Not much sleep last night anyway. No, I didn't get called any more, I just couldn't sleep worth a damn. Additionally, my site was down last night when I went to FTP the entry in, and then I forgot to check if it was up so I could do it this morning. Yeah, I got up late... Karen woke me up right before she left for work, about a half-hour after my alarm started going off. So I decided that this was a good day to leave work early... Well, it was mostly because we ran out of patients at 15:00. I had a choice of sitting around trying to think of stuff to do to keep awake or going home. It was a no-brainer, it was. I decided that I'd better go by Walgreens and pick up my drugs... I need to start thinking about my trip, and how many of which pills I'll need and stuff like that. Anyway, taking Karen with me was a mistake. Alone, I would have come home with one pair of shoes and six pairs of socks. Instead, I came home with three pairs of shoes, twelve pairs of socks, a pair of pants and a shirt. The problem was... I was having trouble deciding which pair of shoes to buy, dress or more casual. So Karen told me to do what she does when faced with such a decision... buy them both, or all, in this case. I decided that I needed a new pair of pants, too... I ripped a big hole in one of my new pairs last night, and I was pretty short on pants anyway. And the shirt... well, it matched the pants. Anyway, after that little spree, we went to McFarland's to eat. I'd never been there before, but I'd heard that they cater to the older citizens of Topeka. This was confirmed by the number of geezermobiles parked outside, and the number of walkers scattered throughout the dining area... Anyway, I was disappointed by the food and so was Karen, but the service and the atmosphere were nice. Karen is still missing the little cat a lot, and she's awfully worried about Andy, too. I can't really help her out with either problem, other than just being here for her. And Andy is doing the best that he can to handle his problems, there's certainly no magic answers there, and he knows that. Let's see, I haven't spoken about religion for a while, although it's certainly been on my mind lately... one of the people on one of my mailing lists wrote this up and they're allowing us to use it. I would like to attribute this to a real person, but the writer prefers anonymity for some reason or another, and he's known on my list at "Steve" and "SS" I wrote these a few years ago as part of a bigger essay. I would love
to push this agenda to the nation (USA) forum, it is high time for a
change, before it is too late and tragedy strikes again (any where in
the world). Maybe if George W. Bush would sign on to these changes,
it would be a positive step... you know, real leadership.
12 CHANGES TO MAKE RELIGIONS SAFER
1) Remove all provisions that the Deity(s) and Its theology is
the "one true god and religion". Granted that this provision is the
foundation of the orthodoxy of all major established religions, but
in light of the untold carnage and suffering that this one piece of
dogma is responsible for, it really is irresponsible to sanction this
delusion.
2) Remove all provisions that conclude that there are certain
classifications of people that are some kind of abomination to the
Deity(s) and ought to be exterminated. (Non-believers, witches,
heretics, adulterers, fornicators, homosexuals, a defeated
enemy, "sinners", the unclean, etc., and/or the descendants of the
above.) Such provisions have undisputedly been responsible for untold
carnage and suffering.
3) And while we are on the subject, there must be eliminated all
provisions for the sacrifices of innocent humans. Historically it has
not been necessary to be offensive to a deity in order for a religion
to sanction one's death. Heck, the fact that you are pure or innocent
could be the very reason for your life to taken. It goes without
saying that these provisions too are responsible for untold carnage
and suffering.
4) Recognize that the holding of a religious belief is a personal
life choice. As such, religious beliefs should never be imposed on
others. Laws against blasphemy, heresy, other sundry blue
laws, "justice" systems based on divine intervention, (trial by
ordeal, trial by combat), forced public religious observance,
proselytizing in public or door-to-door, even silly little fish on
the back of cars, obnoxious T-shirts, and tacky WWJD bracelets. And
while not responsible for carnage, as such, the imposition of
religion unto others is cause for untold suffering.
5) It seems that one of the best things that religion has promoted,
THE NOT TAKING OF HUMAN LIFE, needs to be amplified. And also in need
of amplification is the instruction to, TREAT OTHERS ONLY AS YOU
YOURSELF WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED. If only followers of the worlds
religions would pay heed to these two tenets of their dogma, the
world would be a million times safer. Strangely however, these
universal precepts, found in all the world's major religions, are
widely ignored. This could prevent future carnage and suffering.
Because the dangers below represent danger only to the individual and
those in their custody, they constitute a second class of danger and
so are listed separately as dangers that should be eliminated from a
religion to make it safer.
6) Remove self-depreciating pronouncements against humanity, i.e.,
humans are not sinful, humans are not unworthy, humans are not sheep,
and we don't need to be shepherded.
7) Do not encourage the belief in divine intervention. One can't be
saved from a calamity by a deity that does not exist.
8) Take out any prohibitions of medical procedures. Also remove any
provisions against organ donation.
9) Take out any provision for cloistered existence. What a waste of
existence: living behind a wall.
10) Eliminate examples of sloppy thinking, i.e., young earth
references, simplistic creation myths, all the animals of the world
being loaded onto one vessel, the sun being stopped in its tracks for
a day, etc., etc.
11) Take out any provisions against free thought. Any dogma that
can't hold it own against logical critical thought can't be very
sound.
12) Silly prohibitions should be eliminated: food, dress, music,
dance, etc. In order to advance the human condition, a religion
should be significant, and not bogged down with the superficial.
20:52...
Karen went out with me to buy some new shoes. I've decided to forego the tennis shoes and white socks finally. I really don't spend that much time on my feet running anymore... so I decided to go with a dress shoe.