Fighting Hypocrisy

There are many "religious people" in America who support immoral positions: incarcerating children because Trump claims they are threatening us; forgiving illegal and immoral activities of their leaders (Trump at al abusing women, wives, and their own children); violating standards of civility and coarsening  society with lies, half-truths, subversion of honesty, loyalty, patriotism, and basic human values.

These same religious types subvert sexuality, love, compassion, sensuality and normal life by purporting to have "moral high ground" on all these human activities. Religion has put itself at odds with reality. Boys and girls are taught that sexual activity is just wrong -- the "original sin" in fact.  The South is filled with these religious zealot-hypocrites.

The "new Puritanism" is infecting more and more human minds in the U.S.  It mocks and indicts all of the persecuted peoples who fled to America to find tolerance: Amish, Salzburgers, Shakers, Jews, Muslims --- and instead brought their worst prejudices with them. Hypocrisy flourishes among the arrogant zealots -- and it harms us all.

Evangelical Hypocrisy

America's flight from religion not only seems justified but necessary. Religion has given up its morality for expediency.

Immigrants are: "rapists, murderers, criminals,  ..."  "and are taking our jobs, our wealth, ...; so says Donald Trump. Prevarication, lies, hyperbole, mischaracterizations; and then evanngelicals and right-wing catholics bow and scrape and nod in quiet agreement. To a lie.

If "the salt loses its strength , what shall it be salted with?"  Religion has lost its strength when it refuses to be moral. What use is religion when it feeds on lies?
What use?

Vote Against the Despot

Vote against Trump and all the candidates  he endorses. And all the "poodles" (thank you George Will). And all the racists, homophobes, white supremacists, who are Trumpian. And all those who denigrate and oppose the "rule of law." And all those who have sublimated their morality for love of Trump (evangelicals, right-wing catholics, etc). And those who have somehow lost their way.

And all those who would torture children. And oppose equal rights for women, gay people, or anyone different from themselves. And all or the mental "blackshirts" who follow the "joke" who is our despot. Vote your conscience; not your wallet. Vote against Trump!

Shaking Things Up

"Lies are actually your truth as opposed to mine!"  The "big lie" in politics has now become constant, in a scurrilous attempt to drown out truth, and frustrate our ability to discern it. Trump, the man with  no ethics or morality, has done this to American discourse.

Trump needs to be impeached, for the sake of our American system. Trump is the embodiment of all things evil in every human.

Think  for yourself; research it yourself; you will see what I have discovered. Trump is a moron but a glib one. He doesn't solve problems; he creates them, blames them on everyone else, and then pretends to solve them with words of compassion (meant for his sycophantic followers).

We need to remove Trump from any position of power.

Brain-dead Base of Donald Trump

Look at what your President is doing. Taking innocent children from their equally innocent parents. Setting up internment camps to "keep families together" after a "womp, womp" public outcry; honoring the idiocy of his "base supporters" (in every way "base") by continually lying to them. And they still "believe" in him. Why?

Are their 401k's doing better? Has "the donald" fulfilled their blood-lust? Do they really want to return to some mythical past -- with Trump punching their tickets?

Are they that misinformed, or that selfish, or simply willfully and indomitably stupid? May they rot in Hell!

A Bone To Pick ... With God

 Why did you kill my sister Linda?  Why did you kill my beautiful wife Sheila? Why do you kill anyone? Is it amusement for you? Does it give you something you don't already have? Why then?

What's the reason?  Or do you not participate? Do you just allow us to die? Why then?

Why do humans die? It is the same as asking the opposite question -- why do we live?
What's the secret, and why is it hidden from us? Why, why, why?

Owning Trump

We caused him. He belongs to us. We created him. He is the "rogue" flower of what was once "the American Dream."  He is the racist, the chauvinist, the homophobe in every American. He is a pig, a fat old man, a "man-splaining" asshole -- but he is the product of us. He is the hidden "white supremacist" that resides in every white American. He reeks "white privilege."

He is a sad excuse for a businessman; he corrupts morality by ignoring it. He is a chameleon, by accident,; an improvisor by temperament; a human being by mistake.

He is not my President -- he belongs to all of us. He is our responsibility. We need to get rid of him, hopefully legally, and then try to forget he ever existed. He is our Hitler.

A Thief Unpunished

I witnessed a crime today -- and couldn't do anything. Frustration! A skinny youngish man ripped something away from a woman's stacked luggage at a bus stop -- I was in my car at a stoplight nearby watching it all.  The man suddenly sprinted away on Abercorn street towards the river. The woman was well-dressed, in high heels, with stacks of her belongings around her looking helpless -- and unable to pursue.

So I did. Slowly. In my car.

The man became aware of my "pursuit" almost immediately and kept sprinting. The outside temperature was about 85 degrees and humid -- early summer in Savannah!
I was still in my bright yellow tee shirt that I run in on really hot days. He kept running, stopping briefly at corners because of the traffic. He looked me straight in the eyes several times as  I periodically caught up with him. I  looked back and smiled. My instinct was to take his picture, but I realized my phone was at home being charged. So just kept following -- slowly. Yes, I thought about possibilities: "he might have a gun," "he might attack the car," so I mentally prepared myself for any such possibility. I am a seventy-year-old guy  so I wasn't about to jump from the car and tackle him. He saw me and I think realized that.

So I kept following -- and he kept running. One time I caught up and he was hunched over, hands on hips -- sweating profusely. I pulled up and smiled.

He suddenly veered off to his left and kept running this time up an "alley" (called a "lane" in Savannah). I rounded the turns of the square I had entered and took a left
I came up right behind him after about a block and again looked him straight in the face. He wasn't running very fast now. He grimaced and took off again.

After about two blocks he ran up between two government buildings and attempted  to lose me. I persisted -- crossing Martin Luther King Blvd at the corner (while he was crossing mid--block behind me).

I thought I knew where he could be going. I saw him run into the Urban Crisis Center complex. I realized my pursuit was now over -- except in my memory, and his aching
body.

Callous Disregard

Trump is evil. Trump is scheming. Trump has created a distraction, with "callous disregard" for the children of potentia) immigrants who are now caught in a quasi-legal tug-of-war at the Southern border of the US. Trump is repeatedly blaring his lack of responsibility while blaming the Democrats, the "moot" and unenforced law that has been in place for 12 or more years under three previous presidents.

This is so mean, so cruel, so callous that it can only be described as immoral. Remember this time -- don't let it become another instance where Trump tries to play the hero, once again rescuing America from danger. Trump manufactures crises which he then claims to solve. We cannot allow this charlatan, this liar, this immoral horror to reap gain from the very pain he so willingly enjoys causing.

Trump is "evil," we must defeat him. All of us are responsible for this.

Failure to Love

I have met anumber of people in the past two years with the same sad illness -- "fear of love."  I guess that fear has always been around, but now it has become the norm. "Why kiss when you can just smile, and walk away?" "Why go out of your way when you are likely to be disappointed anyway?"  "Why give love and affection when you can just as easily hoard it for yourself?"

Solipsism is the "new" relationship choice. My way -- IS -- the highway. The only way.  I am my only solace, my only refuge, my only hope!

Trump has shown us the "living hell" of "SELF -- ALONE!"

What I Know -- Father's Day Edition

That I love my daughter Tosha. That Trump is still bad for America. That my extended Mrochinski- et al family is the best gift I was ever given. That in spite of Sheila's unfair and untimely death  more than a decade ago I am still somewhat glad to be alive. My sister Linda's more recent untimely death confirmed everything I know about Death  -- it is always unfair, untimely, and undeserved.

Death is not the proper end of life; it is instead a "mistake" made by the "creator." 

My students over time have told me things both right and wrong. Some have lied to me; some have told lies about me. Many have succeeded spectacularly; some have disappointed many, including themselves. Life is ... a conundrum. Just as many students are.

Though I try to be consistent, positive, and "good" I am sure I have made mistakes. I am equally sure I have not made mistakes to ever "hurt" any other human being with deliberation or evil intentions.

Zoloft and Abilify

People need relief from depression, anxiety, panic attacks, simple fear. And so they attempt to find some kind of chemical help. But there is always, always, a price to be paid. Having now seen several young people "using" this particular combination of anti-psychotic drugs I am ready to make some observations.

These drugs are addictive -- in the worst sense. They give the user the illusion of normal focused behavior. But the highs and lows of cyclic activity remain -- only cloaked in a cloud of calm and confusion. The confusion comes from a seeming lack of control. A lack of recognition of typical behaviors. An anger at having one's decisions not seem like one's own.

Many people who use Z and A will use them for the rest of their lives. They will experience some diminished cognitive skills along with a dulled sense of joy. And they may not even be able to perceive any of these effects. This is only good for the drug companies, the therapists quantifying results for their ads, and the families of the users -- who only want "better" behaviors. It all depends on how one defines "better."

Things To Do

If there are still thoughtful and intelligent people out there (who may be reading this) -- pay attention to this list. And feel free to add to it.

Stop Trump. He has proven what he is and what he represents,

Restore your own thinking about basic values: human life, all life, respect for nature - spirituality - beliefs in God, goodness, tolerance, compassion. RESIST all hatred, bullying, belittling, arrogance -- that attempts to define or control others.

Be authentic to your highest understanding of yourself.

Fight against repression that circumvents the previous precepts.

Live in "kindness."

Failed Friendships

Why do they fail? Lying will kill friendships. So too will hiding behind half-truths. Posturing or posing to impress will lead to larger lies. And failure.

On the opposite side unreasonable expectations can stifle growth of friendships.  Friendship also cannot exist in confusion, or artificial connections. Mysterious "gaps" in information hamper the growth of trust and understanding.

I have been involved in friendships that have ended so quickly and violently, to say nothing of unexpectedly, that I will never decipher the reasons. I can only he sure of one thing -- lack of honesty was at the core of the failure.

Fools for Love

For love of babies many extreme religious types would execute abortion doctors; for fear of their own fragile morality some people will not admit they are gay; for fear of learning something new many would insist on remaining ignorant; for fear of living in lies some few of us would crusade for our entire lives.

Morality is not perfectly fixed for all situations, nor is it mutable for all occasions. Truth is always true, whether we accept it or not.  Truth is not our plaything; it is our pathway. Whether God exists or not, truth does -- and it provides our final judgment.

He Who Would Be ... God

Liberty University (film and drama program) are putting finishing touches on a film tentatively called: The Trump Prophecy. The implication of this horrid and scandalous film are that this "man" Donald Trump will bring healing, truth, and righteousness back to America. Yes, the evangelical elite have decided that Trump -- the abuser, the pervert, the liar, the phony dealmaker, the racist,, the misogynist., the un-American crooked businessman; somehow suits their own ridiculously one-issued agenda. Trump is the man they trust and --worship. All hail to their Tin God!

Now Trump, the "god" in question, has undercut our best allies on trade, defamed our Canadian partner as weak, refuses to "live up to the G-7 trade terms," and now is in place to negotiate away the rest of our peace with his autocratic solipsism. This is no "god" Evangelicals -- this is a flawed idol, a plastic -- "god" of his own imagination. Hail Trump --the "god of nothing and no-one!"

Depression

There was a time, about a dozen years ago, when my chronic and nearly uncontrolled sadness was driving me towards the logic of suicide. My wife Sheila had died the year before and I could make no sense of it. There was no sense; no plan; no divine or hyper-human reasoning to it. There never is when "death" is involved.

My friends and relatives could only utter little homilies. No one I knew talked at a true enough level. Except for my former student Tina -- she was true, and didn't overtalk the moment. She saved my life -- and then several years later, threw me away again (for a former lover, now her huband).

Depression has always been a familiar element in my lifestyle. I don't know why. It is not debilitating -- though it does become a nuisance. It keeps me more of an observer than a participant.

Now in my later years it is more an old friend then

Sex, Death, Loss, Grief

More people are afraid of "sex" in America than at any time in history. Foreplay has become violent: (50 Shades...); flirtation is now harassment or even assault (#ME TOO); "love" is suspect (all affection is assumed to be erotic); power and control have taken over for friendship and trust!  Why? Who is to blame? Probably all of us to some degree. "Our better Angels" have been sublimated by our basest instincts.

The linchpin to this massive degradation has been the arrival of Donald Trump. His lifestyle, his dishonesty, his lying, his worst "business instincts," his total lack of any moral compass --- have impacted society, tested our own mettle, and challenged us all to be more not less human. Is Trump the "anti-Christ?" Decide for yourself!