Questioning Patriots, Values, and Choices

 

What's in your gut?

A feeling. It also contains my food processing system with a “microbiome.” But, mostly, a feeling.

Why are Southerners so patriotic?

Why are Easterners so racist?  Are they?  It's the only place I've ever been where people used the "N" word to excess.  But, then, that can be seen as a just an opinion, a generality, or just bullshit.

I think Southerners are, like Marines, wrapped up in “God, Corps, and Country.” We take care of our own, and then we take care of everyone else, unless “everyone else” happens to be this great country or our Constitution. We are the most giving to our charities. The most spiritual to our God. Mississippi is the least racist state I’ve ever lived in. We also try to take care of our own problems. We all try to get along, and those that don’t… never will. ALL lives matter here, and we are proud of that fact.

What values do you believe make life worthwhile?

I value happiness and strive to be happy always. This makes my life worthwhile. I have found that a good sense of moral ethics helps to keep drama from mucking up my life and happiness.  I fall down occasionally, but I keep on striving.

“Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.”

-- Ernest Hemingway

If something really bad happens to someone, but they otherwise don't actually suffer anything or could even be feeling good for other reasons, do you think it still matters? Is the only thing that matters if they suffered or not?

The only one that can determine if they suffer and to what extent it matters, is them. I hit my thumb with a hammer and it hurts like hell, and I suffer, but I also laugh at my clumsiness, kiss my owie, and press on with the project trying not to hit it twice. I’m not sure if it matters that they suffer as much as it matters how they deal with their suffering. I tend not to be a whiner, but that’s just me. If at all possible, I try to find the humor or a lesson in what happens.

Have you ever had a career mentor? If so, what was the best piece of advice they've ever given you?

If time permits, triple-check your work and then have someone else check it to try and ensure no one will die. We always got “excellent” ratings during Operational Readiness Inspections.

How do you teach yourself to know your worth?

I know my worth.  Everyone is worth something, although many people choose to be bad and their worth diminishes. What I taught myself was to recognize that I was the most valuable person in my life. If I was dead, of what value would I be, other than fertilizer? Since my valuable life is also a tool, what I do with my life is what makes it “worth” living. A person needs to understand they are already worth something to themselves by simply being alive, then they need to go out into the world and use this “tool” of their life to make it a better place.  If you can do this, you will show the world your inherent worth and you will recognize the value of being.

“Life is too short to waste any amount of time on wondering what other people think about you. In the first place, if they had better things going on in their lives, they wouldn't have the time to sit around and talk about you. What's important to me is not others' opinions of me, but what's important to me is my opinion of myself.”

-- C. JoyBell C.

What does "for every action there is a reaction, and for every choice, there is a consequence" mean? Give an example.

For every action, there is a reaction. Take a step and you move. Pinch a woman’s butt, she will react. Get slapped, there is pain.

For every choice, there is a consequence. I choose to take a step, and I move. I choose to pinch a woman’s butt, and she will slap me or kiss me. The reaction is the consequence of the action. It can be good or bad, constructive or destructive.

Are freedom (the ability of humans to make their own choices) and equity (equality of outcome) mutually exclusive? If people are allowed to make different choices, won't they have different outcomes?

That stands to reason. Even making the same choice at a different time might not have the same outcome. Life is full of variables that prevent anything from being 100% certain. I always think back to when my son came home from high school and told me his math professor told the class that “point nine, times infinity, equals one.” I advised him to tell his math professor he was an idiot, and tell him, your dad wants to know what happened to the remaining “point one, times infinity” he has leftover.

You can make a choice to believe anything. The class made the choice to believe the professor, and they all, now, have a confusing outcome. My son had to make another choice when presented with the facts, and now his outcome has changed to reflect an outcome that is based on reality.

I had an opportunity to see the “proof” they have of this equation, and it looks like they did the same thing Einstein did to arrive at his Theory of Relativity. They added an “unknown” factor to the equation. Unfortunately, you can add what you want to this equation but you still have a butt-load of “point one” that disappeared into a black hole. Just saying.

In what way does the number of people at your funeral reflect on the quality of life that you lived?

Not at all. It might reflect on the number of people able to attend or knew you had passed, or it might reflect on how many people’s lives you touched. Several people might show up, but millions might mourn.

If you’re dirt poor your quality of life can suck, but how you live that life, who you touch while you live, says more about the mental quality of your life than the physical.

Strive to be happy always. Be kind to everyone you meet. Be tolerant and understanding. Do all of this, and more, and you will have lived a good and humble life regardless of the crowd that shows up at your funeral. Besides, by the time the funeral rolls around, you’re probably going to be into your new life, so… who cares?

No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away.

-- Terry Pratchett

Has an individual or group ever put aside their differences and show respect for their enemy?

Several times: Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce of 1914, and Truce in the Forest: The Story of a World War II Christmas Eve Truce Between German & American Soldiers During the Battle of the Bulge.

The expression "kicking the can down the road" means putting off confronting a difficult issue or making an important decision. When in your life or in the life of someone close to you has this worked out, and when has it not?

If it is truly a “difficult issue” or “important decision” kicking the can down the road does little, if anything, to solve the issue at hand. Like a wound, it will probably become infected if ignored. Governments love to do this, causing the problems to hang around for several administrations and just get worse. The American border situation is a very good example of this kind of ignorance that has been around for years. I learned in the military it’s so much better to confront issues and decisions as they arise instead of putting them off.

Nails or chalk against a blackboard can make people shudder or give them goosebumps. What are some other things that can make people shudder?

Watching a doctor drilling into living bone does it for me, along with watching a vaccination, or seeing a photo of Nancy Pelosi on TV without adequate warning that what I’m about to see might be upsetting.

"One explanation for the sensitivity of the ear in this area is the open ear gain. Some frequencies are amplified due to the anatomy of the ear canal. But we also found that pitch information is very important for the perceived unpleasantness. And if these two things go together, this makes a very unpleasant sound perception."

-- Dr. Michael Oehler

How are perspective and wisdom related?

Perspective is nothing more than forming a point of view of something that is, hopefully, in context. Taken out of context, your point of view, your perspective, will be faulty. Good in, good out; bad in, bad out. Now, if all you take in is bad information it stands to reason your “wisdom” will be as faulty as your point of view.

Good information, taken in good context, will allow you to have a good point of view which will, ultimately, lead you to good choices, decisions, and wisdom.

What is your definition of a weak man?

Someone who has little or no self-control. A 98-pound man who controls his thoughts and emotions can control anything. Archimedes might offer, “Give him a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and he can move the world.” In an argument, if you can control your emotions, you can also control the disagreement. So, physical weakness has no bearing on how strong you can really be.

Why did he want to know what my name is? I’m 17 and work at a pizza place. This guy is In once a week he's very muscular and like 30. He was in and said my nails look like they can scratch things and he liked them. Then he asked me for my name?

Tell him to come back when you’re 18… or 24… or, better yet, 30. Or, tell him he’s not your type. He’s 30, so he should be flirting with 30 somethings, not a kid behind the counter at the pizza place. Watch you back. Just saying.

“The last time I was single the men I was looking at were in their thirties and I still had that youthful image fixed in my head. It was depressing at first, choosing from a pool that's not regarded as desirable or vital in your society. [...] I managed to re-educate myself eventually. Now I'm only attracted to people my age. A young face looks like a blank page to me.”

-- Viv Albertine

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