god

And So It Begins

Where is the hope in this? it is nothing new; it is no surprise, except one: that the past disappears so readily; that history is forgotten so happily. Sometimes it is as if our words do nothing but dissipate into space, bouncing off asteroids and nothing else.

The cycle of evil starts (yet again) with hope and hope is brought down like a giraffe by invading marauders. Then there will be a tiredness and those that can will ask the same question: “Why can’t we do better than this?!”

And then, they too begin to forget who we are at our core, and plans are made. Plans are made and belief is born, and evil is forgotten, and days are sunny. And so it begins: guns, god, and greed reborn, rise up wanting more and hopes are dashed by gluttony with a smile on its face.

The world has time but we don’t. And the world has time but we don’t.

Excerpts from The Trump Diaries: The Pathetic and Proudly Stupid

Americans come from a long line of fearful, foreboding theocrats that probably make up a majority of the population.  And that is a problem. they demand that everyone bow down to their particular form of idiotic beliefs and that more so, these beliefs become the law of the land.  Trump and the Republican party have worked hard to make sure their wishes come true, and have had only one thing to say: yes.

The probability that Trump himself is even remotely religious is small and if he is, he is at best the cafeteria-style believer if he thinks of it at all.  It would seem that Trump and his followers would have to face the actual truth of the matter at some point, but Trump and his cohorts don’t worry about that because they can simply create “alternative-facts” and sell them with a little Jesus juice on the side. 

This is all to say that the Republican-Christian-nationalistic machine is in full force.  It eats the gullible and pisses out rightwing fanatics with a love of guns, god and greed. 

There’s a rumbling in the background and if we put down our phones we can almost hear the chanting. 

“Give up critical thinking for Christ!” is the mantra that they yell and that din that is getting louder and louder them on their way to the Whitehouse.

A Little Soap Box

If we are to progress in any meaningful way as a species we must overcome the particular fears and beliefs that have defined us throughout history and continue to define us today. This idea is not new. The idea to overcome humanity’s shortcomings by changing not only the way we think, but our actions and the reasons that we act is one that has been presented by great thinkers throughout the history of our species. We simply must learn to listen to them.

There are three frailties of humanity that stand in the way of progress. Make no mistake, these frailties do not stop progress completely, but only slow it down. The first is tribalism in all its forms. There can be no “us” versus “them”. Where there is patriotism there is nationalism, and where there is nationalism there is war. We have come to the point in our history where we cannot afford war.

The second shortcoming that will define humanity’s future for better or worse is ideological belief whether it is in a religious form or a political one. Ideology is a certitude that leads to tribalism, to the death of curiosity and to confusion. Our ideologies, if they define us, take over us and create a concrete bunker in which intellect dies. Our ideologies are born out of fear and arrogance. Not knowing an answer is always better than creating one out of thin air.

The third is as old as the gods and is known by many names: selfishness, avarice, greed. To have enough is something that does not come naturally to most of us and to have too much is something that is not often enough recognized. We have many excuses for our greed ranging from family to individual rights. Greed is too many times measured economically, but its seed is psychological.

The question must become what kind of society do we want to live in? The question will become what will we have to do in order to achieve this society. The question is simply when will we have to decide these things and how.

Santa

The legend of Santa Claus is an old one. It is filled with a history, broad and wide, that includes a saint, several stories from several countries, and an ad campaign. It belongs to everyone and is part of everyone in one way or another. Saint Clause was indeed a man who was sainted, not because he was a Christian but rather because of the good that he did.

But the story of Santa Claus is older. People have been telling stories since our languages would allow it and it is nice to imagine that these stories contained the spirit of Christmas. That sense of wonder and of doing good, of making others feel good, of feeling good ourselves. The spirit of Christmas is older than its modern, western version. And it is more important.

Coca-Cola gave the west its latest version of Santa Claus, a fitting story that explains the unfortunate commercialization of so much that makes up our lives. But we can look beyond the product of the season and find the simple reasons that an old story offers. Any old story will do, but we have to believe. We have to believe that our stories are important and meaningful. We have to search every once in a while for a jolly old man in a sleigh and for flying reindeer, and for that smile that we use to get when we were children.

Santa is an atheist. And Santa is a Christian. He is Jewish and Islamic. Santa is what we want him to be. Santa is that story that we remember as a child, and that excitement on those mornings we woke up early and ran to the tree. Santa sits at the dinner table when we invite him and dances around the tree when we let him. Santa Claus is a tradition that can bring us together over a meal or a drink. Invite him in and let your imagination fly. And let others do the same.

Merry Christmas.