Cry Bullshit, and Restrain the Dogs of War!!

Another hotspot in the war on terror has flared up. It’s been brewing for about a year now, but is just starting to find space in the western consciousness. Fighting for headline prominence with Lance Armstrong’s blood chemistry and the US gun control debate.

Mali, the West African, former French colony, has been struggling with hard line militant Islamists occupying its broad northern territory. If you haven’t yet read up on it, CNN has a decent synopsis here: Mali  

Add this to the never ending problems in Afghanistan, ongoing problems in Syria, destabilizing factors in Yemen and Pakistan, and still fragile new governments in Iraq, Egypt, Libya, and others… Not to mention the vilified Iran and the borderless entity of Al Qaeda with its fingers in all of these pies. It’s quite a list, and it’s meant to intimidate us, the same way the Soviet Union, and its Warsaw Pact allies did for 40 years. Like with the communists, the Islamists are a monster created by the west. Both were propped up, supported, armed, and welcomed as allies against old enemies. The Communists were our main ally and front line soldiers against the fascists, then the Islamists played the same roll against the communists. Convenient.

This isn’t to say that Islamist extremists aren’t dangerous, or that we should leave them alone. Not at all! They’re crazier than a bag of Slinkies.

BUT, it’s a losing battle without reason!!! It’s time to reassess what we are doing about it. Fighting conventional wars against a religious fanaticism is a lost cause. Whether you are using swords and spears, as they did during the Crusades, or the Drones and missiles the US currently employs. At best you can hold the line, and maintain tense occupation of territory. Unless or until a new enemy develops that scares both sides into cooperating, this is all conventional power will ever achieve in the Islamic world… A few friendly Islamic governments that tolerate the west as long as the personal gain is appropriate, and a roiling general anti-western sentiment among the population that spawns a constant stream of militant zealots.

With all the might that the greatest military power the world has ever seen can bring to bear, we are still fighting terrorism with one hand tied behind our backs. That doesn’t mean we should increase military spending or institute the draft. There is a far cheaper weapon at our disposal which has been kept off the battlefield. Education… reason… rational thought.

The western powers are not attacking the root cause of the disease, the irrational blind faith in supernatural legends; the brainwashing that allows imams to convince young Muslims to sacrifice their lives for the faith. We have to tolerate it, even support it... because it’s no different than the delusions of a large segment of our own population. We support all religions through tax free status, and public acceptance. We placate the religious. If we equate this to fighting a pandemic, we are simply treating the worst symptoms by fighting terrorists. We can’t cure the disease until we admit we suffer from a slightly different variety ourselves.

It’s time to change our ways. We can maintain freedom without sponsoring delusions. Revoke tax free status for religions. Why is this necessary? Stop incorporating fantasies into public events. Education needs to be refocused on critical thinking. When we stop placating nonsense at home, we can then avoid at least this flavour of hypocrisy in our foreign policy. Stop treating theocratic dictatorships with legitimacy and feigning understanding and tolerance when they base their policies on superstition. Hold them accountable for human rights regardless of scriptural foundations for discrimination.

We can’t allow the religious in our country to use ancient superstitions to justify discriminating against our own citizens based on gender and sexual orientation, and retain any moral authority in condemning any action abroad based on a different flavour of superstition.

If in Mali, and all nations of the world, the general population was taught to question the validity of religions, to think rationally and critically, then maybe, possibly, over time, the base from which the radicals draw their fodder for war would decrease. If we stopped venerating the Pope in public, giving him equal regards with world leaders; then perhaps the Imams would slowly lose some of their lustre.

No longer can we tolerate anyone splitting hairs with an argument that Christians aren’t as bad as Muslims. No longer can we remain silent when leaders base their arguments on an irrational premise.

This is a very long term fix, but we need to start. For the status quo is killing us. Don’t take it anymore, neither at home nor abroad.  It’s time to use our best weapon against terrorism… questions and reason.

It’s time to cry Bullshit, and restrain the dogs of war!!

The Trouble With Angels

It's funny how the mind can hold contradictory ideas without perceiving any problem. There is a fundamentally misleading label given to the abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam). They are separated from other ancient religions as Monotheistic. Other cultures in the ancient world had a pantheon of gods. From Egyptians to Vikings, Aztecs to Hindus, they all had a cast of characters with distinct personalities and specialties. These are the Polytheistic religions. 

If you spent any time in church growing up, then like me, you might have come to think of these religions as cute ancient superstitions. They had small 'g' gods who fought and did silly things. Legends, no better than fairy tails.

As Christians (or insert your monotheistic flavor), we followed the one true God (capital G). This is a point of pride, a differentiator. We were the more mature, the more logical religion. Simple. 

So based on the title, you know where I'm going with this. It's amazing how Christians can ignore such a blatant contradiction. 

What is an angel? In the back of my bible, in the compendium, it is defined as: "human or superhuman agent or messenger of God".

Superhuman? But not a god? Right there in my bible. with not so much as a 'by your leave' or nudge nudge, wink wink.

Similarly dictionary.com has:

an·gel  [eyn-juh l]  

noun

1. one of a class of spiritual beings; a celestial attendant of God. In medieval angelology, angels constituted the lowest of the nine celestial orders (seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominations or dominions, virtues, powers, principalities or princedoms, archangels, and angels).

2. a conventional representation of such a being, in human form, with wings, usually in white robes.

Churches are filled with images of angels, they are played by children in the manger scene at the Christmas pageant, and many talk about their guardian angel. I remember it being said many times in sermons that there is a celestial battle being waged constantly between angels and demons for each soul. So cool! Who doesn't love a good supernatural battle. I wonder if it's like Gandalf and Saruman in lord of the rings, or more like the Avengers movie? No, it couldn't be avengers, because that had Thor and Loki, and they're from one of the silly polytheistic religions. 

So we have these beings, these living creatures, who reside in heaven with God, they live forever, can visit earth in various forms, fly, be invisibly, fight, an oh yes... Most importantly of all, they have free will. Wait!?! Isn't that a special gift to humanity? Why God created men? Maybe, maybe not. We'll leave that be for now. 

But how do we know they have free will? Easy. There are four named Angels in the bible. The rest are simply referred to generically or as messengers, and of course many of the 227 references to angels in the bible (http://www.raphael.net/scripture/angels.htm) could just be to people who perform angelic acts. The other definitions: 

"3. a messenger, especially of God.

4. a person who performs a mission of God or acts as if sent by God: an angel of mercy.

5. a person having qualities generally attributed to an angel, as beauty, purity, or kindliness."

...the named angels are:

1. Michael-(Daniel 10:13,21 & 12:1, also Jude 9 and Revelation 12:7)

2. Gabriel-(Luke 1:19,26)

3. Satan or Lucifer-(Isaiah 14:12, and Ezekiel 28:11-19)

4. Abaddon-(Revelation 9:11)

So Satan and the demons (fallen angels) who followed him either rebelled against god of their own free will or act as the agents of god, meaning the creation of temptation, evil, etc... Suits Gods purpose.

We could also go into detail on the trinity (which is never explained in the new testament and is wholly -not holy- the creation of bishops to sell the faith. And the half human son of the chief god, like Hercules...

This has all been a matter of theological debate for 2 millennia now, and doesn't matter one fig, because if you are paying attention, you will see the nut of the problem... A cast of supernatural (godlike) characters with their own personalities and purposes.

Polytheism. So why do we think of it as any different from Zeus, Athena, Aries, Hades, and Apollo? A great marketing strategy devised by early church leaders, and 1800 years of branding, whereby not buying the brand often meant at best being shunned socially, at worst a gruesome death.

Moderate and fundamental Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike, just assume their god is the only god. And even when they talk about the archangel Gabriel at the gates of heaven, it is without the slightest sense of irony.

I could have titled this bog 'the elephant in the room'. Because it is so patently obvious. Yet if you show this to a believer, they will likely just roll there eyes and maybe offer a derisive comment about unfair attacks on Christianity. 

Conditioned to accept without thinking, they follow an ancient superstition every bit as silly as the halls of valhalla and the flying Valkyries. 

Fairy tales full of fairies.

Some Reason for the Season

On a day when we will hear a lot of jokes about the end of the world, the end of the Mayan calendar, it’s worth reflecting on a deeper meaning.

Today is also the winter solstice. The shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. This is no accident. The Mayan’s timed their calendar to the movement of the sun, moon, and stars. This was created at least 1500 years ago. That’s a millennium before Columbus sailed into the west. What was essentially a stone age culture, with no telescopes, calculators, computers or even books, thought enough to project out the exact timing of the solstices for 15 centuries into the future.

Without attributing any attitudes or beliefs to those ancient people that I can’t verify, the mere fact that they created this calendar gives us something to think about…. Something to reflect on. How often do these quantities and measurements  of time enter our consciousness? Does our civilization have a long count calendar?  Of course, it’s the information age, anything is available if you look for it. Check out 3012: http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/index.html?year=3012&country=1  My birthday falls on a Saturday that year. You’re invited.

But do we really plan for the future in any meaningful way? If you want an example of how poorly we plan as a general rule, there is a great example in recent times. The Y2K bug existed because people couldn’t look 30 years into the future: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y2K.

We might put a little money away for our kid’s education, or retirement, but how often do we really contemplate the long term and how our actions today will impact future generations?

How will our descendants view us? Will we have descendants? The year 3012 will come whether we’re here to see it or not. What legacy will we leave, what foundation are we building?

Do we care about that? Or just the next version of the iPad or episode of Pawnstars?

This has been a special time of year for all cultures, as long as people have planted crops and marked the seasons. The Roman empire prior to Emperor Constantine dedicated it to the god Saturn, and  had a week of partying and gift giving  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia. It is a time when the sun is reborn and begins its rise in the sky. But whether you choose to celebrate Ra the sun god, Saturn the god of time, the baby Jesus, or a magic lamp, give some time to reflect on our responsibilities and priorities.

As we go into 2013, my hope for humanity is that we all make one resolution. That we stop and think. That means, before forming an opinion based on what some pundit on tv says, we take some time to look into the facts. When politicians appeal to emotions like fear and greed, we stop and look into the facts. That when we speak, vote, or spend, it is with a thought about the future, the long term future, not next month or next year. In the information age, ignorance is a choice, and in a democracy we get the government and the future we deserve. Unfortunately, it will be our distant descendants who have to deal with the future we create. Today may not be an actual Mayan Apocalypse, but are we sure we’re not planting the seeds for a long term, gradual one?

It’s all well and good to hear traditionalist remind us of ‘the reason for the season” and to “put Christ back in Christmas”, but instead of selfishly focusing on having the winning ticket to the spiritual lottery, where you get eternity in the lap of luxury if you bet on the right god. Think about whether we are leaving a heaven or hell on earth for people 500 or a 1000 years from now?

Will future generations bless or curse you? Do you care? Maybe thinking about that is a good reason for the season.  

What do you owe your neighbor's grandkids?

In real terms, my neighbor's future grandkids can pound sand. They aren't going in my will.

If you already have kids or grandkids, this isn't really aimed at you. Where to start...

There are two bogeymen

The Point of Protests

There is an illustrious history of popular protests around the world. A few successful, some spectacularly so, most forgotten in the footnotes of obscure history.

Are you a pessimist, realist, or conspiracy theorist?

If you hear anyone prattling on about illuminati, global banking cartels, or ‘the powers that be’ (TPTB), don’t immediately dismiss them as loons; see them for what they are… unabashed, doey-eyed, naïve, optimists.

You see, they’ve recognized the historical trends, seen the flaws in human society, and recoiled at the horrors of man’s inhumanity to man, and what they’ve done is put on their rose coloured glasses and attributed all the ills of the world to a faceless evil entity. Those with supernatural leanings will blame the devil, or malignant gods. But our friends who populate the internet's more interesting forums are way too practical for that.

So replace demons with a more flesh and blood cabal of sociopathic puppeteers, and in this way, they can go on seeing their friends, neighbours, and really anyone they encounter in real life, as good natured, altruistic examples of human goodness. Real life people who do wrong must have been mutated or corrupted by the evil system slash plan that TPTB have put into place.

Dig into a conversation with any conspiracy theorist or doomer, and you’ll find that they are really a utopian. They’re just waiting for the global catastrophe to wipe out the evil puppet masters, so the survivors (always including themselves) can start over in a lovely commune of sharing, environmentally sustainable, perfection. At least, it will be after they shoot anyone who doesn't agree.

The idea that both corporations and governments are made up of millions of moving parts (that's my polite euphemism for nasty, fallible, selfish humans), and billions of small decisions, which have a cumulitive effect over a long period of time., ...well, it's all too complex for some people to grasp.

150,000 years later

I wonder how the first homo sapiens to develop language said 'fuck it'. I'm sure they had a word or gesture.

After a long day of running from carnivors, tracking game, digging up edible roots, or maybe sharpening  sticks on a rock... did they sit around complaining about the lack of opportunity or that the cheiftan gets all the best chicks? I'm sure some of them just wished they could climb back up a tree and stay there.

A mere 6000 generations later, a lot of us still want to climb a tree and not come down. Or maybe just pitch a tent in a park.

After centuries of improvement, the gap between rich and poor is now getting worse. The complexities of our consumer driven economy and technology riddled society are enough to drive many around the bend from the intersection of progress and efficiency to the corner of despair and desperation. Financial crisis, overwhelming private and public debt, broken political systems, shifting power, resource depletion, climate change, ...where's my tree!

But actually, from where I sit, high atop mount Olympus, nothing has really changed. Not since Kronos ripped the nads of Uranus and set the worlds spinning. The only difference is in the concept with which mortals struggle mightily... context.

Words and worries may change, but over the 150,000 years of human history, the future has always been frought with danger... whether it's being eaten by a tiger, falling to a rampaging horde, plague, or economic destitution, the constant is uncertainty. The past has been overcome, the present is fleeting, and the future is a chaos of possibilities. Fuck it... or embrace the adventure.