Grey Matters and Amor Patriae
I may have clocked a good one on the recent poll, “With all the tornados and earthquakes happening in the World, do you believe these are the 'End Times' forecasted in the Bible?” posted this week.
It brought about a interesting discussion, led by Whirlwind, about Christianity and the U.S. Constitution, which lead further into a discussion on grey areas vs. black and white worldviews.
I chastised Amor Patriae, kiddingly, for having mental disorganization because when one is unable to discern arguments into right and wrong, how do you make good decisions?
Low and behold, over at Chronicles Magazine, they are sort of having a similar conversation, and I’d like to modify my remarks. After the most excellent, wonderful, and righteous President George W. Bush praised Pope Benedict XVI thusly:
In a world where some no longer believe that we can distinguish between simple right and wrong, we need your message to reject this ‘dictatorship of relativism,’ and embrace a culture of justice and truth.
Columnist Scott P. Richert gives the background on that one:
Of course, Pope Benedict does not regard “relativism” as merely the inability to “distinguish between simple right and wrong,” but as the inability to recognize that there is such a thing as truth—and that conforming our lives to the truth matters.
In other words, truth matters. Problem is, everyone appears to be too much of a coward to demand it.
Before I get clobbered by the Pentacostals about the poll choices, let me just reaffirm what those that know me already know. I did not intend to slight God by making a choice as an editorial comment on the Bible (that it is fairy tales). I had two objectives in choosing that wording. First, I wanted to draw attention to the poll. Second, I wanted to see how many people would actually choose that poll selection.
Almost half of the respondants say the Bible is a fairy tale. I wonder if that is telling of the general consciousness of Southwest Texas? (In an earlier poll on the mayoral race, our poll almost exactly mirrored the election returns. I am begining to think our poll is a fairly accurate meter of the community.)
joe
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Joe does know that I
Joe does know that I thoroughly enjoy a good discourse. After some of the slack jawed stuff I run into during my business day, a good repast, replete with rambunctious ruminations is a requisite. [I loved that movie V for Vendetta].
Anyway, even in right and wrong there is a grey area or rather there is a way to be more right than just right or more wrong than just plain wrong.
If one were to expect and only accept perfection, then things are either perfect or they’re not and that is a black and white scenario. Those who do so are simply doomed to disappointment because nothing that I have ever heard of, be it person, place, thing or situation is void of imperfection(s). There is always room for improvement. What anyone should expect or strive for in an all things is excellence.
So anyway back to the right or wrong issue. In almost all cases, killing someone is wrong and I hope that we will all agree on that point. However what if the scenario was one where you are in a runaway vehicle and are suddenly out of all options save two. The first is crash into a crowd and the second is to crash into one person. Those are the only two choices so which one is more wrong or less wrong or are both wrong to the same extent? I would argue that they weren’t the same and to quote Spock, the needs of the whole outweigh the needs of the few.
The problem that we need to address is one in which we have taken the grey area and run to the end of the proverbial rope with it. The pendulum has swung way too far in one particular direction, causing some to decry grey areas and mourn for the ole Black and White. Basically, this Politically Correct crap is driving too many of us up the wall. For example, “I’ll pick one that will hit near and dear to the heart for most”, to me there is no such thing as a Mexican American, African American, Puerto Rio America or so on and so forth. There are only Americans who happen to have familial roots elsewhere. I truly do understand someone’s being proud of their heritage [since I am] but my heritage is my past not my present. If for example you want to be Mexican American then go to Mexico so you can be Mexican first and American second. That being said, if want to be an American Mexican then by all means feel welcome.
This all being said, there is a reason I chose Mexican American as my example. It is both pertinent to this locale and there are many, many great persons [including family members] whom I deeply respect and who identify themselves as such. I just feel that in our overly PC world, people just accept these terms and use them and defend them, rather than question them, and that is bad and divisive in its own right. [There’s more, much more on this, but I will await any flames or reply’s on this one to respond].
Forcing things to be Black or White would cause me the very same angst as being overly PC.
The end of times? No, but I believe that we are about due if not overdue for a Magnetic Pole Shift or some other such over geologic hammering. For example isn’t the entire North American Plate is due for a huge shift? This would explain the West Coast earth quakes [I think there are three or four fracture zones there?], along with the newest Mexico Volcano eruption. And I also understand the Yellowstone Super Volcano is about due as well and the Earth is shifting there. Ole Faithful aint all that faithful anymore due to geologic shift. The USGS has some interesting info on all of this.
BE STILL, MY HEART!!!!!
BE STILL, MY HEART!!!!! Paragraphs five and six say it all, for me. Thank goodness! People have come to this country to better themselves--whatever country they left behind could not or would not take care of them. Recognizing that, they left that country (or heritage) in the past and proudly became Americans. If we aren't all Americans, then we are indeed in trouble. United we stand, divided we fall.
There are lots of T-shirts and bumper stickers and the like today saying "Freedom is not Free". That is the bottom line. The other side of the coin is responsibility. And that isn't all black and white--they are irrevocably intertwined, blending, and it is often difficult to see where one starts and the other leaves off. All our choices in life, as AP pointed out, are not all between good and bad--they're often between bad and worse, or even worse and worst.
Methinks we should all sit back and smell the roses more.
If indeed it is a fairly
If indeed it is a fairly accurate meter of the community, then may God help us. If half our country have no faith, I may just go out to the Davis Mountains and join the Republic of Texas nuts.