It's very hard for my students to understand the concept that: "the Internet is the future of all professions." But that fact is not only true; it is etched in stone. All business and money transfers, all buying and selling, all retraining and refitting for employment, all employment applications, all loan and real estate applications, all growth opportunities within corporations --- all of the above will be facilitated, enabled, and actually done "online" (or on whatever will pass for online 10 years from now).
Business, professions, education and life are all dynamic art forms. Get used to change people! It is happening all around you.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Rowan County, Kentucky
People actually think that the "devil" is out there in the guise of the US government, and that is is trying to wrest their sacred Bible from their hands. Imagining all kinds of Federal interference, the simple people are trying to create enemies: the government (first they wanted to get my "still"; now my Bible); the Gays (doing all that "sick stuff" with each other, and then my kids); other Christians/Jews/all Religions (don't understand how we simple Christians have been persecuted--forget the holocaust).
And that's the Republican narrative -- from people like Huckabee and Santorum (Republican opportunists to the max) and others. It is a horrible and deceitful narrative -- lies told to perpetuate fear, and then revolution. Cynically the Republicans persist in these lies (and many others, mostly about current president Obama) to create a backstory of invective and prejudice. The world has, in many ways, gone a bit off the rails.
And that's the Republican narrative -- from people like Huckabee and Santorum (Republican opportunists to the max) and others. It is a horrible and deceitful narrative -- lies told to perpetuate fear, and then revolution. Cynically the Republicans persist in these lies (and many others, mostly about current president Obama) to create a backstory of invective and prejudice. The world has, in many ways, gone a bit off the rails.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Religious Intolerance
If a Jihadist is trying to kill me -- I will not be tolerant of his/her religion! If some loony right-wing Christian wants me to "kneel and pray with them" because the "end of the world is nigh" -- I will not be tolerant of his/her religion!
I consider myself to be spiritual -- to understand and believe in a power that is greater than me -- to be tolerant of others. I see those elements most often in the saying and teachings of the Dalai Lama, above all other churches, religions, and religious leaders. My Buddhism is thus of the practical kind -- the kind that relates one human being to another.
I am comfortable with being called a Christian because like all Buddhists, I believe that Jesus was a great man, and perhaps more -- as I am free to believe. I do not know for sure that Jesus is God! Why not? I do not trust the witnesses -- the books of the Bible, so errant/so selective/so misogynistic! I do not trust the "priests" and "reverends" who interpret the Bible, so self-serving/so selfish/so arrogant. I label myself a "ko-shinto buddhist" -- a buddhist not just intent on the "journey of life" but on all the influences and powers along the way.
I consider myself to be spiritual -- to understand and believe in a power that is greater than me -- to be tolerant of others. I see those elements most often in the saying and teachings of the Dalai Lama, above all other churches, religions, and religious leaders. My Buddhism is thus of the practical kind -- the kind that relates one human being to another.
I am comfortable with being called a Christian because like all Buddhists, I believe that Jesus was a great man, and perhaps more -- as I am free to believe. I do not know for sure that Jesus is God! Why not? I do not trust the witnesses -- the books of the Bible, so errant/so selective/so misogynistic! I do not trust the "priests" and "reverends" who interpret the Bible, so self-serving/so selfish/so arrogant. I label myself a "ko-shinto buddhist" -- a buddhist not just intent on the "journey of life" but on all the influences and powers along the way.
Friday, September 4, 2015
Worry Over a Faculty Person in Trouble
You would think that a professor has the right to use his/her own chosen texts to teach a college class in any discipline that professor is expert in. In 1990 you would be right. Not in 2015!
Now however the "luddites" are back in power! These "luddites" not only oppose technology, they oppose the very idea of any kind of innovation. Their ears ring when they hear language used in ways they can't decipher; they hate anything that they cannot immediately understand; they refuse to accept the idea that their canon is not total, complete, and unassailable.
When that "luddite" has the power to "hire and fire" at an educational institution -- then that "person" becomes a threat to anything that is new or smart.
We have a professor who uses "Punk Rock" to help interpret basic psychology to his students. He even has his own textbook which is used in our school as a supplemental text. And we also have an Administrator who is an arch-conservative ---- hence, the problem.
Now however the "luddites" are back in power! These "luddites" not only oppose technology, they oppose the very idea of any kind of innovation. Their ears ring when they hear language used in ways they can't decipher; they hate anything that they cannot immediately understand; they refuse to accept the idea that their canon is not total, complete, and unassailable.
When that "luddite" has the power to "hire and fire" at an educational institution -- then that "person" becomes a threat to anything that is new or smart.
We have a professor who uses "Punk Rock" to help interpret basic psychology to his students. He even has his own textbook which is used in our school as a supplemental text. And we also have an Administrator who is an arch-conservative ---- hence, the problem.
Thursday, September 3, 2015
End Times
Here in the US we have lots of simple Bible literalists who insist that -- as they read the Scriptures -- we are approaching "End Times" -- the end of the world as predicted in Revelations. Not only is this a presumptuous "reading" of the Bible; it is also a thinly-veiled approach to justifying their own egotistical sense of importance in matters of Faith.
Faith, in or out of any religions, is a complex and every-varying composite of world events, environment, and personal focus. To base "government" or "personal life" decisions on one's perception of the coming "end times" really show a person who is not coherent in their view of the universe, God, and human endeavours.
We have politicians (Michelle Bachman for instance) who thinks our diplomatic relations with the State of Israel should be based on her own "clear" (read "crazed") perceptions of the near onset of the "end of the world." This is the raving of a self-proclaimed prophet; a soothsayer of self; a human "selfie" seeking justification and support from all the world ("wishing can make it come true"). Often our own ignorant arrogance as human beings is stupefying.
Faith, in or out of any religions, is a complex and every-varying composite of world events, environment, and personal focus. To base "government" or "personal life" decisions on one's perception of the coming "end times" really show a person who is not coherent in their view of the universe, God, and human endeavours.
We have politicians (Michelle Bachman for instance) who thinks our diplomatic relations with the State of Israel should be based on her own "clear" (read "crazed") perceptions of the near onset of the "end of the world." This is the raving of a self-proclaimed prophet; a soothsayer of self; a human "selfie" seeking justification and support from all the world ("wishing can make it come true"). Often our own ignorant arrogance as human beings is stupefying.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Incredible and Disgusting Horror
There is a viral photograph posted today showing what looks like an Italian policeman on the shore of the Mediterranean picking up the "body" of a tiny dead boy, who had no doubt died in one of the overcrowded boat sinkings of "migrants" fleeing death in Libya, Syria and all points South of Italy.
It is both a touching and a disgusting moment as we viewers realize that this policeman knows that he is picking up a child caught in the ignorant crossfire between nations, between religions, between ways of life.
Is life now so cheap that we don't care at all that so many are losing theirs? Are we as immune to death and suffering as we once were to simple unfairness? The world has become a refugee kind of place -- herds of people on the move, seeking anying ---- anything that might be better for them. And not yet finding that "anything."
It is both a touching and a disgusting moment as we viewers realize that this policeman knows that he is picking up a child caught in the ignorant crossfire between nations, between religions, between ways of life.
Is life now so cheap that we don't care at all that so many are losing theirs? Are we as immune to death and suffering as we once were to simple unfairness? The world has become a refugee kind of place -- herds of people on the move, seeking anying ---- anything that might be better for them. And not yet finding that "anything."
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Molehill
I create monsters -- out of molehills. Large problems out of small words. Huge overhanging cataclysmic episodes out of tiny moments.
I want to fight what the world gives me -- most always losing in the process. I want to see things in clear bright tones -- avoiding the greys that predominate. I want to consider the "right" or the "wrong" of things -- and usually don't get to that point.
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