There is a universal human truth. Every human being can say, "I know stuff you don't know. I believe stuff you don't believe." Yes, we would have many overlapping bits of knowledge and beliefs that we could agree on, but it's the differences that create the problems.
Notice, I've made two categories. When I say I know stuff, or you do, these are things that we come across and are informed about. Yep, sometimes that information is false; if it's "just" knowledge, well, if we get new information or facts, that replaces the old data set pretty smoothly. Of course, we always like to believe we're right, so sometimes we hold onto our old "facts" pretty tightly, even when we're given irrefutable proof to the contrary.
Then there's that stuff we believe. Most religions require you to believe their myth to the exclusion of all others. They have to believe they are RIGHT and everyone else is WRONG, else there's no compelling reason to join their sect. Well, my position is this: believe what you want. Really. Just don't try to scare me or guilt me into accepting your myth. You have nothing to offer me. I gain nothing by accepting your myth. I lose nothing by walking away. Oh, I know you believe I'll lose a lot or gain a lot, but that's your belief, not mine.
I do think every single person knows something I don't know. That's the essence of the value of every human life. There's a value or insight or skill that the rest of us benefit from if we let that person become who they were meant to be. I happen to believe we have a better chance of doing that if we don't let outside individuals or belief systems limit us.
In the end, you don't have to believe what I believe. And...I don't have to believe what you believe. Let's live by that.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Blobs of protoplasm
Taken down to our most basic level, we are no more than blobs of protoplasm attempting to prolong our own metabolism as long as possible. Our evolution let us develop a sense of future and of connectedness that apparently have a survival value. Interesting that these complex relationships we're capable of compel us, sometimes, to do our best to influence, for better or worse, the metabolism of other blobs of protoplasm. To me, those relationships are good on a personal level. It's important to me that my wife and sons maintain their metabolism in fairly comfortable circumstances, both now and after I'm gone. I've come to the conclusion that elaborate belief systems, including religions and governments, unnecessarily complicate and widen those relationships. This is essentially what libertarians believe about government. Smaller government disengages from influencing the metabolic success or failure of subject blobs. Republicans and Democrats basically just differ on which blobs should be given better circumstances and which ones shouldn't. I engage in the political process because I have another odd survival mechanism our species developed: a sense of right and wrong.
So I'll keep trying to create positive circumstances for my circle of influence, as Stephen Covey puts it. This may seem a funny way to look at this, but it helps me in one way. I understand the motivation behind helping others continue a positive existence. And I don't understand the motivation behind making it harder for others. That simply cannot have a positive effect on my circle of influence. It just makes life harder for others.
My little brother, Buddy, gave me a life lesson this week. Gerald and I stopped by to see him in Pasadena. We sat and talked for about an hour. I make more than 3 times as much money as he does. He and his extended family live in considerably reduced circumstances. But they seem happy. For them, life is good. As Gerry and I were leaving, Buddy watched me get into my shiny new Prius and then stopped me, looked me in the eye, and said, "Robert, if you or your family ever need anything, you just let me know."
I am not worthy.
So I'll keep trying to create positive circumstances for my circle of influence, as Stephen Covey puts it. This may seem a funny way to look at this, but it helps me in one way. I understand the motivation behind helping others continue a positive existence. And I don't understand the motivation behind making it harder for others. That simply cannot have a positive effect on my circle of influence. It just makes life harder for others.
My little brother, Buddy, gave me a life lesson this week. Gerald and I stopped by to see him in Pasadena. We sat and talked for about an hour. I make more than 3 times as much money as he does. He and his extended family live in considerably reduced circumstances. But they seem happy. For them, life is good. As Gerry and I were leaving, Buddy watched me get into my shiny new Prius and then stopped me, looked me in the eye, and said, "Robert, if you or your family ever need anything, you just let me know."
I am not worthy.
Sunday, July 05, 2015
Good times
It's been a good couple of weeks for liberals. Obamacare is affirmed by the Supreme Court. Next step: replace it with single payer next time we have the White House and Congress. Marriage equality is the law of the land. The religious right wing outliers who are still resisting look stupider every day. The 14 or so Republican presidential candidates are competing to see who can look dumber than the others. They're ripping themselves apart on immigration and the rebel flag and ignoring the Constitution. How fun.
On our side, I think the Clinton-Sanders rivalry is good. More people identify as Democrats than Republicans by about 9%. Obama is shaping the coming election as trickle-down economics vs. middle class economics. If Democrats can make that stick, we win big in 2016. And Obama is slowly getting the respect he deserves. He has achieved so much in such a hostile environment.
So I'm going to remain positive. The pendulum is swinging back in our direction. Life is good.
On our side, I think the Clinton-Sanders rivalry is good. More people identify as Democrats than Republicans by about 9%. Obama is shaping the coming election as trickle-down economics vs. middle class economics. If Democrats can make that stick, we win big in 2016. And Obama is slowly getting the respect he deserves. He has achieved so much in such a hostile environment.
So I'm going to remain positive. The pendulum is swinging back in our direction. Life is good.
Sunday, June 28, 2015
The Popes of America
You can't really talk about a Pope unless you talk about the Pope of the Catholic Church. He is the sole arbiter between Catholics and God. He is also the single Supreme Court Justice of the church. If he says no divorce, there's no divorce, since he also happens to be infallible. I have been informed that Popes are no longer considered infallible in some regards, but when they make a doctrinal decision and decree, the Pope cannot be in error. This, as I understand it, is still true, BUT...American Catholics apparently do not accept this doctrine, either. There are two incontrovertible examples. Popes have been unwavering in their opposition to divorce. Divorce is not only wrong, it's unacceptable, except in very narrow circumstances. And yet the divorce rate among American Catholics is 21%. While that's much lower than the population at large, it is still over 1/5th the Catholic membership. I suspect even more Catholics are not opposed to marriage. So on this one point, a large number of American Catholics do not accept the infallible decree of the Pope. This is interesting to me because, in the end, which one has more power? Well, clearly the people who get a divorce have done what they wanted. The Pope was powerless to stop them. The church does have the power to punish them and quite often does, by denying sacraments or even excommunication. Just so you don't think this is the only example, I'll also mention birth control. Among several sources, it seemed to me the most credible number was 86%. That's how many American Catholics USE birth control. That's about as strong a rejection of infallible doctrine as I can imagine. So the Pope is the supreme leader of the Catholic Church. There's no one above him to correct or admonish him. He's at the top and he calls the shots. But people don't have to do what he says, apparently.
That gets us to our American popes - the Supreme Court of the United States. Once chosen, the justices serve for life or until they retire. They are part of our governmental system of checks and balances because they can override the actions of the legislative and executive branches just by decreeing those actions unconstitutional. They are checked at two levels. First, by the nature of their appointments. The President nominates a justice and the Senate has to approve him/her. So both the other branches get a shot at the nominee. The fact that there are 9 of them is another check - one guy can make a mistake, but we assume that the majority of 9 experts on constitutional law are pretty much going to be right almost every time. AND...if they're wrong, we can overrule them. But they have to be SO wrong that 2/3 of Congress is willing to amend the Constitution, then 3/4 of the states have to ratify the amendment. This has been done 17 times (yes, there are 27 amendments, but the first 10 were tacked on in order to get the Constitution approved). So it's not impossible, but it is justifiably difficult. I can't imagine anyone disagreeing with the amendments that abolished slavery, or gave women the right to vote, or repealed prohibition.
And now we get to the decisions this week by our infallible justices. You can squirm all you want to about their decision on Obamacare, but it's the law of the land. The argument is over. The court basically says they're not going to do the legislature's job. If Congress doesn't like it, they have the power to rewrite it or repeal it. That's their job, not the court's. I like that. It was a 6-3 decision, so the message couldn't be clearer. For Republicans, it's a challenge. Do something. Anything. But don't expect them to do it for you.
The justices also made a decision about fair housing, but it's simply not as controversial as the other rulings. I really like their decision, but I'm not going to discuss it here.
The other huge decision was the one on marriage equality. Once again, I agree with and applaud the court's decision. The howling on the right mirrors the howling that ensued when Social Security was created, when biracial couples were allowed to marry, when schools were integrated...it's all so old and tedious. None of the suggestions for avoiding the ruling sound plausible. Civil disobedience? What are you going to do? Not get married to someone of the same gender? At least two Republican presidential candidates have suggested either doing away with the Supreme Court or impeaching the justices (absurd because they would face the same "high crimes and misdemeanor" standard presidents do - making a decision a minority of Americans disagree with doesn't meet that standard). Doing away with the Supreme Court essentially would end our country as we know it. So if you're opposed, know the Constitution and understand how our government works. You don't have the voting power, the legislative power, or the executive power to overturn any of these decisions, because most Americans agree with them. Deal with it.
That gets us to our American popes - the Supreme Court of the United States. Once chosen, the justices serve for life or until they retire. They are part of our governmental system of checks and balances because they can override the actions of the legislative and executive branches just by decreeing those actions unconstitutional. They are checked at two levels. First, by the nature of their appointments. The President nominates a justice and the Senate has to approve him/her. So both the other branches get a shot at the nominee. The fact that there are 9 of them is another check - one guy can make a mistake, but we assume that the majority of 9 experts on constitutional law are pretty much going to be right almost every time. AND...if they're wrong, we can overrule them. But they have to be SO wrong that 2/3 of Congress is willing to amend the Constitution, then 3/4 of the states have to ratify the amendment. This has been done 17 times (yes, there are 27 amendments, but the first 10 were tacked on in order to get the Constitution approved). So it's not impossible, but it is justifiably difficult. I can't imagine anyone disagreeing with the amendments that abolished slavery, or gave women the right to vote, or repealed prohibition.
And now we get to the decisions this week by our infallible justices. You can squirm all you want to about their decision on Obamacare, but it's the law of the land. The argument is over. The court basically says they're not going to do the legislature's job. If Congress doesn't like it, they have the power to rewrite it or repeal it. That's their job, not the court's. I like that. It was a 6-3 decision, so the message couldn't be clearer. For Republicans, it's a challenge. Do something. Anything. But don't expect them to do it for you.
The justices also made a decision about fair housing, but it's simply not as controversial as the other rulings. I really like their decision, but I'm not going to discuss it here.
The other huge decision was the one on marriage equality. Once again, I agree with and applaud the court's decision. The howling on the right mirrors the howling that ensued when Social Security was created, when biracial couples were allowed to marry, when schools were integrated...it's all so old and tedious. None of the suggestions for avoiding the ruling sound plausible. Civil disobedience? What are you going to do? Not get married to someone of the same gender? At least two Republican presidential candidates have suggested either doing away with the Supreme Court or impeaching the justices (absurd because they would face the same "high crimes and misdemeanor" standard presidents do - making a decision a minority of Americans disagree with doesn't meet that standard). Doing away with the Supreme Court essentially would end our country as we know it. So if you're opposed, know the Constitution and understand how our government works. You don't have the voting power, the legislative power, or the executive power to overturn any of these decisions, because most Americans agree with them. Deal with it.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Father's Day 2015
Events in Charleston have overshadowed my personal celebration of Father's Day. I think of those fathers who lost their sons or daughters in that horrible attack. The murderer stole Father's Day from them for the rest of their lives. I know some of the victims were fathers, so they missed this day with their families. I can honestly say I understand how those families have been able to forgive the shooter. Life is life and death is death, after all.
Having said that, there is one father in particular I can't stop thinking about. While I do, in the back of my mind, reserve the "there but for the grace of god..." excuse for all parents who do their honest best to raise good children, I confess I'm not as kind to Dylann Roof's father. Even if, as this kid said, he was not raised in a hateful or racist home, I think at his last birthday party, this father must have known who his son was. He knew about the openly expressed hatred and racism his son expressed. And how did he respond? He gave his son a gun. "Happy birthday, Dylann. Sure hope you don't use this to act on those hateful values." No, I'm not forgiving. Of course, Dad is doing what any father would do under the same circumstances. He's lying low. Trying to be invisible. It won't work. I suspect he's also erasing his own racist tracks before he comes out to the public. Let's see if I can predict his quote, "While I love my son, I am sick from his acts of violence. I am sorry for the victims and their families. Please respect my family's privacy as we grieve, too." Yeah, that.
Please understand I am not blaming the father for the crime. But Dylann is the son he raised. Happy Father's Day, Ben Roof.
And what about symbols? Those pictures of Dylann Roof holding the Confederate flag and Senator Lindsey Graham saying, "This is part of who we are." Yes, there's more truth to that than Senator Graham intended. It's not who the victims are. It doesn't represent the 30% of South Carolina who are African American. It doesn't represent a sizable portion of the white population who reject that racist symbol. It represents Lindsey Graham. It represents Governor Nikki Haley. And it represents Dylann Roof. And the battle has already begun to defend it, no matter what.
But there's another symbol in those pictures. Dylann Roof holds guns in every photo I've seen. Is that "part of who we are," too? I guess we have to own up to that. Here's the irony there. The NRA, solid representative and advocate for the firearms industry, continues to lobby for the unbridled access to guns. All the guns you want, no matter who you are. It's a brilliant marketing scheme because the more guns there are, the more gun violence there will be, until people without guns will be so afraid that they'll go buy guns, too. And it has worked. I woke up this morning to pictures of congregants of black churches holding up firearms in church. As the NRA would say, "Cha ching!" or "Winning!" The irony? The organization that created the conditions for the shooting in Charleston is set to profit from it.
All these things are in my head this Father's Day. There should be peace in there somewhere. It's just hard to believe that we are so helpless. That we will accept and even defend the status quo in spite of the horrific, tragic evidence that the status quo should not be tolerated for another day. Because this is all too easy to predict after Columbine and Aurora and Sandy Hook. Nothing will be done. Nothing will change. Kill - Grieve - Repeat. It's as mundane as a shampoo label in our country. So, so proud to be an American.
Having said that, there is one father in particular I can't stop thinking about. While I do, in the back of my mind, reserve the "there but for the grace of god..." excuse for all parents who do their honest best to raise good children, I confess I'm not as kind to Dylann Roof's father. Even if, as this kid said, he was not raised in a hateful or racist home, I think at his last birthday party, this father must have known who his son was. He knew about the openly expressed hatred and racism his son expressed. And how did he respond? He gave his son a gun. "Happy birthday, Dylann. Sure hope you don't use this to act on those hateful values." No, I'm not forgiving. Of course, Dad is doing what any father would do under the same circumstances. He's lying low. Trying to be invisible. It won't work. I suspect he's also erasing his own racist tracks before he comes out to the public. Let's see if I can predict his quote, "While I love my son, I am sick from his acts of violence. I am sorry for the victims and their families. Please respect my family's privacy as we grieve, too." Yeah, that.
Please understand I am not blaming the father for the crime. But Dylann is the son he raised. Happy Father's Day, Ben Roof.
And what about symbols? Those pictures of Dylann Roof holding the Confederate flag and Senator Lindsey Graham saying, "This is part of who we are." Yes, there's more truth to that than Senator Graham intended. It's not who the victims are. It doesn't represent the 30% of South Carolina who are African American. It doesn't represent a sizable portion of the white population who reject that racist symbol. It represents Lindsey Graham. It represents Governor Nikki Haley. And it represents Dylann Roof. And the battle has already begun to defend it, no matter what.
But there's another symbol in those pictures. Dylann Roof holds guns in every photo I've seen. Is that "part of who we are," too? I guess we have to own up to that. Here's the irony there. The NRA, solid representative and advocate for the firearms industry, continues to lobby for the unbridled access to guns. All the guns you want, no matter who you are. It's a brilliant marketing scheme because the more guns there are, the more gun violence there will be, until people without guns will be so afraid that they'll go buy guns, too. And it has worked. I woke up this morning to pictures of congregants of black churches holding up firearms in church. As the NRA would say, "Cha ching!" or "Winning!" The irony? The organization that created the conditions for the shooting in Charleston is set to profit from it.
All these things are in my head this Father's Day. There should be peace in there somewhere. It's just hard to believe that we are so helpless. That we will accept and even defend the status quo in spite of the horrific, tragic evidence that the status quo should not be tolerated for another day. Because this is all too easy to predict after Columbine and Aurora and Sandy Hook. Nothing will be done. Nothing will change. Kill - Grieve - Repeat. It's as mundane as a shampoo label in our country. So, so proud to be an American.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
But why retire, Robert?
Because I'm tired. Yes, I have a teaching job that doesn't take that much out of me. If I had to, I could probably go on teaching for at least 5 years, but...I'm tired. Time to take it easy, do some things just for me. I'm SLOWLY decorating my meditation room, a place to retreat from time to time. Pale green walls, symbols of nature and peace. No electronics. I'm considering blocking out heat and air conditioning, too. As little machine made as possible, but I will have a lamp and a futon couch/bed.
I was thinking about different mes this week. I was a different person in different parts of my life. One place in particular came to mind. I was in New Mexico from 1972 to 1975, and I was actually two people at once. There was Air Force Robert, who was not a very good electronics technician and wasn't really comfortable in the Air Force. My friends at Cannon AFB knew that Robert earlier in those years, but I slowly became immersed in my other persona, Smitty, who was a student at Eastern New Mexico University. Since I worked nights for the Air Force, I was able to go to school during the day. Some people in that world didn't even know I was an airman. This was an important time for me - I finally found myself as a student. I loved every English class I took, lost myself in Shakespeare, Hemingway, Twain, Faulkner, Milton. It all MEANT something to me. It helped me make sense of the world.
And who is left from those worlds? Oh, I remember my Air Force friends. I do know one of them owns a ranch in New Mexico and I did visit him once since I left. But really, it would take quite a bit of time to track any of those guys down. My friends at ENMU were more intimate, but one friend became a true, lifelong friend. I remember first seeing Jan in the basement cafeteria in the Student Union Center. She was this perfect blonde walking across the room and I was mesmerized. I didn't lust after her - never did. I just wanted to know her, to be her friend. I didn't think that would ever happen, but I was in theater (yeah, that's right - classes, work, AND theater) and we had mutual friends and finally got to know each other. I learned a lot from Jan. I learned that a beautiful woman could be my friend without being a lover. We never tried to be more than friends because we didn't need to. Jan is in California and we are friends on Facebook. I hope I can take a retirement road trip to see her again. Maybe we could meet back in New Mexico.
So college Smitty overshadowed Air Force Robert, and that was a good thing. They left New Mexico when I graduated from ENMU in May and received my Honorable Discharge in August. They're both part of who I am now. Life is good.
I was thinking about different mes this week. I was a different person in different parts of my life. One place in particular came to mind. I was in New Mexico from 1972 to 1975, and I was actually two people at once. There was Air Force Robert, who was not a very good electronics technician and wasn't really comfortable in the Air Force. My friends at Cannon AFB knew that Robert earlier in those years, but I slowly became immersed in my other persona, Smitty, who was a student at Eastern New Mexico University. Since I worked nights for the Air Force, I was able to go to school during the day. Some people in that world didn't even know I was an airman. This was an important time for me - I finally found myself as a student. I loved every English class I took, lost myself in Shakespeare, Hemingway, Twain, Faulkner, Milton. It all MEANT something to me. It helped me make sense of the world.
And who is left from those worlds? Oh, I remember my Air Force friends. I do know one of them owns a ranch in New Mexico and I did visit him once since I left. But really, it would take quite a bit of time to track any of those guys down. My friends at ENMU were more intimate, but one friend became a true, lifelong friend. I remember first seeing Jan in the basement cafeteria in the Student Union Center. She was this perfect blonde walking across the room and I was mesmerized. I didn't lust after her - never did. I just wanted to know her, to be her friend. I didn't think that would ever happen, but I was in theater (yeah, that's right - classes, work, AND theater) and we had mutual friends and finally got to know each other. I learned a lot from Jan. I learned that a beautiful woman could be my friend without being a lover. We never tried to be more than friends because we didn't need to. Jan is in California and we are friends on Facebook. I hope I can take a retirement road trip to see her again. Maybe we could meet back in New Mexico.
So college Smitty overshadowed Air Force Robert, and that was a good thing. They left New Mexico when I graduated from ENMU in May and received my Honorable Discharge in August. They're both part of who I am now. Life is good.
Sunday, June 07, 2015
Facebook is not a blog; contemplating retirement
I haven't blogged in a while. I let Facebook serve as a substitute. I've been kicking this around in my head for about three weeks now. There was one option to begin my blog again when I turned 66. Or when I hit the 36 month mark before retirement. And then there were just no excuses anymore. If I'm going to start it then, why not now? So there you have it. My goal is to say something useful once a week. Useful to me or to friends or to strangers. If not useful, maybe interesting or insightful.
First subject: How and when to retire and why.
How: As with most people, I cannot retire until I can afford it. It's amazing to me how many people of my generation will never be able to afford this luxury. There's a level of fear and sadness and even despair people express when they acknowledge that they're in their mid sixties and do not have the wherewithal to retire, nor do they have a manageable path to retirement. So they will work until they can't anymore. If I think about winning the lottery, I think about helping them. That's what I'd do with the money. In lieu of that, I hope things aren't as bad as they think. Life has a way of working itself out. As for me, I have three sources of permanent income once I retire, plus my retirement account. I also have three years of triple income that will help me pay all my debts before my last day at work. No car payments. No credit card payments. No house payments. Nada. I'm going to be ok. Oh, I won't be wealthy, but I won't be poor, either.
When: I know this already. September of 2018. That's the time I need to get financially healthy. I also need some time to prepare myself mentally for retirement. There are plans to make. Commitments. I need to be relevant, useful, and functional. I have so many options. Road trips to Maine, to Canada, to Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. To Yellowstone and Bryce Canyon and the Everglades. I want to see these places because they've long been a part of my psyche, either because of books or pictures or movies. I need to see them for myself. There is the problem of friends. There are people at work I love and will miss, but I'm determined to make a clean break. I will not be a person who makes "guest" appearances from time to time. I will miss them all, and can meet some of them for lunch on Fridays or weekends, or we can keep in touch on Facebook.
I want to play a role in politics. I don't have the energy or money to run for office, but I can help people who do. I'm sure future blogs will deal with political subjects, because that is my nature.
Perhaps most important of all, I need to explore spirituality. I have pretty much let go of organized religions - all of them. But I have not worked out exactly what beliefs and morals I want to put in that place.
One other topic to explore: what has my existence meant? How do I find a proper perspective? This is actually not necessary. I will walk off this Earth at a time and place not in my control. If I have time to make sense of this life, well, fine. If not, so what?
First subject: How and when to retire and why.
How: As with most people, I cannot retire until I can afford it. It's amazing to me how many people of my generation will never be able to afford this luxury. There's a level of fear and sadness and even despair people express when they acknowledge that they're in their mid sixties and do not have the wherewithal to retire, nor do they have a manageable path to retirement. So they will work until they can't anymore. If I think about winning the lottery, I think about helping them. That's what I'd do with the money. In lieu of that, I hope things aren't as bad as they think. Life has a way of working itself out. As for me, I have three sources of permanent income once I retire, plus my retirement account. I also have three years of triple income that will help me pay all my debts before my last day at work. No car payments. No credit card payments. No house payments. Nada. I'm going to be ok. Oh, I won't be wealthy, but I won't be poor, either.
When: I know this already. September of 2018. That's the time I need to get financially healthy. I also need some time to prepare myself mentally for retirement. There are plans to make. Commitments. I need to be relevant, useful, and functional. I have so many options. Road trips to Maine, to Canada, to Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. To Yellowstone and Bryce Canyon and the Everglades. I want to see these places because they've long been a part of my psyche, either because of books or pictures or movies. I need to see them for myself. There is the problem of friends. There are people at work I love and will miss, but I'm determined to make a clean break. I will not be a person who makes "guest" appearances from time to time. I will miss them all, and can meet some of them for lunch on Fridays or weekends, or we can keep in touch on Facebook.
I want to play a role in politics. I don't have the energy or money to run for office, but I can help people who do. I'm sure future blogs will deal with political subjects, because that is my nature.
Perhaps most important of all, I need to explore spirituality. I have pretty much let go of organized religions - all of them. But I have not worked out exactly what beliefs and morals I want to put in that place.
One other topic to explore: what has my existence meant? How do I find a proper perspective? This is actually not necessary. I will walk off this Earth at a time and place not in my control. If I have time to make sense of this life, well, fine. If not, so what?
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Dishonorable
Since I retired from the Army in 1994, a little over 16 years ago, I've had two people question the character of my service. The first speculated that, since I didn't automatically jump to the defense of the Navy SEALs being tried for abusing prisoners, something must have gone terribly wrong when I was in the Army and so I must be bitter. In fact, I simply believe that the military justice system works pretty well. I also have just as much faith in the officers who accused the SEALs as I do in the SEALs themselves. In the end, they were acquitted. The system worked.
Recently, it was implied oh so subtly, that there must have been some kind of issue, since I "only" retired as a Sergeant First Class. I'm going to explain why that happened, because I want to remove grounds for speculation and false assumptions, but first, let me tell you why there can be no higher insult than to question the integrity of my service. I try very hard not to be PROUD of anything. I was raised with the saying "Pride goeth before a fall." But I'm proud of my 22 years of military service. People who know me and don't think I'm a very military person sometimes ask how I wound up in the military and stayed so long. My answer is always the same: "There's something to be said for a hard life lived well." If I could have put that on my Honorable Discharge and my DD-214, I would have. It sums up my military career very well.
But the question - the mean-spirited, unprofessional, insulting, chickenshit question - hangs out there now. "If you lived that life so well, if you served with honor, why did you retire as ONLY an E-7?"
First, because I served 4 years in the US Air Force first. If you serve in one branch and then transfer to another, those years in the other branch serve as a millstone around your neck. It takes years to overcome the disadvantage. You have to be better than everyone else just to be considered equal. To be honest, I was not very good in the Air Force. I was an electronics technician, but I wasn't good at nor interested in electronics. I got put on night shift and put my time and energy into attending college full time. I got my BA with honors in English from Eastern New Mexico University in 1975, three months before I got my Honorable Discharge from the US Air Force.
I joined the US Army to be a Russian liguist in 1976. I didn't love the Army so much as I loved being a linguist. It didn't hurt that the first thing the Army did after basic training is send me to Monterey, California to study Russian for a year. I still love Monterey. My career progressed very well after that, since promotion from E-4 to E-5 and E-5 to E-6 were primarily controlled at the unit level. If they put you on the promotion list, then you got promoted if you had enough promotion points. My time in service in the Air Force and my bachelor's degree both gave me more than enough points. In my year and a half at Ft Hood, I went from E-4 to E-6, with the minimum time in grade required. This could not have happened if my platoon sergeants, first sergeants, and commanders had not considered me worthy of such quick promotions. I worked hard at Ft Hood simply because there was nothing else to do. After becoming a Staff Sergeant, I went back to Monterey for another year of Russian, then to Field Station Augsburg for 4 years. Many staff sergeants would have been recommended for promotion after 5 years time in grade. I was recommended, but not selected, because an Army-level board looks at your records and evaluates you against all other NCO's in your career field. To them, I was a staff sergeant with a total of 5 years experience as a Russian linguist. The NCO's I was competing against had 10 to 12 years experience. I had hoped to make SFC - we always hope we make it - but I understood very well why others would be promoted ahead of me. Instead, I went back to Monterey for another year of Russian. When it was over, I returned to Germany and eventually became "the Czar of Schneeberg" (the 207th MI Brigade commander dubbed me with this title) - the NCOIC of a remote mountaintop listening post on the Czech border. I loved the place and the job. I was promoted two years into that assignment, so I still made E-7 just after the 12-year mark. It was looking very possible that I would be able to move up even higher in the ranks. And then I met Vera.
I was sent to a civilian Russian course in Germany, and Vera went from her university in Utrecht. She was and still is a Dutch citizen. When we became engaged, I was required by regulation to report my relationship to the military. My top secret, special compartmented information clearance was temporarily suspended. When the background investigation was finished, I was told I could keep my top secret clearance, but I would not be able to have access to special compartmented information, which was required for my job as a voice intercept operator and supervisor. So there was my choice - stay single, keep my job, and expect an eventual promotion to first sergeant, or marry Vera, change careers as an E-7 with 14 years of service, making it almost impossible to compete against career interrogators. I made the only choice I could - I married Vera. It's the best choice I've ever made, even though it caused the one biggest regret I have in the military. After being a successful NCOIC and subsequently a successful platoon sergeant in Desert Storm, I wanted to be a first sergeant and to have my own company. But I knew Army-level boards would look at my record, all my maxed out NCOER's, and still say, "We can't promote a sergeant first class with one year (or a few) before promoting a career interrogator."
I had one last chance. After 3 years at Schneeberg, Vera was pregnant with our first son. She knew I was due to rotate back to the States, and asked if I could request a consecutive tour in Germany (another 3 years). She was afraid to have her baby in a US hospital. This wasn't a hard decision to make - I loved Germany, I loved Schneeberg, and I loved Vera. After I requested the consecutive tour, I got orders to go to Ft Bragg. Without going into too much detail, the timing and events led to my being able to choose - go to Ft Bragg, get Airborne qualified, then suddenly have a renewed chance to move up in rank. In all my years in the Army, Vera only asked this one thing. I told her what it would mean to my career and to me personally, but she was so afraid, not just of having her baby in the States, but of me jumping out of airplanes, that she pleaded with me to stay in Germany. For all intents and purposes, that sealed my fate. I knew I would retire as a sergeant first class.
I didn't really need another nail in the coffin, but I got one anyway. The Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union collapsed. The Army stopped promoting any E-7 Russian linguists. Instead, they put promotion and retention emphasis on Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic linguists. My end-of-career award was to be sent back to Monterey to be a Russian instructor. I was allowed to extend two years past the 20-year mark in order to finish my Master of Arts in Teaching Russian, which led to my current career.
My best accomplishment in the military was as platoon sergeant for an interrogation platoon in Desert Storm. My platoon went, accomplished our mission, had some major intelligence accomplishments, and came home whole. My soldiers respected me and worked hard for me. Of this, I am proud.
I look back on my military career with a strong sense of pride for living a hard life well. It hurts and angers me when people who know nothing of my career question it or impugn it. Anyone who ever wanted to know could just have asked, "Robert, why did you retire as only an E-7?" I don't mind explaining it, but then, they wouldn't be able to speculate, to make assumptions, to insult me, would they?
I'm writing this out and posting it more to get it off my chest. I won't respond to this most recent insult directly. After all, my service was honorable - this insult was not.
Recently, it was implied oh so subtly, that there must have been some kind of issue, since I "only" retired as a Sergeant First Class. I'm going to explain why that happened, because I want to remove grounds for speculation and false assumptions, but first, let me tell you why there can be no higher insult than to question the integrity of my service. I try very hard not to be PROUD of anything. I was raised with the saying "Pride goeth before a fall." But I'm proud of my 22 years of military service. People who know me and don't think I'm a very military person sometimes ask how I wound up in the military and stayed so long. My answer is always the same: "There's something to be said for a hard life lived well." If I could have put that on my Honorable Discharge and my DD-214, I would have. It sums up my military career very well.
But the question - the mean-spirited, unprofessional, insulting, chickenshit question - hangs out there now. "If you lived that life so well, if you served with honor, why did you retire as ONLY an E-7?"
First, because I served 4 years in the US Air Force first. If you serve in one branch and then transfer to another, those years in the other branch serve as a millstone around your neck. It takes years to overcome the disadvantage. You have to be better than everyone else just to be considered equal. To be honest, I was not very good in the Air Force. I was an electronics technician, but I wasn't good at nor interested in electronics. I got put on night shift and put my time and energy into attending college full time. I got my BA with honors in English from Eastern New Mexico University in 1975, three months before I got my Honorable Discharge from the US Air Force.
I joined the US Army to be a Russian liguist in 1976. I didn't love the Army so much as I loved being a linguist. It didn't hurt that the first thing the Army did after basic training is send me to Monterey, California to study Russian for a year. I still love Monterey. My career progressed very well after that, since promotion from E-4 to E-5 and E-5 to E-6 were primarily controlled at the unit level. If they put you on the promotion list, then you got promoted if you had enough promotion points. My time in service in the Air Force and my bachelor's degree both gave me more than enough points. In my year and a half at Ft Hood, I went from E-4 to E-6, with the minimum time in grade required. This could not have happened if my platoon sergeants, first sergeants, and commanders had not considered me worthy of such quick promotions. I worked hard at Ft Hood simply because there was nothing else to do. After becoming a Staff Sergeant, I went back to Monterey for another year of Russian, then to Field Station Augsburg for 4 years. Many staff sergeants would have been recommended for promotion after 5 years time in grade. I was recommended, but not selected, because an Army-level board looks at your records and evaluates you against all other NCO's in your career field. To them, I was a staff sergeant with a total of 5 years experience as a Russian linguist. The NCO's I was competing against had 10 to 12 years experience. I had hoped to make SFC - we always hope we make it - but I understood very well why others would be promoted ahead of me. Instead, I went back to Monterey for another year of Russian. When it was over, I returned to Germany and eventually became "the Czar of Schneeberg" (the 207th MI Brigade commander dubbed me with this title) - the NCOIC of a remote mountaintop listening post on the Czech border. I loved the place and the job. I was promoted two years into that assignment, so I still made E-7 just after the 12-year mark. It was looking very possible that I would be able to move up even higher in the ranks. And then I met Vera.
I was sent to a civilian Russian course in Germany, and Vera went from her university in Utrecht. She was and still is a Dutch citizen. When we became engaged, I was required by regulation to report my relationship to the military. My top secret, special compartmented information clearance was temporarily suspended. When the background investigation was finished, I was told I could keep my top secret clearance, but I would not be able to have access to special compartmented information, which was required for my job as a voice intercept operator and supervisor. So there was my choice - stay single, keep my job, and expect an eventual promotion to first sergeant, or marry Vera, change careers as an E-7 with 14 years of service, making it almost impossible to compete against career interrogators. I made the only choice I could - I married Vera. It's the best choice I've ever made, even though it caused the one biggest regret I have in the military. After being a successful NCOIC and subsequently a successful platoon sergeant in Desert Storm, I wanted to be a first sergeant and to have my own company. But I knew Army-level boards would look at my record, all my maxed out NCOER's, and still say, "We can't promote a sergeant first class with one year (or a few) before promoting a career interrogator."
I had one last chance. After 3 years at Schneeberg, Vera was pregnant with our first son. She knew I was due to rotate back to the States, and asked if I could request a consecutive tour in Germany (another 3 years). She was afraid to have her baby in a US hospital. This wasn't a hard decision to make - I loved Germany, I loved Schneeberg, and I loved Vera. After I requested the consecutive tour, I got orders to go to Ft Bragg. Without going into too much detail, the timing and events led to my being able to choose - go to Ft Bragg, get Airborne qualified, then suddenly have a renewed chance to move up in rank. In all my years in the Army, Vera only asked this one thing. I told her what it would mean to my career and to me personally, but she was so afraid, not just of having her baby in the States, but of me jumping out of airplanes, that she pleaded with me to stay in Germany. For all intents and purposes, that sealed my fate. I knew I would retire as a sergeant first class.
I didn't really need another nail in the coffin, but I got one anyway. The Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union collapsed. The Army stopped promoting any E-7 Russian linguists. Instead, they put promotion and retention emphasis on Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic linguists. My end-of-career award was to be sent back to Monterey to be a Russian instructor. I was allowed to extend two years past the 20-year mark in order to finish my Master of Arts in Teaching Russian, which led to my current career.
My best accomplishment in the military was as platoon sergeant for an interrogation platoon in Desert Storm. My platoon went, accomplished our mission, had some major intelligence accomplishments, and came home whole. My soldiers respected me and worked hard for me. Of this, I am proud.
I look back on my military career with a strong sense of pride for living a hard life well. It hurts and angers me when people who know nothing of my career question it or impugn it. Anyone who ever wanted to know could just have asked, "Robert, why did you retire as only an E-7?" I don't mind explaining it, but then, they wouldn't be able to speculate, to make assumptions, to insult me, would they?
I'm writing this out and posting it more to get it off my chest. I won't respond to this most recent insult directly. After all, my service was honorable - this insult was not.
Friday, September 03, 2010
Robert's Rules to live by
Here are the guidelines I try to live by:
1. There is a God.
2. There are many paths to God.
3. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
4. Don't be mean.
5. Don't force others to live by your beliefs or values.
6. Try to make the world a better place.
7. Have faith - in your God, yourself, your family and friends, and in life.
8. Be faithful - to your God, your wife/husband, children, friends, and yourself.
9. When in doubt, do what's right. You'll know what it is.
10. Say "I love you" often...and mean it.
11. Learn to say, "I need help," then accept it. Sometimes, the nicest thing you can do is let others help you.
1. There is a God.
2. There are many paths to God.
3. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
4. Don't be mean.
5. Don't force others to live by your beliefs or values.
6. Try to make the world a better place.
7. Have faith - in your God, yourself, your family and friends, and in life.
8. Be faithful - to your God, your wife/husband, children, friends, and yourself.
9. When in doubt, do what's right. You'll know what it is.
10. Say "I love you" often...and mean it.
11. Learn to say, "I need help," then accept it. Sometimes, the nicest thing you can do is let others help you.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
One American Christian's Experience With Islam
Please be patient with this long post. There is no short, bullet-comment way to explain how I feel about the current controversy.
I grew up in Texas. Sometime in grade school or high school, I read about the crusades and I also read a version of "1,001 Arabian Nights." That was my only exposure to Islam and Muslims when I was young. It was so limited, I thought of Islam as sort of a fairy tale or relic of the past. I didn't really come into contact with Muslims until 1981 or 1982 (not sure of the year - sorry, I'm old). My first wife and I took a vacation with friends to Turkey and Greece. Our first stop was a US air base in Adana. It was just a short layover, but we had time to walk off base and get a quick look at this exotic new country. We walked into the town just after dawn, and the first thing we noticed was not the view but the smell - the aroma of fresh-baked unleavened bread was everywhere. We followed our noses to a very small bakery and saw that it wasn't open yet. We banged on the door, hoping the owner would be willing to sell some bread before opening hours, since we had to leave very quickly to catch our plane to Izmir. The owner came out, wiping his floured hands on his apron. In sign language and broken English, he explained that he would get into trouble if he sold anything before opening hours. We were disappointed, but we understood. We turned around and headed back to the base. We'd only gone a few steps when we heard shouting behind us. We stopped and turned - there was the bakery owner running after us, his hands full of hot, fresh, delicious bread. He gave each of us a large, round, flat piece of bread and explained that, while the law said he couldn't SELL it to us, nothing prevented him from GIVING it to us. He would accept nothing but our thanks in return. This was my first direct experience with a Muslim. I can still taste that bread!
At the time, I was young and strong and had dreams of becoming a professional photographer. The next couple of days, in Izmir, I found myself confronted with a great photo op. I put my bag of lenses and other equipment down, then took the picture. It turned out, the entire street became a series of pictures, and I was so focused on taking the shots, I was a full block away before I realized I'd left my camera bag sitting on the sidewalk. It contained over $1,000 of equipment and I rushed back, already convinced it would be gone. Instead, there was a young man standing guard over it, making sure no one would take it. I couldn't believe it! Why would he do such a nice thing? I thanked him and tried to give him some money. He was embarrassed that I was offering him money and assured me that wasn't necessary. I had one more memorable experience before we left Turkey. We were trudging through Istanbul, looking for a particular tourist attraction. We were frustrated because we were pretty sure we were close, but we simply could not find what we were looking for. There was a man carrying a heavy box who saw us looking at the map, so he came over to us and asked where we were trying to go. We pointed at the map and he said, "I take you." He put his package on the sidewalk, up against the wall, and motioned for us to follow him. It turned out that we were completely lost. He wound up being our guide, showing us points of interest along the way, and taking us nearly 5 miles from where he'd left his package. Again, no money - he seemed genuinely pleased to help us. For these reasons and more - food and history and museums and exotic sights and sounds - Turkey is still one of my all-time favorite vacation memories.
As a Russian linguist in the army, my primary focus was the Cold War and the Soviet Union. The only "contact" I had for many of those years was when I was monitoring the Soviet disaster in Afghanistan. Back then, the freedom fighters were heroes. I couldn't help admiring how fiercely they fought, even though they were outmanned and outgunned.
My next major experience with Muslims was in the Persian Gulf War. I still call it Desert Storm. I was a platoon sergeant for an interrogation platoon. Since we were out of Germany and our focus was the Soviet Union, I had German, Russian, Czech, and Polish linguists, but not a single speaker of Arabic. In order to accomplish our mission, we would need interpreters. They appeared in the form of 20 Kuwaitis, all fluent in English and Arabic, all volunteers who wanted to do their part to liberate their country from Saddam Hussein. At first, my company commander had discipline problems with them, and he eventually turned them over to me. "They're part of your platoon now. I want them to show up for formation on time and I want them in uniform." These were things he hadn't been able to get them to do. I went to their leader (This was an odd thing in itself - their leader was not the highest ranking guy; in fact, he wasn't even an officer. I'm not sure to this day how he was selected. I suspect they decided he was the leader because, well, he acted like the leader.). Anyway, I went to him, all business, ready to tell him and his men what to do. He listened for a while, then he said, "Come have tea." I was confused. It was as if I had said nothing to him. I turned to my assistant platoon sergeant, told him what needed to be done while I was gone, then followed the Kuwaiti to his tent. His "headquarters" was a US Army GP small tent. It's circular and usually sleeps a maximum of 8 personnel. He raised the flap and motioned me to go in. I stepped into a different world. There were beautiful Middle Eastern rugs on the ground, a circular table in the middle with a nice place setting, a water pipe to one side, and even tapestries hanging on the sides of the tent. I had to look up at the olive drab canvas ceiling to know that I was in the same GP small tent I'd seen on the outside. I was led to a large silk pillow next to the table. The leader and I sat down and the other Kuwaitis came in and out, serving us tea, fresh vegetables (where did they get those?), and various Middle Eastern dishes. I hadn't had a hot, home-cooked meal in over 30 days, so for a while I forgot that I was there on business, and just ate. The Kuwaiti talked about his family, about his men, a little about liberating Kuwait, and I just listened and chewed. Finally, he looked at me and said, "Mr. Sergeant, tell me what it is you need." I told him I needed his help, that my commander wanted his men to be in formation every morning, wearing proper uniforms. "I am honored that you have come to my table. My men and I will do as you have asked." And it was that simple. We never had a problem again. It turned out they would do nothing we told them to do, but anything we asked.
Since that time, I have been in two other Muslim countries for extended periods of time - Tajikistan and Egypt. My students in Tajikistan were from the National Guard, and after I'd been teaching them for a while, their commander decided it would be nice if I saw something outside the capital of Dushanbe. Two of his young officers were designated to be my guides and companions on a trip to an old Soviet-style resort in the mountains. We drove on barely passable roads in a decrepit Toyota sedan along the Varzob River and into the mountains. It was early summer, but the peaks surrounding the city are so high, they are snow-capped year round. Once we left the city, it was as if we'd taken a time machine. The primary means of transportation were donkeys or just plain old walking. The roads were dirt and the villages were clearly very poor. But there were children running and playing, sometimes working. I could have been on a National Geographic expedition. My two student/officer/guide friends had brought roast meat, spicy pickled vegetables, and fresh unleavened bread to eat on the way. Once at the resort, we got the full treatment, including a "water massage." This was an interesting bit of therapy. You basically strip naked, then hang on to a rail on the wall while a "masseuse" sprays you with a fire hose pumping radioactive water from the natural hot springs at the resort. I wasn't prepared for the force of the water, so I was knocked to the ground. I hurt my hand, but didn't find out until I got back to the States that I'd suffered a hairline fracture. After our treatments, we had a picnic in a covered pavilion, complete with roast chicken, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruit. Afterwards, we took a mandatory nap during the hottest part of the day (although it wasn't that hot because of the altitude). Then we went back to Dushanbe. It was all so friendly and interesting and fun, I didn't think much about why I needed two escorts for the trip. Well, in some ways, Tajikistan is like the old Wild West. There are bandits and few police once you leave the city. These young men were also my bodyguards. I have no doubt they would have given their lives without a thought if it became necessary. And in this mostly impoverished country, I was the rich American. I typically spent in a day more than most of them make in a month. But on this trip, I COULD SPEND NOTHING! They were nearly ashamed when I asked, or if I tried to pay for anything. It simply wasn't about money.
In Egypt, I was fortunate enough to be met by and spend time with men who had been my students in San Antonio. One of them escorted me to the Khan el Khalili Bazaar. If I'd gone by myself, I would have been accosted with every step by hawkers of everything from water pipes to knives to souvenirs. They would have swarmed like gnats, making me so miserable, I'm sure I would have left without buying anything. I watched several Western tourists suffer this fate. But my friend was a tall, imposing Egyptian officer. He ran the hawkers off with a few authoritative words or harsh looks, and we walked in peace through the bazaar. He guided me directly to the shops that specialized in those things I wanted to buy, then made sure we paid the Egyptian price and not the tourist price. There are several mosques in and near Khan el Khalili, so when the call to prayer sounded, he asked me to go with him into a truly ancient mosque. He took me to a bench and told me to sit there until the service was over, assuring me that it wouldn't take very long. As I watched, an imam led a service during which the men responded in unison in a very reverent service. I found myself admiring the way they bowed, not just at the waist, but going all the way to the ground and pressing their head to the floor in complete obeisance to God. It was a spiritual, reverent ceremony and I have no doubt God was there.
In Egypt, I had a chance to spend time with Mohammed and Samy, both former students and now English teachers. Mohammed invited us (my fellow teachers came, too) to his home. We met his brother, his sister, a female friend of his, and his parents. For one evening, we were not really guests - we were part of his family. His mother was constantly busy, instantly replacing every bite of food removed from our plates before we were finished chewing. There was lamb, beef, duck, chicken, and more fruits and vegetables than you could count or eat. It was a joyful occasion. We were all so happy and animated, the corners of my mouth were sore after dinner from smiling so much. It's one of the great dinner parties of my life and I will never forget it.
Samy (yes, I know you're out there, Samy, so don't get a big head over this) is just a funny guy. His English is superior, he's a polished teacher, but he greets the world with a joke and a smile. He and his friend loved to play tricks on the locals when they were in San Antonio, and now I had the pleasure of seeing him on his home turf. Still funny, still happy, but a capable and serious officer and educator when it was time to be. He grew in my eyes because now I saw Samy the professional and I can say I was impressed. Another highlight of my time in Egypt was when he invited us to his wedding. We went to one of the most spectacular mosques in Cairo and watched this momentous occasion unfold. This was not just a wedding of two people - this was the joining of two extended families and all their friends. The ceremony itself was short and solemn and when it was over there was this huge, joyful, chaotic mingling of all the guests. We were all so glad to have been there. Samy, I see you are still happily married to your wonderful wife, and I wish you continued joy.
I cannot talk about this topic without talking about Bahiq. He was my driver in Cairo. Our lives were literally in his hands every day. He guided us skillfully, safely, even intuitively, through the chaos that is traffic in Cairo. Our weekends were on Friday and Saturday, but mostly we tried to leave him a day for religious services and family on Friday. He became our great guide and friend. He was our defender at the pyramids and in Alexandria. But mostly, there was this great Bahiq smile, this truly honorable man, dedicated to his faith, his country, and his family. When I think of Gayle Sayer's book, "I Am Third," Bahiq is the person I see who lives up to that title. His life seems to be a great challenge, but he works hard all the time, doing whatever he can to make a good life for his family. He is one of the finest human beings I've ever met. Bahiq, I know you're on facebook, too, and I send my love to you and your family.
I am an educated person. I know that every major religion has leaders and followers who have preached messages of peace and love. And every one of those religions has had leaders and followers who took a path of hate and violence. I refuse to judge all Muslims by the hateful, evil acts of al Qaeda. I know that Samy, Mohammed, Bahiq, and all the other people I've mentioned had nothing to do with the attacks on September 11th. They would give anything to undo the damage done by those extremists. If these men somehow moved to New York City, or if they went there as tourists, I would want them to have a nice place to practice their faith.
I have written this with a heavy heart. I am sorry for the way Americans have responded to the building of the Islamic cultural center in Manhattan. They talk about the builders being insensitive, as if that's enough to justify their intolerance. Americans would do well to go meet good men and women of the Islamic faith. There are so many of them. It's an unfortunate sign of the times that the bad guys get all the attention. So to my fellow Christians, I ask you to go to church, or get on your knees at home, and pray about this. Think about Christ's message of love, understanding, and forgiveness. We can do this.
To my Muslim friends, I am sorry. Don't go by the media's focus on the anger and intolerance so many Americans are expressing. I truly believe it will pass. Please have faith and patience.
I grew up in Texas. Sometime in grade school or high school, I read about the crusades and I also read a version of "1,001 Arabian Nights." That was my only exposure to Islam and Muslims when I was young. It was so limited, I thought of Islam as sort of a fairy tale or relic of the past. I didn't really come into contact with Muslims until 1981 or 1982 (not sure of the year - sorry, I'm old). My first wife and I took a vacation with friends to Turkey and Greece. Our first stop was a US air base in Adana. It was just a short layover, but we had time to walk off base and get a quick look at this exotic new country. We walked into the town just after dawn, and the first thing we noticed was not the view but the smell - the aroma of fresh-baked unleavened bread was everywhere. We followed our noses to a very small bakery and saw that it wasn't open yet. We banged on the door, hoping the owner would be willing to sell some bread before opening hours, since we had to leave very quickly to catch our plane to Izmir. The owner came out, wiping his floured hands on his apron. In sign language and broken English, he explained that he would get into trouble if he sold anything before opening hours. We were disappointed, but we understood. We turned around and headed back to the base. We'd only gone a few steps when we heard shouting behind us. We stopped and turned - there was the bakery owner running after us, his hands full of hot, fresh, delicious bread. He gave each of us a large, round, flat piece of bread and explained that, while the law said he couldn't SELL it to us, nothing prevented him from GIVING it to us. He would accept nothing but our thanks in return. This was my first direct experience with a Muslim. I can still taste that bread!
At the time, I was young and strong and had dreams of becoming a professional photographer. The next couple of days, in Izmir, I found myself confronted with a great photo op. I put my bag of lenses and other equipment down, then took the picture. It turned out, the entire street became a series of pictures, and I was so focused on taking the shots, I was a full block away before I realized I'd left my camera bag sitting on the sidewalk. It contained over $1,000 of equipment and I rushed back, already convinced it would be gone. Instead, there was a young man standing guard over it, making sure no one would take it. I couldn't believe it! Why would he do such a nice thing? I thanked him and tried to give him some money. He was embarrassed that I was offering him money and assured me that wasn't necessary. I had one more memorable experience before we left Turkey. We were trudging through Istanbul, looking for a particular tourist attraction. We were frustrated because we were pretty sure we were close, but we simply could not find what we were looking for. There was a man carrying a heavy box who saw us looking at the map, so he came over to us and asked where we were trying to go. We pointed at the map and he said, "I take you." He put his package on the sidewalk, up against the wall, and motioned for us to follow him. It turned out that we were completely lost. He wound up being our guide, showing us points of interest along the way, and taking us nearly 5 miles from where he'd left his package. Again, no money - he seemed genuinely pleased to help us. For these reasons and more - food and history and museums and exotic sights and sounds - Turkey is still one of my all-time favorite vacation memories.
As a Russian linguist in the army, my primary focus was the Cold War and the Soviet Union. The only "contact" I had for many of those years was when I was monitoring the Soviet disaster in Afghanistan. Back then, the freedom fighters were heroes. I couldn't help admiring how fiercely they fought, even though they were outmanned and outgunned.
My next major experience with Muslims was in the Persian Gulf War. I still call it Desert Storm. I was a platoon sergeant for an interrogation platoon. Since we were out of Germany and our focus was the Soviet Union, I had German, Russian, Czech, and Polish linguists, but not a single speaker of Arabic. In order to accomplish our mission, we would need interpreters. They appeared in the form of 20 Kuwaitis, all fluent in English and Arabic, all volunteers who wanted to do their part to liberate their country from Saddam Hussein. At first, my company commander had discipline problems with them, and he eventually turned them over to me. "They're part of your platoon now. I want them to show up for formation on time and I want them in uniform." These were things he hadn't been able to get them to do. I went to their leader (This was an odd thing in itself - their leader was not the highest ranking guy; in fact, he wasn't even an officer. I'm not sure to this day how he was selected. I suspect they decided he was the leader because, well, he acted like the leader.). Anyway, I went to him, all business, ready to tell him and his men what to do. He listened for a while, then he said, "Come have tea." I was confused. It was as if I had said nothing to him. I turned to my assistant platoon sergeant, told him what needed to be done while I was gone, then followed the Kuwaiti to his tent. His "headquarters" was a US Army GP small tent. It's circular and usually sleeps a maximum of 8 personnel. He raised the flap and motioned me to go in. I stepped into a different world. There were beautiful Middle Eastern rugs on the ground, a circular table in the middle with a nice place setting, a water pipe to one side, and even tapestries hanging on the sides of the tent. I had to look up at the olive drab canvas ceiling to know that I was in the same GP small tent I'd seen on the outside. I was led to a large silk pillow next to the table. The leader and I sat down and the other Kuwaitis came in and out, serving us tea, fresh vegetables (where did they get those?), and various Middle Eastern dishes. I hadn't had a hot, home-cooked meal in over 30 days, so for a while I forgot that I was there on business, and just ate. The Kuwaiti talked about his family, about his men, a little about liberating Kuwait, and I just listened and chewed. Finally, he looked at me and said, "Mr. Sergeant, tell me what it is you need." I told him I needed his help, that my commander wanted his men to be in formation every morning, wearing proper uniforms. "I am honored that you have come to my table. My men and I will do as you have asked." And it was that simple. We never had a problem again. It turned out they would do nothing we told them to do, but anything we asked.
Since that time, I have been in two other Muslim countries for extended periods of time - Tajikistan and Egypt. My students in Tajikistan were from the National Guard, and after I'd been teaching them for a while, their commander decided it would be nice if I saw something outside the capital of Dushanbe. Two of his young officers were designated to be my guides and companions on a trip to an old Soviet-style resort in the mountains. We drove on barely passable roads in a decrepit Toyota sedan along the Varzob River and into the mountains. It was early summer, but the peaks surrounding the city are so high, they are snow-capped year round. Once we left the city, it was as if we'd taken a time machine. The primary means of transportation were donkeys or just plain old walking. The roads were dirt and the villages were clearly very poor. But there were children running and playing, sometimes working. I could have been on a National Geographic expedition. My two student/officer/guide friends had brought roast meat, spicy pickled vegetables, and fresh unleavened bread to eat on the way. Once at the resort, we got the full treatment, including a "water massage." This was an interesting bit of therapy. You basically strip naked, then hang on to a rail on the wall while a "masseuse" sprays you with a fire hose pumping radioactive water from the natural hot springs at the resort. I wasn't prepared for the force of the water, so I was knocked to the ground. I hurt my hand, but didn't find out until I got back to the States that I'd suffered a hairline fracture. After our treatments, we had a picnic in a covered pavilion, complete with roast chicken, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruit. Afterwards, we took a mandatory nap during the hottest part of the day (although it wasn't that hot because of the altitude). Then we went back to Dushanbe. It was all so friendly and interesting and fun, I didn't think much about why I needed two escorts for the trip. Well, in some ways, Tajikistan is like the old Wild West. There are bandits and few police once you leave the city. These young men were also my bodyguards. I have no doubt they would have given their lives without a thought if it became necessary. And in this mostly impoverished country, I was the rich American. I typically spent in a day more than most of them make in a month. But on this trip, I COULD SPEND NOTHING! They were nearly ashamed when I asked, or if I tried to pay for anything. It simply wasn't about money.
In Egypt, I was fortunate enough to be met by and spend time with men who had been my students in San Antonio. One of them escorted me to the Khan el Khalili Bazaar. If I'd gone by myself, I would have been accosted with every step by hawkers of everything from water pipes to knives to souvenirs. They would have swarmed like gnats, making me so miserable, I'm sure I would have left without buying anything. I watched several Western tourists suffer this fate. But my friend was a tall, imposing Egyptian officer. He ran the hawkers off with a few authoritative words or harsh looks, and we walked in peace through the bazaar. He guided me directly to the shops that specialized in those things I wanted to buy, then made sure we paid the Egyptian price and not the tourist price. There are several mosques in and near Khan el Khalili, so when the call to prayer sounded, he asked me to go with him into a truly ancient mosque. He took me to a bench and told me to sit there until the service was over, assuring me that it wouldn't take very long. As I watched, an imam led a service during which the men responded in unison in a very reverent service. I found myself admiring the way they bowed, not just at the waist, but going all the way to the ground and pressing their head to the floor in complete obeisance to God. It was a spiritual, reverent ceremony and I have no doubt God was there.
In Egypt, I had a chance to spend time with Mohammed and Samy, both former students and now English teachers. Mohammed invited us (my fellow teachers came, too) to his home. We met his brother, his sister, a female friend of his, and his parents. For one evening, we were not really guests - we were part of his family. His mother was constantly busy, instantly replacing every bite of food removed from our plates before we were finished chewing. There was lamb, beef, duck, chicken, and more fruits and vegetables than you could count or eat. It was a joyful occasion. We were all so happy and animated, the corners of my mouth were sore after dinner from smiling so much. It's one of the great dinner parties of my life and I will never forget it.
Samy (yes, I know you're out there, Samy, so don't get a big head over this) is just a funny guy. His English is superior, he's a polished teacher, but he greets the world with a joke and a smile. He and his friend loved to play tricks on the locals when they were in San Antonio, and now I had the pleasure of seeing him on his home turf. Still funny, still happy, but a capable and serious officer and educator when it was time to be. He grew in my eyes because now I saw Samy the professional and I can say I was impressed. Another highlight of my time in Egypt was when he invited us to his wedding. We went to one of the most spectacular mosques in Cairo and watched this momentous occasion unfold. This was not just a wedding of two people - this was the joining of two extended families and all their friends. The ceremony itself was short and solemn and when it was over there was this huge, joyful, chaotic mingling of all the guests. We were all so glad to have been there. Samy, I see you are still happily married to your wonderful wife, and I wish you continued joy.
I cannot talk about this topic without talking about Bahiq. He was my driver in Cairo. Our lives were literally in his hands every day. He guided us skillfully, safely, even intuitively, through the chaos that is traffic in Cairo. Our weekends were on Friday and Saturday, but mostly we tried to leave him a day for religious services and family on Friday. He became our great guide and friend. He was our defender at the pyramids and in Alexandria. But mostly, there was this great Bahiq smile, this truly honorable man, dedicated to his faith, his country, and his family. When I think of Gayle Sayer's book, "I Am Third," Bahiq is the person I see who lives up to that title. His life seems to be a great challenge, but he works hard all the time, doing whatever he can to make a good life for his family. He is one of the finest human beings I've ever met. Bahiq, I know you're on facebook, too, and I send my love to you and your family.
I am an educated person. I know that every major religion has leaders and followers who have preached messages of peace and love. And every one of those religions has had leaders and followers who took a path of hate and violence. I refuse to judge all Muslims by the hateful, evil acts of al Qaeda. I know that Samy, Mohammed, Bahiq, and all the other people I've mentioned had nothing to do with the attacks on September 11th. They would give anything to undo the damage done by those extremists. If these men somehow moved to New York City, or if they went there as tourists, I would want them to have a nice place to practice their faith.
I have written this with a heavy heart. I am sorry for the way Americans have responded to the building of the Islamic cultural center in Manhattan. They talk about the builders being insensitive, as if that's enough to justify their intolerance. Americans would do well to go meet good men and women of the Islamic faith. There are so many of them. It's an unfortunate sign of the times that the bad guys get all the attention. So to my fellow Christians, I ask you to go to church, or get on your knees at home, and pray about this. Think about Christ's message of love, understanding, and forgiveness. We can do this.
To my Muslim friends, I am sorry. Don't go by the media's focus on the anger and intolerance so many Americans are expressing. I truly believe it will pass. Please have faith and patience.
Friday, August 13, 2010
"Gourmet" cooking
So I go to the trouble of getting all fresh ingredients: eggplant, shitake mushrooms, red Cambodian peppers, onions; saute them all in extra virgin olive oil, then add tomato sauce (my one concession - canned). When it's almost ready, I boil the tricolor pasta just past al dente, then sit down for a really good, very healthy meal. Now for the rest of the story. I made enough for 4 people, so I glop the sauce into the pasta pot and stick the whole mess into the refrigerator. Next evening, I add water and heat the stuff up. Why, oh why, would the second day leftovers taste better than the fresh, first day serving? In what universe does this make sense?
Friday, August 06, 2010
Are we a Christian nation?
I’ll address this question on three points: the Constitution, the words of Christ, and common sense. In the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that I consider myself a follower of Christ (thanks, Anne Rice). I’m going to start by making a point about the 2nd Amendment, specifically: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed…” Most “conservatives” interpret that to mean that US citizens have the right to have guns and that right cannot be taken away. I’m a liberal, so I personally think those words can be interpreted to mean something different, something that would allow the government to restrict and limit gun ownership. But you know what? My opinion is irrelevant. We have someone whose job it is to interpret the Constitution – the Supreme Court. They have ruled over and over again that this part of the Constitution guarantees us the right to keep and bear arms. Period. Case closed. Ok, I get it. If you want guns, go out and buy them. I’m not fighting that battle anymore because it’s been fought over and over again. The results are always the same, so you win. Now you might ask, “What the heck does this have to do with our being a Christian nation?” Well, this brings me to the 1st Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Pretty much the same people who tout the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the 2nd Amendment want us to ignore the 1st Amendment and the Supreme Court’s interpretation. They want to pray on school grounds; they want to display symbols of their religion on government property; they want to do away with the separation of church and state. They say it’s their opinion that this amendment could be interpreted differently. Well, just as my opinion about the 2nd Amendment is irrelevant, so is theirs about the first. The Supreme Court has ruled over and over again that this part of the Constitution strictly states that there is a separation. If government funds paid for it, you don’t get to express your faith there – not Christian, not Hindu, not Muslim, not Rastafarian. The Constitution bars us from being legally recognized as a Christian nation. Period. Case closed. Don’t fight this battle anymore because it’s been fought over and over again. The results are always the same, so you lose. I have one more comment about the Constitution. If we decided to rewrite the Constitution and got a fair distribution of Americans – all beliefs, all walks of life, all regions – I believe they’d finally agree that we should have the right to keep and bear arms. I also firmly believe they’d retain the separation of church and state. See, our forefathers did have these discussions. There were some among them who strongly wanted a formal recognition of Christianity enshrined in our government. Well, they lost that argument when the Constitution was written, and they would lose it again. My second point goes to Christ’s own words. When He said, “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s,” I believe he was telling us that He was not connected to the government and what it did or stood for. There were other times when He disassociated Himself from the state and I truly believe that is what He would do if He were here today. So if Christ Himself wouldn’t seek government sanction or approval, why do you seek it for Him? Let government do what it does, and let Christians do what Christians do. If they were separate functions for Christ, why not let that be good enough for you? By the way, I’m perfectly aware that modern revisionists are “reinterpreting” Christ’s words and deeds so that they don’t “really mean that.” Stop it. If you want to lay claim to the title of “conservative,” then don’t be radical on this point. Accept the traditional, conservative interpretation and get over this. We don’t need government locations or functions to profess our faith. I realize that nothing requires any of us to apply common sense, but I think most of you, if you’ll just think about it for a minute, will admit I’m right. Barack Obama does not have the legal or moral authority to declare that we are NOT a Christian nation. George W. Bush did not have the legal or moral authority to declare that we ARE a Christian nation. Presidential pronouncements simply have nothing to do with it. We either are a Christian nation or we aren’t. We can only own that label through our behavior, and I’m not so sure we earn it. In other words, friends, we have to BE a Christian nation. Good luck with that. Are we a Christian nation? I could cite evidentiary examples for both “yes” and “no” arguments, which tells me the jury’s still out.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Accomplishments at 60
When I was a senior in high school (1968), I made a list of goals. First, I wanted to graduate from college. Second, I wanted to see the world. Third, I wanted a home and family. And fourth, I wanted to make $20,000.
Let's address the last first. Adjusted for inflation, I'd have to make about $100k to make the equivalent of 20k in 1968. I did make that when I was in Japan, but I don't now. Still, I make enough to achieve the other goals.
I graduated from Eastern New Mexico University with honors in English. Since I was the first kid in my large family to accomplish this, my mother drove from Houston all the way across Texas with fresh Gulf shrimp on ice in the back and my little sister and a niece up front with her. It took me seven years, but I had no debt and never needed help from my mother to pay for my studies. Then quite a few years later, I finished my MA in Teaching Foreign Language (with distinction) at Monterey Institute of International Studies, with a Certificate to Teach English to Speakers of Other Languages thrown in. So I exceeded my educational goals by quite a bit.
I have been to 24 foreign countries, many of them for extended periods, not just on vacation, but on job assignments. The army sent me to Germany for 10 years, and my Department of Defense job sent me to Japan for 5 years. I've spent extended periods of time (a month or more) in France, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Latvia, Tajikistan, Germany, the Netherlands, and Egypt. I've spent more than a month in Massachusetts, California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. I've seen more countries than I dreamed I would, but I still have some travel goals: I want to see sub-Saharan Africa while there are still wild animals; I want to see Alaska and Hawaii; I'd like to see mainland China.
As successful as I've been in other areas, I've been luckiest of all with my family. Vera has been the perfect wife for me - educated, sensitive, artistic, loving, faithful, but also strict and demanding when she needed to be. I have now spent 22 years with my soul mate, and for that I am deeply grateful. We also have three sons, all smart and talented young men with good hearts. My biggest remaining mission is to see them graduate from college. After that, I want to play with some grandchildren!
Overall, I have to be really happy with my life. Dr. Stephen Covey (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People) calls this "Begin with the end in mind." Vera took his training seminar before I did, and she came back immediately from the workshop and said, "You do this!" I guess that' s true, and maybe it's the main reason I've managed to achieve my goals. That, and we've always been blessed - Someone has been watching over us.
Let's address the last first. Adjusted for inflation, I'd have to make about $100k to make the equivalent of 20k in 1968. I did make that when I was in Japan, but I don't now. Still, I make enough to achieve the other goals.
I graduated from Eastern New Mexico University with honors in English. Since I was the first kid in my large family to accomplish this, my mother drove from Houston all the way across Texas with fresh Gulf shrimp on ice in the back and my little sister and a niece up front with her. It took me seven years, but I had no debt and never needed help from my mother to pay for my studies. Then quite a few years later, I finished my MA in Teaching Foreign Language (with distinction) at Monterey Institute of International Studies, with a Certificate to Teach English to Speakers of Other Languages thrown in. So I exceeded my educational goals by quite a bit.
I have been to 24 foreign countries, many of them for extended periods, not just on vacation, but on job assignments. The army sent me to Germany for 10 years, and my Department of Defense job sent me to Japan for 5 years. I've spent extended periods of time (a month or more) in France, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Latvia, Tajikistan, Germany, the Netherlands, and Egypt. I've spent more than a month in Massachusetts, California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. I've seen more countries than I dreamed I would, but I still have some travel goals: I want to see sub-Saharan Africa while there are still wild animals; I want to see Alaska and Hawaii; I'd like to see mainland China.
As successful as I've been in other areas, I've been luckiest of all with my family. Vera has been the perfect wife for me - educated, sensitive, artistic, loving, faithful, but also strict and demanding when she needed to be. I have now spent 22 years with my soul mate, and for that I am deeply grateful. We also have three sons, all smart and talented young men with good hearts. My biggest remaining mission is to see them graduate from college. After that, I want to play with some grandchildren!
Overall, I have to be really happy with my life. Dr. Stephen Covey (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People) calls this "Begin with the end in mind." Vera took his training seminar before I did, and she came back immediately from the workshop and said, "You do this!" I guess that' s true, and maybe it's the main reason I've managed to achieve my goals. That, and we've always been blessed - Someone has been watching over us.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
0 to 60 - Finances
I don't know how I managed it, but I'm getting into my 60's fairly healthy financially. It wasn't actually a result of good planning, or any planning at all. But I have and will always have my military retirement of about 20K a year, plus a smaller federal retirement when I'm 65, plus Social Security, plus I think my 401k will be around 200K by then. My house will be paid off before I'm 65, so I'll have a couple of years to feed money into my wife's 401k. So far, except for the government student loans my kids have and will pay back, we've managed to pay as we went for Misha and Gabriel. I'll buy another Prius before I retire and will try to have it paid off, too. All of this is geared to an actual retirement when I'm 67 so I'll get max Social Security. So it looks like we're gonna be ok.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
0 to 60 - Regrets/mistakes
I'm really happy with where I am nearly 60 years after I was born at Castle AFB in Merced, CA. But I coulda done better. So here, not in order of importance, are mistakes I made or regrets I have:
1. I shouldn't have broken up with Cathy Webb in high school. And I DEFINITELY shouldn't have done it in such a mean, immature way. The fact that we are still friends is a testament to her character.
2. I drank WAY too much alcohol from the time I joined the air force to the emergency trip to the hospital in Utrecht. It's ludicrous that it took that kind of wake-up call for me to finally understand that alcohol was killing me. If I had saved just half of what I wasted on drinking, I wouldn't be borrowing money to put my boys through college. I wouldn't mind having some of those brain cells back, either.
3. I wish I could have found a way to be more peaceful about the inevitable divorce in my first marriage. We were polar opposites and couldn't possibly have stayed together, but the only way we could figure that out was by making each other miserable for the last 5 years of our 7-year marriage. We are still friends because we realize it was nobody's fault and we both made huge mistakes.
4. I have been unnecessarily mean to quite a few people in my life. I'm truly sorry for that. It's always been a goal of mine to help other people have a more joyful life, but for some, I made life more miserable. I try to atone by helping people whenever I can.
You know what? I think that's it. I don't have that much to regret. Next up: financial standing.
1. I shouldn't have broken up with Cathy Webb in high school. And I DEFINITELY shouldn't have done it in such a mean, immature way. The fact that we are still friends is a testament to her character.
2. I drank WAY too much alcohol from the time I joined the air force to the emergency trip to the hospital in Utrecht. It's ludicrous that it took that kind of wake-up call for me to finally understand that alcohol was killing me. If I had saved just half of what I wasted on drinking, I wouldn't be borrowing money to put my boys through college. I wouldn't mind having some of those brain cells back, either.
3. I wish I could have found a way to be more peaceful about the inevitable divorce in my first marriage. We were polar opposites and couldn't possibly have stayed together, but the only way we could figure that out was by making each other miserable for the last 5 years of our 7-year marriage. We are still friends because we realize it was nobody's fault and we both made huge mistakes.
4. I have been unnecessarily mean to quite a few people in my life. I'm truly sorry for that. It's always been a goal of mine to help other people have a more joyful life, but for some, I made life more miserable. I try to atone by helping people whenever I can.
You know what? I think that's it. I don't have that much to regret. Next up: financial standing.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
0 to 60
OK, so Wednesday I turn 60. Lots of friends and family have already hit this milestone. They haven't made many comments about it, really, but that's not my nature. So this first post will be a physical inventory of sorts.
I've gotten to 60 in pretty good shape, I think. I'm still healthy enough to work and to go overseas, to support my wife and pay for college for three sons. That's the good news.
Problem #1: My gut. I have this rather large spare tire around my middle. The rest of me isn't fat at all - not my butt, not my legs or arms or chest. Just this big belly. So I could make lots of excuses that it's ok. I am, after all, 60 freakin' years old. But I know all those extra blood vessels and all that extra distance my blood has to cover make my aging heart work harder than it ought to. It keeps my blood pressure up higher than it should be. It makes me tired because I'm carrying 25 pounds extra around with me all day. The funny thing is, I know it wouldn't be hard to get rid of it. Eat less, eat healthier, exercise more. I do need to be healthy enough to work for 7 more years and there's WAY too much evidence around me that I can't take those 7 years for granted. So I know I need to take steps. I have a supportive wife and my sons all want me to stick around for a few more years. I should do this. I will, too. I hope.
Problem #2: Eyes and ears (I'm putting them together as aging senses). I'm nearly deaf in my left ear and will see a doctor about it on Tuesday, the day before my 60th birthday. I won't accept an operation, but a hearing aid would be ok. My eyes are just old. I can't read newspapers or magazines without my glasses any more. I try sometimes, but can only stare at the fuzzy lines that used to be letters. This has been happening gradually. Already 15 years ago, when I got out of the army, I knew I couldn't see the farthest targets anymore. But this problem is so gradual it doesn't always seem like a problem at all. The boiling frog, I suppose.
Problem #3: I'm kind of beat up, mostly from my army days. Both hands have been broken twice. I broke my collar bone once. My nose was broken once, too. My neck and back are occasional problems, but have actually been better the last few years, so I guess I can't complain.
Problem #4: My thyroid. As long as I take my medication, it really isn't a problem. Since half of it has been taken out, I know I'll have to take the synthroid for the rest of my life, but we old people get used to pills, I guess.
Problem #5: Arthritis. It's worse in my right wrist, but my left hand is occasionally bothered, too. I suppose this one has the potential to be a much bigger problem, but right now it's not even bad enough to require medication - just an Aleve or two for pain sometimes.
Everything else would have to be classified as minor. All in all, you could just say I'm getting old, which is pretty much what 60 is anyway. As one of my friends put it, "Welcome to the club."
I've gotten to 60 in pretty good shape, I think. I'm still healthy enough to work and to go overseas, to support my wife and pay for college for three sons. That's the good news.
Problem #1: My gut. I have this rather large spare tire around my middle. The rest of me isn't fat at all - not my butt, not my legs or arms or chest. Just this big belly. So I could make lots of excuses that it's ok. I am, after all, 60 freakin' years old. But I know all those extra blood vessels and all that extra distance my blood has to cover make my aging heart work harder than it ought to. It keeps my blood pressure up higher than it should be. It makes me tired because I'm carrying 25 pounds extra around with me all day. The funny thing is, I know it wouldn't be hard to get rid of it. Eat less, eat healthier, exercise more. I do need to be healthy enough to work for 7 more years and there's WAY too much evidence around me that I can't take those 7 years for granted. So I know I need to take steps. I have a supportive wife and my sons all want me to stick around for a few more years. I should do this. I will, too. I hope.
Problem #2: Eyes and ears (I'm putting them together as aging senses). I'm nearly deaf in my left ear and will see a doctor about it on Tuesday, the day before my 60th birthday. I won't accept an operation, but a hearing aid would be ok. My eyes are just old. I can't read newspapers or magazines without my glasses any more. I try sometimes, but can only stare at the fuzzy lines that used to be letters. This has been happening gradually. Already 15 years ago, when I got out of the army, I knew I couldn't see the farthest targets anymore. But this problem is so gradual it doesn't always seem like a problem at all. The boiling frog, I suppose.
Problem #3: I'm kind of beat up, mostly from my army days. Both hands have been broken twice. I broke my collar bone once. My nose was broken once, too. My neck and back are occasional problems, but have actually been better the last few years, so I guess I can't complain.
Problem #4: My thyroid. As long as I take my medication, it really isn't a problem. Since half of it has been taken out, I know I'll have to take the synthroid for the rest of my life, but we old people get used to pills, I guess.
Problem #5: Arthritis. It's worse in my right wrist, but my left hand is occasionally bothered, too. I suppose this one has the potential to be a much bigger problem, but right now it's not even bad enough to require medication - just an Aleve or two for pain sometimes.
Everything else would have to be classified as minor. All in all, you could just say I'm getting old, which is pretty much what 60 is anyway. As one of my friends put it, "Welcome to the club."
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Man's inanity to man
I always struggle with this. Why does God let bad things happen to good people? Over the years, I have come to believe that He lets us suffer the consequences of our vices, our ignorance, our meanness of spirit. There's a lot of that going around right now, if you hadn't noticed.
Cancer seems to be a scythe-bearing Death, cutting down people randomly, letting some survive while others don't. I got to thinking what in the world God could be telling us. Then I remembered.
We knowingly surround ourselves with toxins. We have soaps and detergents that are potentially much more dangerous than the germs they're supposed to kill. We buy houses with poison, plastic rugs, sprayed with more poison to protect them from spills. We let processors treat our food with chemicals, wrap it in plastics, then open it and cook it on pans that release toxins as the food cooks. We dump chemicals onto our precious yards, knowing full well that most of those chemicals will wash straight into the groundwater, even as we catch a quick drink from the hose. Our drinks - juices, alcohol, sodas, milk - all contain varying levels of poison. If we drink diet sodas, our bodies turn the sweetener into fomaldehyde in "acceptable" levels; at least the FDA assures it's safe.
If toxins aren't carcinogenic enough for you, we zap our foods in microwave ovens, then hold a microwave transmitter (yep, that's what a cell phone is) next to our brain most of the day. In the end, it's still crushingly sad when good people die of cancer. But we shouldn't claim we're surprised by it. Instead, we should be utterly shocked so many of us survive.
Cancer seems to be a scythe-bearing Death, cutting down people randomly, letting some survive while others don't. I got to thinking what in the world God could be telling us. Then I remembered.
We knowingly surround ourselves with toxins. We have soaps and detergents that are potentially much more dangerous than the germs they're supposed to kill. We buy houses with poison, plastic rugs, sprayed with more poison to protect them from spills. We let processors treat our food with chemicals, wrap it in plastics, then open it and cook it on pans that release toxins as the food cooks. We dump chemicals onto our precious yards, knowing full well that most of those chemicals will wash straight into the groundwater, even as we catch a quick drink from the hose. Our drinks - juices, alcohol, sodas, milk - all contain varying levels of poison. If we drink diet sodas, our bodies turn the sweetener into fomaldehyde in "acceptable" levels; at least the FDA assures it's safe.
If toxins aren't carcinogenic enough for you, we zap our foods in microwave ovens, then hold a microwave transmitter (yep, that's what a cell phone is) next to our brain most of the day. In the end, it's still crushingly sad when good people die of cancer. But we shouldn't claim we're surprised by it. Instead, we should be utterly shocked so many of us survive.
Friday, April 10, 2009
American Theocracy
American theocracy – A humble proposal
Evangelicals have finally convinced me that our founding fathers never really intended a strict separation of church and state. The more I think about it, the more I become convinced that the United States would be much better off if it were a theocracy. If nothing else, we could end interfaith rivalries that have contributed to the divisiveness that’s been tearing our country apart for the last decade. The problem, of course, is choosing which religion should be given the responsibility of sharing power with the federal government.
The Catholic Church must be considered first, since it is the largest single denomination in the United States. It does have experience in theocratic rule from the days of the Holy Roman Empire. It has considerable military experience dating all the way back to the Crusades. Even when not part of a theocracy, the Catholic Church has been used to wielding considerable power far beyond the rolls of its membership. The Catholic Church also has a great deal of wealth it brings to the table, as well as a widespread and influential membership. Unfortunately, it must be rejected, since the highest authority, the Pope, is not a U.S. citizen, nor even located within the country. Add to that all the sex scandals involving priests and the church’s long history of antipathy toward other religions, and it becomes patently clear that an American Catholic theocracy would be neither viable nor desirable.
A mainstream Protestant church would seem like a good choice, but Protestants are split down the middle between ecumenical and evangelical Christians. Even if they weren’t, the power struggles among Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and various offshoots like Christian Scientists and Jehovah’s Witnesses would disqualify them. They’re just too fractured to be a coherent national governing force.
Eastern and New Age religions, while attractive, are simply too unfamiliar to most Americans. They lack the large membership and financial support to be a true partner in governing the country. The moral codes they embrace are not well defined, and often incompatibly diverse. And while Islam has its merits, it would simply be impossible to overcome anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S.
So if we want to have a theocracy, we need a well-established religion, preferably Christian in doctrine, with a stable membership, financial resources, and ideally one with theocratic experience. Fortunately, there is such a church in our country, and a uniquely American church at that – the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, better known to most people as the Mormons. Let me state immediately that I am not now nor have I ever been a member of this church. I’ve investigated this issue from an objective and practical perspective and truly believe that it would be in the best interests of the United States for the government and the Mormon Church to work together in ruling our country. Before rejecting this proposal, I hope the reader will allow me to present the case point by point.
The Mormons have a great reputation for being fiscally responsible. At the individual and family levels, they consistently have higher income levels than members of other churches. The church itself has a considerable amount of property and other forms of wealth. They already have a flat tax system of 10%, something quite a few U.S. citizens have wanted for quite some time. Since the church itself is fiscally conservative, I have no doubt they'd apply the same reasonable controls on the government.
The Mormon Church also has military experience, having formed its own militias when their church controlled the Utah territory. They were so well organized and armed, they were ready, willing, and able to take on the U.S. Army, if it became necessary. They have the Mountain Meadows Massacre to prove they're perfectly comfortable with the concept of pre-emptive strike. They have admitted it was a mistake and have accepted responsibility for it, which is something our secular government could mimic. In terms of homeland security, their screening process for prospective members could also serve to identify potential threats. Another interesting requirement they have is to keep a one-year food supply in case of emergency or Armaggedon or similar disastrous breakdowns of society. This could also be used in a recession, thus reducing the demand on social welfare systems.
They have a great welfare system. First, every member (so in a theocracy, every citizen) must fast 2 meals a month on the first Sunday of every month. The money that would have been spent on those meals is instead given to the Bishop's Storehouse. When someone's down on their luck, they can get food and other necessities, and sometimes even cash for rent and other bills, with the understanding that they will pay it back when they can or they can farm on the church kibbutz or perform other acts of community service. So the welfare system is actually more like workfare. The church also has training centers and employment centers where members can take seminars for writing a resume, dressing for success, and find jobs. In other words, they believe in teaching people how to fish for a lifetime, instead of giving them fish for a day.
LDS also has a great deal of international experience through their mission work. They boast some of the best linguists in the country. So any young Mormon who has finished his or her missionary work can just stay in the foreign country and transfer to the State Department. Since so many of them have been to and lived in foreign countries, their awareness of other cultures and customs could only enhance our image abroad.
I'm sure some of you will say you don't agree with some of the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints. But that's fine - the Mormons, who have a long and terrible history of being discriminated against themselves, are one of the most tolerant religions in the country. Citizens should feel free to practice any faith they feel comfortable with. Of course, as with any theocracy, members of the official religion would have certain advantages. That's only fair.
I willingly admit that there's still a certain amount of sexism in the church, and even some repressed racism, but that's a perfect reflection of our society anyway. They're certainly no worse in that respect than the population at large.
I just can't see any flaws in this proposal. How about this for the new name of our country - The United States of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints. Has a nice ring to it.
Evangelicals have finally convinced me that our founding fathers never really intended a strict separation of church and state. The more I think about it, the more I become convinced that the United States would be much better off if it were a theocracy. If nothing else, we could end interfaith rivalries that have contributed to the divisiveness that’s been tearing our country apart for the last decade. The problem, of course, is choosing which religion should be given the responsibility of sharing power with the federal government.
The Catholic Church must be considered first, since it is the largest single denomination in the United States. It does have experience in theocratic rule from the days of the Holy Roman Empire. It has considerable military experience dating all the way back to the Crusades. Even when not part of a theocracy, the Catholic Church has been used to wielding considerable power far beyond the rolls of its membership. The Catholic Church also has a great deal of wealth it brings to the table, as well as a widespread and influential membership. Unfortunately, it must be rejected, since the highest authority, the Pope, is not a U.S. citizen, nor even located within the country. Add to that all the sex scandals involving priests and the church’s long history of antipathy toward other religions, and it becomes patently clear that an American Catholic theocracy would be neither viable nor desirable.
A mainstream Protestant church would seem like a good choice, but Protestants are split down the middle between ecumenical and evangelical Christians. Even if they weren’t, the power struggles among Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and various offshoots like Christian Scientists and Jehovah’s Witnesses would disqualify them. They’re just too fractured to be a coherent national governing force.
Eastern and New Age religions, while attractive, are simply too unfamiliar to most Americans. They lack the large membership and financial support to be a true partner in governing the country. The moral codes they embrace are not well defined, and often incompatibly diverse. And while Islam has its merits, it would simply be impossible to overcome anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S.
So if we want to have a theocracy, we need a well-established religion, preferably Christian in doctrine, with a stable membership, financial resources, and ideally one with theocratic experience. Fortunately, there is such a church in our country, and a uniquely American church at that – the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, better known to most people as the Mormons. Let me state immediately that I am not now nor have I ever been a member of this church. I’ve investigated this issue from an objective and practical perspective and truly believe that it would be in the best interests of the United States for the government and the Mormon Church to work together in ruling our country. Before rejecting this proposal, I hope the reader will allow me to present the case point by point.
The Mormons have a great reputation for being fiscally responsible. At the individual and family levels, they consistently have higher income levels than members of other churches. The church itself has a considerable amount of property and other forms of wealth. They already have a flat tax system of 10%, something quite a few U.S. citizens have wanted for quite some time. Since the church itself is fiscally conservative, I have no doubt they'd apply the same reasonable controls on the government.
The Mormon Church also has military experience, having formed its own militias when their church controlled the Utah territory. They were so well organized and armed, they were ready, willing, and able to take on the U.S. Army, if it became necessary. They have the Mountain Meadows Massacre to prove they're perfectly comfortable with the concept of pre-emptive strike. They have admitted it was a mistake and have accepted responsibility for it, which is something our secular government could mimic. In terms of homeland security, their screening process for prospective members could also serve to identify potential threats. Another interesting requirement they have is to keep a one-year food supply in case of emergency or Armaggedon or similar disastrous breakdowns of society. This could also be used in a recession, thus reducing the demand on social welfare systems.
They have a great welfare system. First, every member (so in a theocracy, every citizen) must fast 2 meals a month on the first Sunday of every month. The money that would have been spent on those meals is instead given to the Bishop's Storehouse. When someone's down on their luck, they can get food and other necessities, and sometimes even cash for rent and other bills, with the understanding that they will pay it back when they can or they can farm on the church kibbutz or perform other acts of community service. So the welfare system is actually more like workfare. The church also has training centers and employment centers where members can take seminars for writing a resume, dressing for success, and find jobs. In other words, they believe in teaching people how to fish for a lifetime, instead of giving them fish for a day.
LDS also has a great deal of international experience through their mission work. They boast some of the best linguists in the country. So any young Mormon who has finished his or her missionary work can just stay in the foreign country and transfer to the State Department. Since so many of them have been to and lived in foreign countries, their awareness of other cultures and customs could only enhance our image abroad.
I'm sure some of you will say you don't agree with some of the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints. But that's fine - the Mormons, who have a long and terrible history of being discriminated against themselves, are one of the most tolerant religions in the country. Citizens should feel free to practice any faith they feel comfortable with. Of course, as with any theocracy, members of the official religion would have certain advantages. That's only fair.
I willingly admit that there's still a certain amount of sexism in the church, and even some repressed racism, but that's a perfect reflection of our society anyway. They're certainly no worse in that respect than the population at large.
I just can't see any flaws in this proposal. How about this for the new name of our country - The United States of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints. Has a nice ring to it.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Religious Backlash
According to a recent survey by the Program of Public Values at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, the percentage of Americans who identify themselves as Christian has dropped from 86% in 1990 to 76% in 2008. Mainline Protestant percentages have dropped from 17% to 12.9%. People who say they have no religion have risen in number from 8.2% to 15%.
I've been predicting this since George W. Bush "won" his first term in office, courtesy of the Supreme Court. The neocons used Evangelical support to put Bush in office, drumming up anti-liberal religious fervor. The Evangelicals hoped to use the resultant connections to power to bring about the downfall of separation of church and state in order to impose some of their religious beliefs on the rest of the country. The Catholic Church jumped on the bandwagon, supporting Bush with anit-liberal messages of its own. The antireligious backlash was predictable because now both religious groups have identified themselves with and connected themselves to a failed political movement. This is as it should be. It is my belief that nothing in the Bible and none of Christ's words justify turning His church into a political action committee.
The good news is that, in some cases, members of these religious organizations are beginning to re-examine their faith in God as it relates to their values and moral beliefs. I've certainly been involved in a spiritual quest to define myself and my relationship to God for most of my adult life, a span of just under 50 years.
I left organized religion almost 20 years ago, because every church I went to violated beliefs that I'd developed over the years. I refused to sit in a service that offended me and my beliefs. So now it's time to express my objections to established religion.
First, the Catholic Church has, in my opinion, too many untenable positions. The adherence to the belief in the infallibility of the Pope would be comical if it weren't so destructive. The recent visit to Africa by the current Pope, where he stated that condoms, rather than slowing the spread of AIDS, would make AIDS worse, makes Catholics choose between simple, straightforward facts or the word of the Pope. This is not an earthshaking revelation - most American Catholics quit believing in the infallibility of the Pope decades ago.
The Catholic stance on divorce ignores reality. Most modern, advanced societies have come to accept, first, that people make mistakes and, second, that they change over time. The church's attitude to this is "suck it up." But many Catholics worldwide, and especially in the United States, accept that divorce is preferable to the misery of life with the wrong person.
The institutionalized sexism of the Catholic Church is also untenable. There is nothing spiritually, intellectually, or morally inferior about women. The Catholic Church should allow women to serve equally with men, filling roles as priests, bishops, cardinals and even as Pope. This is the right thing to do.
It is also time for the Catholic Church to move out of the Dark Ages and allow priests and nuns to marry. They should have learned from all the sex scandals involving priests that there is no spiritual superiority to be gained from celibacy, but there is a great deal of risk in enforcing this inhuman standard on the all too human priesthood.
While the Catholic Church is not the only religion to institutionalize the requirement of its members to outbreed competing religions, it seems to be the most egregious. At a time when overpopulation is the primary cause of most of the world's ills, the Catholic Church refuses to bend - every couple is required to continue to have children throughout their childbearing years, no matter what the financial or social consequences. I've got news for the infallible Pope. Except in a few African and Asian countries, NO Catholics believe this or practice it. I think the Pope should excommunicate all of them. Of course, that would immediately reduce it from major world religion to sect status, but they would be standing by their values instead of pretending to.
Now here's my problem with Evangelicals. First, a very BRIEF description of my religious background. I grew up in the Southern Baptist church. I was baptized in 1960 in Waco, Texas. My mother's strong faith had a huge influence on me, and I was a regular church goer through high school. I was member of our church's youth choir and routinely would go proselytize on the beaches of Galveston Island. I have grown up. My biggest problem with Evangelicals is that they have become radicals, not conservatives. See, conservatives hold onto traditional beliefs, defending them, sometimes to the extreme and in the face of logic (as in the Catholic Church above). But modern Evangelicals have begun reinterpreting the scriptures, trying to convince us that Christ is pro-greed, pro-war, pro-poverty. They would have us believe that the separation of church and state as established by our founding fathers is just a cultural myth. Well, I reject this.
Perhaps my biggest rejection of Evangelicals has to do with proselytizing, the very sin I was guilty of in my youth. I now believe that trying to impose your faith on others is immoral. Proselytizing requires an assumption that everyone you encounter outside of your faith is spiritually inferior, that their beliefs will condemn them to hell and that conversion to your religious position will get them to heaven. This is an insulting assumption, full of the pride and ego Christ Himself would have rejected. So when proselytizers confront me, I respond with, "Is there something about my appearance that makes you think my religious beliefs are inferior to yours?" I do that because it always causes them to back off but, more importantly, it might help them reconsider just what proselytizing means to the victim. I do support one form of proselytizing - being a living example. If you lead a good moral and spiritual life, people will eventually ask, "What's your secret?" That's when you have a moral justfication for sharing your faith.
I don't believe the new megachurches would be tolerated by Christ. They are run on a business model by false prophets who are motivated by greed and power. I love the new backlash response to them - home churches, where family and neighbors gather in living rooms for worship services. No money is required, no political influence is coveted - just small groups of Christians gathering together to share their faith.
Evangelicals are doing the majority of Americans a huge favor by showing us the absurdity of a literal belief in the Bible. Of course, they don't have a literal belief in the Bible, since that's virtually impossible, given the blatant contradictions contained in its contents. In fact, no one can actually state what the Bible is - which version is the "real" Bible? And how do we interpret the Bible (we all must, after all)? And how destructive this literal interpretation is! At a time when science is our greatest hope for saving the world, Evangelicals would have us return to the Dark Ages, believing that the world is only 6,000 years old, that there were never dinosaurs, or that men co-existed with dinosaurs, and that evolution, even as it occurs before their very eyes, is more myth than fact. Faith is the most important word in the English language, but I will not accept any religion that insists that faith overrides fact. I do not believe the Bible or Christianity requires us to do that.
The weakest and most ludicrous symptom of Evangelical excess is the apocalyptic crap (that's exactly what it is - no better word to describe it) being spewed by some of the biggest names in American Christendom. These apocalyptic movements have been around since the death of Christ. At least one group of believers thought Judgment Day would come in their lifetime, and they lived in the time of Christ. Christ Himself said you cannot know the end of days, yet these false prophets are convinced they KNOW. It is a lie.
Finally, Evangelicals succeeded in turning their faithful into a huge, powerful political action committee. I believe Christ would be ashamed of this. If He returned today, he would not flog the moneychangers, he would flog these pseudoreligious politicians. It is the vilest corruption of Christianity I've seen in my lifetime. And make no mistake - I believe the counter-evangelical political activists on the left are just as wrong.
I used Evangelicals and the Catholic Church to make my point, but almost all of organized religion is guilty of some or all of these sins to varying degrees. But as long as churches feel compelled to violate common sense and the moral positions of most reasonable human beings, their decline in a modern, enlightened age, is inevitable.
For myself, I expect to continue conducting homechurch services with my family. I have three basic beliefs that I hope to instill in my three sons:
1. There is a God.
2. There are many paths to God.
3. Christ is my path to God.
I've been predicting this since George W. Bush "won" his first term in office, courtesy of the Supreme Court. The neocons used Evangelical support to put Bush in office, drumming up anti-liberal religious fervor. The Evangelicals hoped to use the resultant connections to power to bring about the downfall of separation of church and state in order to impose some of their religious beliefs on the rest of the country. The Catholic Church jumped on the bandwagon, supporting Bush with anit-liberal messages of its own. The antireligious backlash was predictable because now both religious groups have identified themselves with and connected themselves to a failed political movement. This is as it should be. It is my belief that nothing in the Bible and none of Christ's words justify turning His church into a political action committee.
The good news is that, in some cases, members of these religious organizations are beginning to re-examine their faith in God as it relates to their values and moral beliefs. I've certainly been involved in a spiritual quest to define myself and my relationship to God for most of my adult life, a span of just under 50 years.
I left organized religion almost 20 years ago, because every church I went to violated beliefs that I'd developed over the years. I refused to sit in a service that offended me and my beliefs. So now it's time to express my objections to established religion.
First, the Catholic Church has, in my opinion, too many untenable positions. The adherence to the belief in the infallibility of the Pope would be comical if it weren't so destructive. The recent visit to Africa by the current Pope, where he stated that condoms, rather than slowing the spread of AIDS, would make AIDS worse, makes Catholics choose between simple, straightforward facts or the word of the Pope. This is not an earthshaking revelation - most American Catholics quit believing in the infallibility of the Pope decades ago.
The Catholic stance on divorce ignores reality. Most modern, advanced societies have come to accept, first, that people make mistakes and, second, that they change over time. The church's attitude to this is "suck it up." But many Catholics worldwide, and especially in the United States, accept that divorce is preferable to the misery of life with the wrong person.
The institutionalized sexism of the Catholic Church is also untenable. There is nothing spiritually, intellectually, or morally inferior about women. The Catholic Church should allow women to serve equally with men, filling roles as priests, bishops, cardinals and even as Pope. This is the right thing to do.
It is also time for the Catholic Church to move out of the Dark Ages and allow priests and nuns to marry. They should have learned from all the sex scandals involving priests that there is no spiritual superiority to be gained from celibacy, but there is a great deal of risk in enforcing this inhuman standard on the all too human priesthood.
While the Catholic Church is not the only religion to institutionalize the requirement of its members to outbreed competing religions, it seems to be the most egregious. At a time when overpopulation is the primary cause of most of the world's ills, the Catholic Church refuses to bend - every couple is required to continue to have children throughout their childbearing years, no matter what the financial or social consequences. I've got news for the infallible Pope. Except in a few African and Asian countries, NO Catholics believe this or practice it. I think the Pope should excommunicate all of them. Of course, that would immediately reduce it from major world religion to sect status, but they would be standing by their values instead of pretending to.
Now here's my problem with Evangelicals. First, a very BRIEF description of my religious background. I grew up in the Southern Baptist church. I was baptized in 1960 in Waco, Texas. My mother's strong faith had a huge influence on me, and I was a regular church goer through high school. I was member of our church's youth choir and routinely would go proselytize on the beaches of Galveston Island. I have grown up. My biggest problem with Evangelicals is that they have become radicals, not conservatives. See, conservatives hold onto traditional beliefs, defending them, sometimes to the extreme and in the face of logic (as in the Catholic Church above). But modern Evangelicals have begun reinterpreting the scriptures, trying to convince us that Christ is pro-greed, pro-war, pro-poverty. They would have us believe that the separation of church and state as established by our founding fathers is just a cultural myth. Well, I reject this.
Perhaps my biggest rejection of Evangelicals has to do with proselytizing, the very sin I was guilty of in my youth. I now believe that trying to impose your faith on others is immoral. Proselytizing requires an assumption that everyone you encounter outside of your faith is spiritually inferior, that their beliefs will condemn them to hell and that conversion to your religious position will get them to heaven. This is an insulting assumption, full of the pride and ego Christ Himself would have rejected. So when proselytizers confront me, I respond with, "Is there something about my appearance that makes you think my religious beliefs are inferior to yours?" I do that because it always causes them to back off but, more importantly, it might help them reconsider just what proselytizing means to the victim. I do support one form of proselytizing - being a living example. If you lead a good moral and spiritual life, people will eventually ask, "What's your secret?" That's when you have a moral justfication for sharing your faith.
I don't believe the new megachurches would be tolerated by Christ. They are run on a business model by false prophets who are motivated by greed and power. I love the new backlash response to them - home churches, where family and neighbors gather in living rooms for worship services. No money is required, no political influence is coveted - just small groups of Christians gathering together to share their faith.
Evangelicals are doing the majority of Americans a huge favor by showing us the absurdity of a literal belief in the Bible. Of course, they don't have a literal belief in the Bible, since that's virtually impossible, given the blatant contradictions contained in its contents. In fact, no one can actually state what the Bible is - which version is the "real" Bible? And how do we interpret the Bible (we all must, after all)? And how destructive this literal interpretation is! At a time when science is our greatest hope for saving the world, Evangelicals would have us return to the Dark Ages, believing that the world is only 6,000 years old, that there were never dinosaurs, or that men co-existed with dinosaurs, and that evolution, even as it occurs before their very eyes, is more myth than fact. Faith is the most important word in the English language, but I will not accept any religion that insists that faith overrides fact. I do not believe the Bible or Christianity requires us to do that.
The weakest and most ludicrous symptom of Evangelical excess is the apocalyptic crap (that's exactly what it is - no better word to describe it) being spewed by some of the biggest names in American Christendom. These apocalyptic movements have been around since the death of Christ. At least one group of believers thought Judgment Day would come in their lifetime, and they lived in the time of Christ. Christ Himself said you cannot know the end of days, yet these false prophets are convinced they KNOW. It is a lie.
Finally, Evangelicals succeeded in turning their faithful into a huge, powerful political action committee. I believe Christ would be ashamed of this. If He returned today, he would not flog the moneychangers, he would flog these pseudoreligious politicians. It is the vilest corruption of Christianity I've seen in my lifetime. And make no mistake - I believe the counter-evangelical political activists on the left are just as wrong.
I used Evangelicals and the Catholic Church to make my point, but almost all of organized religion is guilty of some or all of these sins to varying degrees. But as long as churches feel compelled to violate common sense and the moral positions of most reasonable human beings, their decline in a modern, enlightened age, is inevitable.
For myself, I expect to continue conducting homechurch services with my family. I have three basic beliefs that I hope to instill in my three sons:
1. There is a God.
2. There are many paths to God.
3. Christ is my path to God.
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