The Catholic Church

I am a former altar boy. I attended Catholic grade schools (2), a Jesuit high school, a Jesuit university, a Jesuit graduate school and a number of parishes throughout my youth. I married a convert to Catholicism (from her Baptist roots.) My own family had been Catholic going back for as long as we could trace -- perhaps 8 generations?

I am no longer a practicing Catholic. As an altar boy I and others steered the younger boys away from the predatory priests, and there were a few of them. There were "good" priests too, and good pastors who dutifully reported such behavior. And those bad priests were routinely transferred to another parish, a generally unsuspecting one.

I am now following Buddist tenets in my daily life, without believing in the mythology.

I still sometimes visit a Catholic church; I understand that I do believe in God -- but the specifics if Catholic doctrine seem strained and self-protective to me. Doctrine from all religions seem shallow to me; man-made explanations to fill in logical holes.
Religions practice "god'splaining" to exercise moral superiority and attempt to convince us all that they "have the truth" -- "that they are the truth!"

The truth is -- in us. In our humanity, in our kindness, in our compassion. We are responsible to be that truth throughout our lives. Our behaviors are our truth. Our highest instincts of "love" are our salvation. And our gift to the world after us.

Trapped by Smallmindedness

I have had a number of students who have come from an adjacent county called Effingham. Most of them suffer from the "closed world" syndrome. They cannot think outside the box, because they don't recognize that their hopes, dreams, and futures are all encapsuled inside the box. They are contained by restricting relatives and advisers, their own closed-off perspectives, and simple "fear." I have seen students refuse major scholarships out of fear. The blind should not be leading the blind.

Growth is achieved by risk, by projecting oneself into the future, by conquering one's fear not giving in to it. Some students go so far as to delude themselves, playing the victim to preserve their "innocent" fearful stupidity. Effingham County contains "tribes" full of such  "life-shirkers." You know who you are!  I can only feel sorry for your bad decisions.

Inciter-in-Chief

President Trump incites violence, then benignly proounces that he opposes it. As always, Trump is a liar and a hypocrite. His very nature is to sew chaos and spread hatred and mistrust. We are long past excusing Trump's behavior. He has displayed his penchant for actual evil again and again.

No amount of "Ivanka" or "Melania" softening will cover Trump's evil intent. He is what he is -- and we are stuck with him until time fades him away! Be strong all you normal people -- this Trump too shall pass.

Extinction Point

White people in America need to understand some basic facts. First, they are quickly and deservedly becoming extinct. What does that mean? It means that the number of "non-white" people is growing; through higher birth rates, much higher immigration numbers, and a higher rate of longevity growth among the adult populations.

The upshot is there is a growing number of white racists, fascists, and supremacists. And they are desperate to hold on to what was rather than embrace what is really happening. Many "whites" are demonizing non-white people in the same way Hitler tried to do to the Jews. Will the white population of America make the same mistake? 

Will Trump and his cronies try to inflict the same lies on Americans that Hitler did on the Jews (and others?) Is that process of dehumization already happening? The answer is clearly "yes!" The extinction point needs to happen.  All those people who define themselves as "exclusively white" need to self-eliminate!  We all must learn to become diverse. We are all, after all, mulatto!

Masochism ... or Madness

We all know the definition of "madness" --  doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting different results. Sexually we fall for the same lies, the same shapely body, the same perfect smile, the same perfect butt! Why are we so shallow, so gullible, so impossibly hopeful? We expect the same "bon vivant" to suddenly grow a conscience, or a character with moral "gravitas?" Madness!

And the masochism of putting ourselves through the same "ground hog day" process -- without even trying to extract some morsel of knowledge -- more madness, though of a different order of crass stupidity. Why are we so stupid? Why do we put aside our values to ingratiate our desires? We are flawed pieces of "meat!"

Why does a potential orgasm become the axis of our plans?  Why do we forgive extremely bad abuse towards us when we know it will just happen again?  Do we crave the "drama" of it all?  Are our minds so weak that our eyes cannot see the obvious? Are we hypocrites or just plain liars?

Can we see the truth, or do we refuse to acknowledge it? Are we "real" or are we "fake?"

Probing Russian Interest in this Blog

Ever so often I get a sudden surge of Russian readers of this blog. Since the number is typically 50-80 readers, sometimes over several days, I am "tickled" to make some possible guesses as to why this happens.

To wit: edgy ESL teacher somewhere in the hinterlands of Russia is using the blog as an exemplar of colloquial American English; cyberterrorists in the Russian government are trying to gauge the average American viewpoint on things; I (via the blog) am being recruited into Putin's fifth column; Putin really likes my writing style; Trump has Putin checking out his American critics.  Whatever is the real reason I challenge the readers to "respond" via the Comments section (unless you are worried about being tracked; I am capable...)!

Bluster, Bilge, and Blather

Trump is a criminal who happens to be President of the United States! I have extreme respect for America; but none for Trump. He has set all of us on edge by cheating, lying, bullying, and abusing us and the power of his office. He needs to be impeached, thrown out of office, and jailed.  He has filled his meager staff with amoral, sycophantic followers -- so dislodging his criminality will take time and effort.

We need to start NOW: Manafort, Flynn, Cohen, Trump, Trump Jr., and all who are complicit: Ivanka, DeVoss, Jared, and all the "crooks of the cabinet." Handcuff them all! We must support the media and the truth-tellers! Expunge the actively evil fake conservatives, supremacists, and wouldbe oligarchs! Get rid of Trump!