This Week’s Email News

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֎ [Citylab] The Trump administration is proposing a new rule that would strip some 3.1 million people of food aid under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Specifically, the administration wants to restrict states’ ability to decide who is eligible for food assistance, yielding cuts that would fall primarily on poor working families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities.

 Compassion does not runneth over in this administration.

֎ [New York Times] New York City to Consider Banning Sale of Cellphone Location Data. A bill would make it illegal for cellphone companies and mobile apps to share user location information collected in the city without a customer’s explicit permission. Telecommunications firms and mobile-based apps make billions of dollars per year by selling customer location data to marketers and other businesses, offering a vast window into the whereabouts of cellphone and app users, often without their knowledge.

Hooray!

֎ [NEWSY] FBI Director Christopher Wray is warning lawmakers that Russia is still adamant in its efforts to meddle in upcoming U.S. elections.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Wray said “Russians are absolutely intent on trying to interfere with our elections,” despite efforts by the U.S. to deter them otherwise. Former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation concluded that Russia did meddle in the 2016 election in a “sweeping and systematic fashion.”

This could be bad. Identity politics, racism and populism already are paranoid and can be sent over the top very easily.

֎ [NEWSY] The Justice Department is looking to see if big online platforms have hurt competition, among other things. The Department of Justice has launched an antitrust investigation into big tech companies. It wants to know if tech giants have “reduced competition, stifled innovation or otherwise harmed consumers.”

It’s about time!

֎ [Propublica] Richard Tofel wrote an inspiring email discussing the rules of journalism. A paragraph is reproduced below. Mariner urges the reader to review all three sources – especially the clip of Edward R. Murrow; no news source could make this statement today because of compromising agendas.

Tofel:

“As I said at the outset, our society as a whole has been grappling with such concerns occasionally as long as we have been alive — longer: Look up Huey Long if his name is not familiar. Read or watch “All the King’s Men” if you haven’t already, or haven’t recently. But if you have just a few minutes, please, please make time for this clip[1], the last two minutes of Edward R. Murrow’s takedown of McCarthy.

Here’s the good news: That Murrow soliloquy came 49 months after McCarthy’s reign of terror began. Today, McCarthy’s name has become an epithet. That is to say, these things pass. But they pass, as Murrow so eloquently reminded us, when we see that we — each and all of us — are responsible for what becomes of our cherished country.”

Ancient Mariner

[1] See the clip at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUMEq24tqtU

Morning

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Mariner advises readers that the women on television who wake up, sit up, smile a big grin and stretch their arms skyward is a myth fostered by mattress companies. Mariner does not have this experience upon wakening. When mariner wakes up it is like disinterring the dead.

Mariner’s wakefulness begins as virtually unnoticeable stirring for about fifteen minutes. Finally, he rises to sit on the side of his bed not with stomach muscles but with the counterbalance of his legs falling to the floor. He sits motionless. The brain does not function – his brain is mesmerized by the pattern in the carpet; his knees and back voice dissent at the idea of rising. Blood begins to flow through his muscles as though it were oatmeal; the cells pass the word cell-to-cell: “He’s awake; get ready.”

Mariner looks out the bedroom window. Cat Stevens’ morning has broken; inside mariner’s morning is broken. After several minutes, thoughts begin to occur in the vacant brain: shave. Shave?! “What is this, a concentration camp?” It is the 995th day of the Trump Presidency. Oh no – mariner has been sent to hell! Mariner struggles to construct his day. This is an important moment. If mariner comprehends there is a schedule, he continues to sit a few moments then rises from the side of the bed. His muscles leap into action like first responders. On the other hand, if no schedule surfaces, mariner rolls back onto his bed, pulls his linen casket cover over him and retreats whence he came, perhaps to be disinterred later.

There is no alcohol in this scenario; no THC. (Though the mariner suspects the women in the mattress commercials are into crack and amphetamines.) Sleep deprivation isn’t an issue; during his life mariner typically averages 6-8 hours. So why does mariner greet the day with lethargy and the speed of a sloth?

There are two reasons: 1) Mariner pushes his day into the wee hours; this has been his style his entire life. 2) Mariner has no obligations that require precise scheduling or timely responsibility. In other words, mariner is retired. Somewhat responsible for himself, he tells friends he works an eight hour day – it just takes three days to do it.

Seriously, the lack of schedule is one element among many that leads to a degraded quality of life. On some occasions, it may cause depression and a tendency to become a recluse. It may contribute to earlier dementia. On the skill side, lack of participation in social groups, shared events and daily interaction with others diminishes the personality leading to shallow thinking and a reduced ability to solve problems.

At a more abstract level, one’s sense of self suffers from lack of a reason to be – a raison d’être. This, too, can lead to depression. It is important for retired folks, especially surviving spouses, to identify with a set of tasks that bolster one’s feelings of self-value. It may be an elaborate hobby, a responsible role in a club or church, volunteering in charitable organizations or finding a job. There are many mutual care opportunities where a couple of elderly retirees commit to supporting each other – an instant family!

Mariner’s death sleep aside, he keeps busy during the day on several fronts that engage him physically, mentally and socially.

Here’s to retirement – the good life!

Ancient Mariner

 

 

Can one Belong without Faith?

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Mariner suspects the Atlantic Magazine reads his posts. More than once, mariner has presented a subject that Atlantic reports on in its next issue. Mariner’s post, “It’s Time for Religion” published on July 17, addressed the absence of religion in today’s milieu of confusion and lack of focus. Today, The Atlantic publishes a fine article on the relationship between organized religion and loss of community.

[The Atlantic] Secular organizers started their own congregations. But to succeed, they need to do a better job of imitating religion. Jul 21, 2019.

By Faith Hill, Assistant editor at The Atlantic.

When Justina Walford moved to New York City nine years ago, she’d never felt more alone. She’d left behind her Church, her God, and her old city, Los Angeles. . . By the time she turned up in New York, her faith had long since unraveled, a casualty of overseas travel that made her question how any one religious community could have a monopoly on truth. But still she grieved the loss of God.

When Walford shed her faith, she joined a large and fast-growing group—the “nones,” or the religiously unaffiliated. According to data from the latest version of the Public Religion Research Institute’s annual “American Values Atlas,” 25 percent of Americans today are religiously unaffiliated, up from single digits in the 1990s. . . If the sudden emergence of secular communities speaks to a desire for human connection and a deeper sense of meaning, their subsequent decline shows the difficulty of making people feel part of something bigger than themselves. One thing has become clear: The yearning for belonging is not enough, in itself, to create a sense of home.[1]

Belonging is a will o’ the wisp experience. It can’t be manufactured, bought, manipulated or imposed. Like will o’ the wisp, it can’t be held in the hand or stored in a closet; it can’t be negotiated. Belonging is a sensation that comes to someone unexpectedly after a period of time that involves shared responsibility, dependable trust and confidence. It isn’t like membership in a club or even a sport team; belonging consists of tenure, sharing and grace – religiously speaking, Divine Grace.

Being in a state of grace makes one aware of the subtleties of eternity, of surreal satisfaction and of unshakable confidence. As Faith Hill said in her article, it is easier if there is God.

Mariner quoted in his post Reza Aslan who said, “Humans want a god like themselves.” This is not flippant; it means humans need an understandable link to Divine and irrevocable authority beyond the human experience – but about the human experience. Without a godhead, atheists and non-theological ritual cannot easily invoke a divine force that relates to a human world.

Today, it’s time for religion.

Ancient Mariner

[1] For complete article, see: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/07/secular-churches-rethink-their-sales-pitch/594109/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=politics-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20190722&silverid-ref=NDkwMjIzMjA1Mjg2S0

Thoughts on Economics

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Mariner is not an educated economist. Nevertheless, he seeks common sense relationships that make an economy work and he flavors the numbers with human reality. This flavoring is important to regular human beings who, not being career economists, are not bound solely by interpretations of profit, loss and growth.

An economy flows in a long, somewhat circuitous river that starts in rural areas and small businesses everywhere and like the mighty Mississippi River, feeds into larger and larger economies that eventually reflect the generalized circumstances of a national economy. If the economy dries up at any point, the ‘flow’ stops; words like depression and recession prevail; an example is the coal industry in West Virginia. On the other hand, the economy can flow too fast, which is like the flooding of the Mississippi after significant rainfall; the word becomes inflation – a condition where investment values drop, as in a flooded home; a dollar in hand this morning will buy less tomorrow morning. A few insights:

  1. There are several relatively independent branches of the economic river, e.g., manufacturing, agriculture, investment (stock market, cash savings), services (very large including restaurants, health, transportation, etc.), engineering, and telecommunications. Not a complete list but one gets the idea.
  2. At the state level, economics is fifty separate branches of the economic river. Each state is responsible for the flow of economics within its borders. Modern economic times have altered this independence as corporations grew and merged and as population has shifted, taking income with it.
  3. The Internet has had a profound impact on the relationship of a region, with its geographic ties to productivity, versus the imposition of production from elsewhere, even beyond national borders. Two examples are Walmart and Amazon. Local businesses are disappearing very rapidly. Further, the profits from local sales are not recorded in the local region but reflect income at the home office of the corporation.
  4. What provides current in the economic river is something called Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Typically, one learns about GDP for the nation during news broadcasts. Actually GDP can represent something as small as a neighborhood or small town. GDP consists entirely of how much income is generated within a defined region – including businesses and all residents (AKA jobs).
  5. Until the late 1980’s when computerization and new US economic policy shifted dramatically, GDP was tied almost exclusively to actual production, that is, stuff that is made or grown. A significant shift in how to generate income was launched during the bountiful years of the nineties: investment became as important as making things. The US went from manufacturing to investment.

Suddenly it was more profitable to ship production overseas where production costs were lower than it was to stay in the US. In the abstract, this new economy opened an era of international GDP, e.g., Trans Pacific Partnership, but at the same time reduced the job security that was had in the days of ‘made in America.’ (One can speculate whether this was the source of Donald’s base) Adding insult to injury, many corporations and capitalist-minded entrepreneurs invested their profits in offshore banks to avoid paying taxes – and to forego investing in the US economy.

 

Given these insights, that is the state of affairs in the US economy at present. But as the street-wise aphorism says, “The times they are achangin.” Two huge areas of new history are upon the citizenry and upon the responsibilities of government policy and business practices: Cloud technology and climate change.

֎ Cloud Technology[1]. Awesome. Beyond imagination. It is hard to imagine how Cloud technology (CT) will change everything without exception. Will a ‘job’ exist after CT? Will GDP be measurable in any geographic manner? Will any governmental border matter? Google has always had a stated goal: to know everything there is to know in the world. This includes one’s privacy not just in the home but wherever one is, whatever one is doing, and what one had for breakfast. CT will know when one needs new shoes or an oil change – if there is ‘oil’ in future machines. On New Year’s Eve, CT will pick one out of the densest crowd in Times Square in New York City.

CT, coupled with a faster Internet, will not need to be aware of time zones; all data around the world will be instantaneous. Mariner could go on with matters of awe but the big question is, what will CT do to economics – not just in the US but everywhere? Today, investment strategies count on the delay of stock markets opening in a staggering fashion as the world turns. This single strategy will not be available in the world of instant data. International stock exchanges will, in fact, be one giant stock exchange. It will be impossible to keep anything secret – even perhaps what one will name their newborn baby (Has the name been discussed in hearing distance of Alexis? Can one imagine receiving promotions for babywear that already has the unborn baby’s name on it?).

Still, the main issue is jobs. Another aspect of CT is artificial intelligence. Middle management will take a big hit. So will truck drivers, factory workers, fast food employees, and tens of thousands of person-to-person jobs like tax preparers, retail salespeople and primary care physicians. Further, the role of cash will change. Don’t underestimate cryptocurrency; if properly instituted, one will no longer need cash just as, increasingly, one will no longer need storefront shopping.

CT requires a mountain of economic policy change in the federal government. For this reason alone, voters must not be distracted by party shenanigans, racism, incompetent elected officials or plutocratic domination of ‘our’ government. Without starting another post, vote sensibly in 2020.

֎ Climate Change. Naysayers take advantage of the slow pace of Planet Earth compared to the lifespan of a human being. In January, “Where is global warming now?” or “There have been hot Junes as long as I remember” or “Fossil fuels aren’t the cause.” Well, actual, Donald-proof evidence says it is happening; it has been happening; it will accelerate throughout the rest of this century.

For the sake of brevity, mariner will describe just one issue raised by climate change: rising sea level. There are other ramifications like increased volcanic and earthquake occurrences, extensive extinction of life including plants and especially the ocean environment, and severe changes in drought and rainfall across all regions of the planet that will significantly alter agricultural economies and threaten sufficient food to feed a population approaching 11 billion people.

Rising sea level is the most disruptive and expensive phenomenon associated with climate change – even though it is within the capability of humans to manage it. Today there are those who gripe and complain about immigration around 100,000 to 150,000 at one general location in the US. Consider this issue as practice for relocating people, jobs, homes, churches, factories and specialized services for 11.6 million citizens of the larger cities at sea level from New York to New Orleans. Of course it will be a lot easier because the US has about a decade to pull it off . . . mariner jokes.

What makes population migration scary is that these massive relocations of entire societies will happen around the world. London: 8.9 million; The Indian Sundarbans in India: 13 million; Hong Kong: 7.4 million; Tokyo and Yokohama: 11.8 million. And this is just a sampling.

It will be expensive. So expensive that many smaller economies will become bankrupt. Even the US is in danger of economic instability as it helps pay for relocation of new homes, businesses, health services and other important social functions. How about interstates and airports? Must they be relocated and rebuilt? On and on. Sadly, many island nations will be gone.

These are mariner’s thoughts on the US economy. Nevertheless, enjoy a warm, warm summer.

Ancient Mariner

[1] Cloud technology: cloud computing is storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of accessing private computer hard drives. The cloud is just a metaphor for the Internet but is paired with banks of very high speed computers that can share processing. Limits to data storage and retrieval virtually do not exist; response is instantaneous anywhere in the world.

Emoji and Donald

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֎ [536.com] But, soft! What emoji news through yonder computer screen breaks? Apple has announced fall additions to its keyboard that will include a guide dog, an ear with a hearing aid, a person in a wheelchair, a prosthetic arm and a prosthetic leg. There will also be expanded options for the “hand-holding couple” emoji, which will feature 75 different combinations of the hand-holders’ race and gender.

When mariner learned to write, he remembers it being difficult to satisfy his cursive instructor. Not only that, he had to write cursive with his right hand since being left of anything was a reference to evil in the Bible. With Apple’s inclusion of emoji on the keyboard, cursive isn’t the issue; the issue is will anyone remember the alphabet?

– – – –

Tom Friedman was interviewed on The Eleventh Hour with Brian Williams after having been a guest on MSNBC earlier that day with the same message. His message was simple, direct and clearly a choice for the democrats: “Which do the democrats prefer, start a revolution now and accept four more years of Donald or focus on getting rid of Donald, weaken the GOP hold on the Senate and then start a revolution?”

This is the first piece of solid planning mariner has heard and believes it is a good place to go in the democrat’s bid for the presidency. Having two dozen candidates doesn’t help with a solidified front against Donald; it is a serious distraction and doesn’t focus on Donald. Ocasio-Cortez et al may have a legitimate assignment from their electorate and may be historically correct in the long term but there are two phases (1) get rid of Donald and safeguard against the Electoral College (2) clean up Donald’s mess and move toward a modern economy capable of dealing with brand new issues like job creation as AI erases jobs, balancing the US debt versus dysfunctional taxes, climate change and international liaisons that protect against too many dictators.

Ancient Mariner

It’s Time for Religion

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There are times when we must return to religion. This is difficult in today’s helter-skelter value systems and rapidly shifting beliefs in the world in which we live. To the extent that religion itself is caught up in the raging politics of wealth, depravation and transition, finding a value to which to return is difficult and precarious. As religious believers, we are lost in a morass of myth change, unstable human value and empirical disruption.

Sometimes, it is helpful to discard that which is confusion. What is it that has proven to be survivable, worldly, simpatico and stable beneath the fray of economics, politics, common prejudices and conflict? There is comradeship in basic human existence. There is comradeship in nature’s rule of life. There is partnership in the pursuit of survivability.

But who will lead the path to religious morality? Who will reset the world to the powers of creation and sanctity? Who will link the power of ethos and universal value to a day in the life of humanity?

You.

Elected officials and government cannot do this. Militarism cannot do this. Great leaders cannot do this. Elitism cannot do this. You can do this. Live your life according to your beliefs in Divine Providence. Do not allow your sense of right to be distracted by the confusion and misdirection of life. You know what is sacred. Believe your faith in the holiness of reality; believe in the virtue of equality among humans and humanness. If God is your leader, obey God’s rules.

Politics will not save us. Wealth will not save us. Battles against oneness will not save us. Love will save us.

Ancient Mariner

 

 

Fly By Subjects from Mariner’s Mail

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֎ Astrophysicists have pursued dark matter for decades. It seems there is growing evidence for yet another kind of dark matter. The new dark matter is called ‘Chameleon Theory.’ It is so named because it can change its mass thereby ‘hiding’ among other objects. If the reader is interested, check out https://www.livescience.com/65919-chameleon-theory-explains-dark-energy-maybe.html?utm_source=lst-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20190712-lst

֎ The US dominates international trade when it comes to services. The following statements are from a Politico podcast.

The national dialogue about trade has almost exclusively focused on hard goods, the things the US makes or grows. But if the tariff debate focuses only on goods, there is a risk of leaving out something crucial to our understanding of trade today. There’s been an equally stunning shift in a different segment of the economy. . . . In fact, when we look at the US, the US actually runs a trade surplus when it comes to the services component.

. . . . The hottest areas of the economy, consumer tech, software, retail, entertainment, and communications now account for the most number of jobs, and they’re becoming export industries.

– – – An educational podcast that looks at global trade from a fresh perspective. See the podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sponsored-content-rethinking-americas-role-in-global/id1202281739?i=1000442921861

֎ Fivethirtyeight.com (Nate Silver’s website) has an article about the Democratic campaign for the presidency. A hidden influence is asking voters who their second choice would be. See: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lanes-are-starting-to-emerge-in-the-2020-democratic-primary/

֎ From The Atlantic: The age of TikTok begins.

If you didn’t know, now you know. The fun, jumpy, puppy-and-meme-laden video app is well on its way to becoming the next big social network. It’s already broken the 1-billion-monthly-users mark and ranks as the third-most installed app worldwide—just behind Facebook’s WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger—for the first quarter of 2019. TikTok overtook YouTube as the star of this year’s VidCon, an influential gathering of content creators in Anaheim, California. “The older generation doesn’t realize how important TikTok is yet,” one 21-year-old attendee told our Gen Z translator Taylor Lorenz. See: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/07/tiktok-stars-are-preparing-take-over-internet/593878/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20190712&silverid-ref=NDkwMjIzMjA1Mjg2S0

Ancient Mariner

When it comes down to it, you’re not on your own

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[NPR] Debbie Baker thought she qualified for a federal program that helps teachers such as her, as well as nurses, police officers, librarians and others. The Department of Education program forgives their federal student loans if they make their payments for 10 years and work in public service.

But it turns out that her $76,000 in student loans didn’t get forgiven. Baker was finally told she was in the wrong type of loan. If she’d known that at the beginning, she could have switched loans and ended up qualifying. But she says nobody ever told her.

The tough message is that no one is in your corner but you. There are many who want to help you but they can do only so much. The bottom line is, in the jungle of politics, government programs, health, career, taxes and survival, one must be responsible for one’s self – but not by one’s self! This is especially true in these times of confusion and change.

It used to be if a person had a good physician and at least knew of a lawyer, the person’s interaction with society was manageable. Today, of course, a person requires specialists for dozens of relationships with society; most of these relationships are not petty and can have an impact on finances, insurance, property and taxes – to say nothing about education and medical expenses. Even taking a vacation often requires interacting with travel agencies.

To the reader, this means two things: 1- society is like a herd of elephants; they are big, cumbersome and even if they want to help out, it’s just as likely they will crush you. 2- surviving elephants requires special knowledge; it is a sad fact that one can no longer simply visit a specialist who will guarantee one’s wellbeing. Today, one must first do homework.

  • Know very specifically what one wants to achieve. Have an idea about how the achievement will be accomplished.
  • Educate one’s self about the subject; the Internet is a marvelous place to research details. So are libraries. Particularly learn about the responsibilities of those who will help. Ideally, talk with someone who has achieved the same goal.
  • Just as Debbie made a mistake by not reading the fine print, most folks will overlook something that may be important. Fine print is everywhere today. A common error when investing is to not know the difference between a financial planner and a fund salesman. Financial planners were required by federal law to act in your best interest. Mariner said ’were’ because Donald had that rule removed early in his presidency; still, financial planners have one’s best interests at heart. Unfortunately, the larger investment firms stock up on fund salesmen; unless one is genuinely wealthy, one will not be serviced by a financial planner.
  • Use a local bank and a local attorney. Let them know they will be counted on for all actions even if circumstances require additional specialists.
  • When it comes to health insurance, it is a cutthroat business. Find neutral intermediaries to help with jargon and options. Some pharmacies offer services that will help make the best decision; there are quasigovernmental agencies (SHIIP, for example) that will help when making decisions about medical insurance. In matters of health finances, homework is required.
  • Voting is the most important civic responsibility. Shortly before voting season, write to your elected officials to request promotional literature. Mariner cannot count the number of conversations with folks who not only didn’t know much but what they did know was attributed to the wrong party.

Just on a lark mariner decided to list within one minute as many specialists as one may need when engaging society:

Banker, attorney, financial advisor, primary care physician, optometrist, dentist, automobile mechanic, heating and air conditioning technician, proficient carpenter, proficient electrician, baby sitter, public school teacher, marriage counselor, psychologist, fitness center instructor, Tai Chi instructor, real estate agent and on TV, advice for everything from Doctor Oz to movie reviews.

The point is that today one cannot go it alone and must do homework as well. Make sure the right person and the right decision occur.

REFERENCE SECTION

‘1 Million Americans Will Be Shot in the Next Decade’

Video by The Atlantic

“I see more gunshot wounds as a trauma surgeon here in the United States per week than I did when I was serving in Kandahar, Afghanistan,” says Dr. Mallory Williams, chief of the Division of Trauma and Critical Care at Howard University Hospital. “There’s no question about it.”

In a new Atlantic short documentary, American Trauma: How the NRA Sparked a Medical Rebellion, Dr. Williams and other esteemed trauma surgeons explain how the severity—and, frequently, fatality—of gunshot-related injuries has galvanized the medical community to take action against gun violence. However, in many ways, their hands are tied: In 1996, Congress passed an amendment—lobbied for by the National Rifle Association—that prevented the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using federal funds to “advocate or promote gun control.” This includes conducting government-sponsored research on the effects of gun violence.[1]

Ancient Mariner

[1] For video see: https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/593707/trauma-doctors/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=video-series-atlantic-documentaries&utm_content=20190711&silverid-ref=NDkwMjIzMjA1Mjg2S0

Mariner’s Alter Egos

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Mariner takes time out in this post to clarify what readers find odd if not confusing – his use of alter egos. A short explanation is on the blog page “About the Ancient Mariner.”

The egos are based on Aristotle’s Triangle of Persuasion: Ethos-Pathos-Logos, alternatively, ethical values, existential values, logical values. Again alternatively, Guru, Chicken Little and Amos. Mariner has taken some unavoidable liberties with the three to infuse them with mariner’s personality and his post objectives; still, the underlying function of each can be defined by Aristotle’s triangle. If the reader wants to know more about Aristotle’s triangle, use the reader’s search engine.

Guru (ethos) is named after the abstract philosopher in the BC comic strip: otherworldly, definitely abstruse and beyond social motivation. Guru lives in the rarified atmosphere of philosophy, theoretical physics and esoteric theological principles.

Chicken Little (pathos) is named after the famous chicken in the children’s storybook. Chicken Little represents the vulnerability of everyone as they try to survive in the manufactured, albeit incongruous and unfair political methods of tribal existence. “The sky is falling” is a genuinely accurate and frequent experience for everyone.

Amos (logos) is named after the prophet Amos in the Old Testament. His accounting of the state of affairs in Israel 700 years before Jesus was quite acerbic and accusatory. Israel was in a period of peace and prosperity (much like the US) but increasingly disregarded God’s laws, especially in economic terms (much like the US).

If one were to review all of mariner’s posts from the beginning in 2013 (not advised – mariner wouldn’t do it, either), one would notice that each post was influenced by one or another of the three alter egos. Most often, Amos prevails because that is what the blog is all about – the state of affairs in life, science, religion, economics, ethics, etc. But the reader need not pay attention to a post in terms of alter egos; it is their contribution to the whole, much like a recipe has ingredients. One doesn’t think of the little yeast living a short life in bread dough, one thinks of toast and butter.

Ancient Mariner

 

This is a strange, scary World

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The Atlantic Magazine has an article about the love relationship between Evangelical Christians and Donald. Mariner suggests only the strongest in faith and self-confidence read that article.

Reason, a so-named ‘skill’ of Homo sapiens, is not to be trusted. Reason is free to imagine anything, whether reasonable or not. Further, the human success derived from inventions and discovery, while entertaining and imaginative, has not changed the human brain one iota in its 100,000 years of immediate evolution.
Humans first respond to the five senses as all creatures do (one will never put one’s finger in the fire twice); humans then respond to sustained survival (me, my offspring and my belongings come first); finally, humans make the mistake that they can create a reality that fits one’s unique perspective, bending or dismissing empirical reality, existential experience and the core virtues of sympathetic awareness – the last of which is present in all mammals.

Relating to theology and doctrine first, humans toyed with how the universe came to be. In the western world, the earliest documentation of a theology emerged around 7500 BC with the creation of Cybele, the female creator of nature who always had two fierce lions beside her.[1] Cybele may have been the first super hero because of her ability to procreate an entire biosphere. In the rest of the world ancient Egyptians and others applied anthropomorphic values: rocks were gods, trees were gods, the Sun, the Moon, etc. Later, theology allowed males to be gods and also to have more than one god at the same time. The panoply of Greek and Roman gods reads like Downton Abbey.

About 2,000 years ago, a religion emerged that was based on love as its core value. The power of God was love. God created Jesus so people will understand who god is and how they should live accordingly. While proselytizing in Turkey, disciple Paul learned that the local name for this new religion was ‘Christian’. The name stuck.

Until this day there has been confusion about how god relates to individuals or perhaps how individuals relate to god. There is a huge library on this issue, especially on whether god is a personal god (Old Testament) that interjects himself into the daily life of individuals or is a force to which all believers respond (New Testament).

Perhaps the sagest observation was made by theologian Reza Aslan who said, “Humans want a god like themselves.”

A good segue to the second subject, politics. Many Evangelical Christians (ECs) have adopted Donald as a current day savior (for the sake of sanity please don’t correlate Donald to Jesus). Forgetting every verse of faith and decorum in the New Testament, ECs believe Donald will preserve the culture and doctrine that ECs believe. The enemy is the rest of the population who generally are more liberal and Donald’s non-Christian behavior, indeed criminal behavior, is exempted just so he can fight the liberals in the nastiest way possible.

This political circumstance was true for Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and all of history’s despots. ECs believe all virtues are dispensable to sustain the EC world. Welcome to Sodom and Gomorrah.

But mariner knows this will begin the decline of the Evangelical Christian. Dare he say God works in mysterious ways?

Ancient Mariner.

[1] See mariner’s post, Cybele, posted April 7 2016