If you still support this administration at this point, you can officially shut your goddamn mouth about "Witch Hunts".
Tick. Tock. Motherfuckers.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/463152-read-unclassified-whistleblower-complaint
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Friday, September 20, 2019
I am angry and exhausted
I don't really even know where to begin, so forgive what may end up to be rambling.
The world's gone crazy. Or has it? I mean, we actually live in the safest, most civilized time in history. So why does it seem like we've slid into a moral dung heap? Maybe it's because we all fooled ourselves into thinking we had actually made progress. That way, it's more disappointing when it turns out that we aren't as far along as we thought.
In a way, it's good. What I mean is that people that believe reprehensible things now feel comfortable enough to say them out loud and in front of cameras and the world. That makes it easy to identify the people whose values you do not share. The disappointing part is that many of these people have turned out to be friends and family.
As someone with a degree in philosophy, I can honestly tell you that I am comfortable having my beliefs challenged. And I am more than comfortable challenging the beliefs of others. The problem is that most people are NOT comfortable examining their beliefs. It sends them into fight-or-flight mode, which is not conducive to rational debate. And when it is friends or family, we often stay silent to keep the peace. I respect others' beliefs (if not internally, at least publicly) enough to save them the discomfort of feeling attacked. Which is what it feels like to have your beliefs challenged. But maybe it's time for everyone else to get up to speed. To do the actual work involved in that introspection. And that requires some uncomfortable conversations. It requires people to really see if their proclaimed values match up to their words and actions. It may require for you (and me) to speak up and risk the potential alienation and excommunication that may come from someone that can't do the work once you confront them. So be it. If you have to constantly avoid topics of politics, religion, spirituality, philosophy or anything else that matters to you, then how valued can that relationship really be? How deep can any real connection go? If someone hasn't examined their own beliefs, then they are not their beliefs; they are someone else's beliefs that have been dogmatically adapted. They are just going through the motions. And if you don't have these conversations, then your relationships are also just going through the motions.
Think of it this way. Imagine your loved one was suffering from a substance abuse problem. Would you say anything? Or would you just 'mind your own business'? Many people in this exact scenario actually do try to ignore the problem. Eventually though, it will come to a head. Something will happen. Something will break in you. You will lose something that was once important to you. Now imagine if a loved one was suffering from mental illness. How does your answer change? What if your loved one was recruited into a cult? Would you stay silent then? Ultimately, you cannot force someone to adopt new views, or to help themselves if they are not willing to do the work. But many times, people need help. They need to know they aren't alone. What about something simpler? What if they were suffering from a physical, medical illness and they refused to seek help? Wouldn't you at the least, encourage them to see a doctor; go to the ER; something?
So why should it be any different when someone you know holds a despicable belief? A belief that they justify through the lens of politics and religion?
Let's get specific.
If you believe that homosexuality and other forms of sexual and gender expression are wrong, you are homophobic/transphobic. Period.
If you believe that someone that has different melanin levels in their skin is lesser, then you are a racist. Period.
If you believe that someone from another part of the world is a threat, you are xenophobic. Period.
If you believe that someone that holds a different worldview or religious belief is a threat, then you are a bigot. Period.
If you believe that the random assignment of chromosomes makes some people more valuable than others, then you are sexist. And probably misogynistic. Period.
If you can't accept logic, math and science as basic ways to understand our universe, then you are ignorant. Probably willfully so (which is worse). Period.
There's nothing inherently wrong with being conservative or Christian. I really don't like how labels have been turned into attacks by the 'other' side. Likewise, with the words liberal or progressive. These can all be positive things. They are positive things. But they've been weaponized. But there is a problem with being a Christofascist. There is a problem with claiming to be one of those things, and yet whoring out those values to advance an agenda. "Whatsoever you do to the least of men, you also do to Me". The argument should end right there.
And speaking of agendas, there's no such thing as a 'gay agenda'. You know what the gay agenda is? To be left the fuck alone to simply live their lives the way the rest of us have the fortune to do.
I am going to do my best to teach my kids that these belief systems are not ok. I have hope for the upcoming generation(s). Maybe they can fix what all of us that came before have broken.
"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." --Isaac Asimov
The world's gone crazy. Or has it? I mean, we actually live in the safest, most civilized time in history. So why does it seem like we've slid into a moral dung heap? Maybe it's because we all fooled ourselves into thinking we had actually made progress. That way, it's more disappointing when it turns out that we aren't as far along as we thought.
In a way, it's good. What I mean is that people that believe reprehensible things now feel comfortable enough to say them out loud and in front of cameras and the world. That makes it easy to identify the people whose values you do not share. The disappointing part is that many of these people have turned out to be friends and family.
As someone with a degree in philosophy, I can honestly tell you that I am comfortable having my beliefs challenged. And I am more than comfortable challenging the beliefs of others. The problem is that most people are NOT comfortable examining their beliefs. It sends them into fight-or-flight mode, which is not conducive to rational debate. And when it is friends or family, we often stay silent to keep the peace. I respect others' beliefs (if not internally, at least publicly) enough to save them the discomfort of feeling attacked. Which is what it feels like to have your beliefs challenged. But maybe it's time for everyone else to get up to speed. To do the actual work involved in that introspection. And that requires some uncomfortable conversations. It requires people to really see if their proclaimed values match up to their words and actions. It may require for you (and me) to speak up and risk the potential alienation and excommunication that may come from someone that can't do the work once you confront them. So be it. If you have to constantly avoid topics of politics, religion, spirituality, philosophy or anything else that matters to you, then how valued can that relationship really be? How deep can any real connection go? If someone hasn't examined their own beliefs, then they are not their beliefs; they are someone else's beliefs that have been dogmatically adapted. They are just going through the motions. And if you don't have these conversations, then your relationships are also just going through the motions.
Think of it this way. Imagine your loved one was suffering from a substance abuse problem. Would you say anything? Or would you just 'mind your own business'? Many people in this exact scenario actually do try to ignore the problem. Eventually though, it will come to a head. Something will happen. Something will break in you. You will lose something that was once important to you. Now imagine if a loved one was suffering from mental illness. How does your answer change? What if your loved one was recruited into a cult? Would you stay silent then? Ultimately, you cannot force someone to adopt new views, or to help themselves if they are not willing to do the work. But many times, people need help. They need to know they aren't alone. What about something simpler? What if they were suffering from a physical, medical illness and they refused to seek help? Wouldn't you at the least, encourage them to see a doctor; go to the ER; something?
So why should it be any different when someone you know holds a despicable belief? A belief that they justify through the lens of politics and religion?
Let's get specific.
If you believe that homosexuality and other forms of sexual and gender expression are wrong, you are homophobic/transphobic. Period.
If you believe that someone that has different melanin levels in their skin is lesser, then you are a racist. Period.
If you believe that someone from another part of the world is a threat, you are xenophobic. Period.
If you believe that someone that holds a different worldview or religious belief is a threat, then you are a bigot. Period.
If you believe that the random assignment of chromosomes makes some people more valuable than others, then you are sexist. And probably misogynistic. Period.
If you can't accept logic, math and science as basic ways to understand our universe, then you are ignorant. Probably willfully so (which is worse). Period.
There's nothing inherently wrong with being conservative or Christian. I really don't like how labels have been turned into attacks by the 'other' side. Likewise, with the words liberal or progressive. These can all be positive things. They are positive things. But they've been weaponized. But there is a problem with being a Christofascist. There is a problem with claiming to be one of those things, and yet whoring out those values to advance an agenda. "Whatsoever you do to the least of men, you also do to Me". The argument should end right there.
And speaking of agendas, there's no such thing as a 'gay agenda'. You know what the gay agenda is? To be left the fuck alone to simply live their lives the way the rest of us have the fortune to do.
I am going to do my best to teach my kids that these belief systems are not ok. I have hope for the upcoming generation(s). Maybe they can fix what all of us that came before have broken.
"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." --Isaac Asimov
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