Historical Retrospect on Pacifism in Religion
Early HistoryThe tenets of non-violence exists in all of the early Abrahamic religious traditions (Jewish, Christian and Muslim), the Darmic traditions ( Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism) and many pagan traditions. Secular movements use non-violence as a practical or strategic effort purely as practical strategy without the moral or religious worthiness overtones. I note with some irony ,the UN on Nov. 10, 1998 declared 2001-2010 to be the International Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World. Wars promptly broke out.
Some religious pacifists believe it is the height of irrationality to use violence to shape a peaceful future~ as goes the seed, goes the tree. Many observe love thy enemy concept~ as with Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount”, the wu-wei (effortless action, as in the martial art Aikido) of the Taoists, metta ( loving kindness towards all beings) of Buddhism and Ahimsa ( non-violence towards any being) shared by Jainism, Buddhism and some forms of Hinduism. The liberal movements in Islam point to the story of Abel in the Quran to promote Islamic ideals of non violence. The tenets of non-violence are present in most religions ,but a quick scan of history shows the tenets are easily forgotten in the rush to power.
Abrahamic
Jesus is seen by many as the penultimate Pacifist~ the Sermon on the Mount being the classic example~ Love thy enemy. In fact the whole New Testament rushes to the moment where Jesus surrenders himself to an enemy who plans on killing him and orders his followers not to defend him. Some citing the story of Jesus using the whip driving the dishonest market traders from the temple(despite the fact Jesus did not use the whip on people) claim he is no pacifist~ despite biblical evidence to the contrary. Others see these passages, such as Luke 22:36 ,as metaphorical and on no occasion does Jesus shed blood or urge others to do so. The early Christians practiced pacifism until they became integrated into society and gained positions of power and authority. Then strict pacifism was seen as impractical and even irresponsible when force could be used to end evil.
The Peace Churches are historically the Brethren, Anabaptist, and the Quakers. They hold Jesus was a pacifist and his followers must do likewise. The churches vary on the use of physical force~ many adhere to non-resistance. All agree violence on behalf of country is prohibited for Christians.
The Pentecostal Church was historically pacifist but that has shifted to military chaplain service and support of war.
The Anglican Church produced the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship (APF) ,perhaps the best known pacifist is Bishop Desmond Tutu.
The Roman Catholic Church officially maintains the legitimacy of the Just War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wik... )which most pacifists reject. Within the Church~Pax Christi is the premiere pacifist lobby group, working together with the APF. The shift towards pacifism started in the 20th century and continues today.
The Greek Orthodox Church tends towards pacifism though it believes in defensive warfare. It supports dialog with Islam. In 1998 a conference was held, in part concluding “Orthodoxy condemns war in general ; for she regards it as a consequence of the evil and sin in the world."
Darmic
Buddhism has the best know pacifist Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dali Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. The second best know Buddhist is Daw Aung San Suukyi the political prisoner and leader of the Natural League for Democracy in Burma(Myanmar),won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Her best known speech is Freedom From Fear”~~” It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.” Most Buddhist’s adhere to non-violence.
Jainism holds to the belief of compassion for all life, human and non human. A human life is a rare opportunity to reach enlightenment: to take that life is seen as beyond abhorrent.
Sikhism teaches in the tenet of kirat karo a Sikh is told to balance work, worship, charity and should defend the rights of all creatures and particularly those of fellow human beings.
Hinduism belief is based on a vast treasury of spiritual laws and is much too complicated to go into here. But ahimsa ( non-violence) is advocated, the term appears in the Upanishads and is the first of the five vows of self-restraint( Yamas) in the Yoga Sutras.
While these beliefs are deeply held by most religions, it is easily seen how time, fear, lust for power, money , control, greed and simply evil can twist any of these belief systems into a tool for the power mad to achieve his/her goals. It is also easily seen that these goals are not easily obtained or kept. While organized religion can be a force for good it is just as easily twisted into a force for evil.
Achukma, Shalom, Salam, Fois Scots, Vrede Afrikaans, Solh Dari, Sìth,Shîte,Rauha
Pingan, Paco, Nimuhóre,Maluhia,Li-k'ei,Khanhaghutyun,Iri 'ni,Hoa Bình, eace-pay
That last one should give this away~ Peace as always and in all ways.
http://www.haltadefinizione... A on line web site for you to get up close and personal with one of the worlds greatest art works.They also have Vitadi Cristo by G.Ferrari and Gloria Sant' Ignacio by Pozzo, a some photographs.
Edit: as our resident art critics can not appreciate the original posting here are some others works by Picasso.He began creating art in 1901 and continued till 1973 with a total of 8 "periods",era's in a particular style, which include everything from realism to synthetic cubism...but really go check out that first link,beautiful music,a zoom feature so you can really study these wonderful works~sorry no Picasso.
I saw this and thought of us all~
Last Page: In the Name of the Law
How to win arguments without really trying
Smithsonian magazine, October 2007
I like to collect gratuitous opinions served up as laws of social behavior. Murphy's Law ("If anything can go wrong, it will") is the most famous, but the obscure ones are more fun. Say, for instance, that someone in an argument starts to foam at the mouth. You mildly remark, "What you're saying is a perfect instance of Benford's Law of Controversy," and it will take a Google search for the poor sap to figure out that you have insulted him: Benford's Law states that passion in any argument is inversely proportional to the amount of real information advanced.
Godwin's Law is also handy. It holds that the longer an argument drags on, the likelier someone will stoop to a Hitler or Nazi analogy. And in common practice (other than in appropriate contexts, such as discussions of genocide), when an adversary tries it, you have only to say "Godwin's Law" and a trapdoor falls open, plunging your rival into a pool of hungry crocodiles. Sweet, no?
Sweeter still, these little laws allow us to sound intellectual without having to do any homework. That's why people are always citing the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. That's also why they almost always get it wrong. The Uncertainty Principle actually has to do with physics, and let's just say that if you read it, your head will explode. So what's that nice idea about how observation inevitably alters the thing being observed? That's "the observer effect." But nobody calls it that because it lacks smarty-pants heft. What we really need is the Heisenberg Probability Principle, which states that anybody mentioning Heisenberg is likely a pompous twit. (And may I be the first to plead guilty as charged?)
Some of these rules actually hold precious wisdom. Hegel's Paradox, for instance, says, "Man learns from history that man learns nothing from history." And Clarke's First Law, coined by science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, nails the nature of wisdom: "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible he is almost certainly wrong."
Once, in Ireland, I ran across a statement by a 19th-century cleric that struck me as profound: "It is almost impossible to exaggerate the complete unimportance of almost everything." I've never been able to track down the source. (But that's unimportant.) In any case, Sturgeon's Revelation, named after science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon, gives the same idea a nice American spin: "Ninety percent of everything is crud."
The workplace has spawned more than its share of such obiter dicta. Thus the Dilbert Principle says, "The most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management." But Joy's Law, coined by Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy, captures every manager's sinking sense of despair: "No matter who you are, most of the smartest people work for someone else." Harried tech workers like to cite Brooks' Law, from software engineer Frederick P. Brooks: "Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later." Or as Brooks also put it, "The bearing of a child takes nine months, no matter how many women are assigned."
Impatient bosses often strike back with Parkinson's Law: "Work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion." In fact, my editor just showed up at the door to remind me that time's up.
"Don't be such a deadline Nazi," I snapped.
"Godwin's Law," he replied.
To go with TonyH's post and to make Jason happy~ I hope and thanks to Diana Kennedy
Silkil-Pak : Pumpkin Seed Dip
Most cooks will tell you that the tomatoes should be boiled, but some prefer the flavor of them broiled; you may, therefore, do as you like about it. The chili is optional, although, as I have said many times before, the chile habanero has an enticing flavor of its own.
In Yucatan the tiniest, unshelled pumpkin seed, locally called chinchilla, is used; it is about 1/2 inch long and 1/4 inch wide. However, I have made this dish with practically every squash seed I have come across, and providing you toast them very well indeed and grind them very fine, until they are almost pulverized, they all taste more or less the same.
Sikil-p 'ok:Pumpkin Seed Dip
~1/4cup hulled raw pumpkin seeds
1 chile habanero or any fresh, hot green chili12 ounces), broiled
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
Heat a thick frying pan or comal and toast the seeds, turning them constantly, until the hulls are well browned and crisp (some types of seeds will start to pop open). Set them aside to cool off. Meanwhile, toast the chili, turning it from time to time until it is blistered and black-brown in spots.
Using an electric coffee/spice grinder, grind the toasted seeds, together with the salt, to a coarse powder. Transfer to a small serving bowl.
Blend the tomatoes briefly with 1/3 cup of the water. Stir into the ground pumpkin seeds, together with the coriander, chives, and whole chili (if you prefer a more picante dish, blend the chili with the tomatoes before mixing
them with the seeds).Serve it at room temperature, as a dip,.The mixture should have the consistency of mayonnaise. If it is too thick,you may have to add a little more water to dilute it.
- - - --- - - -
Legumbres en Pipian Oaxaqueiio Vegetables in Oaxacan Pumpkin-Seed Sauce
While we were cooking in Oaxaca last summer, my friend Senora Domatila suggested that a vegetable pipian-of nopales and peas-would be an unusual choice for my new book. It does make an excellent vegetarian main course, deliciously satisfying in color, texture, and flavor.I call Domatila la regaiiadora, "the scolder," because she is forever complaining and chiding as she cooks. As she was toasting the seeds for this dish, I asked her to what point they should be browned. "Ni muy, muy, ni tan, tan (neither too much nor too little)," she said with a click of her tongue, which indicated that I should know better than to ask. And later, as she was grinding the seeds on the metate-enough to make anyone complain, as I know from experience-she said that the preparation of Mexican food was "dura pero segura (hard but sure)." (The ground seeds, by the way, were strained through a small decorated gourd with small holes perforated in the bottom.)Of course, this pipian can be made with poached chicken, stewed pork, or rabbit, and during the Lenten period with dried shrimps. I made it with cubed zucchini and quartered mushrooms. It freezes well,just re-blend for a few seconds after defrosting.
1/2 pound raw, unhulled pumpkin seeds
1 chile ancho
1 to
1 clove garlic, peeled
4 cups cold water, approximat'el
1/4
3 tablespoons peanut or safflower oil
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1 pound nopales, crisp-cooked , and diced
1/2 pound shelled, crisp-cooked peas'
2 large sprigs epazote or 1 avocado leaf
Put the seeds into a heavy frying pan over a medium flame. Turn them constantly until they are evenly browned, keeping a lid handy, as they are apt to pop about fiercely. Set them aside to cool.
Remove the seeds and veins from the chile ancho; leave the guajillos or chilcostles whole. Cover all the chilies with water and simmer them for 5 minutes, then leave them to soak for 5 minutes longer. Drain and transfer to a blender jar. Add the garlic and 1 cup of water to the chilies and blend until smooth.
When the toasted seeds are cool, grind them, along with the cuminseed preferably in a coffee/spice grinder-until they are rather fine but still have some texture. Transfer to a bowl and stir in 21/2 to 3 cups of water until smooth. Pass through the medium disk of a food mill and set aside. (Note: there will
be quite a lot of debris of the husks left in the food mill.)
Heat the oil in a heavy pan. When it is hot, but just before it begins to smoke, lower the flame and fry the chili sauce, scraping the bottom of the pan constantly, until it has reduced and seasoned-about 4 minutes.
Gradually stir in the pumpkin-seed sauce and cook over a low flame for about 20 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan from time to time. Add the salt and vegetables and heat them through for 15 minutes longer, adding the epazote or avocado leaf just before the end of the cooking
time. (An indication that the sauce is properly cooked is when pools of oil forming on the surface.)
Serve hot, with freshly made tortillas.
6 servings
teaspoon cuminseed2 chiles chilcostles or chiles guajillos
Camerones en Pipian: Shrimps in Pumpkin`Seed Sauce
1 1/2 pounds medium-sized shrimps, unshelled
2~ cups cold water approximately
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper
1 cup (about 4 ounces) hulled, unroasted, unsalted pumpkin seeds
8 sprigs fresh coriander
3 fresh chiles serranos or any fresh, hot green chilies ~ small white onion 1 tablespoon sweet butter
2/3 cup sour cream, preferably homemade
Shell and devein the shrimps and set aside. Put the shells, tails and heads, if any, into a saucepan, add the water with salt to taste and cook over a medium flame for about 15 minutes, to extract the flavor and make a light broth. Strain and discard the shells, reserving the cooking liquid. Allow the liquid to cool off a little. Add the shrimps and cook over a gentle heat for about 3 to 5 minutes, or until they are just turning opaque. Drain the shrimps, reserving the broth.In a heavy, ungreased frying pan, toast the pumpkin seeds lightly, stirring them often, until they begin to swell up and start to pop about-do not let them brown. Set them aside to cool and then grind them finely in a coffee spice grinder. (Alternatively they can just be added to the blender with the broth in the next step, but the sauce will not be as smooth.
Place the shrimp broth, pumpkin seeds, coriander, chilies, and onion in a blender or food processor and blend together until smooth.
Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. Add the blended pumpkin-seed sauce and cook over a very low flame, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan constantly, for about 10 minutes. Stir in the cooked shrimps and cream, adjust seasoning, and just heat through---about 5 minutes.
Serve with fresh, hot tortillas or crusty French bread-no butter. And never serve it on top of rice or all that lovely sauce will be sopped up and lost.
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I tell about my personal pain not because I feel somehow special or different, but because of my belief that in examining any one human story a greater truth can be gleaned. We all struggle with death, loss, that path that turns one way and not the other. My story is your story, just change the names, alter some details.
I am drained. I meant to write more about the CO’s…but Friday my eldest would have been 37 and grief has taken over me. I will admit to a change in my grief, hard to define and describe. It will never not be there, but the rawness of it has ebbed some. I still cry, fret that as he crawled on his hands and knees along the city streets looking for the help that came to late, he felt he died alone… that I did not care or love him. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Your first born has a quality about the experience, the births after it no less loved or precious, that is so intense. Every choice you make as a parent, every new thing your child does is so wonderful, so full of import. The circumstances around my first born were heightened at that time, the 60 being a crucible of American societal change. Being one of the world’s smartest 15 year olds certainly helped;-p. His father had just been drafted, my home life was one of abuse, I was young and in love ,surely all the terrible things adults told me were bound to happen would not happen to me~ I was infallible after all. I bravely or stubbornly, depending on your viewpoint, decided to reject the abortion offered by my Doctor, marry my love and we would strike out on our own. When that child was first placed in my arms the feeling was the best I had ever had and I knew that come what may I had made the right choice. He was my doppelganger~ the common face and voice, temperament, and in the years before the end, he showed me what I could have become had I not made the choices I did.
He had made the kinds of choices I never could~ living for only himself, lying, self-sabotage, and the biggie~ avoiding knowing himself. He was a semi grown man, 30, when the last terrible thing went down between us late one night. A physical fight, he began to hit and I retreated behind my bedroom door, he began breaking of many of my possessions, from family heirlooms to all my appliances having their cords cut. Finally his anger spent he went to sleep; I gathered a few things, my youngest and fled to my SO’s. That day I knew I had to try a last resort tactic~ He had to go in no uncertain terms, be told to never darken my door until he could look me in the eye and say, “I am a man, a good man”. How strong we Mothers must be at times, for that would take all my inner strength to do~ deny my own. It is still a decision I struggle with, even though that morning he died sober, working and a man, a good one. We had not made up, said I love you even though I tried repeatedly to reach out to him. A male friend who knew us both explained to me that a son could imagine doing nothing worse to his Mother than mine had done to me… how could those boys of ours not know how much we love them? That even this was not enough to stop those ties?
So after the horror of the phone call telling me he had died, I was left with this mess. I like to think it was the right thing to do, but can never really know. He was sober, so he felt every pain of his heart ceasing~ is that a good thing? I can only hope so.
All of my friends rushed to me, trying to help with the un-helpable. They defended me from myself, my guilt, blocked my self-hatred for what I had done for a good reason. Moreover, I think I could only deal with bits and pieces of this event, my mind refusing to take it all in because that way madness lies. I was on one level at peace with it, I believe that things happen as they should~ for reasons beyond my ken~ and that we know on some level how deep our love goes for each other. I never dealt though with the aspect of us not speaking with each other. At times it has made me feel cruel, heartless, some kind of monster. At other times, I think it was the most self-sacrificing act of my life~ to forget my hearts ease in order to try save him from himself. Then just those few months later Kelsey, my hearts angel, went to look for his brother…
Now on this day that should have been full of cake, presents and happiness I find I have more work still to do on this endless path of sorrow. I never let myself fully grieve for my eldest, and then was simply overwhelmed with the death that seemed to surround me. It’s ironic I have faced my own demise but never really thought this would happen~ that I would live beyond my children. I imagine most parents do not~ it is my fervent wish that fewer and fewer parents will have to. Peace.
Grief
by Gwen Flowers
I had my own notion of grief.
I thought it was the sad time
That followed the death of someone you love.
And you had to push through it
To get to the other side.
But I'm learning there is no other side.
There is no pushing through.
But rather,
There is absorption.
Adjustment.
Acceptance.
And grief is not something you complete,
But rather, you endure.
Grief is not a task to finish
And move on,
But an element of yourself-
An alteration of your being.
A new way of seeing.
A new definition of self.
I am not sure which one of you mentioned this program~ but I blame you for an itch I can not scratch. Just rented the way too short series and now....hooked but it's all over and no more to be made.
Guns,space,horses~ not quite good guys,really bad bad guys,beautiful people to watch,interesting characters doing things to survive that did not seem all that different from us today...no wonder it tanked on T.V.
That last episode really left me hanging.Now there's a law we need! At least two more episodes to end a canceled series decently. Don't mess with Texas? Don't mess with T.V. programs!
Why Marylee Shrider must set the facts straight about the Constitution in our schools~and why it may be too late for some.This is long but worth a read~all sides,shapes and thought processes could learn something.
Cognitive Science and FactCheck.org, or Why We (Still) Do What We Do
October 17, 2007
by Joe Miller
Have you heard about how Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet? What about how Iraq was responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center? Or maybe the one about how George W. Bush has the lowest IQ of any U.S. president ever? Chances are pretty good that you might even believe one (or more) of these claims. And yet all three are false. At FactCheck.org our stock in trade is debunking these sorts of false or misleading political claims, so when the Washington Post told us that we might just be making things worse, it really made us stop and think.
A Sept. 4 article in the Post discussed several recent studies that all seemed to point to the same conclusion: Debunking myths can backfire because people tend to remember the myth but forget what the debunker said about it. As Hebrew University psychologist Ruth Mayo explained to the Post, “If you think 9/11 and Iraq, this is your association, this is what comes in your mind. Even if you say it is not true, you will eventually have this connection with Saddam Hussein and 9/11.” That leaves myth busters like us with a quandary: Could we, by exposing political malarkey, just be cementing it in voters’ minds? Are we contributing to the problem we hope to solve?
Possibly. Yet we think that what we do is still necessary. And we think the facts back us up.
The Post story wasn’t all that surprising to those who follow the findings of cognitive science research, which tells us much of our thinking happens just below the level of consciousness. The more times we hear two particular bits of information associated, for example, the more likely it is that we’ll recall those bits of information. This is how we learn multiplication tables – and why we still know the Big Mac jingle.
Our brains also take some surprising shortcuts. In a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Virginia Tech psychologist Kimberlee Weaver shows that the more easily we recall something the more likely we are to think of it as being true. It’s a useful shortcut since, typically, easily recalled information really is true. But combine this rule with the brain’s tendency to better remember bits of information that are repeated frequently, and we can run into trouble: We’re likely to believe anything we hear repeated frequently enough. At FactCheck.org we’ve noted how political spin-masters exploit this tendency ruthlessly, repeating dubious or false claims endlessly until, in the minds of many voters, they become true. Making matters worse, a study by Hebrew University's Mayo shows that people often forget “denial tags.” Thus many people who hear the phrase “Iraq does not possess WMDs” will remember “Iraq” and “possess WMDs” while forgetting the “does not” part.
The counter to this requires an understanding of how it is that the brain forms beliefs.
In 1641, French philosopher René Descartes suggested that the act of understanding an idea comes first; we accept the idea only after evaluating whether or not it rings true. Thirty-six years later, the Dutch philosopher Baruch de Spinoza offered a very different account of belief formation. Spinoza proposed that understanding and believing happen simultaneously. We might come to reject something we held to be true after considering it more carefully, but belief happens prior to the examination. On Spinoza’s model, the brain forms beliefs automatically. Rejecting a belief requires a conscious act.
Unfortunately, not everyone bothers to examine the ideas they encounter. On the Cartesian model, that failure results in neither belief nor disbelief. But on the Spinozan model we end up with a lot of unexamined (and often false) convictions.
One might rightly wonder how a 17th-century philosophical dispute could possibly be relevant to modern myth-busting. Interestingly, though, Harvard psychologist Daniel T. Gilbert designed a series of experiments aimed specifically at determining whether Descartes or Spinoza got it right. Gilbert’s verdict: Spinoza is the winner. People who fail to carry through the evaluation process are likely to believe whatever statements they read. Gilbert concludes that “[p]eople do have the power to assent, to reject, and to suspend their judgment, but only after they have believed the information to which they have been exposed.”
Gilbert’s studies show that, initially at least, we do believe everything we hear. But it’s equally obvious that we reject many of those beliefs, sometimes very quickly and other times only after considerable work. We may not be skeptical by nature, but we can nonetheless learn to be skeptical. Iowa State’s Gary Wells has shown that social interaction with those who have correct information is often sufficient to counter false views. Indeed, a study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology by the University of Southern California’s Peter Kim shows that meeting a charge (regardless of its truth or falsity) with silence increases the chances that others will believe the claim. Giving false claims a free pass, in other words, is more likely to result in false beliefs (a notion with which 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry, who didn’t immediately respond to accusations by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth about his Vietnam record, is all too familiar).
So, yes, a big ad budget often trumps the truth, but that doesn’t mean we should go slumping off in existential despair. You see, the Spinozan model shows that we will believe whatever we hear only if the process of evaluating those beliefs is somehow short-circuited. Humans are not helpless automatons in the face of massive propaganda. We may initially believe whatever we hear, but we are fully capable of evaluating and rejecting beliefs that turn out not to be accurate. Our brains don’t do this naturally; maintaining a healthy skeptical attitude requires some conscious effort on our part. It also requires a basic understanding of logic – and it requires accurate information. That’s where this Web site comes in.
If busting myths has some bad consequences, allowing false information to flow unchecked is far worse. Facts are essential if we are to overcome our brain’s tendency to believe everything it hears. As a species, we’re still pretty new to that whole process. Aristotle invented logic just 2,500 years ago – a mere blink of the eye when compared with the 200,000 years we Homo sapiens relied on our brain’s reflex responses to avoid being eaten by lions. We still have a long way to go. Throw in a tsunami of ads and Internet bluster and the path gets even harder, which is why we’re delighted to find new allies at PolitiFact.com and the Washington Post’s FactChecker. We’ll continue to bring you the facts. And you can continue to use them wisely.
Sources:
Descartes, Rene. Principles of Philosophy. Tr. John Cottingham. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985 [1644].
Gilbert, Daniel T., Romin W. Tafarodi and and Patrick S. Malone. "You Can't Not Believe Everything Your Read." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 65.2 (1993): 221-233.
Kim, Peter H., et al. "Silence Speaks Volumes: The Effectiveness of Reticence in Comparison to Apology and Denial for Responding to Integrity- and Competence-Based Trust Violations. Journal of Applied Psychology 92.4 (2007): 893-908.
Mayo, Ruth, Yaacov Schul and Eugene Burnstein. "'I Am Not Guilty' vs. 'I Am Innocent': Successful Negation May Depend on the Schema Used for its Encoding." Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 40.4 (2004): 433-449.
Spinoza, Baruch de. Ethics. Tr. Edwin Curley. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994 [1677].
Weaver, Kimberlee, et al. "Inferring the Popularity of an Opinion from its Familiarity: A Repetitive Voice Can Sound Like a Chorus." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 92.5 (2007): 821-833.
Wright, E.F. and Gary L. Wells. "Does Group Discussion Attenuate the Dispositional Bias?" Journal of Applied Psychology 15 (1985): 531-546.
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Copyright © 2003 - 2007, Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania
FactCheck.org's staff, not the Annenberg Center, is responsible for this material.
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I thought this was funny , reminded me of how as a Mother I learned to empty out the pant pockets of small boys ,one never knew what was in those pockets.Everything from inanimate objects to living things..eh wee.
http://www.alternet.org/blo...
I was offended by the "Moosewood Cookbook " reference~not. That brought back memories of my eldest,he told Mr. Sage " Worry when she cooks out of that book".*smiles* He never met a vegetable he liked, claimed I had scarred him for life by exposing him to a healthy diet. Died from a heart attack at 33 ,smoking and bad diet contributing factors. He would have been 37 this Friday at 6:01 a.m.~gone but never forgotten.
So tell someone you love them,make amends,share a great healthy recipe with someone you care about..call your Mom and tell her you love her.
Before we leave the story of WW2 CO’s and get into the historical perspective, the story of some of theses brave men deserves a last look. Rather than feel despair at the overwhelming support for war in the U. S., many felt energized, used their experiences to fuel later movements at home and around the world.
David Dellinger
A student at Yale, he walked out to follow the path of Francis of Assisi, was among the first to resist and was jailed twice, taking part in the hunger strike that resulted in the desegregation of the Federal Prison system. He coined the phrase “the whole world is watching” regarding the media coverage of the police riots at the Democratic Convention in 1968.Yours truly, as young girl sat and watched ,horrified by what she saw. That moment in time shaped more than any other. During the trial of the Chicago Eight, he and the other defendants turned the tables on the government ,it became a trial of the government.
Stephen G. Cary
He was a CO and a director of a camp, later he used his experience to become commissioner for the Europe Relief for the American Friends Service Committee. In 1947 the committee received the Nobel Peace prize for their work.
Bill Sutherland
An African American he has lived in Africa working for social change and promoted Pan African relations~ serving as special assistant to the 6th Pan African congress in Tanzania. He co founded Americans for South African Resistance, the American committee on Africa, and the World Peace Brigade.
Carlos Cortez
Part of the pacifist art movement, he has been a construction laborer, factory worker, poet ,journalist, janitor, salesman, writer curator and printmaker. He is a active member of the Chicago Mexican community and done many prints, cartoons and posters.
Asa Watkins
Born a Presbyterian but became a Quaker due to his CO experiences. He led the mental health reform movement in Louisiana and was a Special Education teacher, lifetime activist and artist.
George Houser
One of the Union 8 seminarians who were the first to resist the WW2 draft, a founder of CORE. He and Bayard Rustin, in 1947 organized the first freedom ride: The Journey of Reconciliation. With Bill Sutherland he co-founded the first American organization against Apartheid.
The concept of conscientious objection is unique in U.S. history and can be traced back to our founding fathers~ some of whom fled Europe because of oppression for their Pacifist belief’s. Three of the original colonies~ New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware were founded by William Penn~ a Quaker and pacifist.
The framers of our Constitution considered a clause for exempting CO’s in the second Amendment. They omitted this exemption because they could see no need for creating a standing army.
At the start of the Revolutionary War , George Washington called for a draft “all young men of suitable age to be drafted, except those with conscientious scruples against war”.
In the Civil War, if you could not buy your way out of service, CO’s were treated harshly~ some 4000 served unarmed in combat.
WW1 Ushered in the first draft since the Civil War ,politics and the government were intolerant of the CO’s 17 died from mistreatment at Alcatraz.
In WW2 43,000 Americans were CO’s During Viet Nam more than 170,000 were officially recognized by draft boards, many leaving the country.
Though today’s military is all-volunteer during the Gulf War 2,500 men and women refused to serve on the basis of conscience. While draft opposition has been an individual choice in all U. S. wars ,such wars as the Mexican War, the War of 1812,WW1 and the Viet Nam war sparked mass movements.
Pacifists generally hold that violence is costly. Either that somewhere on the spectrum of personal violence to armed combat ,violence is morally wrong~ “Thou shall not kill”. Or the consequentalist view that the costs of war or personal violence are so huge that other ways of conflict resolution must be found. The majority of pacifist believe in non-violence as morally superior and/or pragmatic force. Some condone the use of violence to protect themselves or others, still others condone destruction of property, splattering red paint-blood- on a recruiting office, for example. But no matter the core belief to all is taking responsibility for ones own actions by submitting to arrest. Then to use that trial to publicize and fight against war and other forms of violence.
Next Monday, CO’s and religion. I will leave you with these quotes.
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy? - Mahatma Gandhi
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.... The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation- Martin Luther King ,Jr.
The Holy Prophet Mohammed came into this world and taught us - That man is a Muslim who never hurts anyone by word or deed, but who works for the benefit and happiness of God's creatures. Belief in God is to love one's fellow men. - Khan Abdul Ghaffer Khan
Being a pacifist to save your own life is normal, being a pacifist for the lives of others is true pacifism. - Jacob Borer
In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful. - Leo Tolstoy
99% Fact-Free
October 12, 2007
How to spot political ads powered only by hot air.
Summary
In this article we examine two examples of what we call "fact-free" advertising, which we see in abundance. These ads seek to associate the candidate with a string of positive words and images but are void of specifics. Voters should beware.
We have chosen an example from Republican Mitt Romney that is full of words such as “families,” “values,” “patriotic,” “strength” and “innovation.” Who could be against any of those? Romney is also squarely against “waste in the federal government,” but who isn't? And what does he consider "waste?" He doesn't say.
Our example from Democratic candidate John Edwards also pushes the "strength" and "patriotism" buttons, showing that vacuous words are a bipartisan tactic. Edwards also speaks loftily of making America "the country of the 21st century," whatever that means. He says he'd "lift families out of poverty" and "strengthen the middle class" but doesn't say how, or define what he means by "middle class." He says, "We know what needs to be done," but doesn't say what that is.
Note: The full article with all graphics and video clips may be seen on our Web site. http://www.factcheck.org/99...
Last night on “Tavis Smiley” I caught Janet Reno promoting her new project “Song of America”~ a 3 disc 50 song compilation, a musical history book .She is now not only the first woman AG she is now the first AG/ record producer.
Many different artists contributed from John Mellencamp’s traditional“This Land is Your Land” to Japanese American and ukulele sensation Jake Shimabukuro’s “Stars & Stripes Forever”, a new reworking of a traditional tune. The set starts with “Lakota Dream Song” and takes us through American history with our musical oral traditions. The Blind Boys of Alabama,Andrew Bird, Take 6, the Black Crowes and Grandmaster Flash and others have a stab at their interpretations of American songs.Soul singer Bettye LaVetete does “Streets of Philadelphia” They started out with over 700 songs and winnowed it down to 50.Proceeds will go to fund arts programs in schools.
Reno did this project to educate young listeners “so they could gain a greater understanding and appreciation for our history.” Sound familiar, but with less division?
http://www.factcheck.org/co...
"On his Web site, Rudy Giuliani claims that he grew New York City's police force by 12,000 officers between his inauguration as mayor in January 1994 and mid-2000. That's just not true. Most of the cops he's counting – 7,100 to be exact – were already housing or transit police who were simply folded into the New York Police Department. The merger of the departments didn't increase the number of police in the city at all. "
"On another matter, we question Giuliani's claim that on Sept. 11, 2001, he had a new command center "up and running within half an hour" of being forced to evacuate his primary center near the World Trade Center. In his 2002 book, "Leadership," he says that "we arrived about noon" at the backup site, which was two-and-a-half hours after the evacuation."
As these hit my mail box folks I just put them out there irregardless of whom is "getting it"~let's keep an eye on 'em and demand straight facts from all our candidates!
Yet another "easy money scam",with a twist..would I please tell them how much I make a month(so they can tailor their demands to my income?) Free lunch is never free....
22/09/2007
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CO’s~ contentious objectors, a ridiculed segment of our society ~especially in times of war. Yellow bellied cowards who took everything from this nation and then refused to give back ~right?
This week I learned different, after the excellent Ken Burns film "The War" hinted briefly at CO’s contributions to WW2 ,how they were allowed to become ambulance drivers and field medics.
Then the hour long program “The Good War And Those Who Refused To Fight It” shed light on a little known and almost lost part of the WW2 story ~ the courage of the thirty -seven thousand CO‘s who preformed alternative service.
A national system of work camps, administered and set up by the “Peace Churches” (Quakers, Mennonites and Brethren) allowed the CO’s to prove their courage and commitment to the country. They could not kill another human being, but could put their own bodies in harms way ~ by becoming fire jumpers, human guinea pigs, often participating in fatal experiments. Thousands of other CO’s volunteered to go into the insane asylums working to transform these places into the mental institutions of today. Thousands of others ~the hardest group to understand, those led only by ideals , refused to participate in the war machine at all, spending the war years in federal prison and eventually integrating the federal prison system.
"About the only thing these men have in common is their intense conviction that it is wrong to kill a fellow man. And they are building for themselves ,in a Chines Wall of human spirit,what to most Americans must seem a never-never land ,a impossible mirage of peace and brotherly love in a world of war and hate." Saturday Evening Post 1940
CPS Camps
A conflicted system was established, between the Selective service, whose goal was to keep the CO’s “out of sight” so as to not hurt wartime morale and the Churches desire to protect it members from the treatment they had receive in WW1.Some 200 other religious organizations participated, representing individuals who had no other common bond than a rejection of war.
In the Civilian Public Service (CPS) the first men arrived believing they would perform six months of hard labor ~nine hours a day, six days a week, having to pay the government $35 a month for room and board, leaving their families in poverty~ instead staying the duration of the war, some even till 1947, two years after the war ended. They preformed “busy work”, frustrated at not being given the promised work of “national importance”.
"The clientele, the assignees, made the place an absolute zoo. I mean, we had Ph.Ds, we had winners of Fulbright prizes, we had guys who had a third-grade education, we had stockbrokers, we had ballet dancers, we had atheists, we had fundamentalists...every possible kind of human being was there....And that made it a fascinating place to be."
- Steve Cary, WWII CO
These camps became the crucible for many of the techniques that would form the basis of the civil rights movement and the peace movements.
In the 152 camps most CO’s planted trees, fought forest fires, built road and dams in remote areas. They built sanitary facilities for communities ridden with hookworm, ran rural medical clinics, cared for juvenile delinquents, and did soil conservation projects and agricultural experiments. Finally they got the promised “national meaningful work” as attendants in mental hospitals, guinea pigs in medical experiments, firefighting smoke jumpers.
Federal Prisons
Some six thousand chose- or were deemed insincere by their draft board- Federal Prison, during WW2 one is six prisoners were draft resisters. A spectrum of Americans were imprisoned ~ 75% were Jehovah’s Witnesses~ and the members of the Peace Churches were joined by Protestants, Catholics, Jews, socialists and anarchists. Large numbers of Puerto Ricans, in protest of their colonial status resisted as did the traditionally pacifist Hopi. 73 Japanese-Americans, interred in the camp at Heart Mountain, refused draft notices and were imprisoned.
CO prisoners were threatened by fellow inmates and guards alike. They suffered solitary confinement, time in total darkness, forced feedings and many found a strength of spirit in their experiences, again going on to develop these non -violent techniques to use in future social movements. In Danbury Prison the hunger strike to integrate succeeded, spread to other Federal Prisons leading to the eventual integration of the entire prison system.
A guard said to one resister “I can’t wait till this God dammed war is over and all I have to deal with are normal prisoners ~ rapists, thief’s, and killers~ people I can understand.”
Mental Health
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"It is sort of like a perpetual bad dream.The smells,the sounds of the insane voices, the bad equipment. The long dark corridors...it is all very much like a medieval fairy tale of the nether regions."-CO Asa Watkins
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A significant long term result of the CO’s service was the light they shone on “Bedlam”~ the name of the 1946 shocking expose of the national treatment of the mentally ill. In response to the draconian conditions, the CO’s introduced non-violent methods of patient care, won a law suit in Virginia demanding humane treatment and founded an organization that became the National Mental Health Foundation (NMHF).”The CO is not performing any service for the country” Eleanor Roosevelt had written in her column~ and retracted that statement after she had seen for herself the work done at mental institutions on behalf of the mentally ill by CO’s. In the years after the war she became a major sponsor of the NMHF.
Human Guinea Pigs
“We were very concerned of course that we had been called all kinds of names, yellow bellies, and things like that. I had volunteered for an ambulance driver and got turned down, American Field Service, they said they didn't want any more COs, they had too many, but I was young and I wanted to show that I was not a coward, so when they offered me this chance of being a guinea pig, it fit right in with my scheme of things of proving that I was willing to take risks on my own body, but I just did not want to kill someone else.”
- CO Neil Hartman
500 CO’s competed to volunteer for dangerous and life threatening medical experiments -helping in finding cure for malaria, infectious hepatitis, atypical pneumonia and typhus. They were injected with live hepatitis, covered in lice and then sprayed with DDT, subjected to high altitudes, extreme temperatures, had their mobility deprived for long periods. At the University of Minnesota young healthy CO’s submitted to starvation ~ the results of which was so severe and long term that they helped inspire the Marshall Plan. A keystone of American foreign policy which set the precedent for helping countries with poverty, disease and malnutrition after war.
In the Field
“Many Americans will die to save this man(medic), who then will save many more Americans lives~ he( medic) should become your target” Japanese Sergeant
Twenty-five thousand CO’s served as non-combatant medical corpsmen and chaplains. Like the other CO’s they refused to kill but enlisted and wore the uniform. They went, unlike other medics, unarmed into combat. CO Medic Desmond Doss won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his courage under fire.
These CO’s can teach us all something about commitment to one’s principals, about our history and about an idea that refuses to die. Next Monday I will continue with a historical perspective of the CO movement and the contributions it has made.
cross posted at SirenChronicles
This film,through its own reincarnation from a 70 million dollar film into a 35 million dollar production, asks the big questions.
Who, what are we? Why are we and where do we go? The movie uses universal emotions of love, devotion, obsession, fear, death and hope to explore these questions. Using devices such as dark long passages, rings, stairs, the absence of light, darkness fading into gray, into white and finally golden light, the story unfolds over space and time.
A novel~ the last chapter unfinished, medical research into anti-aging drugs, 16th century Spain, a time resembling now, the future ~with a vision of space unlike any you have seen, are the weft,1 man,1 woman, and the Mayans are the warp, all woven into |
