More Flotsom on the Sea of Life

Tags

Catholicism, Eat-Pray-Love, gay rights, GOP, mind, Muslims, psychology, racism, religion, science, self-help books, transgender, wingnuts

There is a new blogger named Ben who has a blog called 65-BitSarcasm. He’d a dude obviously and I think a young one–meaning he is probably under 30. He is amusing, and I found him through Cappy at Writer’s Block, which I find most amusing.

Anyway, Ben wrote about seeing Eat, Pray, Love, the new movie by Julia Roberts. I’m not the most likely person to set out to see such a flick, mostly because I generally shy away from the obvious. Like The Bridges of Madison County.  I never saw that, though I like Meryl Streep. But I really don’t like Clint Eastwood much. So there ya go.

Anyway, Ben made some good points that people often see these movies and recipes for their own personal change. And they aren’t. Most certainly the book is not. You don’t run off to Italy, India and Bali to find your answers just because the author did. It merely suggests that you need to listen to your heart (or whatever deity, power, or higher essence you adhere to) and have the courage to strike forth in a new direction, following your instincts.

It’s what I have said before is wrong with most self-help books. They are the author’s WAY but not necessarily any but a handful of the billions of other unique humans who we occupy space with. Actually one could make that argument about Jesus. He announced and illustrated a WAY to unity with the Godhead. But many of us believe that there are other paths as announced by the Buddha and so forth.

Anyway, that was just a plug for a new blogger mostly. One starts out with such big expectations and while a few blogs catch on and soon have hundreds of thousands of followers, most languish in the lower environs where we are pleased as punch to have a couple of hundred stopping by. We wish him well, and Cappy, who is fairly new I believe too.

And now for things completely different:

I was pleased to see a new LGBT group called Catholics for Equality has formed. There are others I believe, at least from what I learn at The Wild Reed, but I think that the more that various church groups openly promote equality, the sooner we will see change across the board. The say of course that the next generation will make all the difference, since they mostly consider this a non-issue, duh. As well it should be.

Nothing is more fun that watching the uber right snipe at each other. We are told that the conservative blacks are kinda p.o’d at Sarah for her encouragement of Dr. Laura to “don’t retreat, reload.” Not helpful to use such an issue as race invective to advance one’s political  aspirations.

And there has been no end to the sniping going on between Annie Coulter and WorldnetDaily. Annie calls them “fake Christians,” and based on a good deal of what we have read there, there is reason to agree with her. Hate is their middle name. There is a link at the end to WND and if you have never been, go see what passes for Christian conservative thinking. It’s truly ugly.

Doncha just love how the uber right has rephrased its opposition to the Islamic Center at Park 51? Since it was explained to them what the Constitution says, they are now quick to claim that it’s not be cause they shouldn’t be allowed,  but that they should respect the sensibilities of non-Muslims who are so deeply hurt by the idea of the center.  Except that, what sensibilities are being offended? The sensibility that the ignorant equate all Muslims as the same? And where in the Constitution is sensibilities an exception to freedoms?

Kirsten Powers has a nice article at The Daily Beast about the GOP’s summer of fostering hate against all “others” in our land. One of her most telling points is the regularity with which FOXy and it’s fellow traveler’s Slippery Gingrich and Sarah, that woman is an idiot, pounce upon each and every instance of supposed “racism” on the part of these “others” against white folk.

A truly compelling look at what it means to be transgender in America, Jewish, and religious to boot. Jhos Singer paints a picture that you will not soon forget. This society truly does only function on the male-female dichotomy, forgetting (by ignorance or design) that there is so much more to each of us than such simplistic dualism. A fine, poignant, and beautiful look into the body human.

Quinn O’Neill has an excellent essay at 3quarksdaily on the issue of what we should maximize if we could, human rationality or human happiness? It’s more complicated than you might think. I think I would in the end opt for rationality. I think happiness is an ultimate derivative of being a rational, critically thinking person. As I learn to value all persons, it seems to me, I automatically enrich my own life.

Enuf already!