Happy New Year

With the end of the year coming with the snuffing out of a light in the middle east and the chaos that ensued, let us wish that with the new year comes a new hope-- new opportunities to make the best of what we have. I am lucky enough to be spending this new year's with good friends and good music. I wish everyone were so lucky. 2007 is done! Let's welcome '08 (and hopefully Obama as president!). BE SAFE and have a GREAT and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thought on thoughts

I am supposed to be working right now. I am supposed to be pushing papers across my desk from "in" to "out," but today is not quite the day for meaningless tasks. If Sartre was right in his postulate "I think therefore I am," then thoughts we carry are the very essence of who we are, but since thoughts are not tangible, are not something we can clutch and only exist within the human mind, easily transferable from one tongue to the other, are we then immortal? Thoughts are immortal, there is no real life span of a thought. Democracy and dictatorship are both schools of thought and continue to this day, and those who are the forethinkers of these ideas remain in our societies and in some way still exist. When we think of peace, who comes to mind: Socrates, Jesus, Gandhi, Dr. King. When we think of democracy in the United States, another list of people: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, etc. Each intangible ideal and idea has someone attached to it from art to murder to fanaticism.

I says, think wisely because one day you may be remembered for your thoughts.

"A man is but the product of his thoughts; what he thinks, so he becomes." - Mohandas Gandhi

Merry Christmas!

Christmas has always been my favorite day of the year. As lovely as the gifts we receive may be, this is the best day because we get to spend it with our family. This is the day out of the year we are allowed to be kids again, allowed to forget about decorum and rent. Even if the 26th is going to be the worst day of our lives, we can use Christmas as a day of hope. Even if one is not Christian, one has to appreciate the story: a family cast out of every inn, with no shelter are provided a manger and there is born the King of Kings-- we with humble beginnings can be more than of where we were born; we could inspire generations. Maybe it's naive to believe in a miraculous birth, but it's also naive to believe there is no such thing as a miracle. Merry Christmas, and may you receive all you deserve and more!

Fall from Grace

Showtime premiered a documentary on the life of Fred Phelps, a man who celebrates the deaths of soldiers as proof God is punishing this country for our tolerance of homosexuality. He and the members of his church (mostly his immediate family) are notorious for such wonderful signs as: "God hates fags," "Fags die, God laughs." and my personal favorite, "Thank God for dead soldiers." Mr. Phelps has made his mark on the world and it is one of hate and misunderstanding disguised as devout faith.

Let's continue under these givens: there is a God, He is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent, and that He is a benevolent god. If these are true, how can anyone assume he would punish the "wicked" killing other people. To be a Christian, one must accept the teachings of Christ. Jesus would never have walked down any street with a sign saying "Your son died because my Father is mad at you." Mr. Phelps argues that God is a wrathful and vengeful God, and granted it there are plenty of references in the old testament to God's disappointment in man and the "corrective actions" he took, the new testament shows a completely new side of God. I find, in reference to religious zealots, that fear is always the tactic. I don't understand the fearmongering of any person of power. I understand why it works, and throughout history fear has mobilized a lot of people to do a lot of things (usually immoral and unjust). What I don't get is how anyone who reads the bible can pull out the fire and brimstone, the eternal damnation and the wrath of God, but cannot also pull out understanding, love and forgiveness. Another thing, if an all powerful god can see the wrong you do and chooses to punish you, He lives in eternity, not in measurable time, so he he has all time to punish you, so why would he kill other people if you are the evildoer? Why would God concern Himself when He has all of eternity to torture the person who has disappointed Him?

I find Mr. Phelps hypocrisy and lack of understanding deplorable, and if I catch him or his kin on the streets, I will make sure they understand what it means to turn the other cheek. [Yes, my hypocrisy is deplorable but I admit it.]