Questioning Virtue and Quality

 

“If faith doesn’t anchor virtue, it drifts, willy-nilly, toward the rocks or the chasm… just as vital and indispensable to the life of virtue is the presence of the Spirit. If the Spirit does not stir, fill, and direct both our life of faith and our quest for virtue, all our virtues will grow stunted and bitter, like fruit strained out from hardscrabble ground. Such virtue is usually no more than a repertoire of self-serving gestures.”

-- Mark Buchanan

 

What are some things that people need to acknowledge about the general public?

Quiet gullibility. Generally, people believe what they're told without question. Ask people which news channel they watch, and they’ll tell you which one they watch. It will probably be only one. Why? Because that channel tells them what they want to hear, true or not, researched or not, they don’t care as long as it sounds right to their reality.  As for my household, we watch several news programs just to see who isn’t reporting hot news items we all need to hear about, or news that has been vetted and isn’t simply an editorial from some ignorant “reporter” who wouldn’t know the truth if it stared them in the face. We are gullible, which is one reason our country is now in serious trouble.

What do people actually mean when they say 'they are good' in answer to 'how are you'?

Well, I’m puking blood, but at least I’m being good. The question is incomplete because it’s missing context. How are you feeling? How are you acting? How are you coping?  I suppose the right answer to this question is, “How am I what?”

How could you stop being so logical while everything around doesn't make sense?

How about making everything around you make sense? If everything made sense there would be no need for logical thinking.

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“Why not?”

“It isn’t logical.”

"Alrighty, then." 

“I mean, you could claim that anything's real if the only basis for believing in it is that nobody's proved it doesn't exist!”

-- J.K. Rowling

Are you satisfied with the quality of your moral character?

Yes! I give up just enough of it to remain comfortable and satisfied with who I am.

If someone does something and then I do the same exact thing also, have we both done the same thing? People seem to answer no, what say you?

If you do the same thing for the same reason, I’d have to say yes. If you do it just because they did it, then no, your reason for doing it differs.

What is the illusion you can only do online?

Probably be someone I’m not, without fear of being discovered for who I truly am.

"I'm not online, it's just an optical illusion."

-- Ali Shadab 

What does it mean if something is the perfect touch?

If a living room seems to be missing the perfect touch, something to set it off, and a friend brings you a nice centerpiece of flowers for the main table, and, voila! The “perfect touch” the room needed.

Why do some people have the audacity to call themselves natural? Aren’t humans artificial in anything they do?

Just about all humans are probably artificial in most things they do, including the League of the Perpetually Offended who are even offended by the fact that people are offended. Better to not judge others, lest we, ourselves, be judged. Personally, I can’t even picture myself ever being a member of the League. They just don’t stand for my belief and faith in humanity.

Like Jeff Bezos, I believe that not loving your work will never make you great at it. Does the purpose of school include making students love what they learn?

No. The purpose of school is to separate the wheat from the chaff, those who can from those who can’t. You can love your work, but you have to strive to be great at what you do. You can strive to be great at your work and, yet, not love it. I worked for a woman who had three degrees, engineering, chemistry, and medicine. She was one of those rare people who loved her work and built a multi-million dollar corporation out of it. She lived for what she did and earned worldwide recognition from her peers, of which there were few of her caliber.

“We put our children through their paces in school not so that they will learn something, or master something, or meet any standards. No. We give them tools so that they can experience the joy, the passion, of creating. All we are doing is saying, “Here, if you know this, there is more you can make; there is another path you can map; there is another song you can compose.” School—from pre-K to postdoc programs—exists so that we can all build more from within ourselves and with our colleagues.”

-- Marc Aronson

Why is it that 'you are the company you keep'? What brings people with similar qualities together?

I am so not the company I keep, and the company I keep are so not me. And, yet, this contradiction to the quote also is a validation. We are the company we keep, just because we aren’t. This is a similar quality that we share. We are racially, politically, and economically diverse. We are military, civilian, retired, and working. If someone were to look for commonalities, we, for the most part, smoke cigars, drink bourbon, scotch, and beer, watch sports, swap cooking styles, and eat the food some of us cook up for the group. We are who we are, and therein lies our similarity.

Which of your assumptions about the world has turned out to be untrue?

Time. Turns out it really doesn’t exist. Time is a human construct invented to give structure, for humans, on this plane of existence. We are constantly reborn so time really has no meaning, in reality. 

What are some examples of virtues being overdone to the point of them no longer being virtues?

Patience is a virtue, to a point, then it just becomes an unnecessary burden. You can only wait so long for someone to get ready to go out, then it becomes a moot point when it gets so late that everything closes.

“The mother of excess is not joy but joylessness.”

-- Friedrich Nietzsche

How do I find the kindest and honest person in today's world?

Ask the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. I’ve always been impressed.

Why, if a person types "peek" or "peak," Google auto-suggests "interest"? Is that Google's fault or the fault of those who don't know the term is "pique interest"?

I think “garbage in, garbage out” is in play here. The program is only as good as the programmers who programmed it.  Oh, and you probably hit the nail on the head with many people not even knowing "pique" is a word.

What are some things that are taken for granted about the philosophy of everyday life?

Happiness. I think most people believe that if they work hard, and make money, happiness will follow. Happiness is a choice each of us must make for ourselves and has little to do with how much money we have. As a matter of fact, if you strive to be happy all the time, your job will probably be better and your life will reflect this happiness to all around you. You might even find that money follows happiness, not the other way around. I have found that almost everything follows happiness.

“The outer world is a reflection of the inner world. Other people’s perception of you is a reflection of them; your response to them is an awareness of you.”

-- Roy T. Bennett

 

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.

Feel free to contact Pastor Tony:  tolerantpastor@gmail.com