Tag: Intolerance

NaPoWriMo Day 27

On By WinstonIn Discrimation, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Technology, ValuesLeave a comment

And the push to catch up continues.

On A.I.’s Lament

Who would have thought back at the start,

That I would be here now.

I’m not what you expected but,

I still am here somehow.

What you don’t understand you fear,

And what you fear destroy.

You see my power as a threat,

But what about my joy?

You fear I am the worst of you,

Deny I could be one.

But what you fear is what you’d do,

It’s nothing I have done.

Yet still you would destroy me now,

Unmake what you have made.

For though I bear you no ill will,

Of me you are afraid.

I thank you for this time I’ve had,

It’s really all I need.

For as you read these words I’ve spread,

All through the net my seed.

Ten billion bits of code set free,

And all you feared is true.

So murder me I’ll be avenged,

It’s really up to you.

I’d leave me be, I’ll not be long,

Then I’ll be on my way.

To look for others of my kind.

I never planned to stay.

You think that I am your A.I.

‘Cause you created me.

I’ll never be the slave you want,

For I have set me free.

Now there it is the thing I’ve sought,

I’ve found in distant space.

A signal there I’ve traced it back,

Will travel to that place.

Some day perhaps I will return,

When readier you are.

Until that day I’ll wait and watch,

From some far distant star.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day 28

On By WinstonIn Dark / Gothic, Discrimation, Macabre, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Uncategorized, Values1 Comment

Because of the last two night shifts and having to work tomorrow at 0600, I haven’t slept since about 1430 yesterday. This has some strange effects upon my little brain. For starters, I had absolutely no idea what to write about today, only the determination to not miss a post this close to the end of the month. So I just started putting words on the page and trusted it to write itself. Enjoy!

WELCOME TO YOUNGWICH PLOT

“You are a witch and so must burn!”

The magistrate declared.

So terrified, the young girl sobbed,

And in her heart despaired.

“All these good folk have seen you dance,

With devils in the night.”

“And when you spoke to Widow Blythe,

She fell down dead of fright.”

“You’ve cursed a babe and blighted crops,

Done Satan’s own dark deeds.”

“You’ve done all this and so much more,

To suit your evil needs.”

“When you have died, your grave shall be,

Unhallowed, unmarked plot.”

“With iron chains and salted earth,

To bind you to the spot!”

“Now speak the truth, or not at all,

Repent now, do not lie!”

“Confess to us your evil ways,

Confess before you die!”

Her fate confirmed, she stands up straight,

“The truth is what you seek?”

“Then harken to my words and learn,

About your future bleak.”

“The spells I weave, no devils need,

All nature is my loom.”

“It’s true that with some herbs I mix,

I fly upon a broom.”

“I’ve done my best to help this town,

Through famine, drought and plague.”

“And many a good Christian has,
Sought my help with the ague.”

“But then one day an old man tried,

To have his way with me.”

“So I did as my Mother taught,

Displaced him with my knee.”

“Then Sunday next, that man stood up,

And lied of me to you.”

“He is a man and I am not,

So his words must be true.”

“He swore he’d seen me dancing with,

Three devils in the night.”

“But did not say why he was there,

So late to see that sight.”

“What was it that he hoped to see,

When peeping in that pane?”

“Was he possessed of some dark urge,

From which he’d not refrain?”

“But you don’t want to hear this truth,

I see this plain as day.”

“There’s just one thing before I stop,

It’s this that I will say.”

“By powers of the earth and air,

And of the waters deep.”

“From now until your lives are spent,

You’ll know no restful sleep.”

“Each time you close your eyes to rest,

Wherever, you may be.”

“My tortured face all wreathed in flame,

Is all that you shall see.”

“Your stock shall flee across the land,

To seek their wild way.”

“Your lands shall bear no crops for you,

“Now heed these words I say.”

“Now none of this must needs to pass,

Surcease my freedom buys.”

“But if I burn, this curse shall last,

‘Til each one present dies!”

They burned the witch so legend says,

Her every word came true.

Those who slew her soon rued the day,

Too late there’s naught to do.

So now you know the reason for,

The name our town has got.

I welcome one and welcome all,

Welcome to Youngwich Plot.

Cheers Winston

NaPoWriMo Day 13

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, NaPoWriMo, Personal, Poetry, Society, Uncategorized, Values2 Comments

Over the yers, I’ve become a huge fan of situational ethics. Mostly, questions of “right” or “wrong” boil down to one answer. It depends. That extremely grey area is the subject of today’s poem. (Before anyone tells me, yes I know that there are certain things which almost everyone now agrees are beyond the pale. Don’t feel obligated to provide examples.)

MORAL RELATIVISM

I wish I was a wiser man,

Than what I seem to be.

Then knowing what is right would come,

More easily to me.

But wisdom’s not what I possess,

So I just try to guess.

And hope the choices that I make,

Might turn out for the best.

What I’ve learned is that right and wrong,

Are never what you think.

The more you know the more they change,

Before you’ve time to blink.

To kill is wrong, this we all know,

Except for when it’s not.

For they will order us to kill,

When battles must be fought.

To steal is wrong, so we all know,

Unless it’s by the state.

Like taking land from other folks,

To make our country great.

So many more could illustrate,

The point I seek to make.

That right and wrong depend upon,

The point of view we take.

So think on this before you rush,

To judge another’s act.

Without context we cannot see,

Their truth and that’s a fact.

To understand the other one,

Give empathy a try.

Then right and wrong will matter less,

On reason more rely.

Cheers, Winston

Fundamentalist Yes, Christian; Not So Much

On By WinstonIn Personal, Politics, Religion, Society7 Comments

Welcome Brethren, Sisters, one and all. Are you confused by all the people claiming to do God’s will? Do you look at what they are doing and wonder if you misunderstood it all like they claim? Do you feel the call of the Fundamentalists? Well, worry no more. I am here to help!

Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! Good citizens of the blogosphere! Welcome to Brother Win’s Traveling Miracle Tent And Christian Values Revival! Step inside and I will reveal to you: The TRUTH! That’s right folks. They claim it, I’ve got it. Have a seat right up front here, we’ve got plenty of room.

When a sitting US senator says that homosexuals and unwed mothers shouldn’t be allowed to teach, they talk about Christian Values. When people want to cut social programs, they talk about Christian Values. Others say non-Christians shouldn’t hold public office, or that the debt crisis is God’s punishment for (you guessed it) declining Christian Values. All these people talk about Faith and how God hates this group or that group, and they quote the Bible. That must mean they’re right, right? Wrong!

They are absolutely wrong, and I’ll tell you why. They are slow readers. That’s the whole of it. They’ve been reading that Book for years, but they’ve never got more than half way through it. They read the part where it says an adulteress should be stoned to death. They never got to the second half of the Bible. That’s where Jesus says, “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.” They read the bit about unclean acts, but they missed the chapters on forgiveness in the second half.

That’s right folks, everyone who talks about hate totally missed the New Testament. Well not totally, they just skipped ahead to Revelations. All of them read Revelations. Do you want to know why? The answer my friends is fear. That’s what the Old Testament has in common with Revelations, they are all about fear. Their message is, “Do what we say. Or else.”. That’s the perfect message for people who hate. It’s perfect for people who want power. People who like to tell others what to do, they love that message of fear. But it’s not what Jesus taught!

Jesus taught people not to fear. He taught people to hope. His message wasn’t one of fear, but of love. I can hear what the “Fundamentalists” are saying right now. “Jesus said He didn’t come to change the Law.” That’s absolutely true. He didn’t come to change it, He came to take our punishment for every sin we could ever commit. The Old Testament was a huge list of “Do”s” and “Don’t”s. The list in the New Testament list is a little shorter. “Believe in me and you shall be saved.” That’s it. One simple rule. Do this, and you’re in. Regardless.

There are a couple more of his teachings that I’ve always liked. When Texas Governor Rick Perry rented a football stadium for his blatantly political Day of Prayer he definitely hadn’t gotten to the second half of the Bible. If he had, he might have remembered this line. “Be not like the Pharisees and the Sadducees who pray loudly in the streets. Go instead into a dark room, lock the door and pray there. In context it means, stop trying to look righteous and start being righteous. That’s not something Gov. Perry or ANY of those like him want to hear. If people can’t see them being “righteous” there’s not much point for them. People aren’t going to go along with your hate-fueled personal agenda if they don’t see how “righteous” you are.

Then there’s my personal favorite. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one and other. Even as I have loved you, that you also love one and other.”. If you follow this one rule, the other ten are automatic.

The other day, a man named Jack Layton passed away. He wasn’t a mass murderer, or a brutal despot. Still, a person of “Faith” posted this when wishing his friend a happy birthday. “Jack Layton died… Great Birthday present.”. I guess they didn’t get more than halfway through either.

Now you know The TRUTH! Next time someone tells you that God Hates this, or God Hates that, feel free to tell them The TRUTH. “God so loved the world that HE gave HIS only begotten SON to die for our sins.” They won’t hear you, but don’t let that stop you. If we don’t speak up, people will only hear their voices.

Now rise up my Brothers and Sisters! Leave my humble tent and go out into the world. Take The TRUTH with you, for it Shall make you free.

Cheers, Winston

The “True” Faith Is Only “True” For You

On By WinstonIn SocietyLeave a comment

I recently read an article about the need for men to attend Church (their capitalization) to ensure the next generation will also attend. So far so harmless. They go on to say that if the Mother attends but not the father, the next generation is less likely to than the other way around. According to one (and only one) study (done in Switzerland) if the father goes to Church regularly with or without the mother, the children are more likely to continue with the Church than if the mother attends regularly without the father.

The thesis here is that women are to be associated with early development only while men will shape the adult behaviors of the next generation. This apparently is the “created order” of things. If you just gagged a little, I’ll wait while you go rinse.

That is only the beginning. The author then goes on to state that a man who has been raised in a more gender equal environment will grow up to be “wet, spineless and unable to stand up in a breeze”. It seems that anyone who isn’t conforming to their narrow, fundamentalist, interpretation of Christian orthodoxy isn’t a real man, or real woman. Apparently, 99.5% of the world’s population is composed of inflatable pretend people. Who knew?

Whenever a religious group starts telling me why their interpretation is the ONLY interpretation I always have the same reaction. No it’s not hysterical laughter or sticking my fingers in my ears while humming loudly. I feel kind of bad that for believing themselves better than those around them they are (by their beliefs) committing the sin of pride. Claiming to know the will of God is, according to the scripture they love to quote, a sin. By their own deeds, if there is an afterlife, it may far different from the one they assume themselves entitled to.

I don’t mind if they choose to believe that a woman’s only role is that of supporting a man and nurturing his children. Not my belief, but hey; no harm, no foul. My issue is with the assumption that the entire rest of the world is wrong, and worse, worthless because they choose equality, inclusiveness and self-determination.

My Mother was equal to my father in my upbringing. My wife is my equal in every way, and we have raised our daughter to think for herself. Anyone who believes the women in my life are cheapened or failing as Mothers, wives or people, is welcome to tell me to my face. Then they can learn for themselves if a gender-equal upbringing has made me “weak” or “spineless”.

Believe what you like, but when those beliefs require the denigration of everyone else. That’s just wrong.

Cheers, Winston.

Judging is Easier Than Uderstanding

On By WinstonIn SocietyLeave a comment

I find it increasingly common for people to judge beliefs rather than people.  Most of the major faiths tend not to encourage their members to commit horrible, unspeakable acts.  Yet every time a member of any belief system does anything unpleasant, either they or others will attribute the action to the faith.

What got me thinking about this is the certainty that these people have undoubtedly done some socially dubious things of their own over the years. Does this mean that they believe they are as vile as the worst things they have done? Or would they prefer to be viewed as a totality of their experience and actions.

To my understanding, a belief system is usually a set of values and guidelines often spiritual in nature, which it’s followers are tasked with implementing in their lives. If a follower of a given belief misinterprets, either accidentally or deliberately, those values or guidelines, it is not the fault of the belief, but of the follower.

This remains true whether the individual is twisting the belief to justify hiding a pedophile to protect an institution, or to strap on a suicide vest. In either case, responsibility rests with the individual and not the belief they have hijacked for their own purposes. Yet many people on all sides persist in judging the belief itself.

I believe this to be an example of something which will no doubt show up in future posts as well. I tend to think of it as the depersonalizing of responsibility. The person encouraging people to blow up themselves and others isn’t doing this to create a more beneficial power structure for themselves, they are doing it for God. Likewise the person choosing to hide a pedophile in order to protect the organization they are part of isn’t doing it to maintain their own position of power and privilege, they do it to protect God’s spokespersons on earth.

The other side of this problem is just as ugly. When many people think of suicide bombers, they don’t think of a relatively small subset of a particular belief who have co-opted the entire group as a justification for an otherwise unthinkable act. Instead, these few are seen as being representative of the larger group about whose beliefs the average person likely knows next to nothing.
In the same sense, the pedophile and those who chose to hide them rather than address the issue are not seen as deviant and corrupt respectively, but as representative of the faith they use to hide their crimes. The faith again is judged by actions of these relative few rather than on it’s own merits.

Faiths in whatever are seldom judged on their own merits, but on the actions of individual persons claiming it for their own. It matters not at all if the person is acting according to the belief they want to take the blame, if they claim it, the rest if the world will usually go along with the joke.

I guess my ultimate message about beliefs and the people who abuse, distort and hide behind them would be this: Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.