Questioning Life, Success, and Morality

 

“Young people are moving away from feeling guilty about sleeping with somebody to feeling guilty if they are *not* sleeping with someone.”

-- Margaret Mead

Do you have one life to live?

Nope. I’m here to learn what I can so I’ll be better prepared to move on down the road when this life is over. We live many lives full of necessary lessons. What we learn determines how far down the road we move.

Are you a man of success or a man of value?

Value. My value to others was the impetus for my success.

What would you choose, to live forever or die forever?

Live forever, which I will do, regardless, after I die. The only way you die forever is if you don’t believe in your own rebirth. That simply sucks. I have many more lives to learn from.

“Living forever is easy: be born again. (It's the relationship with your Saviour that's difficult)”

-- Abby Morel

What would you do if you knew it was bound to be successful?

Invest.

Did you know that Constitutional Liberty was: "Constitutional Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views."?

I believe, then, the non-oppressive restrictions are part of the society’s “Rule of Law” imposed to keep order in a “free” society and not to control personal, peaceful, and creative, actions which don’t infringe on the rights of others.

Why are sexual fantasies seen as immoral?

They are? Who would have thought? Well, obviously the people who view it as immoral, right? So, if the fantasies are immoral, bringing them to fruition is probably more so. Well, that just sucks…

“The only limits that exist in fantasy are your own and this is the place where you can push them safely, testing yourself to find the places in your mind you may not know exists. Deep in these recesses you may find wants you never knew you had. Here, in this place, you have the freedom to luxuriate in unsated hungers.”

-- K. Kiker

Many people have many different beliefs on what they do not know about. What is the one thing that everyone knows (not believes) will happen to every single person and after that they do not know what will happen?

Death.

Why do you want to be rich? This is the common goal of everyone, but does it really make people happy?

I am already rich in life, but you question goes to monetary riches.  It depends on what you do with your monetary wealth. Are you selfish with it, or are you selfless? Being rich is the common goal of almost everyone. I have no need, personally, for wealth. If I had it, I’d build my “spiritual” center, then I’d be investing in animal shelters and children’s hospitals, and my time would be divided up sitting on the directing boards of the same. I think those who practice selflessness with their wealth are the ones who experience true happiness.

What is the greatest thing about being a father for you?

Being a father. That, alone, is the greatest thing for me. This is like asking me what the greatest thing about life is, and the obvious answer would be life. Some would argue their life is not worth living, but I would challenge them to try and change their life when they’re dead. Being a parent was fraught with challenges, and I did my best to address those challenges while holding a doomed marriage together for over 20 years. Was it worth it? Yes! I would not change being a father for the world.

“Listen, there is no way any true man is going to let children live around him in his home and not discipline and teach, fight and mold them until they know all he knows. His goal is to make them better than he is. Being their friend is a distant second to this.”

-- Victor Devlin

In what ways can names shape people’s personalities?

I was given two names at birth, “Frank” and “Anthony”. I’m not sure who started calling me “Tony” but I was sure happy they didn’t saddle me with “Frank”. Would it have shaped my personality differently? Well, a “frank” is something you eat at a ballpark, and high school would have been brutal to me.

What are the risks when someone goes to a university when they are 30 years old or above?

They might learn something. If they aren’t indoctrinated by 30, then chances are they won’t be. At 30, or older, the risk of them being so weak-minded as to be “indoctrinated” is less the older you get. This means, at 30 or older, they’ve actually gone to university for an education. It’s a concept, but it does occasionally happen.

“We don’t walk away to teach people a lesson. We walk away because we’ve learned ours” Do you agree?

It depends on the context. If this concerns an argument or a fight, I’d have to agree. Neither accomplishes much, other than raising blood pressure and stress. If the point is to actually “teach” somebody, I’d say to “walk away” is counterproductive to your goal. If you learned your lesson, why not help someone else learn theirs? Just saying.

Author's comment:Amen. I agree. That’s how one becomes a better person. Not just by simply “walking away” from everything.

“Most of us need something not to walk away from”

-- Josh Stern

Does language affect a person’s belief system, attitudes, learning process, and perspective about life?

Where you live might, but your language doesn’t. It is all about a person’s willingness to take advantage of any opportunity for education.

As a worker, why should I go back to work so quickly to my old job when I have seen that paid and conditions can improve? Why should I or anybody help my employer exploit my work for their gain?

Life is about making choices. Make a good one. Personally, I’d like to get paid while I try to change the culture from the inside. The worse they can do is fire you. The best they can do is listen. They also have a choice.

What did the advocates of socialism hope to achieve?

This is the best I’ve ever read to explain it:

“The useful idiots, the leftists who are idealistically believing in the beauty of the Soviet socialist or Communist or whatever system, when they get disillusioned, they become the worst enemies. That’s why my KGB instructors specifically made the point: never bother with leftists. Forget about these political prostitutes. Aim higher. They serve a purpose only at the stage of destabilization of a nation. For example, your leftists in the United States: all these professors and all these beautiful civil rights defenders. They are instrumental in the process of the subversion only to destabilize a nation. When their job is completed, they are not needed anymore. They know too much. Some of them, when they get disillusioned, when they see that Marxist-Leninists come to power—obviously they get offended—they think that they will come to power. That will never happen, of course. They will be lined up against the wall and shot.”

-- Yuri Bezmenov (1939-1993), former Soviet journalist and KGB informant

Reader-1 comment: They do make for the best memes. There was one journalism major back in 2015 Twitter who advocated a socialist takeover of the country under the belief he'd be “a uniform designer for the State”.

My reply:  Good evidence as to how far real “journalism” has fallen.

Reader-1 reply: The writing was on the wall back in 2005 when journalists backed off on the drug violence south of the border. Can't have the cities know what's going on by the border.  Where would their corporate "masters" get their labor if the border got secured?

Reader-2 comment: Let's clarify what we're talking about before we answer.  What “socialism" means or entails varies widely across the spectrum.

Most American liberals think it means free healthcare and higher education. Most American conservatives think it means the government takes over all industry “eventually".

As for me, I'm a progressive. When people say “socialism", I assume they're talking about universal healthcare or universal pre-K or something like that. Things that I would considered to be rights and necessities of an egalitarian society.

My reply: Never assume. You’ll find yourself in a gulag, making gloves.  This country is on the real verge of a revolution because most democrats assume their party thinks like you.  They don't.  Because of this, the democrats, as a whole, have become Yuri's "disillusioned" in the quote, above.

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