on election day

 Today represents the most American thing we can do.

 The world is watching. I hope we get it right this time. 

two things i know

 Two things I know:

1. The good opinion of a fool is not worth having.
2. It is an honor to have certain people as enemies. 

thinking of the roman empire

 It's not a perfect correlation... but he kinda reminds me of Caligula.

covid thanksgiving and black friday

 Part of an email I sent to a particular friend, on dealing with Thanksgiving and Black Friday while managing COVID:

---

(Are we w)ell? No, we're not well... but we're better. I woke with a sore throat, which has mostly passed; we had a bunch of Black Friday chores to do this morning, and we got them all done - gas for Regina; special sale at ShopRite; sale at Talbot's for Regina; two-for-one black Friday deal at Hand & Stone massage (I'd rather have dental work than a massage, but Regina likes them, so she got the deal, and I did as well as a Christmas present for her); stop at Costco. It's been a slow afternoon, I suppose, but I did a load of laundry; cashed two checks (remote; just uploading pics from the dining room); ordered a gift card for my sister's Christmas present; paid the water bill. With all that, I'm mostly falling asleep with the computer playing videos on my lap, and I hear Regina's computer in the bedroom; I suspect she fell asleep watching something or other.

...

I'm actually glad I missed the Thanksgiving dinner; I have one sister-in-law who's well-meaning, but perseverates on her belief that all government benefits are wasted on the undeserving; another sister-in-law is (redacted). We sent most of the dinner to them (and their children and the one newly-married-in wife), and kept out a few servings of the side dishes for ourselves... and bought turkey club sandwiches to round out dinner for ourselves. We set the good china and sterling (I inherited five settings of sterling), and decided this was a really good Thanksgiving for us, COVID or no.

If we could just hang out with the younger generation of her family, and leave out my sisters-in-law (and the one Trump-y husband), it would be a much better time.

...

Thanks for checking in. We're OK; we won't starve before we can get out to stores again... and I'm only a little sorry that I can't go infect some people of choice wit this illness, or that it would't be as crippling as it might be, if I did.

---

I expect we will look back on this holiday, and smile at each other as we do. The story may improve with age and retelling; stories often do.

ashamed

 Today, I'm ashamed to be an old white man.

Edit November 8: I remember, though, that I have never in my life voted for a Republican. That is undoubtedly a reflection of my privilege; nevertheless, there it is.

homo

 

This one is partly a "bikes" post, but mostly an "other business" post.

Twice recently, when I've been out on the bike in full lycra-and-spandex regalia, I've heard the shout, "HOMO!" from a passing car. It's clear that this was meant to be a put-down.

I'm not clear that it's going to have the intended effect. First of all, my homophobic father threatened to put me in a military school when he saw my interests and affectations as a teen. He never told me why he was threatening to pull me out of school; and it wasn't until decades later than I figured it out.

I can see the reason for his thinking that I would wind up a member of the LGBTQIA alphabet mafia. I was an introvert, more interested in reading inside than in doing anything else, especially more manly outdoor activities. He pushed me into Boy Scouts, in which I was an indifferent participant. And, as my mother loved the show tunes of the 50's and 60's when I was growing up, I know more about American musical theater of those decades than any straight male you know.

The traditional trappings of homosexuality were undoubtedly attractive to me: art, theater, music, and entertainments caught (and still catch) my attention far more than sports or any traditionally masculine pursuits. I used to joke that I tried out for homosexuality, but I just didn't make the cut; I wasn't cool enough. The truth is, I'm just not attracted to men. (I've had some try to engage my interest. In the earliest cases, I was too clueless to determine their intent. Later, when I figured out what was going on, I could let them know that I was just not interested... but I was flattered at the men I attracted: good-looking, interesting, and accomplished guys!)

So the shout of "HOMO!" may not have had the intended effect.

But I had a further thought recently as I ruminated on the experience: the men (of COURSE they were men) who shouted from their cars apparently thought that their catcall would make me rethink my choices of apparel and activity.

Wait a minute. You think I want to be more like you? I don't think so. If "homo" is what you call me, I will wear the appellation with pride. Even though it doesn't fit, it's better than whatever else you're offering.

they who have eyes to see, let them see

 Not every white intellectual snob with a bow tie is Tucker Carlson.

(I had to provide a headshot for an ID badge at the hospice at which I hope to volunteer, and I insisted on a jacket-and-tie.)

thoughts on god

I know that there are few people looking at this blog yet, but I think I want to be able to refer back to this some day. 

===

First: I have no idea whether there was a creator or not, and it makes no difference to me. The big bang story is a better representation of the way the universe works than the Genesis story: the big bang story leads to technology and inventions, as the other does not.

Whether there was a creator for the big bang doesn't make a damn bit of difference. If there was a creator, there is not a shred of evidence that the creator answers prayers.

The gods of pre-Christianity, and generally the gods outside of the Abrahamic religions, were and are powerful and arbitrary. When I look at forces in the world, I find them powerful and arbitrary; I think the old gods describe the world better than Abrahamic god does. (In the real world, much of what Christians call "blessings" don't sound like blessings to me. Your cancer was cured? Who gave it to you in the first place? And why was yours cured when somebody else's wasn't? You think you deserved it? Really? It sounds like power and caprice to me.)

Just because there may (or may not) have been a creator, what makes us think that it is a father?

What about justice and mercy? Well, I see no evidence that the universe is interested in either. The universe appears to be interested in powewr (and maybe beauty), but not justice or mercy (or safety or comfort, either). We're interested in justice and mercy; those are human things. They are important, and argue for something common to humanity, but they don't provide evidence of any god*. 

I consider myself a "post-monotheist". Because of the argument above, I can't believe that there's one god who answers prayers and whatnot. But there are undoubtedly things that people find sacred. The Quakers are right that no one place is necessarily any more sacred than any other place. But it is the particular that we find sacred. If everything contains mystery, then nothing does. Mystery is in the specific. If you love everyone equally, then how do you distinguish the love for your particular partner or particular friends? Love and mystery must be in the specific.

The best metaphor I can come up with for myself is believing in the sacredness, and thus the god, of every particular place, person, thing, experience. Now, I don't really believe that there is a god, for example, of Amwell Road, with whom I actually have a dispute. But talking like that helps me to focus on the specific, the here-and-now. I doubt that most sensible Romans really believed that the god of some particular place or condition was going to reward or punish them; they were, I'm sure, able to separate their nuts-and-bolts, getting-the-job-done knowledge from the poetic language of sacred experience, poetry, and wonder. (Everything I read about Hinduism suggests that the multiplicity of their gods is a way of understanding and ordering experience, but they don't believe that literally, either; the term "henothism" gets used for the "one god" behind Hindu belief. I think it's like that.)

===

Now: how about a couple of bible quotes?

Matthew 21:

19   And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

20   And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

21   Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

22   And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Mark 11:

12   And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

13   And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

14   And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it....

20   And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

21   And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

22   And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

23   For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

24   Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

 

"What things soever ye desire... ye shall have them". There's not a Christian high-school student in the country who hasn't disproven that statement, after praying for, and believing, something all night, to be disappointed in the morning.

 

I don't give a damn if you think there's a creator or not. But don't come to me with your balderdash about anybody answering prayers. 

 

*Y'know what else isn't evidence for any god? Symmetry. When I look at the world, I see balance, and sometimes it works out as almost symmetry... but it's not; it's always flawed. It takes humans to make large structures with perfect symmetry.