Questioning Society

 

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”

-- J. Krishnamurti 

For those contemplating bellybutton lint: 

I was just notified that 7.12k people read my answers last week. I'm doing a little better, if I cared. 93.6k have read my answers since the first of the year. At this rate, over 374k people will have read my answers by the end of the year. This will put me over the past year and a half count of 287k. I am truly flattered, but everyone should really get out more. I have to remember the one response from the "League of the Perpetually Offended" last week. I get them so infrequently their mindless drivel is fairly easy to forget. Woo hoo! Life is nothing if it isn't exciting, huh? All of this and $3.00 will buy me a cup of coffee.

 

Are you sure you’re doing okay?

Absolutely! If you have to ask that question of yourself, you have some work to do. I wake up each and every morning, thanking God for the gift of another glorious day in paradise and another chance to excel in this life. Strive to be happy always!

What do you think about the saying "Always fight fire with fire"?

Nuclear war. Everybody loses. Fires are always a situational occurrence. How you fight one depends on what kind it is and what elements are involved. The same holds true with conflict. Sometimes negotiation can bring about understanding about the losses involved in a “first strike” or a limited option, which might make your opponent think twice about setting that fire in the first place. All options should be considered before the very large hammer is brought into play.

What do you do when two pieces of excellent advice contradict each other?

Get more advice and see if one of the first two repeats. Look at the credentials and experience of the people giving the same advice in comparison to the one giving contrary advice. Then, throw the dice and see who was right. Mistakes will always be made. It is, after all, the best way for us to learn.

“If a man never contradicts himself, the reason must be that he virtually never says anything at all.”

-- Erwin Schrödinger

Would being immortal be good or bad for humans?

Since no one can die, they’d have a lot of time to get it right. There would be no murder or greed, although payback might involve one bitch of an eternity. If you set someone on fire, would they live in eternal agony? If you cut off someone’s head, would it cease to live?

We would be able to constantly improve upon what we create, for generations. Everyone would have an opportunity to learn more than our short lives now allow. For many there would be a relatively short “learning curve” to find that being a “bad actor” really doesn’t gain you more than payback, so why get involved.

Why do you sometimes find yourself unable to express your thoughts, or say yes when we would like to say no to something in a speech? What do you think about it?

Never happens to me. My mouth constantly gets me into trouble. Mom always said it would, and she was right. Form a coherent thought and express an honest and cogent statement. I always told the people under me to come forward if they have an issue with a task we were assigned but to also have a better way to accomplish it. It isn’t enough to just stand up and say “No!” You have to be able to present a better or creative alternative, or, at least, be able to explain why something is wrong so we can work on it.

Does not forgiving yourself attract negative entities?

Guilt and an inability to forgive yourself could attract evil or negativity. The very act of non-forgiveness is negative. This can lead to opening the door, so to speak, and inviting negativity, evil, into your life. This is, obviously, not a good thing.

We all make mistakes, and failure is the best way we can learn. Forgive yourself for mistakes and learn not to repeat them. Accept that you messed up, learn from it, and move forward. Keep a positive attitude that you can and will do better. Most important, strive to be happy always, even in the face of adversity.

“Turn down the volume of your negative inner voice and create a nurturing inner voice to take it’s place. When you make a mistake, forgive yourself, learn from it, and move on instead of obsessing about it. Equally important, don’t allow anyone else to dwell on your mistakes or shortcomings or to expect perfection from you.”

-- Beverly Engel

What was the last thing that you submitted to in a society that your conscience vehemently opposed?

At the beginning of our divorce, my wife called the sheriff told them that I threatened to kill her, which I never did. I was arrested and spent the night in jail for something I never did. It really pissed me off that someone can lie about you and be believed without question. I wore an “ankle bracelet” for a month and had to go to anger management, which was a hoot since I wasn’t angry about any of it until she had me arrested. The judge buried the whole thing when he heard the story, and the fact that her prosecutor had the wrong information, another guy with my name and a different SSAN.  The judge told him to do more homework.

What are the best subjects to start an argument?

Politics and race. Both feed off of ignorance, and the pundits make money off fueling the misery of those involved. This is the breeding ground for members of the “League of the Perpetually Offended.”

What did you, as wiser counsel, propose as the best way(s) to resolve 'humankind's common problems'?

Teachers need to start teaching the truth and stop trying to indoctrinate children. If we taught the truth and stopped rewriting history at every turn, our children might actually learn how to avoid problems of the past. There are many common problems, like poverty and hunger, yet we focus on problems we have a handle on, like racism, and create new problems on our own southern border. The United States has fallen back 50 years and is erasing the positive progress we’ve made, instead of coming together and leading the world forward. And, videos of black men attacking Asians are a sad reflection of how far we’ve actually come with combating racism. We need to work on the issues and stop using them as political propaganda in order to continue the misery.

“We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them”

-- Albert Einstein

Is true happiness really reachable or do people only reach a certain level of contentment to deal with other people?

True happiness is a choice each of us must make for ourselves. Poor, tired, overworked, abused, dealing with other people, and the like, are just excuses to not strive to be happy always. In each life, there exists a reason for happiness. We must find that reason and put our focus on it, not on what we see as problems that, in all honestly, we have brought on ourselves through poor choices. Rise above all the misery, stop inviting drama into your life, and learn to strive to be happy always!

Is going eye for an eye even for the smallest things bad? Like when someone does something to me like ignore me for a whole day, I'd do the same to them without notice exactly how they did it. Is that bad?

Yes, two wrongs don’t make a right. Better if you explain to them why they are wrong and hope they learn from your honesty.

Why don't I want to give up hope?

When it comes right down to it, hope is the only thing we truly own. Hope is ours, and it is the only thing no one can take from us because we have to willingly give it up. Hope is why we live. Everything we do is based on hope.

“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”

-- Shel Silverstein

How can positive and negative perceptions influence the shaping of mindsets, and how does this influence interpersonal relationships?

If you have a positive perception, you are okay with it, you might want more of it. Like and dislike comes into play. A negative perception would have the opposite effect. A negative perception surrounding someone would cause others to not want anything to do with them, whereas a positive perception would be inviting to those around them.

How do I draw nothing?

Stare at the paper.

How can I stop caring about or seeing politics?

Resign yourself to socialism. The government will do all of your thinking, caring, and seeing for you, so you can focus only on producing.

Reader comment: I applaud your honesty! Thank you.

"Caring about politics" right now has a simpler meaning in a time like this — empathy. Saying that you don't care about politics is, right now, tantamount to saying that you don't have any empathy. So buck up, and look around you. America is made up of its citizens. If you care about the country at all, if you care about the people you surround yourself with, then you also care about politics right now.

-- Lani Seelinger

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. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those 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 learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with the United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteered as a chaplain at the regional medical center.