Suicide of Democracy

Recently, I posted a quote from John Adams about how Democracy always commits suicide.  I feel the need to clarify why I posted it.  I’m not happy about the John Adams quote.  It saddens me because democracy is the only human system that can facilitate human freedom.

I don’t believe that democracy has to end in Suicide.  But it, along with any other system, dies when people are only concerned about “self.”  Self-absorbed human beings have always poisoned the world throughout history.  It’s like children who never matured to understand that it is better to give than receive.  It is bad enough in daily dealings with people, but when political leaders behave selfishly, it spreads like the black plague and catalyzes the suicide of a nation, of an ideal, of a supreme truth, that all human beings are created equal and have inalienable rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  And let me add, pursuit of happiness as long as it doesn’t blow up your neighbor or “steal from a neighbor for the good of the society” or “invade the sanctity of a neighbor’s privacy”.

Democracy is the only human system that provides a chance for true human freedom because it is the only system that is not inherently dominated by fear.  All other systems are about control and fear, manipulation and insincerity.  Fear only produces cowards or hypocrites.  No human ever made a reliable decision based on fear.  Not for fear of the law or government.  Not for fear of a god or prophet, not for fear of some alarming natural disaster or adverse climate.  Not one person can have integrity under fear.  And, what does that tell you about those who promote fear?

In addition, nothing even comes close to Democracy because it is designed with accountability.  Who, in their right mind, wants to put all of their decisions into the hands of other people who have no accountability?  Government is simply people.  People are flawed, wretchedly selfish, and prideful.  Why do people line up so willingly to vote their power away to selfish, self-congratulating pricks?  John Adams puts it a little more civilly, “The proposition that the people are the best keepers of their own liberties is not true. They are the worst conceivable, they are no keepers at all; they can neither judge, act, think, or will, as a political body.”

One step toward suicide is giving away (or letting it be taken away) our ability to decide what is right and wrong.  In essence morality is not a governmental issue.  Neither are a lot of other issues.  Public Justice, Foreign defense and making sure that we have damn good roads to drive on are what government should be about.  They should be serving their people, not enslaving them with taxes that, at their best, pay for government programs that are counterproductive and are bankrupting the country.  Why in the hell do 3^rd generation welfare recipients need a free phone?  Why is the working American paying for them, I should say?

At their worst, Governments just lie and cheat and line their pockets with middleclass money.  Politicians, particularly, the more liberal ones, scoff at the rich.  Are you kidding me?  They are “the rich”.  And we fools keep putting them in place and let them abuse us repeatedly.

Elected officials shouldn’t even get a salary.  Let them have a fixed income that will just pay their bills while they serve.  Maybe they’ll get the hell out of Washington in 2 to 4 years.  They should have to use Social Security instead of stealing America’s money out of social security and then setting up their own retirement fund.  Politicians should not receive any type of retirement.  Elected politicians should not even be a career.  I’m no historian, but I believe it was designed to be like a tour of duty or jury duty, not a place where people can set up their fat asses and suck our country dry until they die of decadence.  Get in, serve, and get out.  Otherwise you lead us to the breaking point.

People are so caught up in causes like corporate greed and corporate corruption, rightly so.  Greed corruption should always be confronted, but why be hypocritical?  The same social activists typically want the government to do something about it.  That’s like asking Satan for help in order to defeat Charles Manson.  The government is the greediest and most corrupt of all the corporations that have ever existed.  And what’s worse is that they can manipulate the law of the land to guarantee the their greed stays intact.  No one holds them accountable.  It’s like the 35 Czars that Obama has put in place.  Not much is really known about what they do.  And they are not accountable to the American people.  Yes, some are accountable to Obama.  That’s like making John Dillinger accountable to Al Capone.  It is un-American.  It’s one aspect that is killing my country.

Another example of decadence is government agencies.  We elect politicians (at least I think we do).  Then they give their legislative power away to an agency that is not accountable to the American people.  That too, is un-American.  Maybe un-American is not the right term.  It’s just not right.  No human being should be subject to other human beings that have no accountability.  There must be checks and balances.  One check and balance is that Government should be as small as a pea.  As Henry David Thoreau says, "That government is best which governs least" - "That government is best which governs not at all.”

If we must have government, democracy is the least obtrusive, in theory.  The only exception is when men lose their way and their corrupt hearts get the better of them.  Then, even democracy breaks down.  John Adams had it right when he said, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.”  For quite a while now, we have been in the “any other” category.

My concern is not failing of Democracy.  I believe in Democracy.  My concern is that it is failing do to immoral and selfish men.  We do not have anything but ‘Avarice, ambition, revenge and gallantry’ to guide our country.  Forget country, our human hearts are the issue.  Are hearts are cold because our minds have been deceived.  Many have let Nihilism and relativism deceive them.  It is imperative that people realize what is at the root of their thinking.  As you track down the source, you don’t want to get to the end of your rope and find that it is tied to the wind.  A country made of people who have no foundation will inevitably commit suicide.

Simply put, “who says?”  Who has the authority to determine what is right and wrong?  It is certainly not a government, i.e. other human beings with the delusion that they know better.

Once again, John Adams: “In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.”  Or, in our time, this quote can apply to capital hill, a conglomeration of immoral men.

Until next time...

Colonoscopy

Recently, I had a colonoscopy.  I highly recommend it to all thrill seekers.  For those of you who are younger, at about forty or so, one must be concerned with the possibility of colon cancer.  So, our advance society has come up with a technique to check up on it.  They knock you out and stick a camera up your ass.  Sounds like a Nazi practice.  In case you got the wrong imagery, they don’t use a club and an iphone, no matter how thin they are.  They gently put an I.V. in your arm and use…I’m not sure what.  I was in la la land.

The worst part was the day before.  No food all day.  (This isn’t Ramadan.  I couldn’t even eat at night either).  Man was not meant to live on bread alone.  He was meant to eat large chunks of meat and pasta, and a lot of thick and tasty sauces.  In addition to no food, I had to drink four liters of a solution that tasted like saline mixed with a small sugar packet.  I consumed 8 ounces, every 10 minutes, for 4 hours.  And after the first 5 cups, I had to stay about 3 feet away from the toilet.  Four hours later I was instructed to take 4 Dulcolax.  What?  How can there be anything left in me?  There was.  Eight hours after the demented cycle began, I was crying out, “Stop the violence!”  Around midnight I was able to bring myself to go to bed without fear of soiling myself.

The next morning, weak and pale, I enter the building where it all takes place.  It’s kind of like going to the men’s bathroom in a sports arena.  As you stand at the long trough, no one looks each other in the eye.  No one lets on as to why they are there, yet everyone knows.  Can you imagine a conversation in the waiting room?

“How’s your colon?”

“Seems to be o.k. No blood, but you never know when cancer might be forming.  You?”

“ Great. Great.  This is my third time, my polyps are doing really well since I’ve started my new diet of celery and beet juice.  Thanks for asking.”

No, its better to look down at the ground and try to blend in.  You see, some people are there to drive the patients home.  How do they know I’m not just one of them, right?  Then the nurse opens the door.  “JOHN GUNTHER?!?!?”  “Geeeez Helga, could you scream a little louder?  I don’t think all the people outside heard you.”  Why didn’t she just yell, “ARE YOU READY TO TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTHES TO BE FONDLED AND PROBED?”  This takes “turn your head and cough” to a whole new level.

Then I’m taken into a small room, and have to put on the ghastly hospital gown.  They’re giving me all these instructions, and I nod my head and think “cheeseburger.”  But then I start to get nervous when I have about 3 different people hand me release forms to sign.  “What can happen to me that makes them so nervous?  Should I be nervous? Are you nervous?  Where are you taking me?”  So they give me the I.V., wheel me out to another place, give me some more instructions, and put some tubes in my nose.  There were three female nurses around me, all with that ominous look like vultures waiting for me to die. That made me even more uneasy.  It’s like the dentist who tries to hide that foot-long needle he’s about to stab in your throat.  I think I may have a trust issue.  Then, last thing I heard was, “Bring out the gimp…”

Next thing I know, I’m waking up, on some island in the Pacific, tied to pegs in the sand as the tide moves in.  Not really.  There I was, on the other side of the room.  I had just lost a half hour of my life.  I didn’t know where I was, or what exactly happened to me.  And from talking to some of my older friends, who experienced this procedure without being knocked out, I’m glad that I don’t know what happened.

Strangely enough, this ridiculous experience relates to what Rene Descartes calls Cogito ergo sum -- I think therefore I am. (This is a bit of a follow up on the “Groundwork 2” blog entry.)  It means that if “I” am here to think, I exist.  Or even, if I can doubt my own existence, I must exist.  As you would expect, other philosophers through time, question, scrutinize, analyze, and add to the simple idea in order to make it complex and irresolvable.  I’ve done it many times.  Sometimes it’s legit, other times, I just don’t want to consider a different way of thinking, so I fog it up to get what I want.

Nevertheless, some assert that the Descartes’ “I” might just be a momentary thought, or that maybe our minds are here, but not our bodies.  i.e., there is no material world.  Or that God is deceiving us by making us think we are here.  Or that maybe I’ll wake up one day and realize I am just a butterfly who dreamed of having lived as a human.  I AM NOT KIDDING.  Look it up yourself.  Philosophers extrapolate endlessly.  You can look at all the criticism.  It tends to become ludicrous.  We are here.  Just take a moment and consider the framework of this, or any other issue worth debating.  Everyone is using his or her mind to make an argument.  We are using logic, common sense, and rationality.  Many go to great lengths to argue that we don’t really exist or that we can’t really know anything.  How do they know?  Do you see what I mean?  It’s like being in a swimming pool.  Some are on rafts, some float, some swim, whatever.  We’re all in the water debating whether or not the pool exists.  We can’t even articulate an idea without thinking it.  We can’t think unless we are here.  One can speculate all they want.  Every speculation confirms the fact that we are thinking and are here.

So what does this have to do with a colonoscopy?  It is interesting to note that when I was immobilized on the hospital bed with my bare ass hanging out, I did not wonder about anything.  I was so anesthetized, that my mind ceased to comprehend.  I didn’t contemplate whether we existed or not. I did not have the capability to realize that there is even a question being asked, let alone come up with a witty explanation for an answer.  That is how it would be if we did not exist.  We couldn’t even discuss it.  It is so preposterous; I can’t even fully explain it.  Very intelligent people with lucid articulations attempt to convince everyone that we are not here, that we are not able to make intelligent and lucid articulations.  It is like saying, “I am not hitting you with this stick.  That is not blood coming out of your mouth.  We’re not even really here.”  It just doesn’t add up.

Several movies like to play with our understanding of reality:  Total Recall, The Matrix, Premonition, and, The Final Cut, just to mention a few.  They contain different shades of questioning whether or not we can trust our own perceptions on reality.  All very stimulating, but ironically have some elements in common that betray their speculations.  First, all the movies contain “perception” articulated from an intelligent mind.  The very mechanism the writers used to make the movie, the audience uses to watch the movie, and the characters in the story use to resolve the movie, is the component that is in question, our own perception.  The fact that they are presenting it and we are receiving it, and mulling over the ideas authenticates the fact that we are preserving, thinking and therefore are here.  A “nothing” cannot discuss “something”.  Second, the movies all produce a longing inside to discover what is real.  Where can we put our feet down in security?  The inner desire for resolve confirms that “human purpose” is important and intentional.

A thought:  Maybe, instead of minimizing our existence in order to explain philosophical dilemmas, why not think in the other direction?  Maybe life’s mysteries are due to the fact that we were meant for so much more, but have settled for less.  It is common for us to acknowledge three dimensions: length, width, and height.  “Time” is an additional component.  Maybe there are more dimensions?  The Bible refers to Length, width, height, and depth.  What is that fourth term of measurement?  Chuck Missler points out that the crucifixion painting by Salvador Dali called Corpushypercubus -- http://flickriver.com/photos/tags/corpushypercubus/interesting/ -- is an attempt to visualize this fourth dimension. 

What about a spiritual world?  What about God?  Is it not ironic that on one hand a person will say that we don’t even exist, and then on the other hand have the arrogance to deny even the possibility that there can be a God.  Does a person that claims there is absolutely no God, nor a possibility of one, realize the precariousness of their situation?  First, the skeptic is typically a relativist, but would be speaking in absolutes.  Second, the above absolute statement is all-conclusive.  Does the skeptic claim to have all knowledge?  Have they been to every corner of the universe?  No.  Then how can they know for sure that God is not in the majority of the universe to which he or she has not had the privilege of visiting yet?  Finally, if the skeptic is consistent and does not believe we exist or doubts that we can ever really know anything, why is he or she so sure of his or her position?  Is it not a contradiction?  Of course a person may not accept the law of non-contradiction, but that is a whole other topic altogether.  Besides, someone should inform the skeptic that their opinion about God probably doesn’t matter because they don’t even exist, right?

Finally, the skeptic may be right.  Maybe we are just puppets to some kind of malicious god playing a game.  Or maybe I’m a butterfly.  But there is no way to prove it.  Much is anecdotal evidence.  Speculation is fine.  Heck, at times, that’s all I seem to do.  But it seems more sensible to operate from what we know to what we don’t.  And, unless someone can wake me up from my dream in order to tell me I’m not here, I know that I am here.  I’m thinking.  And, if I have felt the warmth of your companionship, I know that you are here too.

Until next time…

Not So Good Neighbor

There are events that make my injustice nerve tweak like a madman.  Stories like a thief getting hurt on someone’s property, and suing the homeowner, the victim, for damages and winning.  Or like the infamously moronic McDonald’s spilling of hot coffee lawsuit.  I may be a little high strung, but at times, I just want to grab someone and scream, “Are you kidding me???”

Many times I listen to a story and shake my head, feeling helpless to satiate my desire to stop the momentum of bad ideas.  I want to intervene, or at least say something.  If you let trends establish themselves, they only get trendier.  The old adage, ‘give an inch and they’ll take a mile,’ rings true.  The more that unscrupulous people get away with, the more they try to take.  Power creates an appetite for more power.

When I hear stories of injustice, I want to get on a loud speaker and tell people what I think.  I have this human flaw called presumption.  I presume that I have some good ideas.  I presume that people like good ideas.  I presume that people want to listen to good ideas and do something about it.  It is a characteristic left over from childhood.  But then I remember that, even if good ideas are floating around out there, many people don’t want to hear them.  And many who do like good ideas, smile and nod, and then go watch their favorite TV show.  Good ideas would probably sound like a dull thud coming from the moon.  So what’s the point?  But sometimes these little stories make their way right into your own zip code, or even to your very street.  And when they do, something must be done.

Long story short, someone called Children Services on one of the nicest people on our street.  I was absolutely stunned.  It made me so angry, I stewed for days.  I stewed because if I would have opened my mouth at the time, I would have to do a lot of repenting later.  I decided, instead to write a letter to my neighbors.  It is a little scolding, but primarily, is attempting do something constructive.  When I have flaws in my thinking, I would hope that someone, with whom I have a relationship with, would bring it to my attention.  I intend to do the same with this letter.  That is the main impetuous behind my blog – fixing flaws in thought.  ‘Let us reason together…’

Here is the Letter:

Dear Neighbors,

It has come to my attention that recently, one of us has called children services on another one of us on this street.  I am appalled by this unnecessary action for several reasons:

First, I know the person in question (The callee).  They are not even close to someone who should have children services called on them.  I wonder how much the “caller” has even talked with the “callee”.  Do they even know anything about them?  If the caller had spent any time getting to know the callee, they would know how ridiculous it is to call on them.  Instead, the caller called from behind their closed doors.  How can you be a good neighbor by judging a person from afar?

Second, What if the callee did do something wrong (which they didn’t).  Why would the caller make a singular and speculative judgment?  A person’s life is a moving picture, not a snapshot.  Think back over the “snapshots” of your life.  Every one of us could be accused of criminal behavior.  Let’s not be unsympathetic to our neighbors.

Third, children services is for abuse.  Abuse is not a singular incident (which didn’t even happen, but was speculated to have happened).  Once again have courage, and get to know your neighbors instead of tattle tailing.

Fourth, as if the government were not already too involved in our personal lives, you have to invite them to our street.  The caller has put the callee, and our whole street on the radar now.  What is the government anyway?  It is people just like you and me and full of flaws and corruption.  But we constantly vote or “call” our freedoms away.  Can we not try to deal with our neighbors ourselves, like mature adults?  Then, if someone is unreasonable, take other measures?

Is our judgment so bad that we need babysitters?  Many people, like me, wish the government would not be so involved in our personal lives.  But ironically, citizens are a main part of the problem.  By making calls to report on neighbors, we are voluntarily giving up our rights to deal with issues.  We are giving away our freedom and power.  I wonder if this is how people in East Germany felt?  Plus, lets let the police deal with real and known problems.  They’re probably tired of all the calls themselves.  For example, someone called the police on me for driving a go-cart on school property.  The cop was kind and even apologetic.  He explained that he didn’t see a big problem, but had to come talk to me because some “nosy parker” wanted to spoil someone else’s fun.  It was a birthday party, at 2:00 in the afternoon.  No one and no property was being hurt.  What a waste of taxpayer money.  In addition, children services is overworked and understaffed.  This was a waste of their time.  They have many, many real and known issues to deal with.

Fifth, doesn’t that phone call invite a spirit of mistrust and tension among our neighborhood?  I would like to think that we are good neighbors.  Is calling children services, regarding a singular and speculative event, motivated by love and support or is it something else?  I don’t even know how to categorize it.  I would have a hard time feeding my enemy to the powers that be, let alone my neighbor.  What is next?  If I go too fast down our road, will someone call the police?  Will someone call on me if I don’t mow my lawn according to OSHA standards?  If my car leaks some oil, will someone call the green police?  If I lose my “German” temper and yell, will someone call the children services on me?  Why needlessly involve detached strangers in our affairs?  Why not try to solve our own problems?  Let us talk to each other.  Let us be neighbors.

Finally, I will always come to you if I have a problem.  Likewise, if I ever offend, let me know.  Also, if anyone has a need that I can fill, I will.  I would like to be a good neighbor.

Sincerely,

John Gunther

Groundwork 2

Spoon boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth.

Neo: What truth?

Spoon boy: There is no spoon.

Neo: There is no spoon?

Spoon boy: Then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

The Matrix presents many great concepts that analogize reality, but this is not one of them.  The spoon conversation suggests notions that are built on Nihilism.  Do we exist?  If so, is reality just in our minds?  Do material things exist?  Are we just being lied to by some supreme being to believe that we exist?  It’s all very ironic because the very mechanism, i.e. thought and reason, one uses to conclude that Nihilism is correct, is itself discredited by the theory.

In high school, one of my favorite classes was Humanities, with Mrs. Zabilka.  Most of my teachers were dry and boring, but not her.  She engaged our group of presumptuous teenagers with insightful teaching, and challenging conversation.  One time she actually took us to an art museum.  What a profound experience.  We provided the gallery guards and Mrs. Zabilka with profound stress that afternoon.  The guards made sure to keep our mischievous eyes in view.  Mrs. Zabilka caught us smoking cigars behind the field trip school bus and didn’t turn us in after we promised to never do it again.  She was very gracious.

During the normal school day, we had her for split lunch, which meant, half of class was before lunch and half after.  We always beat her back to the room.  The door would be locked, so we would always present her with some type of crazy formation in the hall.  As she rounded the corner, we would all be laying on the middle of the hallway floor or doing handstands against the wall.  We would always get a great reaction of amazement and laughter as she would shew us into class.  The reason the door was locked was because we pulled some shenanigans in the room too.  One time, I got into her closet, put on her coat, and hid.  She returned to class without noticing that I was gone.  Suddenly, she stopped and said, “Where’s John?”  At that moment, I jumped out of the closet took her in my arms and danced with her.  She was a great sport!

Anyway, there was a kid in that class that bought into Nihilism.  He used to say, “I could walk through that wall if I wanted to."  We would defy him to do it, and of course he wouldn’t.  ‘Then you'll see that it is not the wall that bends, it is only yourself.’

A simple definition of Nihilism provided by the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence. A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy…

Many people may not realize they are influenced by Nihilism, but they operate under its premises.  Whenever a skeptic finds him or herself backed into a corner in a debate, he or she inevitably resorts to the safe haven of relativity and Chaos.  In relativity, one can never “know” and never be wrong.  The irony is why ever come out of chaos and relativity to argue at all?  In Chaos, there is no need for argument, because in that place there is no good or evil.  There, we may not even exist.

On the other hand, it is apparent that any time we are self-aware or interact with one another, we engage in rationality, certainties, and meaningfulness.  They are what separate humans from animals and the sane from madness.  You can’t have it both ways.  Either you accept existence and argue about it, or sharpen your claws and go hunt gazelles.  Why spend hours and hours of time philosophizing, writing books, and debating over the fact that we don’t really exist and that there is no meaning.  It’s an absolute contradiction. 

Of course if you are of the postmodern persuasion, absolute contradictions can comfortably come out of the same mouth.  I’ve done it.  As a matter of fact, at times, it feels like my native tongue.  It’s great.  You can have your cake and eat it too, for a while anyway.  Eventually, it catches up with you.  Much of the reason for postmodernism is double-mindedness.  People want money and power, but don’t want to work for it.  People want to get drunk, but not have a hangover.  People want to have illicit sex, but not be lonely.  People want to eat whatever they want, but not be fat.  Ask the people walking around with oxygen tanks if you can have it both ways.

Many embrace total contradictions because they are alienated from moral absolutes and restraint.  One reason why moral absolutes and restraint are so distasteful is because most everyone, I’ve had the pleasure of knowing, has had a destructive encounter with authority figures who absolutely abuse morality and restraint.  These authority figures twist so-called morality into a means of control and exploitation.  As it is said, “…you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”  It’s a disgusting sickness.  I digress.

In essence, Nihilism says we don’t really exist, or can’t know if we do or not.  It’s hard to even talk intelligently about it without immediately contradicting oneself.  Of course, for the Nihilist, if we are nothing and are nowhere, then there is no rational starting point from which we would leave in order to be contradictory.  For example, if we were all idiots, we would all be normal.  But because most people are “normal”, only the idiots are idiots, because you can compare them against “normal”.  So, Nihilists don’t contradict themselves because they believe that they have nothing against which to measure themselves.  It’s like they are in a vast expanse of nothingness.  No wonder it is “often associated with extreme pessimism.” But, if one has a starting point, if we exist, there is something to discuss.

But let me further point out, I just wrote, “It’s like they are in a vast expanse of nothingness.”  But that is even a contradiction.  A nihilist believes that we are not.  We can’t even inhabit the place called “nothingness,” because we aren’t here.  Do you see what I mean?  It’s very confusing.  Who’s talking?  Who’s trying to convince me we don’t exist?

In addition, how can the notion of  “third person” exist?  If this world is all a projection from your or my mind, how can you and I both think about something that is not apart of us?  How can we disagree on something?  Why do third parties affect us without our control?

It’s like Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonder Land.  Alice keeps trying to change her reality because thinks she is just dreaming.  Not so.  Alice discovers that she is in fact in another world.  Other agents do not fall under her control.  They affect her without her permission.  So to, we find ourselves.  We are not in control of everything out there.  More accurately, we control very little “out there”.  If someone bends a spoon and jabs it in your eye, you won’t be able to think it away.  It’s not your dream.  At the very least, we’re in someone else’s dream, and there is no escaping it.

At the age of 7 or 8, I remember getting literally sick to my stomach trying to fathom eternity.  I got very little comfort from my mother’s dismissive comments.  I remember feeling trapped in my own skin.  My mouth started to salivate uncontrollably, and I had a sudden urge to run somewhere and throw up.  I couldn’t breath.  I wished I could get out side of it all.  (I wonder if Billy Corgan felt the same when he sang ‘Despite all my rage, I’m still just a rat in a cage.’)  As my brain raced through the various rabbit trails I remember thinking that there was only one solution in order to escape: to not ever exist.  But that wasn’t possible.  I was there, and I was nauseous.  I didn’t have control over things.  “I’m stuck here,” I thought.  I’ve had to either deal with this world or distract my mind.

Evidently, others look desperately for explanations too.  Many will defy the apparent reality of first principles to feel better.  Existence and or the lack of meaning may appear to be too painful.  Therefore, they look through rationality, defy their conscience, and enter chaos in order to derive comfort from losing all meaning.  But, ironically, it takes rationality to think your way into irrational chaos.  When a mind wakes up at that uncertain young age, it’s stuck here to figure it out.

Some unwittingly accept Nihilism as a viable principle.  Some are very purposeful about lodging it into modern minds.  Either way, it is utterly ironic that the ability to even think enough to come up with the notion, contradicts the belief.  Nihilism has to work really hard and dodge several bullets to make the theory work.

I think C.S. Lewis says it best.  But you cannot go on "explaining away" forever; you will find that you have explained explanation itself away. You cannot go on "seeing through" things forever.  The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it.  It is good that the window should be transparent, because the street or garden beyond it is opaque.  How if you saw through the garden too?  It is no use trying to "see through" first principles.  If you see through everything than everything is transparent.  But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To "see through" all things is the same as not to see.

It is apparent that we are here.  It does us no good to “see through” our ability to think in order to say that we have no capacity to think.

Other than the fact that Nihilism is irrational, there are other reasons to believe we exist.  Until next time…

Detour

I had plans to continue with some groundwork, but feel the need to write this today.  Recently a friend wrote me an email regarding my first blog.  As I sat down to simply respond, it occurred to me that I have a problem.  It is very difficult to just “simply” respond.  Everything is layered upon layers.  It’s kind of like the following scenario:  As I come into work, someone asks, “How is it going?”  I’m caught with my mouth open… “Cricket” sound.  Such a simple question.  Where do I begin?  In my mind, it’s like that swollen moment in An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, when Peyton Farquhar is finally sent to his death.  I contemplate all the events of the morning.  I think to myself:  ‘Well, I feel like I’ve been kicked in the shins with steel toes.  I woke up late.  The coffee grounds leaked into the pot.  Too acidic.  Especially in light of the fact that yesterday’s coffee was superlative ~ Nothing quite as powerful as disappointment ~ Then, I carried too much stuff to the car at once. The strap of my bag worked itself off my shoulder, dropped, and wrenched me forward.  It was then that I discovered I had not snapped the lid of my coffee shut. I burned my leg, and stained my pants.  I jerked so fast that I hit my left temple on the corner of the open car door.  I cussed so loud that I woke up my neighbor’s dog.  After gathering myself, I proceeded to load my scattered things into the car and turned toward the house in order to change my pants.  My belt loop caught on that cylinder part of the door latch mechanism and tore a hole in my pants.”  Are you kidding me?  What is this, Chris Farley Day?

“Dooon’t wurry,” I say to myself with an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent, “Tooooday is payday.  And yoooou have yoooour favorite coooookies in your luunch.”  Then, like Payton,” I snap back to a coworker’s crooked face, which is wondering why the question, ‘How’s it going?’ has produced sweat beads on my forehead.  I finally reply, “I’m Faaaaantaaaaastic.”  And, with a steamy hot tub smile, I blunder down the hallway.  It’s 8:07am.  The burn on my leg is rubbing against my pants.  I’ve got another twitch in my left eye.  I’m ready for bed.

“Mind travel” is not an uncommon occurrence for me.  As you will see, a simple email response turned into a novel.  But I think it sheds some light on where things are going:

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John,

I tried to comment on your letter but was somehow foiled in the end.

What you seem to be doing is self-introspection and you seem to have been doing it for a long time.  I remember some of our conversations and that was obvious.  Seeking Truth is an incredible journey but I wonder whether you are prepared for the results.  As you know, I think the journey takes you far from God and I wonder: Can you handle that? Can you give up quoting long dead mystics from the great books? Mystics who believed in superstitions, genies, angels and what not?

During my youth I sought Truth, found none and have, in fact, abandoned my search.    I stand naked under the sun, alone in the cosmos.   If your journey takes you there, will you join me?

Thanks for including me on your list…

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Dear “John Doe”,

Thanks for responding.  It is good to hear your thoughts.  First of all, I’m new at this blog thing.  It was recommended to me that I should set up my blog so that people have to click on the blue button on the right called “join this site” in order to comment.  It will supposedly minimize random people throwing out anonymous comments.

You are correct.  I am in a constant state of analysis and introspection.  There is a lot to unlearn.  I have found that deception infiltrates even the most sincere individuals.  Many of my teachers were, and are, misguided.  There has been so many times when I’ve put my faith into something only to be disappointed in the end, and then disillusion, alienation, and despair.  So, at times, I feel, like you say, alone in the universe, almost.  Ironically, and regardless of how lonely I get, I always find myself telling God about it.  Does that mean I’m full of faith or that I have an imaginary friend?  There could be arguments made for either.  I could be a bit of a nutcase with incoherent ramblings.  But, maybe not.

To be honest, there have been times when I have almost given up my faith due to emotional issues. (Not mine, but things like suffering in the world).  But I also study apologetics, science, and philosophy.  At this point in my research, the logical issues keep me on “the path,” even when my emotions rage against God.  Nothing else is even remotely coherent in terms of explaining things.  There are too many unanswered questions without the divine.

For instance, why do we seek meaning?  Why is there a cosmic “aloneness” to be identified and, at least connotatively, that the aloneness is sad?  Alone as opposed to what?  Sad compared to what?  Why is it that we wonder about any of this?  Isn’t there a reality out there that says we should not be alone, that we should not be sad?  I’m convinced that if people weren’t busy anesthetizing themselves, they’d gnaw off their tongues.  The question of meaning will not be silenced.  It’s what separates human beings from animals.  The question of meaning is what makes slave ships so reprehensible.  Unlike animals, people laid in their little wooden boxes wondering “WHY” am I here?  Why are these vicious white men treating me like a beast?  Why did my own black men help them capture me?  Why am I forced to defecate on myself?  I digress.  People believe they have purpose (either real or superficial), or attempt to escape purpose, or live in despair.  Sometimes it is a mixture of the three cycling through to eternity.  But it is virtually impossible to ignore the need for meaning.

As far as the uncertainty of the search goes, I’m never sure how prepared I am, but I forge onward nevertheless.  And, as you surmise, it is not as if I am at the beginning of the journey.  I’ve been rummaging around for a while now.  Fear and I are old friends.  But I’m more afraid to not know, than to know.  In my case, ignorance is not bliss.

I’m not sure what old vs. new or alive vs. dead mystics have to do with anything.  I’ve heard plenty of ludicracy in modern rhetoric.  In fact, it seems that, at times, the newer the voice, the more speculative it tends to be.  People write whole books in order to say nothing.  But how does one determine whether or not there is value in a person’s words?  What does a person use to measure whether or not something is ludicrous or laudable, superstitious or supernatural?  Or, if one does not have a measure, how does one even talk about anything?  No value can be allocated to anything.  There is no difference between eating a cheeseburger and slitting someone’s throat.  They are both just part of life.  Not good.  Not bad.  Just life.

Furthermore, it seems that there are two implications of what you said, “…I sought Truth, found none…” There either is truth that is unknowable, or there is no truth at all.  Both statements emerge as “truthful” or “absolute” statements.  I’m not sure how to get around the fact that there is “objectivity” out there.  Without it, sentences start to contradict each other.  And, if our subjectivity rules, we indirectly claim omniscience.  How else could someone say, ‘there is nothing true outside of what goes on in my own mind?’  Is that not self-deification?

If there is no truth, why try to convince someone of it?  If truth exists, where does it come from?  Why do we have this notion that we should be truthful, or honest, or honorable, or kind, or good, or loyal?  Why do we cringe at violence, or child marriage, or anything?  Atheism says that it just is.  Theology declares that one thing is right and the other is wrong.

I do seem to remember that you are more to the agnostic end of things.  I can relate to agnosticism far more than any other position.  There are many issues that lend themselves to the world of uncertainty.  But I have found things that I accept as certain.  Without them, everything starts to contradict itself.  Obviously, the law of noncontradiction is one.  Other things I accept:  gravity, birth, death, laws of thermodynamics, beauty, hate, and taxes.  One of my favorite apologists, Greg Boyd, said something that I will never forget.  ‘Start with what you know and work toward the things you don’t.’  That’s where I find myself.  I’ll follow it to wherever it may lead.

I’m glad I put you on the list too…

Sincerely,

John

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My friend responded back with some other great observations that caused me to think of other layers and layers of responses, ad infinitum.  I realized that I would have to pick up there a little later, because I need to establish my own groundwork in order for my comments to make sense in the long run.  So, until next time…

Groundwork

Two things before I get started: 1) I plan on blogging the 7^th & 21^st of each month.  2) If you want to be notified whenever there is a new post, click on the “Posts(Atom)” button at the bottom of the page and follow the instructions.  It is an RSS feed that will send a notification directly to your email.

I’m not sure if I have ADD or Dyslexia.  Or maybe I have an undiscovered disease, like “Mid-lexia.”  It’s a condition where a person always seems to “wake up” in the middle of a story in progress.  It’s a constant exercise of waking, looking ahead, grimacing at the future, and then struggling to back peddle in order to discover the cause of this unsavory sequence of events.  It’s not unlike waking up on a loosely constructed raft, playfully drifting down a large river.  Then suddenly realizing it is headed toward a raging waterfall.  Does this sound familiar?  Maybe it’s not a disease at all.  Perhaps “Mid-lexia” is how reality plays out, but most people don’t take the time to look at it, or don’t want to look at it.

The Matrix is, in part, about “Mid-lexia.”  Neo wakes up in the middle of a story that has been ongoing for years.  The Wachowski brothers (or Sophia Stewart) did a good job capturing lives in the state of waking up to reality and trying to figure it out.  Unfortunately, their conclusion at the end of the third movie was a bit convoluted and unsatisfying.

The TV show, Lost was another beautiful example of “mid-lexia.”  When people are blasted out of their routine, they become aware of a much bigger story going on around them.  But again, the writers finalized the series with a big disappointment.  The entire program was riveting up to the cheep and unsatisfying last episode.  It was a complete and utter letdown.  It was some type of new age - we’re all really dead - but don’t realize it - moving onto the next state of reality - type thing.  There was no real answer.  Zero payoff.  Nothing.  A cheese puff with no cheese.  They may as well have said, “…And it was all just a dream…”

In addition, they also threw in the notion of a coalescence of religions.  Very apropos.  (Look at the symbols in the room at the end, particularly the stained glass window).  It is apparent to me that individuals, who suggest that all religions can just meld together like a happy little bridge club, don’t really understand the religions they try to group.  All religions discriminate and all are exclusive in some form or another.  Don’t think so?  Even a Unitarian Universalist discriminates against those who are singular in their beliefs.  Even relativists are disdainfully absolute with absolutists.  I digress.  Whatever the case may be, Lost’s ending was at the very least, vacuous.  Like, The Matrix, it was good at identifying the problem, but did not provide satisfying answers.  But it is perfectly fitting for our time.

Both the writers of The Matrix and Lost didn’t resolve their stories because they couldn’t.  Many others cannot put the pieces together either.  Teachers sit around a scratch their heads at the behaviors that manifest their ugly little heads.  Parents throw up their arms in despair.  People watch the news and ask, “What the hell is going on?”  There is so much confusion in our thinking today.  It appears that we are in a tailspin toward total chaos, and I desperately want to do my part to uncover how we got here.

(Side note):  Some skeptics scoff at anyone who seems overly concerned with the problems of the world.  With the wave of the hand they dismiss it as alarmist.  “Here comes Chicken Little,” they say.  It’s a nice way to discredit someone and avoid dealing with real concerns.  I think alarmist types are just as kooky as anyone else, but, based on my experience, I would have to error on the kooky side rather than be grouped with “the anesthetized masses.”  But a person doesn’t have to be either alarmist nor aloof, just, Awake.

(Side Side note): “Uniformitarianism.” is typically used in scientific circles.  It is a notion that the universe has remained constant throughout all time.  It is necessary to support the theory of Evolution.  This principle can be applied to the sociopolitical realm as well.  You can hear people say, “The economy is down, but it will recover.”  Or, “Politics will ebb and flow, but things will basically remain the same.”  Or, “We’ve had catastrophes, but we’ll always recover.”  It is comfortable to believe that life will always be “business as usual,” a notion kept by people with a drink in their hand and their back to the waterfall.  They sink back into the easy chair and start clicking the remote.  They’re looking for shows that will please their itching ears.  Status Quo is much more palatable than a world that requires our discomfort in order to do what is right.  Like Cyper from The Matrix says, “I don’t want to remember nothing.  Nothing.  You understand?” I, on the other hand, am not satisfied to remain in the little pod of goo and be a battery for the “machines” or any human entity.

Com’on John, are you getting a little carried away?  The Matrix is just a movie.

Is it hard to believe that there are powerful people out there who are never satisfied?  Can you imagine people who want it all and will stop at nothing to get it, who believe everyone is expendable?  Heck, I knew people like that in high school and at the “Christian” colleges I attended. These powerbroker types are on my street, at work, and in my church.  They’re everywhere.  Just look through history.  Watch the news.

(Side notes ended).

So, as I was saying, I want to do my part to uncover how we got here.  The confusion in our world is due to the journey away from rationality and reason.  Once that is gone, everything else crumbles.  Sit back and listen to other people talk sometime.  They might as well be saying, “blah, blah, blah.”  We throw around axioms (basic propositions assumed to be true) like terms of endearment.  They are full of relative meaning, which is relatively meaningless to everyone else.  Our airwaves are filled with pop psychology and pop theology and pseudo-hybrid-eclectic-hedonistic-infused-psycho-spiritual-philosophy.  It’s like eating a fart.  It has no substance, and it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Do we ever think of the implications of what we say?  Here’s one:  “As long as it makes you happy…” What?  Are you kidding me?  Have you ever been around someone whose moral guide is “Happiness?”  They’re either a baby or a criminal.  Both of them need their hand smacked.  Our prisons are filled with spoiled brats who never learned restraint. (So is the government, for that matter).  So, to make themselves “happy” they take whatever they want: a purse, a car, a body, a life.  Don’t you think they think it makes them happy?  What do people actually mean when they say happy? I’d guarantee you that criminal’s thought their crimes would make them happy at the time.  I believe Hitler was trying to make himself happy.  I believe Charles Manson was doing what made him happy when he raped his first young man, in prison, with a knife to his throat, or when Sharon Tate’s baby was ripped out of her stomach.  “As long as it makes you happy?”  Are you kidding me?  Do people think of where their words lead? 

(Side note: Someone might say, “As long as it makes you happy…and it doesn’t hurt anyone…” OK, now we’re talking about morality.  Where exactly does that morality come from?  And why should I accept your morality?  That opens up another whole can of worms.  More on that later).

Back to the topic, where do the axioms come from?  Where do we get our pop philosophies?  I dare you to start digging.  It’s like pulling up an ivy vine.  The more you pull, the further the root travels.  When you get to the end of it, you are in a completely different place than you imagined.  I’ve had conversations like that.  The more it progresses, the more the conversation twists and turns until I don’t even know what we’re talking about anymore.  It’s like we don’t even have the same vocabulary.  I converse for 30 minutes before I realize that my counterpart and I have virtually no common ground upon which to stand.  There is a reason for that.  It is imperative that we look beneath.  What is the foundation upon which our confusion is based?  Only then can we talk intelligently.

As I sort through hundreds of my scratchings that I intend to post, I realize that I have to establish a common vocabulary and common epistemology (theory of knowledge).  Do we exist? Can we really know anything?  Are their absolutes?  However unqualified I am to unpack all of these philosophical quandaries, it is crucial that I lay some groundwork.  Otherwise people will back into the no man’s land of relativity where a person can always escape behind statements like, “We can never really know…” or “You can have your own truth, I’ll keep mine.”  Ironically, that is one of those underlying principles that lead to a large waterfall.

Relativity, like much of philosophy, is a word game.  One interprets and reinterprets, hypothesizes, analyzes, synthesizes, and reinterprets again.  It is often what people do when they get caught in the act of steeling a cookie from the cookie jar.  They just try to talk until they get the desired outcome.  ‘I misunderstood…she gave it to me…I thought you meant no cookies while you were in the room…I forgot…’ Kids squirm to get out of trouble, and so do philosophers and kings and immoral men.  If you talk long enough, anyone can make a molehill out of a mountain.  You can call “up,” “down.”  You can debate over what the meaning of “is” is.  You can make God into a Myth.

Rules of Engagement

A little about the author...       (updated 22 June 12)

My Goal is to make sense of things, and help others do the same. Sometimes, when in the ocean, a powerful wave pounds me into the surf. For a few eternal seconds, I don't know which direction is up. At times, life can have the same effect on a person. When confusion comes crashing down, I am compelled to reorient myself and establish equilibrium. That is why I blog. Hopefully readers will gain from the process as well.

In order to accomplish my goal, I follow certain guidelines or premises:

Premise 1: For people, but against bad ideas: In general, bad ideas usually involve people exploiting others for personal gain. People, treating others like animals while acting like animals themselves. Exploitation is often masked in some sort of “righteous cause”. But a closer look reveals that many "righteous causes" are a mechanism for personal gain. I will always hate exploitation, but not the person doing it. I can vehemently disagree with your words, and still want what is best for you. More on this later.

Preface 2: Humility: I'm always ready to revise or retract. I've had a lot on my mind for a long time. But, when trying to understand "what truth is" and "what is true," there's always another book to read, another angle. It has kept me from sticking my words out there. I've always had this notion that one day I will read enough books and satisfy all my questions. At that point, I'll be able to communicate my thoughts in a straight line. Not going to happen. Nothing in my life has been straight, (except my sexuality). Why would I ever expect it to happen now, or now, or even now? So, I'm going to take a scoop right out of the center of the pie and work my way to the edge.

Preface 3: Credibility: Always consider the source Part 1: In college, one of my favorite classes was Literary Criticism. One of the first principles discussed was the integrity of the Critic. Before you give credence to someone's critique, evaluate whether they are credible enough to even offer criticism. It's easy to spout an opinion, but validation? Not so much. This principle applies across the board. Just because someone has letters after their name, does not automatically make their opinion valid. Give me something to collaborate your opinion. Intellectually, I'm from Missouri. Many "smart" people just don't make sense. Their emotional bias gets in the way of their intellect.

Preface 4: “Fact Crammers”: Always consider the source part 2: Is someone looking at the evidence in order to find the truth, or are they trying to cram the facts into their presupposition? It is common knowledge that one can twist the facts to produce a desired outcome. My observation is that many presuppositions are based on some sort of emotional pain. People must come up with an explanation for the suffering they've endured. (Part of the issue may be that their “theology of suffering” could be flawed. More on that later). It's not easy to suspend your presuppositions due to the screaming experiences of life, but I try. I ask others to do the same. When someone speaks, test whether they are "truth-seekers" or "fact-crammers."

Premise 5: “Blowers”: Always consider the source Part 3: It is apparent that many people, particularly behind the protection of the Internet, are intent on aggravating others. My intent is to gain understanding. This process often involves serious debate. Great! Let's engage. But those who intend to gratuitously blow things up will be nixed.

Premise 6: “Bouncers”: It is also apparent that some people don’t like tough questions. There are many fallacies in the world of debate. I’m no expert, so I’ve made up my own word. A bouncer is somewhere in-between a straw man, an ad hominem, & a Red Herring. When someone doesn’t want to answer a direct question, they throw or “bounce” it right back at you in order to avoid answering. For example, when debating with some of my Muslim friends regarding whether Islam is violent or peaceful, I might say something like, “how do you explain the bloody Jihad during the first 1,000 years of Islam?” Instead of addressing the question, they might say something like, “What about the Crusades? They were violent, etc. etc.” Irrelevant! We’re not comparing religions. We’re discussing whether violence is a hallmark of Islam or not. But, unfortunately, hindsight is 20/20. Why don’t these great thoughts come to me at the time, right? (More on this later).

Premise 7: Jack-of-all-trades, master of none: I am not an expert. I’m not a scientist, philosopher, archeologist, theologian, prophet, or scholar. I’m a fellow traveler who looks around and has a lot of questions. I don’t have 100 lifetimes to study all of my interests. But that’s why people right books, right? I draw from scientists, philosophers, archeologists, theologians, Prophets and scholars. I also learn from children. The key is validation. An author once said, the greatest question is Authority. Who says? 

Which Book, author, or speaker is credible? Whom do we believe? (This is a subject I will discuss thoroughly at another time). For now, validation is sufficient. Many people have invested thousands and thousands of hours trying to figure out what this life is all about. I intend to learn and draw from them. As Eugene Levy’s character, Dr. Pearl in the movie, Waiting For Guffman, said, “People say, ‘you must have been the class clown.’ And I say, ‘no, but I sat next to the class clown, and I studied him…” I am not the expert, but I’ve studied them. I will do my best to rely on them and to validate my entries.