On this first anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, let us humbly remember the natural disasters we’ve shared in the past, and rededicate our sacred intention to upgrade human behavior and circumstances in order to avoid future devastation. What does this prayer mean?
For thousands of years, the leadership of almost every organized hierarchy in civilization, including government, commerce and religion, has been almost exclusively male. There’s no way to determine precisely how men came to rule the world, but they did and they do. Female divinity was driven from shared eminence in the Western world by around…
A military salient is usually an advanced position jutting out into enemy territory. The word salient comes from the Latin verb to leap. Self-definition is a leap toward human progress.The military, police and religion are the top 3 of 4. That is surprising. I called the Congress correctly. Self-definition is one of the engines driving…
The flood of election year distortion eventually recedes. When your mind’s made up, and you’re ready to tolerate any distortion as long as your side wins, recall Noah. Strive for truth and righteousness. Resist partisan oversimplification. Shun divisive distortion. Remember that the healthiest patriotism is grounded in facts, not partisan politics.
Cherry-picking refers to people’s practice of selecting information to justify their points of view, even as they ignore perspectives and data from the same or similar legitimate sources that contradict their positions.
For example, the Hippocratic Oath is sometimes quoted to justify a stance against abortion rights by the same people who are certain that faith in female divinity as expressed in this document is heretical. Indeed, this oath, from which anti-abortion advocates draw support, was created by people who worshiped goddesses. It states, “I swear by Apollo the healer, Asclepius, Hygieia and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and judgment, the following oath and agreement.”
The connection between humanity and the nutritional abundance of our sacred planet is as indispensable as the placental connection between a mother and her child. The placenta has been described as the only disposable organ ever made. Civilization is also disposable. If the connection between humanity and civilization fails, our descendants will have no more chance of survival than a fetus disconnected from its placenta.
An overwhelming majority of people living on Earth believe their god offers them an afterlife. The accuracy of this statement is based on the number of people who belong to a religion that claims life after death is a certainty. Among the many existing religions featuring some form of afterlife are Christianity (2.5 billion adherents),…
For dozens of centuries the aristocracy mocked and doubted the common people’s capacity to lead. Then came “We hold these truths to be self-evident … all men are created equal … they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights … among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” If you believe these words, then you own responsibility for human leadership now.
There’s so much anti-government talk these days, it’s easy to forget that both the Erie Canal and the U.S. Constitution were incredibly successful government projects.
People who excuse exaggerations, distortions, omissions and flat-out lies because all sides do it are wrong. Remember the oath: “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” Do we the people have the right to expect our political leaders to tell the truth? When leaders…