said were most important were
Thou shalt love thy Lord, thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mindAnd
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
But important though that is, it's not the part that made people go crazy for the story. (I mentioned early Christianity and fanfiction, and if you want a sense of that... look up the stories that never made it into the Bible. People were sharing and telling Jesus stories like crazy, though only a few were accepted into the Bible.)
So yes, we should all strive to love our neighbors as ourselves (and heal the sick, and hang out with prostitutes and tax collectors. You know, like Jesus did.)
But we're supposed to remember to be good people, to strive for that... and when the real world rears it's ugly head, when it seems like we just have to do wrong in order to survive - to practice realpolitick, or do whatever it is we're trying to justify because 'those evil _____ are winning and we have to do this or all is lost' we're supposed to remember that Jesus won despite 'losing' and dying like a criminal.
We're supposed to have faith, and resist worldly temptation.
Which is why I find the current state of affairs so horrifying, as the article I linked to above touches on.
When you think the battle "must be fought by any means necessary", when they are willing to overlook all the signs that someone isn't a good Christian because they think that's what it takes to win...
They've pretty much missed the entire point of the Book they claim to revere.
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