Thursday, June 24, 2010

Historic Rambling

To Whom it May Concern;

It brings me no pleasure in writing this letter. Yet, I believe I must address a problem very succinctly. There must be no misunderstanding, especially between people who must cooperate.

On a number of occasions, I have been in the delicate possition of telling my direct superior "No." Whereas I do not wish to contradict anyone with more education, experience, seniority and general knowledge than I have, I also do not wish to exchange my dignity for the expression of agreement and civility between co-workers. I especially do not wish to alienate an employer, much less for an employer whom I respect. However, I will not compomise my own ethics in order to remain in the good graces of anyone who would ask me to compromise those same ethics. Given the choice of doing something for my employers' benefit or doing that which is according to my ethics, I will not hesitate to be ethical.

As an obtuse example, I will not misrepresent myself for the purpose of fulfilling the desires of an egotist. In simpler terms: "Just because you say so doesn't make it right." I realize that children everywhere would cheer hearing that sentiment. Also, "This is how we've always done it," is not acceptable. I don't particularly care how long it has been done wrong. I will not be a party to it.

9/22/2000

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Call me Mr. Negative, please

i planned on writing to this blog much more often... but since i was laid-off, though i have the time, i don't want to write what i really want to say... despite what many may say, i'm not a negative person... i don't LIKE saying things that are negative or hurtful... i like to think of it as honesty... and, like it or not, the truth is more often than not very, deeply painful... the classic "does this make me look fat?" usually ends up with "yes"... because if you have to ask, it probably does... if i tell someone that they said or did something stupid, it's not that they're stupid, themselves... it's a warning that they should reconsider their point-of-view, because there are bad consequenses that they should be aware of...

most would consider me negative because of this... i'm not negative... tactless, maybe... but sugar-coating a poison pill doesn't make it less poison... it just masks the warning signs... if someone is going to bathe a baby in scalding water, you don't explain the thermal transfer characteristics of the infant epidermis... you snatch the baby away from the idiot!... if you hurt their "feelings", that's just too bad... maybe they're the one with the thin skin...

so, i don't know if i will write on this blog as often as i had first hoped... my honesty will probably force me to say something along the lines of "i'm still jobless because i was stabbed in the back by people i thought were friends, or at least should have appreciated what i did for them"... but i might be accused of being "negative"... bite me.

i will still go back through old journals and see what i feel is worth posting... there's a few really good ones... there's a lot of juvenile crap, too... much of these old writings, while deep and thoughtful, were written by a college student who knew everything... youth is wasted on the young...

and i may give my commentary on current events... and i know i'll be accused of being negative on that... but i might as well be Nero while Rome burns, for all the good it does... every day i see idiots doing stupid things, and i want to shout from the roof-tops and warn them... but i'm just called names... often by people i thought were friends...

but i'm the negative one...

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Historic Rambling

[Note: This comes from an old journal of mine, about the year 2000-2001.]
Meaningless.

Perhaps those of you who are persistently depressed or consistently morbid believe in your hearts that your life, despite your efforts, or perhaps because of them, is ultimately meaningless. Without form or purpose. To this sentiment, I have but one thing to say:
You're probably right.

There may, in fact, be no God or Allah or celestial judgement. No creator. No divine plan. No puzzle for you to be a part in. Not even a minor piece 3/4 from the center of the puzzle. Life may not be a grand play where you are only a spectator. This consciousness may be a biochemical accident in a long string of accidents and chemical coincidences. If this life has no purpose, plan, or meaning, does it matter?

God or no god, does that - should that change what we do?

And why does "meaning" always have to come from an exterior source?
The fact of the matter is, meaning must come from an interior source. "Meaning" only comes from an interior definition of purpose and act. A "meaningful act" which is derived from a "meaningful purpose" can only have "meaning" or definition on a purely personal level.

Simply put, if it has no meaning to you, then it will have little meaning to anyone else. I have a hard time seeing someone showing up to Heaven (or Valhalla; whatever) after a life which contained much personal meaning only to hear from God, "You have led a trite and meaningless life."
Psychosis aside, meaning is meaning. Devotion to the collection of stamps may even border on psycho, but if it is for the purpose of preserving our postal heritage for your grandchildren, I say that has meaning. God may privately make jokes about it with the angels, but deep down I think any god would respect that purpose as meaningful.

Basically, I mean to say the following:
Get off your ass and do something meaningful! Don't ask your neighbor if they think it is the noble, meaningful thing to do. Just find a thing, anything, which provides you purpose and meaning. Examine the purpose and define for yourself the meaning. Don't get caught up with who will notice. Don't worry about being recognized for your postal-preserving efforts. Don't let anyone stop you from living at the bottom of a lake. Give it meaning! Give it purpose! Give it definition!
Your life can only be meaningless if you allow it.

If you have a purpose but die too soon, then your (shortened) life's meaning is the sad incompletion of a worthwhile goal. And with any luck, your (shortened) life may inspire those who knew your goal to take up that purpose. To make it their own. To give their own pathetic life meaning.

But it starts with you. It starts inside.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Jesus Christ; super star



LETTER OF THOMAS JEFFERSON TO WILLIAM SHORT, APRIL 13, 1820

"But while this Syllabus is meant to place the character of Jesus in it's true and high light, as no imposter himself but a great Reformer of the Hebrew code of religion, it is not to be understood that I am with him in all his doctrines. I am a Materialist, he takes the side of spiritualism; he preaches the efficacy of repentance toward forgiveness of sin. I require a counterpoise of good works to redeem it &c. &c. It is the innocence of his character, the purity & sublimity of his moral precepts, the eloquence of his inculcations, the beauty of the apologias in which he conveys them, that I so much admire; sometimes indeed needing indulgence to Eastern hyperbolism. My eulogies too may be founded on a postulate which all may not be ready to grant. Among the sayings & discourses imputed to him by his biographers, I find many passages of fine imagination, correct morality, and of the most lovely benevolence: and others again of so much ignorance, so much absurdity, so much untruth, charlatanism, and imposture, as to pronounce it impossible that such contradictions should have proceeded from the same being. I seperate therefore the gold from the dross; restore to him the former & leave the latter to the stupidity of some, and roguery of others of his disciples. Of this band of dupes and impostors, Paul was the great Coryphaeus, and firm corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus. These palpable interpolations and falsifications of his doctrines led me to try to sift them apart. I found the work obvious and easy, and that his part composed the most beautiful morsel of morality which has been given to us by man. The Syllabus is therefore of his doctrines, not all of mine. I read them as I do those of other antient and modern moralists, with a mixture of approbation and disent."


why is it so unbelievable that Jesus was right?... how is it such a mystery that much of the christian Bible is well-intentioned errors?... even Thomas Jefferson understood that religion was important, possibly the MOST important thing to the health of people and society as a whole, but it was only to be understood through calm and logical reasoning...

the laity could only handle the most obvious and benign passages in their religious infancy... the fullness of the "word" is complex and difficult to master... the majority of Christians do not understand that they are simply a sect of Judaism... Jesus was a Rabbi who taught the Torah... it is his clear understanding of the meaning of the Jewish law that made him the savior of the people who follow him... when Jesus speaks in the "New Testament", he is only teaching from the "Old Testament"... it does not supersede the writings which came before... it is only guide to the "word" of God...

take, for instance, the "Gospels"... the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all tell reasonably the same tale of the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth... but on a simple reading of them, it becomes evident that these four books were written by four people who either never witnessed the events, or have bizarrely different recollections of the events... even the language used is so different as to change the story on its most basic level...

for example, Matthew, Mark and Luke all quote Jesus as referring to the "Son of Man" (presumably about himself)... John, however, insists on quoting him as "Son of God" (most definitely about himself)... but any good reading of the Torah (or Old Testament, if you wish) finds that applying the term Son of God to one's self would be heresy/blasphemy/downright-evil... Jesus, a rabbi and devout Jew, knows this... so, what did Jesus really say?...

consider the lynch-pin story of the Jesus story; his arrest and sentencing... when Jesus went before the Sanhedrin, each book has an important detail told differently... the chief priest asks point-blank if Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God... Matthew's Jesus replies, "You say it is so"... Mark's Jesus replies a definite, "I am"... Luke's Jesus plays coy; "If I tell you, you wouldn't believe" which could be taken either way (if he says yes, they disbelieve; no, they still disbelieve)... John's Jesus, though he claims title of Son of God throughout John's book, when asked says, "You say I am King [of the Jews]"...

if the four Gospels cannot tell the most important story the same, what makes anyone believe that the rest of the Bible is at all accurate?...

i know this may seem counter-intuitive, but the inaccuracies are proof of the validity of the story... maybe the details are wrong, but the story is true... was there a person known as Jesus who was convicted by the Sanhedrin of blaphemy?... of course... this can be verified even through non-biblical sources, but let's stay with the Bible... did this Jesus person have a following to whom he taught?... yes... did he teach from the Torah?... yes... did he teach his congregation through parable?... obviously...

and did those who wrote it down ever get it wrong?... let he who is without sin, cast the first stone...

oh good lord, where do i begin?

since i don't plan on having many people actually read this, i'm at a loss of where to begin... if this was for a particular audience, i would know what demographic to aim for and thereby a general idea of topic and structure...

but this is an audience of one, right now... for metaphor's sake, it's easier to hit a crowd of people with a single rock than it is to hit one person who sees it coming...

well, i guess i should start with the most fundamental of all things... religion... and let he who is without sin cast the first stone...

game on.