Bartender's Log...Feeling Philosophical.
Dawn is the handful of moments that make any hovel in the world look luxurious. Those few seconds of sueded light, the fingertips of Glory caressing the embittered earth. No explosion of random atomic collisions could have invented such beauty. Even an omnipotent modernism artist would fail. Within the gleeful, childlike splashes of color, a depth of metaphor and utility--unexplainable by science--abounds.
Why, then? Why attempt to imitate Nature's lustre?
If I had wings to fly, I could be some kind of guardian angel. I could escape, or I could integrate, or I could be perfect.
Man loves impossible odds...unbeatable goals.
I was raised Baptist. I find myself saying that a lot, lately. Not that I am Baptist. I can't, in good conscience, associate with that particular denomination. Or, really, any denomination. But it makes me angry when people blame the Christians or the Government for all of their woes. It shows a distinct lack of responsibility to blame others for your problems; to refuse fault. People are just looking for a scape goat. And have been since the beginning...that's why the sacrificial goat ("scape goat") came to be. A temporary patch. A quick fix. Blood shed--not your own--to cleanse your unrighteousness.
And never mind those unreachable goals. If the goal is impossible, you don't feel so bad for not accomplishing it.
The more I read Leviticus--the Biblical book of laws--the more I see this principle realized. Laws of cleanliness, regulations of health and safety gradually became powerful mandates. Those who failed to obey "would surely die."
Why did the obvious suggestion that sickness begets death become a death sentence?
And the extremes to which it has been taken...in the times of Leviticus, for instance, a man could not touch a woman during or immediately after her menstrual cycle.
The current governor of Jerusalem refuses to even shake hands with a woman because of this law. He "has no way of knowing" whether they are on their cycle, after all.
And don't get me started on sacrifices.
I find it amazing that anyone can go through life not believing in some higher power. Whether you consider that power to be benevolent, malevolent, or indifferent is your own business. But I can understand why people must consider Christians to be crackpots.
Any truth, taken in excess, is heresy.
And that brings me to another question. What is the difference between ethics and morality?
Can you be ethical and immoral?
I hold that ethics are principles: learned personal rules, generally taught from childhood, sometimes simply policies learned or enforced by one's place of business. They can be bent, can be broken, and can be changed.
Morals are more of an inside story. They are developed as life lessons, and are the marrow from which one's self-worth is built. Morals exist because individuals grow as people based on experiences.
That is...I would not steal, because I consider it immoral. The idea of stealing never even crosses my mind. But my friend might not steal simply because he would lose his job because of it, if he got caught.
Opinions?