Questioning Instinct, Judgement, Freedom, and Sex, Sex, Sex

 

“They'll say you are bad

or perhaps you are mad

or at least you

should stay undercover.

Your mind must be bare

if you would dare

to think you can love

more than one lover.”

-- David Rovics

What each person decides to do with that life is what we should judge as either benefit or detriment?

What each person chooses to do with their life is their business, alone. Dare the egotistical few even consider judging the servant of another master? For to each, their own master will judge. We who think we are superior, and yet find true happiness elusive as we struggle to keep up. No, our masters will judge, for as it is written: “There is no righteous person, not even one.”

Is being happy a choice?

Yes. Almost everything in life has to do with choice.

Is a human person a free and responsible being?

Free, yes. The mind and choices are always free, even when people feel they aren’t or aren’t physically free. Remaining free is a choice. Even in chains, no one can control your mind unless you make the choice to let them. Responsible, however, depends on the person.

How do I know if my partner loves me again after confessing he was not in love with me at some point?

And, you would believe it?

“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.”

-- Friedrich Nietzsche

Who should have the final say when a couple is pregnant and the egg/sperm donors disagree as to continuing the pregnancy? Does it make a difference if they are legally married?

It is a woman’s body. The choice is hers.

What does it mean when a man is attractive, intelligent, and desired but doesn’t talk to women?

He’s gay?  Maybe, but even gay men talk to women.

What do few people expect from life?

Answers.

I think part of being human or adult means carrying responsibility. What then, does true freedom mean when all hope is lost?

If hope is lost, it still exists, you’ve just given up. We are never without hope, some of us just tend to “misplace” it occasionally.

If you carry responsibility, you must have faith in why and what you do. We also tend to misplace our faith. If you misplace faith you also misplace hope. From our faith, and I mean our faith in whatever, springs our hope.

We have faith and we hope all goes well.

People might say they lost all faith in being rescued, and losing their faith they also lost all hope. So why are they still rescued? Because those looking for them never lost their faith and, therefore, never gave up their hope.

True freedom means never “misplacing” faith in freedom, and never giving up hope in the future.

“But after so many years, I knew what to do with hope. I held it an arm's length away.”

-- Laura Taylor Namey

Why are faith, hope, and love the best three virtues to carry with you always?

The human mind exists for these. We have faith in what we do and hope all turns out well, but, regardless, we selflessly love our fellows and help them along the path. Existing for these virtues helps us all survive the hard times and enjoy the good, in order to keep moving forward.

What makes valid consent?

“Yes, I agree.”

What are the qualities needed for success?

What we think is “success” is simply achieving a goal. If you are truly happy, whether you achieve the goal or not, you have achieved success. Success in life is learning to be truly happy always and in everything you do, including attaining your goals, and whether you are poor or wealthy.

Why can't some people accept reality?

They are lost in a fantasy world of denial. It makes them “happy” until reality bitch-slaps them and they wonder what happened, still wallowing in denial.

"The ability to forgive is intertwined with the ability to accept the reality of the way things are/ the way a person is or was. You stop wishing things and you just accept. And hope is what says to you: "One day you’ll have what’s better."

-- C. JoyBell C.

Do humans like to make more humans?

We must. After all, it is what we seem to enjoy doing, even if the product of our labor isn’t what many really want. Even so, we keep “climbing on board” the sex-machine. Like playing Russian Roulette for the ultimate thrill, we keep hoping to dodge the golden bullet, but, unfortunately, the odds are with the gun. We know this, but we just can’t help pulling the trigger. It truly makes us feel alive… until we’re not.

What is sweeter than sex?

Sex is simply the act. It is what you attain at the end of the act, it is the goal that is sweeter than the undeniable pleasure it took to get you there.

Why are more couples divorcing at older ages, and after many years of marriage?

They are looking for the true happiness that has eluded them in marriage. This is a problem with marrying for the wrong reasons, or not understanding the needs and wants of your potential spouse, and staying together for the sake of the children.. 

I’ve become an advocate for extremely long courtships. If you can survive that, and find your friendship still intact, marry each other.

What is a hobby/interest you have that has helped you later in life?

When I was in 7th and 8th grade, I like to track “bigfoot” and UFO sightings in the U.S. and, to a lesser extent, around the world. I had to learn to read map coordinates. Later in life, when I joined military intelligence, map reading played a significant role.

“What is a hobby anyway? Where is the line of demarcation between hobbies and ordinary normal pursuits? I have been unable to answer this question to my own satisfaction. At first blush, I am tempted to conclude that a satisfactory hobby must be in large degree useless, inefficient, laborious, or irrelevant. Certainly many of our most satisfying avocations today consist of making something by hand which machines can usually make more quickly and cheaply, and sometimes better. Nevertheless, I must in fairness admit that in a different age the mere fashioning of a machine might have been an excellent hobby... Today the invention of a new machine, however noteworthy to industry, would, as a hobby, be trite stuff. Perhaps we have here the real inwardness of our own question: A hobby is a defiance of the contemporary. It is an assertion of those permanent values which the momentary eddies of social evolution have contravened or overlooked. If this is true, then we may also say that every hobbyist is inherently a radical and that his tribe is inherently a minority.”

-- Aldo Leopold

What should I do my friend has not replied to me for a while should I end the friendship?

I would be concerned for their well-being until I talked to them. If they’ve just been ignoring me, then I’d get pissed and ask the why. I always try to reply, even if I don’t stay in touch as much as I should. Yeah, my bad.

Is it wrong to strive for an easy life?

Who said it was wrong?

Isn't human manipulation proof that 'free will' is just an illusion?

Your free will is when you, albeit unknowingly, allow yourself to be manipulated. Freedom is the right of choice, and if you give up that right, this is also a choice you must make.  The "illusion" of free will is why we have revolutions against those manipulating us.

What is your freedom, and what threatens it?

The Constitution of the United States. Joe Biden and liberal socialism.

“When the people fear the government there is tyranny, when the government fears the people there is liberty.”

-- John Basil Barnhill

Is it possible to date and have sex casually without being a horrible person?

I never once passed judgment on the people I dated.

Why do some people have to have a judgemental opinion about all things they don't understand?

The “League of the Perpetually Offended” fits into this nicely. I have stopped trying to have reasonable discussions with them. Their M.O. is to bait you into an opinion and then berate you for what they asked for, using colorful language that I will not repeat. I always find it interesting that, before they finish their rant, they usually end up, unwittingly, supporting my point, bless their little hearts. Please, stop helping me.

I also fall into this, as well, since I find myself judging their lack of cogent thought while not understanding why they are perpetually offended, at everything.

What does it mean to have a killing instinct?

You are very good at sanctioning people, without prejudice. Professional assassins have a killing instinct.

Why does my older sister still fat shame people even though she is overweight herself? She also skinny shames now.

Just a thought, but she sounds conflicted and not very happy. She sees fat people as who she doesn’t want to be, and sees skinny people as who she wants to be, but isn’t. What she needs to do is learn to not be judgmental, because it makes her sound ignorant, and then learn to love herself for who she is and stop comparing herself to others.

“At the end of the day, dipping into the attack well of body-shaming, racism, misogyny, and ableism is just lazy. When people resort to these kinds of tactics, I simply think that they have lost the ability to debate the merits and content of a position. Instead, they want to play to the bot-fueled, troll-fed, worst of who humans can be.”

-- Bruce Reyes-Chow

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