THE SOURCE OF MORALITY

Most Christian ministers will staunchly maintain that the Bible and biblical principles are the foundation of morality.  Anyone without that foundation is, according to them, doomed to an amoral life governed by situation ethics and their own lusts.

P. Z. Myers, a biology professor at the University of Minnesota Morris, has written an article which thoroughly debunks this stance.  It is available here:  http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/03/why_i_am_an_amoral_family-hati.php

I can honestly say that I never really accepted the old Worldwide stance that a man was to be the dictating ruler over his spouse.  That was partially due to the example engrained in me by my own father.  Although my mother always respected him and thought he should run the family ranching business, my father never made a major decision without first talking it over thoroughly with my mother and considering her input.  I'm sure he never struck my mother and doubly sure he never "cheated" on her.

My father and mother did not attend a church while I was growing up.  They followed me and my sister into Worldwide later.  But, they always did their own thinking, and I'm sure several of the ministers of their local congregation were not pleased that they didn't "jump" to obey some of the authoritarian advice they were given in their fifties and sixties, such as, "Sell out and move to Bismarck so you'll be closer to church."  They would have been left destitute in their old age (they lived into their mid and late nineties) if they had blindly obeyed.

There was, of course, the predominantly "christian" influence of the society around them, but they were very sceptical about religious doctrines, and my mother often said that a lot of people only went to church to hide their meanness.

When I married, I didn't have the attitude many other men in the organization had.  I viewed my wife as an equal and that caused her to disrespect me and tell me, especially toward the end of our relationship and after, that I wasn't a man.  By that time, I was becoming very sceptical and disillusioned, so her biting comments only served to anger me, not make me feel inadequate.

She divorced me when the organization loosened up in that area.  When she filed for divorce, I had begun to see that governments and religions took authority to themselves for purposes of control, proclaimed myself divorced, figured the court would eventually catch up and began the search for a compatible partner.  I have been married twice since and widowered once.  In none of those relationships have I been a controlling dictator.  Nor, have I cheated on either of those wives.  I was faithful to my second wife even while being geographically separated from her for more than eight years prior to her death from cancer.

My faithfulness while in the voluntarily married state was not based on religious strictures.  It was based on human ethics and decency.  I no longer look to a god for authority over my life, since I'm convinced no such entity exists.  Unlike Gingrich, I feel no need to apologize or justify anything. 

YOU CAN'T CURE STUPID

As usual, I went to Huffington Post as one of the first things I do in the morning to keep abreast of what is happening in the world.  It's my home page.  I clicked on the following article:

"Unlike many other states, Texas does not ban workplace discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, or marital status. But don't be alarmed; the Lone Star State is working on that whole civil liberties thing. Last week, Republican State Rep. Bill Zedler introduced HB 2454, a bill that would establish new workplace protections for proponents of intelligent design. Here's the key part:

An institution of higher education may not discriminate against or penalize in any manner, especially with regard to employment or academic support, a faculty member or student based on the faculty member's or student's conduct of research relating to the theory of intelligent design or other alternate theories of the origination and development of organisms.

And you thought Berkeley was crazy. On the upside, maybe the University of Texas will be able to help a few of the folks who are falling through Texas' fraying social safety net. Out of a job? Come up with an elaborate theory about how a flying spaghetti monster created the universe. A tenured professorship awaits."

Don't get me wrong.  I like most Texans, just like I like most other people.  But there is an element of ignorance and denial of reality among them that makes them, and by implication, the whole United States of America, the laughing stock of the educated and enlightened world.  It pains me no end that my son had to move to Houston to find work and that my little and brilliant grand daughter has to be subjected to that kind of irrational educational system.

My other blogs make it abundantly clear how ridiculous this kind of statute is.  Therefore, I'll just let it go at what has already been said.

 

 

LIFE IS A PILE OF S++T FOR JUST ABOUT EVERYBODY ONCE IN AWHILE

I woke up this morning to a facebook entry by my daughter, Nancy, now nearly 40, that she wrote in the wee hours of the morning.  It detailed her lifetime struggle with depression and how thankful she is to finally begin finding her way out through proper professional counsel and the right medication.

I had been unaware of how deeply set and serious her problem was.  I knew she had a problem, and her serious overweight should have indicated how deep the problem was, but we just don't see into the depths of another person's struggle, and we all tend to keep such embarrassing details to ourslves.  So, those around us don't realize what we are personally struggling against and probably wouldn't be able to really help much if they did.  Few have the professional training needed and couldn't legally prescribe any chemical help if they did.

Nancy is now on her way to a semblance of a normal, successful and rewarding life.  Yes, it's later than she would want, but I didn't start my recovery from cultic Armstrongism until I was the same age as she.  The important thing is the recovery has begun.

She is steadily losing weight.  She has a happier outlook on life and has begun the shooling she always let her depression dissuade her from in the past.

Yesterday, we participated in a used eyeglass sorting party for my local Lion's Club.  During the social part, we learned of the heartbreak one member couple went through in losing one of their children to a degenerative disease.   Unless that had been shared with us, we never would have guessed.

It is normal to think that other people have a breeze with life and nothing but blessings.  The longer I live, the more I learn, I realize that nobody escapes trial and heartbreak.  No matter how much money and apparent success people have, there are always things somewhere in their life that hang heavily from their psyches.  Nobody escapes this life unscathed.  It just isn't possible with all the vagaries of happenstance.

SAME OLD SAME OLD

There is a new article out this morning on Huffington Post:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-adam-jacobs/a-reasonable-argument-for_b_831185.html.

In this article, Rabbi Adam Jacobs claims to present a reasonable argument for the existence of God.  I thought maybe he'd have something new, so I brought up the article, only to find that it's the same old drivel I and others have thoroughly repudiated over and over.

Basically, its the old saw about life being too complicated to have arisen by chance, so a god had to have done it. 

He totally ignores the obvious fact that, if life is too complicated to have originated by chance, where in heaven or hell or whatever did a vastly more complicated form of life he calls "god" just happen to magically appear?

It's only about 150 years since we began to have the tools and awareness to start our search for the true origins.  In that time, we've made marvelous strides toward ultimate answers and the faith based pronouncements of religion have come out on the losing end time after time. 

They've had thousands of years to provide clear and demonstrable proofs and all they have to offer is the same old blatherings of priests, scribes and prophets who well may have been suffering from frontal lobe epilepsy of some sort, certainly motivated by a desire to preserve their exalted status among the population.  All they can retort is something like:  "Ok, we were wrong on that but how do you answer this, Mr. smarty pants evolutionist?"  Then, they bring up something scientists are still investigating that their religion purports to answer -- conveniently without any scientific proof whatsoever.

Nice try, Rabbi.  However, there are a few of us who demand real meat on those weathered old bones.

JUST DO IT -- AN OLD COWBOY'S WISDOM

I got a haircut today.  A new barber I'd never met before was in the shop.  Like many barbers, he was a fountain of conversation.

He recounted an incident that happened when he was a young barber in Payson, Arizona.  An old cowboy came in periodically for a "cowboy cut."  It was regular in most ways, but he didn't want his mustache, nose or ear hairs or eybrows trimmed.  Reason:  they helped keep the flies out.

One day. the old cowboy was a bit pensive and commented that if he had his life to live over again, he'd "just do it."  The young barber asked him what he meant, whereupon he said that the greatest regret of his life was that he didn't have the courage to "just do" many of the things he often wanted to do.  Now, it was too late.

The young barber took that counsel to heart and when an urge like traveling up and down the Mississipi came over him, he just did it.  He has now settled down in a house he owns in Camp
Verde, but his fondest memories are of the many things he courageously set out to do because of that old cowboy's advice.  In all cases, he survived and gained from each experience.

No cowboy gave me that advice, but as I look back on my life, the things that give me greatest satisfaction with my life are those things I "just did."

Pulling up stakes and going off to Ambassador College at twenty-one was the first big one.  I had many reasons not to do that.  I could have had a far different and perhaps much more secure future by staying on and inheriting the family ranch.  Fear of the unknown could have kept me from taking that step.  I know, Ambassador College was no bargain as educational institutions go, but it gave me a college education and writing and editing experience I'm utilizing right now at this computer.  It gave me a confidence in myself and an appreciation of what I could do if I just set out to do it.

When my career with the college and church came to an abrupt end, I was faced with the fearsome prospect of finding a job in the commercial world or establishing my own business after floundering around for a couple of years.  Establishing a business is no piece of cake, but I found a way to do it.  I recount this experience in my book:  http://www.hwarmstrong.com/believing-the-unbelievable.pdf .

When my wife divorced me, I was faced with living alone or trying to find another partner.  I set off into the new and intimidating world of singles organizations and ended up in square dancing where I soon found a compatible mate.

Life in the Los Angeles area became less and less ideal for a number of reasons and I again walked away and moved to Phoenix.  Establishing a new business and just surviving involved more fearsome obstacles, but, again, I survived and eventually prospered. 

After many years in Phoenix, becoming a widower and again finding a mate in the square dance world, life there became less and less desireable.  So, another move.  This time, to Cottonwood, AZ where I expect to spend what remains of my life.

Included along the way are the memories of two trips to Hawaii that we could have easily said we really couldn't afford and just frittered away the money some other way and a wonderful trip to Louisiana and several days in New Orleans.

I haven't covered all the many compulsive things I've done that constitute my fondest memories.  What I've recounted just illustrate how important it is not to let fear of the unknown limit us.

There is a time to "JUST DO IT!"

THE GOLDEN RULE VS. THE HAMMER OF PUNISHMENT

For this entry, I've decided to talk about the golden rule, something any decent person will endorse, no matter their religion of lack thereof. This account is taken from another website: http://www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/forum/main-lobby/70204-i-got-pulled-over-today-need-help-2.html

“Buck Snoddy...was a rural Arizona cop back in the 1940s and 1950s (Buck caught the FBI's #1 Most Wanted one year, and was featured in a Dragnet episode a few years later after catching a fugitive from LAPD). Legend has it that Buck never issued a traffic ticket -- if you had been dangerous, he'd just arrest you, otherwise, you got a Buck Talk, during which he explained in excruciating detail the depths of your error. Few people wanted to chance another roadside chat!

An insight into his character are stories such as the time a kid came out of a dance after drinking a few more beers than he should have. Buck sees him weaving through the lot, comes up behind him, and as the kid digs his car keys out, shouts "Hey, how you doing, Mike?" and slaps the kid on the back. Of course, the keys fall to the ground. Buck kicks them under the car, then helps Mike look for them. He says “I have to go check the doors on Main Street, but I'll bring a flashlight back with me. Have a seat in your car, and I'll be back in a few minutes."

Mike, of course, sits down. Next thing he knows, Buck is slamming his hand several times on the car roof to wake him up, and the sun is rising. Buck says "Enjoying the hangover? Your keys are under the car, now get the hell home and be smarter next week."

It would have been easier for him to arrest Mike for public drunkenness, or driving under the influence …. Instead, Buck cut a good kid some slack and gave him a lesson that was remembered 50 years later....”

My wife's father worked as a deputy under Buck Snoddy. He was a man of similar attitude and character, respected and loved by the people he served. He was slow to arrest but quick to be stern and pointed, such as the times he saw workmen in a bar blowing their paychecks and ordered them to go straight home and give their money to their wives. Those were the days when benevolent men such as he could get away with doing such things. You might say it was pre-civil rights times. They were sort of neighborly, fatherly and grandfatherly types of community guardians nobody wanted to mess with.

I'm sure there are still many officers of the law with similar attitudes, but our straight laced, litigious society has made it increasingly difficult for them to follow their charitable instincts. Buck Snoddy didn't have to worry about MADD MOTHERS descending on him in lantern jawed vindictive fury. He also served in a much less crowded environment where everybody basically knew everybody else and had a neighborly concern for each other.

What these men, and their modern counterparts, really championed was the Golden Rule, which is common to all advanced moral systems. They really believed in loving their neighbors as much as they loved themselves and their own families.

We need more of that attitude and practice in our present world. There would be far fewer people in prison or shadowed by a felony record for the rest of their lives.

"HOLY MOSES" -- WHAT A STORY

This blog entry is the first in a series of entries showing the fictional and mythological origins of common Bible stories and beliefs.

Part 1

Everybody in the Western world, and much of the rest of humanity, is familiar with the story of Moses in the bull rushes. It's a Sunday School favorite. Several other “Bible stories” are also sentimental favorites. They are so ubiquitous that hardly anyone questions their historical authenticity.

The mental picture in people's minds is of a robed Moses sitting in a tent in the middle of the Sinai desert, writing his heart out under some sort of godly inspiration. They have similar pictures of other supposed Bible writers and are absolutely convinced that it all was directly from the mouth of their God.

Surprise!

There has been abundant evidence available for decades that those inspirational little stories and accounts were made up fictions crafted centuries, even millenniums, after the supposed occurrences by imaginative select, edit, rearrange and paste scribes with an agenda. That agenda being the goal of those religious leaders (read: priests) to build a secure place for themselves that would be financed and maintained by the masses they had so carefully tutored and groomed.

They had just returned from several generations of Babylonian captivity (around 600 B.C.) during which they had been exposed to the highly advanced civilization of Babylon, its literature and highly developed religious hierarchies. The Jewish priestly class could now write and publish, possibly for the first time in Israelite history. They were finally equipped to craft a self-serving theocracy and determinedly set about doing so.

The Old Testament, as well as the New Testament, is really a religious novel based on legends and myths, plus an occasional carefully edited and enhanced historical occurrence, that were adopted by the Israelite priesthood and re-crafted to support the doctrine and perspective they wanted people to accept. Included in that approach were the chauvinistic Israelite aspirations that would appeal to the population (the “chosen” people, etc.).

Go to this video presentation for an illuminating rundown and overview that goes hand in hand with my recent post about the “Famn Damily” concerning what actually happened to produce what we call “The Bible”: http://www.anatheist.net/2011/01/a-history-of-god/.

Let's start with that picture of Moses floating in the Nile.

Laurence Gardner reveals some interesting historical facts in his book, The Origin of God.

About 400 years had transpired since the family entourage had gone to Egypt in the days of the drought and famine. This is a period of time about the same as that which separates me from my earliest colonial ancestor in the Lynn, Massachusetts settlement of 1630.

Gardner points out that the Moses story was adapted from a Mesopotamian original, the Legend of Sharru-kin and pertains to Sargon the Great. king of Akkad. The translated account reads: “My changeling mother conceived me; in secret she bare me. She set me in a basket of rushes, and with pitch she sealed my lid. She cast me into the river, which rose not over me. The river bore me up, and carried me to Akki, the drawer of the water.”

During the intervening three hundred plus years, the Israelites had become very much a part of the Egypt of their time. Some of them had become part of the ruling elite – the pharoanic dynasties. Their religious inclinations and beliefs had also achieved some prominence and led to philosophical conflict, probably with ethnic overtones.

I will quote from Gardner: “...the new pharaoh, Amenhotep IV, could not accept the Egyptian deities and their myriad idols....Yaouai, had been acknowledged and promoted as the Aten by his own father, Amenhotep III....(he) progressed and developed the Yaouai concept, even changing his own name from Amenhotep (Amen is pleased) to Akhenaten (Glorious spirit of the Aten)....he closed all the temples of the Egyptian gods and became very unpopular, particularly with the priests of Ra and those of the traditional national deity, Amen.”

There were numerous plots against Akhenaten's life. He was eventually forced to abdicate and his son, Tutankhaten, assumed the throne, soon after changing his name to Tutankhamun to show his allegiance to Amun, rather than to Aten. Akhenaten was banished from Egypt but was still regarded by his supporters as the royal Mose or Moses (“Mose, Mosis or Moses...was a distinctive appellation of an Egyptian royal heir.” – Gardner).

The word, “Moses,” became confused between its Egyptian meaning and the Hebrew word “mosche” which means “the drawer out,” taken from “m-sh-a,” to draw. From this confusion, a lot of spurious mythology has arisen.

A great deal more was going on in ancient Egypt than we are led to believe. The levitical priests and scribes may not have known about it all almost a millennium later when they set to work crafting what has come down to us. Their main concern was the creation of a story line that suited their purposes. To this end, they scoured the mythologies and histories of the nations around them and adapted, rewrote and fictionalized at will to come up with what millions now accept as divinely inspired history.

As I have witnessed politics and religion in action, I long ago decided that the first imperative in arriving at a semblance of truth on any political or religious subject was to determine what the “hidden agenda” might be. Rarely are those agendas featured on the six-o-clock news. Most people never suspect such agendas exist, but they certainly do. They also existed in 600 B.C. and in all the centuries since.

When reading any history, it is advisable to combine one's reading with a sizable grain of the proverbial salt.