Losing My Faith

I am losing my faith in our government. In fact, it may be gone altogether. What happened to a government "Of the people, by the people and for the people?" Our government has become one of the ruling party, if they can avoid the filibuster, by special interest groups, lobbies and pork barrel spending and for the too-big-to-fail banks and corrupt corporations to make sure that they can continue to suck the life blood out of the American people and thereby continue to buy elections and block any legislation that could curtail their ever-growing influence over our political system and flailing economy.

The recent supreme court ruling that has uncapped corporate campaign contributions has signaled the end of democracy as our founding fathers envisioned it. The people of the United States have not lost our voice but it will be drown out below the booming megaphone of corporate dollars sure to flood the coffers of the 2012 campaign. In the interest of trying to remain bipartisan and because the answer is fairly obvious, I won't go into which party stands to benefit the most by this ruling. However, no matter who it helps politically, it hurts the American people by marginalizing our voice in Washington.

Thanks in large part to the corporations and special interests who even before this ruling have immense control over our government, partisanship is at its worst right now. This results in gridlock on capital hill. Even which the 60/40 split in the Senate, hard party lines and the dreaded filibuster have impeded progress in delivering the change America so convincingly asked for in the 2008 election. What results have come out of Congress are so watered down that they accomplish little in improving the lives of Americans.

Greed and corruption have taken over Washington and the problems America faces today can only be laid in the laps of Congress for their inability to work together for the betterment of America. Neither Obama, nor McCain should he have won the election, can be blamed for our state of affairs, the problem is Democrats and Republicans alike refusing to work together.

It is so bad in Congress that today Senator Evan Bayh (and others have before him) announced he will not seek re-election citing excessive partisanship as the primary reason for his decision. Those who have left understand that this is not what our government is supposed to be about.

I grew up prideful of my country because I had a voice, because my vote counted, because no matter how poor or wealthy, blue collar or white, Liberal, Conservative or Moderate, I mattered. Today I am saddened upon the realization that my voice has been smothered by the corruption in Washington and that our elected public servants no longer serve the public. Until we can again work together and break free of the tyrannical chains of the de facto corporate dictatorship, it appears Democracy in America is on hold.

Praise Bob

My wife, Ally, posed a question in her recent blog post that really grabbed me. She asked, "What if it doesn't concern God if you call Him God?... What if He just wants to be sought?"

I hadn't thought about it before, but do we honestly think God would cared if we decided to call him something else? I would think as long as we continued to seek and grow with Him, it probably wouldn't bother him too much if I decided to begin a prayer with "Dear Bob."

Although I think the name "Bob" is great, I wonder what else we could call him that would be more fitting of His greatness. If you believe in one of the Abraham-based religions (Christianity, Judaism, or Islam) you statement of faith would basically boil down to "God IS Truth."

Eastern religions (Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism or Buddhism), on the other hand, don't focus on a single God to worship, rather they worship truth itself. To believers of these faiths, "Truth IS God."

Now I know a logician would remind me that if A equals B, B does not necessarily equal A, but it does make us think more about the question Ally brought up. Does God really care what we call Him, or is he just more concerned with us seeking Him. And is He really just one name out of many for ultimate Truth?

Ally calls Him God, not because she calls herself a Christian, but because that is the name that resonates with her and best helps her to understand truth. When she needs help with something or is searching for some peace, she prays to God and usually the result is positive. I, on the other hand, don't pray. I ask for that same peace and assistance through sitting alone in thought; a sort of meditation I guess. Writing this blogs is actually meditative for me. As with Ally's prayer, my results are usually positive. So Ally calls it God and I call it truth, but we both seek and we get the same results. Could it be that God doesn't care if we call him that? Someone said that the journey is better than the destination. Could it be that the search is more important than the searched?

If a detective thinks he knows who has committed a crime but he is wrong and he searches relentlessly for evidence to prove he is right, he will eventually find evidence to point him in the right direction. Whether or not he ever finds the correct perpetrator is irrelevant, the key is that the more he searches, the closer he gets to the truth. It is the same with faith. Even if you find a faith you think is correct, keep searching. You will either find out you were are on the right path, or the evidence you find will lead you in another direction. Either way, you are getting closer to the truth. Don't focus on the end, focus on the path immediately in front of you. Call God whatever you want to call Him, just keep seeking.

Bob Bless

Truth-ism

what? life, that’s what we call it… we exist… the only thing we know for sure… life… or something like it… what does that mean anyway? just life, it is or it isn’t… there’s really nothing like it… death, or something like it, now that makes more sense… alive without life… a lot like death, but not death…

where? this place called earth… well that doesn’t say much, where is it in the grand scheme, in the big picture… what is the big picture, and is it really that big, relatively? And scheme… read: deceit, trick, evil plot, perhaps… poor choice of words? maybe not… but who knows really?

who? he knows… but who’s he? Or is it He with a capital H. or she? god isis allah abba jesu emmanuel odin sarayu jehovah lord zeus buddha the secret holy ghost et al… choose… your life depends on you being right… so they say… the after-life depends on it… heaven nirvana valhalla reincarnation et al… but who knows really? maybe, whoever he is…

when? now… now and then… then and now… later… never… better late than never…when i get around to it or whenever he decides? no better time that the present… but the present is gone and the future will be too… all of time will be gone, in time… can’t be now, now is then, can’t be then because now never happened, can’t be later, later will soon also be then, he gave free will, he wanted me to decide, so… whenever I get around to it, or never?

how? we are here as a result of… creation, absentee landlord or intervening supernatural force… a great cosmic explosion, red shift evolution and science… scientific fact v. theological faith … empirical logic v. mystic enlightenment… knowing v. believing... why do we naturally assume that things that seem different can’t coexist? we strive to eradicate every ism prejudice and judgment… but we pigeon-hole truth…

why? because we can…because we will… because the who has provided the what and where and left us free to question the when and how... even free to question who the who is… why then, do we judge? why do we have the conceit to think our way is the only way for everyone… because we are afraid of being wrong? racism sexism classism sexual orientation-ism insertyourfavorite-ism… slowly declining… truth-ism holds fast…mounting?

truth-ism: the one ism we can’t let go… why do we feign tolerance? Why do we tacitly judge? Why do we assume the ignorance of those outside our own fold? TRUTH… objective or subjective… fact or theory… IS LIFE... all over our world people suffer… alive without life… death or something like it… due to truth-ism perpetrated by their country church family friends or society at large. are you taking someone’s life?

Religulous

Ally and I recently watched Bill Maher's new Documentary, "Religulous." I know a lot of people won't watch it for fear that God will strike them down where they stand or something like that, but it was really funny. Now before you judge me, pray for me and label me as satan's minion, remember, Bill Maher is a comedian. It was supposed to be funny. Even if you are a firm believer in your faith, if you loosen up and remember that he is a comedian, you too can enjoy the film. Because Maher's goal was to entertain more than to make the perfect sound arguement, I think it fell short as a debate on religion. However, it did what it was meant to do entertain AND it did make some damn good points along the way.

Maher seemed to discredit himself by saying at the beginning of the film that he "didn't know" what was true but then bashing relgion as a whole and taking more of an atheist stance rather than an agnostic stance. However, after thinking some more about it, I think the point he was making is that NONE of us can be certain that our religious beliefs are true and therefore, he reasons, religion is a waste of time and possibly detremental to our progress as a civilization. I can see his point here. Also, I don't think he ever said any particular religion wasn't true (maybe I need to watch it again to be sure of this), he just challenged believers as to HOW they knew. What was interesting about the film is that not one of the people he talked to from ANY religious faith could give him a single answer that didn't either avoid the question or completely miss his point.

I'll grant that since this film was made to challenge established religions, they probably would have cut out any interviews that did have good answers, however, I kinda doubt there were any good answers. While I still lean towards the existance of God and Jesus as his son (notice I didn't say Christianity) I have to admit that if I was asked a question about why I believe it, I couldn't give an answer that would make one bit of sense, nor do I think anyone can.

So my point is, I don't think Bill Maher ever meant to directly say that religion is not true, he meant to say he doesn't know and anyone who says they do, isn't being honest with themselves. He may be right.

I don't think religion is detremental to us as individuals. It can definitely be a huge help through hard times and a good guide to us on how we ought to live (however, as Bill said, I didn't need the 10 commandments to tell me I shouldn't kill my neighbor; I just kinda know that isn't a good idea). I do not, however, think religion has any place in the political spectrum which it has infested in this country (and especially this state) and many other countries around the world. The human race at its worst results to killing each other in war, holocaust and genocide on small and large scale. Almost without exception, this killing always has at least a hint of religious undertone. In looking at that fact, it is hard to deny that the world would be a better place not neccessary if religion was dead, but if it remaining in the hearts of men and not on the campaign trail, over the airwaves or behind the trigger.

The Secret

Ally and I were introduced to The Secret by her mom a couple years ago. When we watched it the first time, I didn't think much of it. I wasn't one to subscribe to "wacky" ideas about the universe and the law of attraction being that I am extremely rational (possibly to a fault)and I tended to believe in a traditional Christian worldview. However, I humored my wife and tried it. I tried visualizing what I wanted and practiced thinking about what I wanted in the present tense, and the things I was thinking about started to happen. When we first watched it, I was going no where in the mortgage industry and was ready to throw in the towel for a desk job, but when I started visualizing working with a booming book of business, only a month later I had my first million dollar month. I continued hitting that number or more consistently for the next six months. Until I started slacking in my thoughts. Now I am ready to go again!

We watched the Secret again on Sunday night and I picked up even more stuff that I didn't notice the first time. The first thing I noticed was the secret was not in opposition to my rational viewpoint at all. In fact it is a hell of a lot more logical than anything I had previously believed. The Science (called quantum physics) behind the secret is mind boggling. Science tells us that if you boil anything down to its most basic form, everything starts with energy. Energy is what causes an atom to exist which makes up molecules, which make up cells, which make up all things. So the very essence of all things, including us, is energy (Remember E=MC2? That's what it means). The form this energy takes is all determined by cause and effect (That E=MC2 guy also said "Every action has and equal and opposite reaction"). We also know that every individual human thought has specific and unique energy pattern which can be measured and monitored with today's technology. So if everything is energy, and we have the ability to create specific energy patterns with our thoughts, these energy patterns must have an equal and opposite reaction, meaning positive thoughts about what we want should repel what we don't want and attract what we do.

Now that might seem a bit of a stretch to some and it does even to me, but it makes a heck of a lot more sense than believing that I can talk to someone who can't be seen and ask him to answer my prayers. I think a more logical, scientific explanation for answered prayers could be that because the believer is praying so much and focusing so much on what they want that the energy they are sending out is attracting the outcome they desire. Also, this can explain why sometimes the opposite of what we think we are praying for comes true. For instance, if someone prays passionately for a loved one asking "please don't let them die," they are focusing on death and may be attracting exactly what they didn't want.

Who knows for certain... What I do know is that I don't pray on a regular basis and when I use the principles of The Secret in my daily life, it works. Call it what you want, but I consistently get the things (read: material items, feelings, emotions, opportunities, life events) that I focus on, including the bad things that I focus on when I am not careful to monitor my thoughts. They don't always come right away and many have yet to come, but I am confident that they will. I am even willing to admit, that maybe God and the secret are one in the same. I don't really care what it is called I just care that it works.

Chew on this... What is the definition of energy?... Let me give you a head start... it always is, always, was, always will be, it creates things, destroys things, is it present in everything, transcends time, etc, etc, etc.... Now define God...hmmm...

Worth Watching

North Idaho: A Brave New World

There is a big controversy brewing in Kootenai County. The School Board has been trying to decide what books are and are not appropriate for required readings in school. Some of the books being called into question are astounding. Tom Sawyer??? I think I read that in elementary school. What harm can a good adventure story do? How about The Catcher in the Rye??? Probably the most identifiable, best written coming of age story that every boy should read. Yes, it's profane, but aren't we supposed to look beyond the words and "get something out of it?" The there was Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. This one really had me confused. I can't figure out what is so controversial with some good modern philosophy told through a man and his son's motorcycle trip across the US. The Grapes of Wrath, The Scarlet Letter, 1984, the list goes on.

The issue has been all over the editorials in the Press and I am floored by the responses. The book that is getting the most attention though is Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World. If you haven't read it (first of all you should), here is the basic plot....

Society has progressed along with technology to create what is presented as the perfect world where everybody has what they need. No one speaks out for themselves, they suppress anxiety with a government sponsored drug, Soma, and are conditioned as children through repetitive audio recordings to fit a specific class in society. Everyone is happy with there place. Orgies are encouraged, preferably very high on Soma, to help relieve stress and reduce the chance of someone speaking out of line. Those who reject their conditioning are ultimately banished to the wilderness. John the Savage is one such exile who meets a young lady within the society and teaches her what it is like to really live. I have to admit I haven't read it in a while so I might be off on a couple facts there, but that is the gist.

So everyone here is North Idaho seems to be up in arms that a book that "damages conservative family values" would be taught in school. So the book should be removed from the required reading lists, they say. Excuse me, but this sounds an awful lot like Fascism. Why don't we burn the book while we are at it. Aren't conservatives supposed to be all about less control? Yet they want to ban books from reading lists, restrict the basic human rights of same sex couples, take away a woman's choice.... but, I regress...

The funny part is it that these people obviously don't realize that the book does more to support their "conservative family values" that it does to damage them. Those out there that think the Brave New World is inappropriate for school need to read the book again. Aldous Huxley wrote this classic novel as a satirical view of the direction he thought society was moving. Notice how the society keeps track of their years with the term AF (After Ford, as in Henry Ford). Henry Ford was a proponent of Anti-Semitism in America and he believed that the human race needed to be cleansed of un-pure blood. He even included anti-Semitic propaganda pieces in the glove box of the new cars he sold, right alongside the owner’s manual. Huxley found Ford’s views terrible and in true satirical style, aimed to show that a world of “perfect humans,” as genetically engineered in this Brave New World, simply would not work. Yes, the book has its characters regularly involved in orgies and addicted to a drug called “Soma,” but if you think Huxley meant to glorify this behavior, you are missing the boat. Huxley named his main character John the Savage. While portrayed as the antagonist to the Brave New World, John the Savage was Huxley’s protagonist. He was what a human was supposed to be. He wasn’t “Savage,” Society was just scared of him because he was different. Sound familiar in our own society? Banning Huxley’s book would be making his story more real. It would be controlling society; an attempt to make people think the way we want them to, bringing us one step closer to the Brave New World he described. The people who think this book is inappropriate obviously don’t understand satire and don’t have the benefit of a high school teacher to explain it to them as the kids reading it would. Huxley reminds us what it really means to be human. He supports diversity, emphasizes the importance of free thought and free will and condemns racism, classism and sexism. Most importantly, The Brave New World (through satire) supports Democracy and the basic human rights given to us by the constitution of the United States. Sounds like good reading for everyone.

What gets me is that if this book and many of the others are indeed removed from the required reading list, they will be doing exactly the type of thing that Huxley predicted the world was headed to. They will be attempting to pre-condition our youth by controlling what goes into their minds and what cannot. If kids are allowed to read this novel under the experienced guidance of educators, I have no doubt they would be able to understand the satirical nature of the novel and would understand what type of world Huxley was suggesting we steer clear from. They would also probably realize that the world we live in isn't all that far off from the Brave New World. And that would be a good thing because maybe our "leaders of tomorrow" will have the understanding and education to help guide our country in the right direction for the future.

North Idaho, Banning Books = A Brave New World