The Path: February 2016

Friday, February 26, 2016

My Sunday Thought for 02282016: Robotic Empathy

“The Master created humans first as the lowest type, most easily formed. Gradually, he replaced them by robots, the next higher step, and finally he created me, to take the place of the last humans.”

--Isaac Asimov, "I, Robot"

NOTE: Prior to continuing your read of this post, please review the youtube video, Atlas, the Next Generation. Review of this footage will give some context to my thoughts.

I happened across this YouTube video, thanks to a dear friend, Atlas, the Next Generation. I have a long affinity for anything robotic since my first encounter with them in the science fiction movies of the fifties. I think my first memory is the 1954 film, Tobor the Great, which was followed up by Robby the Robot in the 1956 film, Forbidden Planet. Through the Terminator, Alien, Star Wars, and Star Trek franchises, Blade Runner, Bicentennial Man, AI, and so many other standalone movies, none have had the impact on me which Adam Link had in the 1964, Outer Limits episode, I, Robot, in which a robot is put on trial for murder. What most of our films have in common is our interest and search for the humanity in such artificial intelligence; the question of when a robot becomes human, and what emotion we, as humans, would attach to them.

When I watched the footage of Atlas, the Next Generation, I was struck by how quickly I was affected by the seeming cruelty of the man putting the robot through its paces. I immediately forgot, for a fraction of a second, this was simply a presentation of the robot's capabilities. I found myself asking how the human would like being pushed down and prodded by a hockey stick, embarrassed on film by having the box, which you're supposed to pick up, constantly moved beyond reach. I was reminded of the scene in Escape from the Planet of the Apes, an excerpt I have included from the plot summary, by Tim Dirks, on AMC Filmsite:

To the animal keeper named Arthur, Dr. Dixon announced he would begin testing the apes, Zira first, with the Wisconsin Multiphasic - a test to identify different colored and shaped wooden blocks, with a window shade-like screen between the test subject and the observer. Zira quickly identified and answered the first question, prompting Dixon to say: "She seems to be pretty smart." With a more difficult test, Zira swiftly selected the five correct blocks to confound the disbelieving doctors. She also replaced all twelve blocks into their proper carved-out drawer slots. But with the next unfamiliar test, dangling a banana high in front of her, she paused before assembling interlocking large-sized colored blocks in the cell in order to allow herself to sit directly under the tempting food - and then deliberately chose not to eat it. Dr. Branton was incredulous: "Why doesn't she take it?" -- and Zira, exasperated by this time, blurted out: "Because I loathe bananas!", impatiently exposing the fact that she had the power of speech.

There will come a time, in our development of artificial intelligence, when this robot will finally snatch the stick from the man's hands, whack him with it, and break it in two while asking, "How do you like it?" If more animals did that, more humans might show them due respect. Hit me and I will bite you. Hit me harder and I will bite you harder. Tie me up, beat me, and sooner or later I will get free to rip out your throat or scratch out your eyes.

If we feel emotion toward the maltreatment of robots at this stage of their development, what will we feel as they progress toward more human form, function, and personality? How will we react when they display emotion of their own? We argue against making them look too human for this very reason, yet we feel empathy for them when they are just arms and legs attached to a box. How will we react when they look, act, and feel more human than humans? What would we do if they became better than the best of us?

God gives us the ingenuity and intelligence to press forward with creating an entity in our own image. Perhaps it will be the next in a long line of heavenly lessons for mankind that we create something to show us how we are supposed to act, since we can't seem to grasp the basic concepts.

Just a thought, my Sunday Thought, for February 28, 2016.

Editor's Note

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, and instructor. He is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path," which offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination.

Monday, February 22, 2016

Visibility: Ten Miles, Unobstructed

I'm sitting at a four way stop in the middle of the desert, wondering to myself why there is a four way stop in the middle of a desert with miles of clear, unobstructed view. Where's the massive traffic the highway safety board seems so concerned over? What is more confusing is why the old guy ahead of me is studying both directions like he's in the middle of a Seattle commute. He must know something I don't, or he's an idiot. Who am I to judge? But, either way, I'm late and God is, once again, teaching me patience. I'm sure my patience will be rewarded when this guy moves and I can leisurely pass him, doing thirty, on this empty strip of desert highway.

This is the guy you want with you when facing a "fight or flight" situation. He's the one still considering the angry bear's intentions as you're slowly exiting stage left. Why would the bear want to give chase when it has Joe Bag O'Doughnuts just standing there? Whether he knows it or not, and probably not, he's bear poop.

Same desert, different intersection, this time with a yield sign on the short right hand merge lane. The guy ahead of me and the chopper behind are the only other vehicles I've seen for ten minutes. The Gremlin ahead is doing about fifteen MPH into the yield we all seem to be taking.

He looks left, as do I. I'm looking to ensure the owner of a Gremlin isn't too blind to see there is still no traffic for miles, a fact I took note of about a quarter mile from the intersection. I see red lights peripherally and immediately hit my brakes assuming the Gremlin driver has seen something I missed. I realize, too late, his driving ability was right down there with his taste in vehicles. This inept driver has stopped halfway into the merging lane, for no damned good reason. I literally stand up on the brake pedal with both feet while gritting my teeth and white knuckling the steering wheel.

My brakes locked and the tires were screaming that, oh so satisfying, scream which says you've just shortened your tire life by several hundred miles or so. Brakes and tires still complaining, I check my rearview mirror, more concerned for the life of the motorcycle rider behind me than any vehicle damage that was going to occur. I just have time to notice he's no longer there before I hear him, to my immediate right, gun his engine and launch the Harley over the low berm to the soft desert floor ten feet below. The last I see of his beer fed girth is the insignia of a local desert biker club emblazoned on the back of his leather vest. I close my eyes tight bracing for the impact, thinking, "Oh, shit," on several levels.

Meanwhile, the other driver and I complete the inevitable fender bender, mitigated to dented bumpers due to the great set of brakes in my brand new, red, 1974 Datsun pickup that set me back $4,500. I was shaken up. But, where I was a tad upset with this driver, I let the biker handle the ass chewing as I could tell he was seriously pissed off by the way he threw his leather gloves to the ground before climbing back up the berm, walking right passed me, and getting up in the other drivers grill while spitting nails. Ouch! When he was done giving the other driver a piece of his mind he turned and looked down at the minor dent to my bumper, smiled, then silently shook his head as he headed back down the berm to retrieve is ride. I felt lucky, for the second time that day.

That day I discovered a design faux pas of the Gremlin, other than being just butt ugly. The rear bumper seems to be tied into everything underneath. The dent in the driver's bumper, which he shook off knowing he had screwed up, was nothing compared to the damage I saw underneath his vehicle, and kept to myself because I also knew he had screwed up. Looking back, perhaps I should have told him. I'll answer for that small omission down the road, I'm sure.

These are the same people that God sets as tests to our patience every day. We're behind them at any intersection as the light turns green and they daydream or pick their nose. We speed up behind them in the fast lane on any highway where the speed limit is 70 and they're doing 35 while they pet the dog in their lap, and 35 is faster that the 20 they entered the 70 MPH highway at. You know this because you were behind them on that ramp and risked the lives of yourself and the drivers around you to prevent being a meat and metal sandwich between "pokey" and the chrome grill of the 18 wheeler trying to mate with your trunk.

These are the people in the express line at Walmart waiting until they get their total at checkout prior to even looking for their checkbook in the suitcase they call a purse, and then they complain about something that was obviously due to their lack of diligence. And, as luck would have it, they have to be in front of you in the crowded order line at McDonald's, waiting until they hear, "Can I help you?" before even attempting to glance at the menu board.

God bless their lil' hearts!

They are, inevitably, the people that can't seem to chew gum and walk at the same time, yet they think they can eat, or put on make-up, and drive. They think they can walk and text, or drive and text. They run when the police say stop, and they pull a knife when the cop has a gun. You know their parents, too, as they're the one's screaming foul at the police and society for their shortcoming as parents and their child's inability to respect the rule of law. These people are the inept thieves that write the bank robbery note on the back of their own deposit slip. They travel through life seemingly oblivious to anything happening around them, or for those they inconvenience because of their seeming inability to live life with thought, vigor, and purpose. They are the people we tend to say a prayer for, everyday.

On the flip side of the coin, we have those bulls in the china shop; those people that just push their way through life with the same disregard for people and events around them. I equate these people to the guys riding the "crotch rockets," those uncomfortable looking racing motorcycles that easily reach the speed of sound. They zoom in and out of traffic, tailgating, cutting people off, and running red lights. These people rarely wear the appropriate outfit for riding a motorcycle, probably because they realize the inevitable accident, especially at those speeds, will ultimately result in them being an organ donor for the rest of us. No stupid deed goes unrewarded, and God has a way of, sooner or later, weeding out the stupid. God bless them for their donation to the greater good.

What is it that causes people, with all good intention, to make questionable decisions in obvious situations? We can have a perfectly clear, unobstructed view of our life, aware of the rules in place and the simplest decisions we have to make, yet we still act like we're in a trance, staring like deer caught in headlights, mouth agape like a mindless simpleton, unable to move ahead, to make a choice to lead, follow, or get out of the way. We become the hazards to navigation; the reasons for road rage, accidents, mayhem and death, and most times we are oblivious to all we cause around us unless we stare in our life's rearview mirror at the carnage in our wake, at which point we only wonder what we just missed, thanking God we are alive and have another interesting anecdote to share. We consider ourselves to be the most intelligent of the species inhabiting this rock. God help us, please.

Maybe it's time to park our vehicles and walk for a while. If we find it so difficult to multitask our way through a motorized conveyance and actually have enough functioning grey matter to form enough constructive thought to allow us forward momentum, maybe we should rethink getting behind the wheel of a killing machine that requires a modicum of decision making and speed in our reflexes and reaction time. God forbid considering the purchase of a firearm. However, since creative thought defines our very being, it would seem prudent for most of us to just stay in bed and vegetate, something for which many of us show an unwavering proficiency for anyway.

If we do decide to walk, maybe we should try doing it with some sense of purpose. Pay attention to what is going on around us and try thinking a few steps ahead so we can make an intelligent decision, choice, or judgment at the drop of a hat.

Don't move so slow that we risk going back in time. If someone has to act like they know what they're doing, it might as well be us. The other option, is that we become the obstacle others have to navigate around or run over; we can be the bear poop in the woods.

As for my attitude, I still need to work on patience. God gifteds us with it, I should try to exercise it. Patience is something I found to be a bit overrated, though. It gets in the way of trying to make the most out of this short life I've been afforded by my Creator. I prefer to exercise patience when I'm alone, walking on the beach, or with someone I care about. When I'm with strangers, I assume they are also trying to make the most out of their short life and, if my efforts can't speed them along on their journey, I have the good sense, and courtesy, to get out of their way... or go around them.

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,

I can see all obstacles in my way

Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind

It's gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)

Sun-Shiny day.

-- Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, "I Can See Clearly Now" lyrics

Editor's Note

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, and instructor. He is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path," which offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

My Sunday Thought for 02/21/16: Beware of the Children

Beware of the children. Have you seen them? Their eyes seem as wide as saucers from ingesting mass quantities of various energy drinks. Their fingers have a nervous twitch developed from hours of online gaming and texting. When they congregate, which is rare, they do so in small or large groups, dressing somewhat similar, and for no real purpose. Small groups for those seeming to have few social skills, or large groups for those preferring to get lost in the crowd for fear of standing out and being counted. The only time they seem willing to get off their parents couch and leave their parent's house is to vote for the latest candidate that will promise them something for nothing, and then it's back to mommy's house for more video games and texting. They graduate from college yet can't find Russia, much less the state they live in, on a map. They have a job but don't bother saving for the future. They live life in a world where participation gets a trophy and no one has to stress over being number one, except in the fantasy world of video gaming. Dress alike, act alike, and think alike, they wander our streets like zombies in the movies they relish watching. We are allowing our country to slowly morph into a veritable Village of the Damned.

At age three, the children are precocious, physically and mentally the equivalent of children four times their age. Their behaviour has become even more unusual and striking. They dress impeccably, always walk as a group, speak in an adult manner, and behave maturely, but they show no conscience or love, and demonstrate a coldness to others, causing the villagers to fear and be repulsed by them.

-- Wikipedia, "Village of the Damned" (1960 film)

We, as parents, have failed our children. We failed at parenting, too caught up in our own jobs and issues of life to consider the responsibilities of rearing our young. We assigned our responsibilities to the state, and we have gotten back everything we have come to expect from our liberal institutions of "higher education" - socialism. For the majority of our youth, they seem content with their lot. They have handed over the reins of life to the state and relegated God to cult status as belief in God is contrary to the philosophical need of the government for total control. Really?

I find it disheartening when I see a divisive racist like Jesse Jackson walking side by side and hanging with Presidential candidates. These are the rabble rousers of our country's youth that use the ignorance of youth to inflame hatred and frustration in the very system these same young people refuse to actively participate in other than to, occasionally, cast a vote for the candidate least likely to make us better than other countries, the candidate more concerned with participation in world affairs than leadership in them.

Beware of the children for they are the spawn of a society in a downward spiral to destruction. Our own complacency with active, constructive, parenting will go down in a rewritten history as the time when adults gave up the country to our youth. We will be seen as complicit in the creation of the New World Order, of bringing to fruition of George Orwell's, 1984, an accomplishment we will be seen as proud of.

Beware of the children, and the country which prohibits quality parenting, developing a sense of right from wrong, and teaching truth - in everything! Teaching the truth means teaching all sides of an issue and allowing the student to make up their own mind. Teaching means being fair and balanced in our presentation. We, as parents, have allowed our schools to develop curriculum which favors a lack of truth, a lack of choice, mediocrity as a goal, and an agenda which favors governmental control of, well... everything. These children which grow lacking basic understandings of how the real world works are set on a path to form the world in their own image of what that world should be. They are set on that path by a government which the people are supposed to control, a government that is supposed to protect us from the very future it seems set on bringing about.

The children begin to exhibit the power to read minds and to force people to do things against their will. There have been a number of villagers' deaths since the children were born, many of which are considered unusual, and some citizens believe the children are responsible. This is confirmed when the children are seen killing a man by making him crash his car into a wall, and again when they force his suspicious brother to shoot himself.

-- Wikipedia, "Village of the Damned" (1960 film)

Parent your children. Be good mentors and custodians of the truth, not colored by your own personal beliefs, desires, or agendas. Relish history as it unfolded, not as some fiction set down as a kinder, gentler, approach. History can be an ugly thing, this is how we learn from mistakes and how we teach to prevent a recurrence. Parent your children to be the best at whatever they choose in life, but ensure it is constructive to a vibrantly robust society and that they actively pursue their choices.

Step one is to helping them understand early on that, at the age of 18, you plan on throwing their lazy ass out of your house. After you tell them this truth, actively and energetically work toward the goal so they know you're not all talk and no action. It will be a sobering wakeup call to children that think life is an entitled bowl of frosted flakes. Make them understand they are entitled to nada, zippo, nothing. Life is what they make of it, so best they start planning early for what will be the rest of it.

Step two is helping them understand, if they need guidance, you will always be there for them and always love them, kind of like God is always there. And that would be...

Step Three is helping them understand faith, especially developing a personal spirituality, a personal faith, in their own abilities, God, nature or the universe; a faith that everything happens for a reason, and that they have a capability to overcome any obstacle in their path through perseverance, hope, love, and the good advice, the history, of those that went before.

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea."

-- Mark 9:42

Beware of the children? God help us all for the pitiful legacy, the lack of righteousness, honesty, understanding, tolerance, and faith; a legacy for all which we leave our children bereft. The next time your child, or any child, does something stupid, look to yourself for blame, not to God, and not to the child. Own the results of our pitiful efforts, for the blame of mankind's decline rests nowhere else than firmly on the shoulders of mankind alone. It is our responsibility to save the ones we can; to prevent losing their innocencense to the corruption of souls, the zombie-like curse infecting our world. Do I hear an, Amen?

Of course, this is all just a humble thought I toss out there on the pyre of burning books. Have a nice Sunday!

Editor's Note

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, and instructor. He is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path," which offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

The Most Important Day

-- Brittany Josephina, writer, emotional nudist

MK: This reminds me of something you'd say to me. I think I'm finally getting there.

TV: Thank you. I was hurting for something to write about. As usual, a door opens.

MK: I'd love to read it when you're done. Thank you for always being there; you've definitely been one of my biggest supporters while I was growing up, and a large influence in the woman I've become.

TV: I am, as always, humbled.

Sometimes we make the wrong decisions, listen to and love the wrong people, have the wrong friends, and have the wrong parents. Our lives tend to spiral out of control as we make a mistake that leads to other mistakes and we begin to think all we can do is be what the losers around us expect. Without positive support of friends and family we are left to our own devices, and if our self-view is lacking so are our devices for controlling our lives.

There comes a point, hopefully early on, when we need to selfishly remember, our lives are all about us, and if we can't love ourselves it will be nigh on impossible to truly ever love someone else or create anything positive in our lives. Our decision making turns to crap and we risk a turn to drugs, alcohol, bad relationships, marriage, and pregnancy as poor excuses for escape routes as we forget to own up to our primary responsibility - us. Our jobs, relationships, decisions, and lives all suffer because we forget about the happiness we owe ourselves; the happiness God meant for us.

The most important day in your life is the day you decide you are good enough for you. That's the day you set yourself free. That's the day you begin to love yourself and to understand it is okay for things to be all about you. Loving others can be all about you. Loving God can be all about you. Selflessly giving of yourself in the service of others can be, selfishly, all about you, and so can being happy. Yes, being happy is as much your choice as is being miserable. Choose happy.

I forgot this for over twenty years. The most important day in my life was almost my last. It had to come to that point before I saw the light, before the veil was lifted from my eyes, before I saw the only way up from the pit of despair and loss was to climb back out. One would think it is easier to fall into the pit than to climb out, but once you understand it is all about you, once you decide you are good enough, good enough for you to love, the path out is so much easier. The difficult in life becomes easy. Burdens can now simply be viewed as your tasks to be accomplished, because those tasks are for you. Your primary responsibility is you. You can't help someone else unless you help yourself first; be there for them, unless you are there for you; truly love anyone, unless you love you.

Without realizing it, you find the pea soup fog on your path has cleared. All of the barriers and rough patches are diminished and you no longer have to feel your way along. You can look ahead and see the next destination. You can know that anything else in life are just rest stops and sights to behold. College, work, relationships and friendships are clearer. You know that you have a choice, your choice, of what you do and who you listen to because, first and foremost, it is all about you.

All of this is so easy to understand, and easier to accomplish. Once you find your path, or find your path again, try to remember what I wrote a short time ago. I hope it helps in some small way.

The Path

This is my path.

It is not your path, it is mine.

Good or bad, it is my path.

I must travel it alone.

That is your path.

It is not mine or theirs, it is yours.

Good or bad, it is your path.

You must travel it alone.

At times our paths might intersect

Or, run parallel for a while.

We will visit, laugh, and cry.

Exchange experiences and offer advice.

At some point we may part,

Perhaps to join up again

As our destination is the same

And our journey is long.

I wish for you a smooth path,

And a long, interesting, journey

Full of emotion and life,

Family and friends.

Though our destination is the same,
We will not arrive together,

But, I will wait for you, my friend

As I know you will wait for me.

In all truth, I am humbled by MK's gratitude because, in all reality, I did very little. Perhaps the adage, "less is more," had much play in what I offered to her - I listened, and I cared. But most of all I tried to lift the veil of fog preventing her from seeing her path and the barriers she faced. I love MK dearly, and I hope we remain friends for the rest of this life, and into the next.

I think she has given to me so much more to me than I have to her, with little effort and, probably, without her knowledge. Sometimes it isn't about what we know we do; it is simply that we have done. Everything we do, knowingly or not, is another pebble dropped in the pond we share, causing ripples that affect all they touch. Always try to make your ripples positive and creative.

Editor's Note

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, and instructor. He is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path," which offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Mississippi's Piece of Cloth

"But this is not about apple pie and Southern hospitality. This represents the continuation of a symbol of hate. And I think we need to call it exactly what it is. Not about Southern heritage unless you say Southern heritage is about the slaveocracy of the South."

Okay, let's call it what it is. It's a flag! It is, without doubt, about a rich Southern heritage. Racism and reverse-racism, on the other hand, are totally about a pervasive "slaveocracy" of which the North seems hell bent on keeping alive as much as the South is trying to shake it without losing its rich Southern heritage and culture.

"Slaveocracy" is a word someone made up. It clearly represents the ignorance, hate, and maybe even reverse racist attitudes, behind the movement to remove a symbol which this ignorance likes to link to slavery in the South. The same slavery African tribes inflicted on each other; the same slavery the northern states willingly participated in. I vote we remove the American flag, for it too, as much as this battle flag, represents slavery - in the North. But these flags to not represent slavery, our attitudes and ignorance do that well enough. Flags are simply the means to an end for the League of the Perpetually Offended that have little else to do than stir up a pot added to by racists on both sides.

Once again we see people, not of this state, fanning the flames of discontent. The racially divisive NAACP is once again on the move, and more from the North will surely follow until even the delightful southern drawl will be under fire as having subtle racist tones. The South stands together, yet there are those from without, and within, that would see it burn all over again. Where does it end?

The people of Mississippi are very interested in education; maybe we should try educating people instead of enforcing racist philosophies of anti-racism, and blaming a piece of cloth for economic woes. Ever occur to anyone that maybe our economy is what we make it? Perhaps we need to try harder, at everything. I'll bet we find that our flag has little to do with businesses moving here. Money is money, and intelligent businessmen will move business where the bottom line takes them. If a piece of cloth gets in their way, well... you can't cure stupid. If we build it, they will come. Open door policy. Yadda, yadda, yadda...

History is what it is. We have done ourselves a disservice by allowing other histories to be rewritten, to be forgotten. History should not be forgotten, it should be up front and in our face, daily, to remind us of where we've been and where we don't want to visit again. To do any less is inviting a repeat of the same immorality we are striving to overcome. I recommend education in an institution that actually teaches factual history, not the "truth" the winner of conflict would like you to believe. If you want to hate a flag, isn't ISIS presenting a much better target? Don't we have real enemies to concern ourselves with than the ghosts of Mississippi?

Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Flags don't cause racism, people do. If there is a problem in this state with racism, let's confront the racists with a policy of no tolerance. Let us show how our maturity outshines the cowardly actions some southern states that would buckle to ignorance instead of staying the course to defeat it. Maybe it's time to take ownership of our shortcomings instead of blaming inanimate objects, like a flag. Let us learn how to embrace the triumphs and the mistakes, the good and the bad. Let's learn to point to the flag for our children and recite for them a rich history of culture, overcoming adversity, the rebuilding and rebirth of a part of our nation which has given Southerners of all races their strong sense of pride.

But, then, I could be wrong. I'm Sicilian, Choctaw, and Irish. I'm the patriotic son of a Rhode Island father and a Mississippi mother; born in Biloxi, educated in California and the military; Catholic and Baptist, Republican and Democrat, North and South, pasta and fried chicken. Because of this diversity I could always considered myself "American by birth, Southern by the grace of God."

What the hell do I know?

Editor's Note

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, and instructor. He is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path," which offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

A Rambling on Consideration of Dis-Appearance

“If love is blind, then maybe a blind person that loves has a greater understanding of it.”

-- Criss Jami, poet, philosopher

The building is yellow with white trim, fairly narrow, with six floors of apartments on top of a ground floor bakery. Color, shape, size, and function; we look at a building, at architecture, and we make a judgment, from a distance, as to whether we like it or not. Would we purchase it? Oh, hell no. We don't know the integrity of the foundation, or what's under the paint - plaster, cement, wood or brick? Does the attic have leaks? What about the plumbing? What are the maintenance costs like? For all we know, with an opened mind, the larger building might just be the better deal. But we'll look at the building, from afar, and, well... do we really consider the possibilities? Do we step up to the doorstep and find out more information so we can make an informed, intelligent opinion? No, probably not. Sometimes we get lucky, but they don't invest good money building casinos because people are lucky.

"There's a mark born every minute, and one to trim 'em and one to knock 'em".

-- David W. Maurer, "The Big Con" (1940)

It would seem we are more slaves to our laziness, accepting our initial knee jerk reaction in favor of actually having any thought, or thoughtful compassion. Isn't it true that we robotically march through our daily lives with our minds buried in music, video games, emails and texting, and, heaven forbid, our job? Most of us seem to revel in our only true accomplishment, our ability to have a lack of thoughtfulness every waking moment.

“No matter how plain a woman may be, if truth and honesty are written across her face, she will be beautiful.”

-- Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), First Lady, politician, diplomat

When you were dating did you ever looked at a fat man or woman, from afar, and consider the possibilities, or did you dis-appear them? Did you find so much wanting in their appearance that, with just a glance, you made the decision they weren't worthy of further consideration? As a man I can honestly admit to looking right through the succulently sweet, pear shaped babe, to the sand filled hourglass, the ticking time bomb, next to her. I say that because the nature of the hourglass is to, sooner or later "blow up" when all the sand eventually drains to the end, and that's when the issue of ever turning the hourglass back over comes into play. Meanwhile, I had ample time, about a month, to start thinking with my other brain and discover all that sand was originating from the desert between her ears. Men are not immune to any physical curses of age; we're just too confused by our young hormones to care about the future when we'll pay for bad decisions.

Men tend to have plenty of muscle when they're young. The fat tends to collect where the sand is located on the woman, between our ears. As we get older that cavity can no longer hold so much lard and it starts to ooze out, draining down through our arteries, through our heart, and into our midsection, sucking the muscle along with it. This sucking fat even drags the muscle out of our ass, leaving us with no buttocks to speak of. This is the point in our shallow lives when, if we could still see our winky, we probably forgot what it was for other than giving us a reason to get up several times a night or, for the unlucky few, to fill another Depends.

"People Who Live In Glass Houses, Shouldn't Throw Stones!"

-- Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), poet and "Father of English Literature"

I violated the "throwing stones" rule again today when I called Fox News contributor Alan Colmes, a French socialist. Hey, so shoot me. Every time the man opens his mouth he reminds me of one of the hypocritical French revolutionaries, the Jacobins that were as bad, or worse, as the elite they ousted. During their one year Reign of Terror they put 17,000 people under the blade of Madam Guillotine, and butchered 40,000 political prisoners without a trial. But, I digress...

I was immediately called down for the violation, and rightly so. I don't know Alan. All I know of him is from his constant "follow my liberal socialist leader off the cliff no matter how asinine his beliefs" diatribe. How dare I? How dare any of us? What makes us so much better, and who gave us the right? If your opinion is to destroy my country and our Constitution, or to ultimately lead us down the road to butchering thousands of "political prisoners" who might not agree with your point of view, who am I to deny you your freedom of opinion?

How many people have looked at your glass house as a target for their stones? What makes the human animal so damned shallow when it comes to others? What makes the human animal too stupid to see their own faults are more transparent than the poor soul their pointing fingers toward?

So, I am not immune to violating rules. I am also not immune to hypocrisy, as I have oft times admitted. How about you? Do you look at a homeless person and make the same long distance judgment? What of bikers, prostitutes and geeks? How about a Muslim? Do we ever think to find time to consider the possibilities? Why did they arrive at where they are? Do we ever step up to their door, or kneel down on their patch of sidewalk, to find out more information so we can make an informed, intelligent opinion, or do we judge from afar? How many times during the day do we make these judgment errors with people?

“Outer beauty attracts, but inner beauty captivates.”

-- Kate Angell, author

Color, shape, size, and function; we look at people, at their architecture, and we make a judgment, from a distance, as to whether we like them or not. Would we be willing to risk a long term relationship with them? Oh, probably not. We don't know the integrity of their foundation, their upbringing and mental stability, or what's under all the makeup, the plaster, cement, wood or brick which they use to hide themselves? Hell, they could be plastic for all we know. Is the attic shallow? Does it leaks like a sieve? What about the plumbing? Is it still holding water as required and flushing normally? What are the maintenance costs like? Are they self-sufficient and a good investment, or are they a breath away from being torn down as they suck the life force from all around them in an attempt to survive?

Have we done our due diligence and given consideration to the full figured individual with the pretty smile? They might not be a Ferrari, but there is much to be said for the luxury of a Bentley. For all we know, if we endeavor to keep an opened and overactive mind, the seven course meal might just be the better deal. Our happiness might just be linked to how they present themselves, their honesty, and, just maybe, how anxious they are to do get busy. After all, no building stands forever, and beauty is, truly, in the eye of the beholder.

“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.”

-- Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), artist, poet

Editor's Note

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so.

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, and instructor. He is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path," which offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Conspiracy, Theory, or Fact?

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

-- John 8:32

Are there people, agencies of the federal government, conspiring to hide the truth from the American people? I am a firm believer that there are forces at work within our government, and around the world, which have to ability to ensure a desired outcome no matter the expense, damage, or cost to human life and liberty. I also think that those who do not buy into this fact are delusional, believe everything they are told, are in denial, and prefer to live in the scripted world that has been laid out before them; lemmings heading for the cliff, the brainwashed masses standing in line for their cup of cyanide laced fruit punch. But, then, this is just a theory, right?
con·spir·a·cy

kənˈspirəsē

noun

a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful.

"a conspiracy to destroy the government"

synonyms: plot, scheme, plan, machination, ploy, trick, ruse, subterfuge;

informalracket

"a conspiracy to manipulate the results"
- the action of plotting or conspiring.
  
  "they were cleared of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice"
  
  synonyms: plotting, collusion, intrigue, connivance, machination, collaboration;
  
  treason
  
  "conspiracy to commit murder"

These forces follow the philosophy of Master Yoda: "Do or do not. There is no try." If there is a conspiracy we know about, it is not part of their secret agenda. If we knew about it, had proof about it, we would be dead. These forces do not conspire to do a thing - they do the thing! Theirs is not so much a plan of action as it is a decision to take the action. The action will occur; any planning is simply a means to the inevitable end.

Whenever you're faced with an explanation of what's going on in Washington, the choice between incompetence and conspiracy, always choose incompetence.

-- Charles Krauthammer, political commentator

Our government is incapable of conspiracy, let's face it, they're incompetent not intelligent. These forces work within or government, but are not a part of it. They stand apart from the shackles of law that might bind their hands from performing whatever task is at hand. If they concerned themselves with laws, they would have to conspire to circumvent said laws and, as stated before, they either do or do not, there is no conspire.

If there is any conspiracy in what these people do, it would be in keeping even their very existence from the general public. These are the people that control the people that tell world leaders, "No." These are the people that tell the Director of the CIA to tell the President of the United States that he, or she, does not have the need to know. These are the agencies and programs that are so clandestine even the CIA doesn't have the need to know. A conspiracy? Not if what you conspired to do has become a career. There comes a point when what you conspire to do becomes fact. If society is still screaming "conspiracy" it is simply proof of success in that they don't have a clue.

Area 51 is a case in point. There are many theories about what they do out there. Are they conspiring to do something out there? No. That they are doing something out there is fact, so there is no conspiracy. That there is a conspiracy of secrecy for the area, however, is also a fact. Do the people of the United States have a right to know what they're up to way out there in the desert? Absolutely. Do they have the need to know? Probably not, and they certainly don't have the security clearance.

A conspiracy theory is an explanatory or speculative hypothesis suggesting that two or more persons or an organization have conspired to cause or to cover up, through secret planning and deliberate action, an event or situation typically regarded as illegal or harmful.

Let's face it, if there are people that can deny the President the need to know, what chance does Joe Bag O'Doughnuts have? Is it a conspiracy, a theory, or a fact? Is it for the protection of our country, our way of life, or our world? Is it to protect world freedom, or facilitate world domination?

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

-- Lord Acton (1834-1902), historian, politician, writer

The problem with a Presidential decree allowing a clandestine agency to act in the "best interest" of a country, in order to preserve the safety and security of said country, is the total lack of oversight to ensure the patriotic endeavor doesn't become a hidden agenda, a power grab for world domination by the super wealthy elite.

Novelist and poet, John Updike, once quipped, "America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy." Personally, I think the American government's rare attempt at constructive thought would best not be wasted on the questionable happiness of her citizens since that particular Love Boat sailed in the 1960s and sank somewhere in the Sargasso Sea. Anyone who buys into the current line of bullshit is treading shark infested waters.

“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”

-- Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), slave, abolitionist, newspaper editor

We need to heed the words of Frederick Douglass, as we see the Supreme Court blatantly deny justice and the government enforcing poverty through failed social welfare programs and an educational system which lags behind most of the educated world because we consider participation to be a passing grade. Every class of citizen in our society, rich and poor, understands there is a conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them for the simple reason that ignorance dictate two or three more wrongs make a right. Our first and second amendment rights are under fire and if we lose them it will take a hard fight, a revolt, a civil war, against our own government and those that support the dismantling of our Constitution, to get them back. Police forces freely admit they cannot protect us, and have advised citizens to arm themselves. Our media and schools are controlled by a liberal, socialist minority elite bent on destroying our Constitution by controlling free thought and, hence, the minds of our youth. And, finally, we have allowed our own elected government to pervert eminent domain in order to allow the confiscation of private property for the benefit of private enterprise.

Was Frederick Douglass really able to see over 100 years into the future of our country, or was the direction we were heading as obvious as the nose on his face?

I don't believe in a conspiracy to hide the existence of extraterrestrial life.

-- David Duchovny, actor, "The X Files"

Do we know for a fact there is extraterrestrial life? No? Well, maybe these clandestine agencies around the world are doing a bang-up job hiding it. Again, if they are hiding the existence of aliens from us, it is not a conspiracy any more. If they are succeeding in their task, it becomes a fact that they are hiding the information, if they are. And, I would think it some perverse form of denial to believe in "conspiracies" which we also readily admit, and believe, to be real and active programs. I think it has to be one way or the other; you can't have it both ways. Either it is a plan to deceive the public, or the public is, in fact, being deceived. Either way, though, it would seem the smoke and mirrors, the sleight of hand at which these ultra-secret agencies are so adept, has succeeded in keeping us all confused, ignorant, or in denial - even our presidents, our world leaders.

Gee, isn't that the point?

"The very word secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings."

-- John F. Kennedy, "The President and the Press," April 27th, 1961

Editor's Note

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years as a military intelligence analyst, planner, and briefer, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, and instructor. He is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path," which offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination.

Translate

Friday, February 26, 2016

Monday, February 22, 2016

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Monday, February 15, 2016

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Subscribe To