(no subject)
1. Winding Down
As I thought it would be, the Zimmerman verdict was really a turning point for me personally. It was really my final investment in an issue relating to racial politics, and now I've done a pretty good job of drifting on to other interests. It's amusing because the media, some of the alternative media, and political pundits really love to stir everyone up over racial issues. I think it will be a long time before anything gets as wild and polarizing as the whole Trayvon Martin ordeal, but it really is amazing how we can't really give the subject a rest for even a second. You could really just jump from controversy to controversy and spend your whole life engaging in meaningless flamewars of the next racial battle.
Anyways, I know that I'm definitely heading down the right path to just ignore this stuff and try to shut it out of my life as best as possible. I was reading over my copy of The Dhammapada, which is a collection of verses attributed to the Buddha. There was a set of verses that actually summed up my thoughts about the direction of racial politics in our society perfectly:
3. "He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me," - in those who harbour such thoughts hatred will never cease.
4. "He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me," - in those who do not harbour such thoughts hatred will cease.
5. For never does hatred cease by hatred here below: hatred ceases by love; this is an eternal law.
This set of quotes really spoke to me because the one thing I've come to really dislike about being a part of social groups or political movements for so-called "people of color" is that it really is just a giant grievance party. I truly feel that the way I felt when I've stumbled into those scenes is how it must feel to be anguishing away in hell. You're just surrounded by people who are so bitter, so angry, so hate-filled, so endlessly pessimistic, and it just becomes all-consuming. I recognize that most of the people I describe probably just are not going to recognize the truth/belief that they can control their feelings and they can shape their destinies by reorganizing their thoughts. So I'm glad to just step aside and let them burn themselves up. I do think it's sad that so many people are encouraged to be miserable victims by their community/political leaders for reasons that have to do with control rather than empowerment. But I sort of agree with the idea that people only accept messages that they want to accept. So if people are in a stage where they want to feel down and out, they'll only hear that message from others for as long as they wish to be in a miserable state-of-being. I can definitely relate to going through periods of choosing self-pity. And I suppose there's nothing inherently wrong with going through such a stage, as everyone needs some good venting, so long as it's temporary. But it's up to the individual whether it will be temporary or not.
2. False Prophets
While I'm on the topic of religion, I've been reading a few comments by others who have discussed how they believe that Christ should inform their politics. When I read the Sermon on the Mount and many of the parables in the gospel, I often do get chills up my spine because I'm impressed by the moral perfection that Christ conveys. I think we sort of take Christ's message for granted because its been with us for 2,000 years, and many of his teachings are now either "cliche" or common sense. But I came to Christ's teachings as someone who was a complete atheist growing up. I didn't read the Bible as a kid. I really didn't know what Jesus said in the Bible. My family wasn't religious, so I didn't even learn about who Jesus was until I heard about it from a friend in pre-school. I didn't actually read the New Testament until I was in my mid-twenties in college.
So before I read the gospels, I had some time to meet a variety of people. I went to a few different colleges and spent a lot of time in what I consider to be the "underbelly" of the GLBT community. I don't pick on this group because of their sexual orientation, but what stood out about this experience was that it was my first time spending an extended period of time with people from an urban environment with a huge range of social problems that I think many people would just find unbelievable. If you grow up in a boring suburban community where your neighbors are stale, but virtuous and dependable, the things that I witnessed in the GLBT community would be mind boggling. I saw things that I would consider to be truly "evil." Again, not because of the sexual orientation of these people, because I didn't witness this kind of behavior within the college GLBT circles, but simply because there was a major breakdown in common morality. And the fact that this particular GLBT community was more "close-knit" meant that the community was really saturated by the bad seeds. But I've never witnessed so many people just doing terrible things to one another with no remorse at all in my life. For example, I don't think anyone could imagine that a group of kids would think it would be funny to gang up on someone and get them falsely thrown in jail, but I saw that. I also saw hardcore spousal abuse. I saw rampant meth abuse. The experience definitely made me recognize that my atheistic assumptions about human nature need re-tweeking. For example, I believed with the humanistic ideals that people are good, but the GLBT experience helped me to not only recognize the worst aspects in human nature, but to even see those bad qualities in more subtle forms. For example, I could now see that it's in the nature of even the dull suburbanites, whose shortcomings I may have completely overlooked before my experiences, to flub the truth, to cheat others, to act from a place of arrogance, etc. Once I saw the most obvious examples of sin, I was able to recognize that the tendency to sin is present in all humans, even myself.
Now, coming back to the Bible. I picked up the Bible and read the New Testament for the first time after spending several years observing some of the worst examples of human behavior. I also started to appreciate how every environment that could potentially be good is ruined because humans just seem to always fail one another in their conduct. So from that frame of reference, Jesus's teachings are incredibly radical because they really are unlike anything we know on this Earth. I think that because many people grow up having Christian values drilled into them at an early age, we sort of assume that because many people profess to have those values, that they must be carrying them out in their public and private lives. I also think that because we're like boiling frogs, we really are insensitive to the extent of the corruption and the immorality that exists in society. If even a fraction of Americans had a born-again revival where they not only professed to follow Christ, but they followed Christ's ethics down to the letter, I think that the society we live in would be completely transformed. However, when I see how rampant and stubborn sinful behavior is, I know that reaching that level of perfection is impossible for nearly everyone, even myself.
So based on this recognition, I actually don't think that the most important political takeaways from the Bible are the ones about loving your neighbor or forgiveness or caring for the less fortunate, though those are important. I think that that Jesus's warning of false prophets is the most relevant to the society that we live in today. Take Matthew 7:15-20:
15. Beware the false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bring forth evil fruit.
19. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
When I think of the symbol of the false prophet in today's world, I think of a figure who says many nice things and impresses everyone with their great way with words and their ability to proclaim to have values that everyone agrees with. However, while they seem like these great sages, if you give them scrutiny, you recognize that what you really have is satan in disguise. From my observations, I believe that we have a shallow celebrity culture that causes us to easily glamorize by public figures and leaders. They don't have to do much to impress us and earn a place on the pedestal. As long as people say things that sound good to our ears, we rarely do little investigation beyond that to determine whether they are really living up to their word. Similarly, if someone makes a slip up and says one thing that offends us, we're willing to toss them out and judge them completely by their words rather than their deeds. I mean, think of all of the great potential public servants out there who could never run for office because they're not adept at manipulating their words to sound good in a sound byte.
I believe that the consequence of our shallowness is that we are quick to embrace false prophets in every sphere of our lives. One thing that sort of sickened me, for example, was meeting many political activists on the left who were horrendous people in their personal conduct, but who seemed to gain endless admiration in their activist circles because of their ability to say exactly what people want to hear. While we can't forbid anyone from running for office or taking up political causes because they're terrible hypocrites, the public has a responsibility to do a better job of scrutinizing their leaders. Otherwise, we'll continue to rally behind these two-faced public figures who are more than willing to say one thing when they're addressing their adoring fans, and do the exact opposite when it's time for action. We're going to continually find ourselves disappointed if we don't get better at spotting these false prophets and demanding substance along with words and demanding that people actually live by the values they espouse. This means that the limousine liberal who lives in an all-white gated community and takes great pains to shield his family from anyone who isn't rich doesn't get to lecture the rest of the country about multiculturalism and tolerance. Similarly, a guy who shuttles around everywhere in a private jet doesn't get to lecture "the masses" on energy consumption. I bet we'd get better results from our activists and our leaders if we simply expected more from people before handing off the microphone to them.
As I thought it would be, the Zimmerman verdict was really a turning point for me personally. It was really my final investment in an issue relating to racial politics, and now I've done a pretty good job of drifting on to other interests. It's amusing because the media, some of the alternative media, and political pundits really love to stir everyone up over racial issues. I think it will be a long time before anything gets as wild and polarizing as the whole Trayvon Martin ordeal, but it really is amazing how we can't really give the subject a rest for even a second. You could really just jump from controversy to controversy and spend your whole life engaging in meaningless flamewars of the next racial battle.
Anyways, I know that I'm definitely heading down the right path to just ignore this stuff and try to shut it out of my life as best as possible. I was reading over my copy of The Dhammapada, which is a collection of verses attributed to the Buddha. There was a set of verses that actually summed up my thoughts about the direction of racial politics in our society perfectly:
3. "He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me," - in those who harbour such thoughts hatred will never cease.
4. "He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me," - in those who do not harbour such thoughts hatred will cease.
5. For never does hatred cease by hatred here below: hatred ceases by love; this is an eternal law.
This set of quotes really spoke to me because the one thing I've come to really dislike about being a part of social groups or political movements for so-called "people of color" is that it really is just a giant grievance party. I truly feel that the way I felt when I've stumbled into those scenes is how it must feel to be anguishing away in hell. You're just surrounded by people who are so bitter, so angry, so hate-filled, so endlessly pessimistic, and it just becomes all-consuming. I recognize that most of the people I describe probably just are not going to recognize the truth/belief that they can control their feelings and they can shape their destinies by reorganizing their thoughts. So I'm glad to just step aside and let them burn themselves up. I do think it's sad that so many people are encouraged to be miserable victims by their community/political leaders for reasons that have to do with control rather than empowerment. But I sort of agree with the idea that people only accept messages that they want to accept. So if people are in a stage where they want to feel down and out, they'll only hear that message from others for as long as they wish to be in a miserable state-of-being. I can definitely relate to going through periods of choosing self-pity. And I suppose there's nothing inherently wrong with going through such a stage, as everyone needs some good venting, so long as it's temporary. But it's up to the individual whether it will be temporary or not.
2. False Prophets
While I'm on the topic of religion, I've been reading a few comments by others who have discussed how they believe that Christ should inform their politics. When I read the Sermon on the Mount and many of the parables in the gospel, I often do get chills up my spine because I'm impressed by the moral perfection that Christ conveys. I think we sort of take Christ's message for granted because its been with us for 2,000 years, and many of his teachings are now either "cliche" or common sense. But I came to Christ's teachings as someone who was a complete atheist growing up. I didn't read the Bible as a kid. I really didn't know what Jesus said in the Bible. My family wasn't religious, so I didn't even learn about who Jesus was until I heard about it from a friend in pre-school. I didn't actually read the New Testament until I was in my mid-twenties in college.
So before I read the gospels, I had some time to meet a variety of people. I went to a few different colleges and spent a lot of time in what I consider to be the "underbelly" of the GLBT community. I don't pick on this group because of their sexual orientation, but what stood out about this experience was that it was my first time spending an extended period of time with people from an urban environment with a huge range of social problems that I think many people would just find unbelievable. If you grow up in a boring suburban community where your neighbors are stale, but virtuous and dependable, the things that I witnessed in the GLBT community would be mind boggling. I saw things that I would consider to be truly "evil." Again, not because of the sexual orientation of these people, because I didn't witness this kind of behavior within the college GLBT circles, but simply because there was a major breakdown in common morality. And the fact that this particular GLBT community was more "close-knit" meant that the community was really saturated by the bad seeds. But I've never witnessed so many people just doing terrible things to one another with no remorse at all in my life. For example, I don't think anyone could imagine that a group of kids would think it would be funny to gang up on someone and get them falsely thrown in jail, but I saw that. I also saw hardcore spousal abuse. I saw rampant meth abuse. The experience definitely made me recognize that my atheistic assumptions about human nature need re-tweeking. For example, I believed with the humanistic ideals that people are good, but the GLBT experience helped me to not only recognize the worst aspects in human nature, but to even see those bad qualities in more subtle forms. For example, I could now see that it's in the nature of even the dull suburbanites, whose shortcomings I may have completely overlooked before my experiences, to flub the truth, to cheat others, to act from a place of arrogance, etc. Once I saw the most obvious examples of sin, I was able to recognize that the tendency to sin is present in all humans, even myself.
Now, coming back to the Bible. I picked up the Bible and read the New Testament for the first time after spending several years observing some of the worst examples of human behavior. I also started to appreciate how every environment that could potentially be good is ruined because humans just seem to always fail one another in their conduct. So from that frame of reference, Jesus's teachings are incredibly radical because they really are unlike anything we know on this Earth. I think that because many people grow up having Christian values drilled into them at an early age, we sort of assume that because many people profess to have those values, that they must be carrying them out in their public and private lives. I also think that because we're like boiling frogs, we really are insensitive to the extent of the corruption and the immorality that exists in society. If even a fraction of Americans had a born-again revival where they not only professed to follow Christ, but they followed Christ's ethics down to the letter, I think that the society we live in would be completely transformed. However, when I see how rampant and stubborn sinful behavior is, I know that reaching that level of perfection is impossible for nearly everyone, even myself.
So based on this recognition, I actually don't think that the most important political takeaways from the Bible are the ones about loving your neighbor or forgiveness or caring for the less fortunate, though those are important. I think that that Jesus's warning of false prophets is the most relevant to the society that we live in today. Take Matthew 7:15-20:
15. Beware the false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bring forth evil fruit.
19. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
When I think of the symbol of the false prophet in today's world, I think of a figure who says many nice things and impresses everyone with their great way with words and their ability to proclaim to have values that everyone agrees with. However, while they seem like these great sages, if you give them scrutiny, you recognize that what you really have is satan in disguise. From my observations, I believe that we have a shallow celebrity culture that causes us to easily glamorize by public figures and leaders. They don't have to do much to impress us and earn a place on the pedestal. As long as people say things that sound good to our ears, we rarely do little investigation beyond that to determine whether they are really living up to their word. Similarly, if someone makes a slip up and says one thing that offends us, we're willing to toss them out and judge them completely by their words rather than their deeds. I mean, think of all of the great potential public servants out there who could never run for office because they're not adept at manipulating their words to sound good in a sound byte.
I believe that the consequence of our shallowness is that we are quick to embrace false prophets in every sphere of our lives. One thing that sort of sickened me, for example, was meeting many political activists on the left who were horrendous people in their personal conduct, but who seemed to gain endless admiration in their activist circles because of their ability to say exactly what people want to hear. While we can't forbid anyone from running for office or taking up political causes because they're terrible hypocrites, the public has a responsibility to do a better job of scrutinizing their leaders. Otherwise, we'll continue to rally behind these two-faced public figures who are more than willing to say one thing when they're addressing their adoring fans, and do the exact opposite when it's time for action. We're going to continually find ourselves disappointed if we don't get better at spotting these false prophets and demanding substance along with words and demanding that people actually live by the values they espouse. This means that the limousine liberal who lives in an all-white gated community and takes great pains to shield his family from anyone who isn't rich doesn't get to lecture the rest of the country about multiculturalism and tolerance. Similarly, a guy who shuttles around everywhere in a private jet doesn't get to lecture "the masses" on energy consumption. I bet we'd get better results from our activists and our leaders if we simply expected more from people before handing off the microphone to them.