Displaying 0 To 0 Of 0 Comments A serious reflection- In the image of God—- that sticks with me. Is our searching, uncertainty, incompleteness, failing an expression of our having fallen as a race, per Eden, or are these expressions of the nature of God? We have a need for a God absolutes…I wonder. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 27, 2012 @ 3:17 pm A WORD ABOUT “GOD” AND “DISASTERS”
If “God” is in charge, then something is very wrong
. As Woody Allen noted: If there is a god, there is little doubt that he is an underachiever. At the root of course is the key question: Is God the author of the earthquake? of the tsunami? If it is God who “cures” the cancer, then is it God who “sends” it? If so, why? Does God test us, or punish us with disaster/crisis (and if so how does one explain the innocent who suffer)?
Or is the cancer/the storm/the earthquake a curse from some evil entity? If so, does this entity have as much power as God or is the entity allowed to act so that God’s power can be demonstrated? It goes on and on.
Or is the “disaster” just part of the natural order- an event taking place within the context of natural law over which “god” does not exercise direct control?
Here’s how I make sense of this. If one believes in a Deity (by whatever name) and if one understands that Deity to be inherently good then that Deity is, in some manner, removed from events like those described here. As such “god” is inherently living apart from the rest of creation (either by choice or by its nature) interacting with humanity and the world in which humans live on the spiritual/intellectual/philosophical plan.
The essential problem: If God is the author of the blessings, then God would appear to have authority over the curse OR is God incapable of stopping those curses from being laid upon humanity and can only intervene a limited number of times. The God who is not consistent comes across as incompetent, uncaring, malevolent, evil, capricious, or some combination of these.
So, here is where I, as a Christian Humanist land, if God, however one understands this, is good and is at work in suffering it is in the compassion, mercy, love, care, forbearance, strength of heart and charity of those who respond to the crisis or have been caught up in it.
As one poster wrote after the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunmi: “My prayer is that God may wash the survivors in his mercy and grace replacing the waters of destruction with those of peace experienced in the kindness and outreach of those untouched by the disaster but still affected by it.” Ok, that is a sentiment that seems to fit in with the way the world is ordered. And it seems to call upon us to be channels of that mercy, grace and peace. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 27, 2012 @ 3:06 pm The Right Wing’s Psychotic Version of God Let me add to your most excellent exhortation just this: The Anglican ministers were part of a state religion, an institutionalized, established church which was headed by the monarch. As such the Anglican Church represented the church and state, both temporal and religious power and is that which those like Gohmert want to reestablish. They want to undo the American Revolution. This is consistent with the right which claims to be the Part of Small Government but wants to build the military even more, wants control over reproductive choices, wants to pass judgment on life style. In each and every case, priorities that run counter to the spirit of American Independence. Hypocrites, yes. Ignorant hypocrites, even worse. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 22, 2012 @ 2:51 pm What does Jesus say to do in the face of one’s enemies: love them, forgive them, turn the other cheek to be struck again, put down the sword. Gohmert’s take is typical of those who say Christian but act pagan. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 22, 2012 @ 11:51 am Your reading of the Founding Generation is accurate. It is more true to say that the Founders and Framers were most interested in freedom from the oppression of an institutionalized, state religion. The colonists had experienced this with the Anglicans in most of the colonies and with the Puritans in the upper colonies. Religion as an oppressive force was very much understood by them. They were also concerned about the power that corporate, that is, centralized, religious bodies were capable of wielding. As to Franklin….the man was as sectarian as they get and along with Jefferson one of those who most certainly a deist. For him virtue is the equivalent of the Roman Word, virtus, meaning to have the courage of one’s convictions and to do ones best to uphold them. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 22, 2012 @ 11:49 am I agree with much of this. A word about Jesus. That he existed I have no doubt. That his message was counter-cultural, emphasized a series of values including mercy, compassion, tolerance, openness, acceptance, care for others, our duty to the poor/the persecuted/the ignorant/the imprisoned, and peace. The Beatitudes and Greatest Commandments capture the heart of his message…apparently one he was willing to die for. His followers “mystified” and eventually “churched” the message losing its edge. While there have been many great prophetic figures, the Jesus Message remains the most integrated and consistent of them as witnessed in the first 300 years of the Christian Community which called itself “The Way”…as in how to live life. That is what sticks for me. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 22, 2012 @ 11:44 am Gohmert-“Some of us happen to believe that when our founders talked about guarding our virtue and freedom, that that was important,” he said. “Whether it’s John Adams saying our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people … Ben Franklin, only a virtuous people are capable of freedom, as nations become corrupt and vicious they have more need of masters. We have been at war with the very pillars, the very foundation of this country.” I am a Christian Humanist but I have been positively influenced by Buddhism as well. Gohmert’s narrow view of American faith having to be equated with the Judaeo-Christian tradition is not one I accept. For Gohmert and his fellow travelers, it’s always going to be about their own self righteousness and desire to limit the choices of others. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 21, 2012 @ 5:53 pm The Inevitable Romney Campaign Theme: Hate the Black Man Ad Lib….what you write is all true. And I wonder if the adage that “the truth shall set you free” is just so much hot air. “We can’t handle the truth” – to paraphrase Jack Nicholson as Col. Jessep in the “A Few Good Men.” For those who want to, who need to see Obama as “alien, other, not us” the attack you so expertly outline is sweet, sweet music. For those who have embrace Obama as a person, even if they are not completely happy with what he has done as President, these attacks are part of the landscape on the right. As to the undecided, the uncommitted, the so called Independents….well, you know what I am going to say. Independents are, in large part, uncommitted because they are un-connected, un-involved and un-informed. They are also, in large part, very narrowly focused on their own issues- the key one of which is how they are doing financially for greed really is good. This morning’s polling shows that Obama’s favorability/unfavorability ratings have slipped again…..after 10 days of relentless pounding on the obvious duplicity that is at the heart of the Romney decision to not disclose his financial profile. And, we know that Obama’s campaign is going through its money at record speed which Romney’s people are holding back in part because they have to given the structure of their donations but mostly as a result of a decision to money carpet bomb in the days prior to and after their convention. THE SAD REALITY IS THAT MOST OF US REALLY CANNOT HANDLE THE TRUTH. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 19, 2012 @ 4:06 am The Apple Fell Far from the Tree As I have stated here a number of times, I began my voting life as a Eisenhower Republican on the national level and a FDR Democrat on the state and local level. The GOP has moved further, and further into the libertarian, fanatical, corporatist, neocon, military adventurer camp. IKE would not recognize his party. Reagan would barely recognize and folks like George HW Bush reminds us that this is so. Thanks for your comment. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 18, 2012 @ 8:41 pm His mom- university graduate, actress, very active in leadership positions in five civic organizations, candidate for the U.S. Senate. A stay at home mom, but she had a lot going for her. Mitt was one of four kids Yeah, Mitt was the baby and his older brother who was a lawyer, politician and business. Quite successful and he got along. I have a hard time getting a read on the family dynamics. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 18, 2012 @ 2:30 pm One of the comments I read a while back fits into your observation. The author noted that Romney is “notably unsuited for the political game.” He notes that he is not comfortable in speech making, improvises poorly, wants so badly to win that he will not hold to a set of core values/beliefs, lifts his values from current environment and dispenses with them when he moves elsewhere…all pointing to a man who seems to want to win because he wants to win. It all takes me back to his Dad. I recall a friend who was a very good football player but never a great one. He never enjoyed the game since he spent so much of the time looking for his Dad on the sidelines and trying to read how his dad was rating his performance. I think Mitt is looking to dad “on t he sidelines.” » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 18, 2012 @ 2:22 pm Ad Lib…just to fill out the very impressive analysis you provide here…. George at five years old flees Mexico with his parents in the midst of a raging, often anti-Gringo, revolution. They left almost everything they owned behind them. George’s family was on “welfare” for several years and moved three times in its first years in the U.S. There were serious questions about their being expelled and were it not for their Mormon connections it could have been very dicey. Eventually his father landed work as a carpenter, farmer, laborer, and eventually, a small contractor. George went to five schools and was often mocked for a lingering Spanish/Mexican accent (he was nicknamed “Mex” in two schools). George started working in wheat and sugar beet fields at the age of eleven and still was the valedictorian at his grammar school graduation in 1921. He learned trades in lathe, plaster, carpentry and electricity. When the Depression hit, the family lost everything again. In Salt Lake City the family found a home with the LDS community there and he went to first a public high school and then the parochial LDS high school. He went to an LDS community college and then, having raised all the money himself, sailed for Britain to become a Mormon missionary in a Glasgow, Scotland, slum. The abject poverty and hopelessness he saw there affected him greatly, but he was ineffective in gaining converts and suffered a crisis of faith When he returned to the U.S., in the midst of the Depression, he experienced significant periods of unemployment and worked a number of jobs from a stenographer for a member of Congress, a dairyman, and then an apprentice metalworker for Alcoa. Within a short time he was allowed to begin training as a salesman at 24. He married. Within three years he was working with trade associations and eventually became a lobbyist. By the time he was 30 he was comfortably middle class. Now compare that to Mitt’s early life. Your analysis of George as a parent and the role of his mother are particularly powerful and seem to be well rooted in what I have observed as well. Arm chair psychology when engaged by someone as astute as yourself and provide incisive takes on the life of public figures. This piece is just that. Thanks. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 17, 2012 @ 7:23 am KQ…thank you. Your remark is spot on which is why it really galls me when Mitt stands up their with that stiff body language, fake smile, dead eyes, over-rehearsed stump speech, and dares to say the Obama does know about the lives of regular people, that he is not a real American and does not understand “our values”. Disgusting. The GOP has outdone itself this time – there is nothing in the man that I find attractive now. AND a year and a half ago I was of a mind that if Obama-hate was so great that he could not win a second term then Mitt would be an acceptable alternative. No longer. The more I know, the more I dislike him on a personal level, distrust him on a policy level, and fear him on the decision making level. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 17, 2012 @ 7:00 am KilgoreTrout…thank you. A few words about the prep school environment. There are prep schools and then there are prep schools. Cranbrook where Mitt attended as a boarding student (which really immerses the young man in the clan of the wealthy, the powerful, the entitled) is very much the kind of school portrayed in “Scent”, Baird, a name Pacino mocks again and again as only he can. Punahou School, the “prep” school Obama attended, is often thrown up by Obama attackers as an indication of the double standard and hypocrisy of the Obama camp. BUT, that school was founded by missionaries for their children and soon thereafter for the island children. Muliculturism, diversity, have been its hallmarks. Barack, like many of the kids there attended thanks to a generous scholarship for kids from families that cannot afford its tuition. More than 2/3 of the student body is in that situation. The campus is modest and its curriculum emphasizes responsibility for others. The article on Wikipedia provides a snapshot of a school with many impressive results that is not overwhelmingly impressed with itself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punahou_School By the way, like you, I love Scent of a Woman. O’Donnell’s performance is truly impressive: powerful, brave, sensitive. Pacino is a bit over the top….but it really works. Thanks for the response. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 17, 2012 @ 6:56 am Hey there Cyrano 1….The Newsroom was an interesting series for one episode, the first one. And the most interesting part of that premier was the three minutes you chose to share here. Sadly, the show quickly wears on the viewer- overwrought, over the top and so focused on personal business that one often forgets how obsessed news people are with their work. Still….it, and you make a great set of points. I find your insights both intriguing and challenging. What you pinpoint is the role the have-not generation, which was the condition of George Romney’s upbringing, has in creating a generation of must-haves. They do it for many of the right reasons, but what they often got was a result that, were they honest with themselves, had to disappoint. I suspect that George HW is disappointed in W. I suspect that George would be disappointed in Mitt who never held office until after he died. Certainly the current debacle over Bain, taxes and offshore havens would not be to his liking. Hope to see a lot more of you at the Planet. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 17, 2012 @ 6:41 am George was definitely a Republican in the Ike mode. His Vietnam position truly evolved as he became aware of how much the generals had deceived the public, and its elected leaders. His use of the word “brainwash” was a poor choice but his meaning was clear in the context of his statement. As to his son….George did not serve in the military either. In fact, the LDS exemption from Selective Service when they are doing “missionary” work had the effect of making Mormons a very rare presence in any branch of the military, something they are now working to change given the military’s role in societal leadership. His mom….if you read her biography she had quite a career. University graduate, actress, politician and business woman. She had to have an influence but what it is has not been well defined. When you compare George’s life of rags to riches to Mitt’s life of rich to richer it seems clear that Mitt is not well grounded. I am incredulous that Mitt has acted as he has, but I wonder if another similarity to George W. is an on-the-surface admiration hiding a rejection of his father and his father’s ways. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 17, 2012 @ 6:24 am When Will The Poor Get Their Chance? 7 Selfish Reasons why the Haves should care about the Have Nots First, poverty means wasted lives—lives of people who could have grown to their full potential, prospered, and contributed to the overall health and stability of the nation and the world. econd, poverty breeds desperation and leads some desperate poor people into wasted lives, including substance abuse and crime, both of which threaten stable society. Third, the poor are more prone to illnesses and health problems which in turn spread through the population as a result of the regular contact that takes place between the poor and not-poor in public places, at restaurants, hotels, large events. Fourth, the hopelessness felt by the poor makes them apt to follow any demagogue who promises salvation often by overthrowing those who are the haves, whether it is through communism, fascism, or religious extremism. Fifth, helping the poor move from poverty raises the income of the rest of society which it turns promotes more economic growth which positively affects everyone. Sixth, more advanced/developed nations should worry about nations filled with poor people as they often collapse into “failed states” that succumb to internal and external conflicts necessitating military intervention which often creates more turmoil and no one wins. Seventh, the poor are desperate to leave their surroundings whether legally or illegally creating all of the woes associated with undocumented immigrants. Drawn from: Why Poverty Hurts Everyone By Philip Kotler and Nancy R. Lee Jun 18, 2009 http://www.ftpress.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1353372&seqNum=4 » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 16, 2012 @ 5:42 am Figuring Out The Far Right Republicans Yep…the Planet is where I go for these kinds of conversations. It is the place where my blogging batteries get recharged. Disagreeing without being disagreeable. Agreeing based on sound thinking, strong evidence, and logical argument. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 11, 2012 @ 5:42 pm So…can I copy and send on to HP… » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 11, 2012 @ 5:39 pm Yes. I think you are correct in this. The gestalt light! Yeah! Newest- the Nation’s report on the top Romney contributors- off shore account keepers all of them, and in the billions. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 11, 2012 @ 5:37 pm Agree with all of this in general but I think the press is really stepping up and the tv media is being forced to report on their stories. Tonights newest: the Nation’s report on the top Romney contributors who are overwhelming off shore account keepers, in the billions. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 11, 2012 @ 5:35 pm Simultaneous programming. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 11, 2012 @ 5:33 pm Ad Lib…Just want to acknowledge your mention of our understanding to agree to disagree. Clearly we have very different viewpoints re. HP and that is ok. What we do agree on is a set of progressive principles and the value of the Planet in promoting them while seriously analyzing the give and take in any political-economic-social process. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 11, 2012 @ 12:29 pm KT- I know the “moderators” at three sites and they would agree with you completely. The vitriol from the right is truly frightening. Yesterday Biden told LaRaza that the great motivator for the right wing now is the fear of the demographic shift taking place in the nation. I think Obama symbolizes that for them and liberals are seen as the ones who are bringing the change on. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 11, 2012 @ 12:06 pm Ad Lib…One of my correspondents is calling the elections in November “The Great American IQ Test”. If the GOP wins, we failed. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 11, 2012 @ 12:03 pm KT One battalion of rangers with a little attack helicopter support and they are smoked meat. Such Hubris. And, if they want to be afraid, they should fear the party that wants control of the lives of its citizens in ways that the Dems never dreamed of. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 11, 2012 @ 12:02 pm Ad Lib…have you notice a trend in the print media especially to challenge the GOP in ways that are far more aggressive and penetrating. The stories re. the Romney off shore accounts, comparisons with his father, the block the vote efforts, the govs not accepting the medicaid expansion, the unethical practices in the investment sector are all getting a lot more push with investigative journalism leading the way which in turn stokes the MSM fire, primes the pump. I’ve noticed it. I e-mailed a former student who writes for one of the magazines that has been rocking the boat asking if I was a victim of my own wishful thinking…Here is his reply: “…Nope, not rose colored glasses (something I do not associate with you). The talk in the newsrooms is that we had better get our act together. The GOP has been so bold, so aggressive there is a growing fear that the curtailing of the press, control of the internet, and violation of privacy rights (which for us undermines our ability to get info) are likely targets for GOP action IF they get control of the government. I would add that some of the old hands have been pushing hard against the news as entertainment (and a means of profit) culture…” Your thoughts? » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 11, 2012 @ 11:59 am Sue- the Dominionist Link is very important. I have used the White Horse Prophecy material a number of times as well. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 11, 2012 @ 11:34 am Bourne, my reply to Sue addresses some of your concerns here. Your HP comments are right on the mark. I like them so much I would like to copy them and send them to my management friend. He needs to hear thoughts like yours as you focus on things I do not- you have a “feel” for the site that I lack and have the gift to strike up conversations with almost anyone…remarkable. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 11, 2012 @ 11:32 am Sue…regarding Friday night. I was actually on site for much of the evening but worn out. The politics here is Missouri are miserable right now. There is a real struggle going on in the Dem Party between those who see our Blue Dog reality as all we can hope for and those who say we should devote our efforts to support the party in other states and let the Blue Dogs drown since they really do not help our side and give the GOP “cover” when they want to claim bipartisan support. Lots of meetings and on-line, by phone exchanges. Additionally, I have a very large truck garden and given our extreme weather keeping it going has proven to be a part time job by itself. SO…I was tuckered out. Having said that, I tend to like serious conversations and substantial debate. I can be silly but it is rare (thus my mojito night two weeks ago). I could not get into the repartee last Friday, so rather than pushing my desire for what I enjoy, I just watched from the sideline which is fine. Love the Planet for very different reasons that I love HP. Vox is a big reason for this, but so are meaty articles and the discussion that follows like this one. » Posted By MurphTheSurf3 On July 11, 2012 @ 11:25 amComments Posted By MurphTheSurf3
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Never miss a chance to drive home your own favorite agenda items. I happen to agree with the idea that a life grounded in a sense of faithfulness, community, commitment to each other, and motivated by love is a better life.
Lynn Kennan (b. 1935)
Jane Romney (b. 1938)
G. Scott Romney (b. 1941)
Mitt Romney (b. 1947)
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