What is to be done?

We all know communism was a miserable failure. But when Marx et. al. thought it up, they were not trying to screw up, they were responding to real social problems. Communism is gone, but the problems are still here.

Now what? My thought is a world-wide labor movement. Any other ideas?

Axiom

The more government spending works, the more the Right denies it.

What science can teach religion

We've become accustomed, in this country of late, to having some religious believers try to determine what should be put in science books, and try to tell scientists how to practice science. I'd like to, not in any mean-spirited way, but sincerely, put the shoe on the other foot. The way in which some people practice religion, by taking every word in the Bible as divinely inspired truth, puts these believers in a precarious situation. That is, every new fact discovered by science threatens some passage in the Bible. My suggestion to these people is, if their particular belief is so susceptible to erosion by newly discovered facts, their practice of religion may leave something to be desired.

Think of it this way, if you will. Science welcomes new facts. If a new fact contradicts what was previously thought to be true, science changes. Would religion not be improved if practiced that way? Religion begins as an attempt to answer Life's biggest questions: Why are we here? Why do we die? What does anything mean? I would suggest that not only the Bible, but other books, give us a tiny part of the big picture. I would also suggest that, over thousands of years, our understanding has grown beyond some things contained in the Bible, and that it is perfectly reasonable and proper to let those things go. That way, religion grows the way science grows; that way, religion is not threatened by the new.

Na-na, hey-hey, good-bye!

Actually, good-bye is too good a word. Some have complained that the inaugural audience booed George W. Bush, and sang Na-na hey-hey, good-bye. Impolite! they said.

After what Bush did to this country, the booing was too mild a response. Where were the fruit and vegetables? Where were the shoes? And for the last eight years, where were the torches and pitchforks?

It's tempting to blame Dubya alone for the failure of the neo-conservative agenda, and that is what the Republicans will do as they regroup from this disaster. But, really, Bush was the necessary result of neo-conservatism, which is intellectually and morally bankrupt. They will never produce a candidate who can govern. Let's hope they never produce another candidate who wins an election.

My So-Called Wisdom

There's an old joke about an adult offspring saying to his father, "Dad, the older I get, the smarter you get." The joke is usually told rather smugly by the father. But, at fifty-eight, something I've learned is that an old man's wisdom is completely useless to the young person we're trying to impart it to. Youth is a time for doing, rather than reflecting on why you shouldn't.

I recently found a quote in Naguib Mahfouz's Palace of Desire that agrees with my opinion. Keep in mind, though, that the quote is from a very young character.

"Be careful not to mock youthful dreams, for that's a symptom of senility. People afflicted by this disease term their sarcasm 'wisdom.'"

A Modest Proposal

You know how those pesky Intelligent Design (formerly known as Creation Science) folks are always trying to sneak religion into public school science classes and textbooks? They really are a nuisance, aren't they? I wonder how they'd feel if the shoe were on the other foot? I'm calling on scientists everywhere (the nervier ones, anyway) to start invading churches and tell them how to teach Sunday school.

You heard it here first.