  Spiritual
This week: Religion & Politics Edited by: Jeff  
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"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary.
To one without faith, no explanation is possible."
-- Thomas Aquinas
Spirituality Trivia of the Week: The current Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso) is the 14th in history. He has been awarded, among other honors, the Nobel Peace Prize, The Templeton Prize, more than fifteen honorary doctorate degrees, and the keys to multiple cities. The Dalai Lama issued a statement in 2011 in which he indicated he has not yet made a decision about whether to continue the institution of the Dalai Lama. If it is determined that the world needs a 15th, someone will be chosen after his death as his reincarnated form and anointed the 15th Dalai Lama. It's not a quick process, though. Tenzin Gyatso was born two years after the passing of the 13th Dalai Lama, and was not formally recognized as the 14th until he was fifteen years old... leaving the world without a Dalai Lama for nearly seventeen years. The current 14th Dalai Lama is the longest reigning in history, having assumed office in 1950 at the age of 15.
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RELIGION & POLITICS
Religion and politics... now there's a combination that can really get our tempers flaring! 
Much debate is made over the separation of church and state, and whether it's a good or bad thing. There have been vehement debates over teaching evolution versus creationism, whether saying the Pledge of Allegiance in school in objectionable because the words "under God" are uttered during its recital, and a hundred other hot-button issues that really seem to fire up both sides of the debate as to whether religious philosophy and practices should be allowed in a public setting. And then you have the debates about whether one person's religious beliefs and practices infringe upon another person's rights, or whether we truly have freedom of religion in this country if certain religious groups are still persecuted for their beliefs.
Author, speaker, and blogger Rachel Held Adams wrote a fascinating article entitled How to Win a Culture War and Lose a Generation (CAVEAT: the article is specifically about LGBT rights and same sex marriage.), which addresses the often volatile issue of religious politics... not because the two have to be mutually exclusive or because they can never be under the same roof, but because religious institutions who take political stances are a big part of what Held observes as a serious decline in church attendance among members of the younger generation. It's one thing for a church to have a strong directive when it comes to sensitive issues like homosexuality or abortion, but it puts things in an entirely different context when those issues are being fought for and funded politically by religious institutions pushing their agenda. The biggest contributors to Proposition 8 in California a few years ago (the state constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage) were religious groups and churches. And as a result, it has furthered the perception a lot of younger people have that churches are out of touch - and worse - unaccepting of them and/or their friends if they happen to struggle with some of these same issues that the churches are so adamantly against.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that churches have to adopt a more liberal agenda or anything like that. Lord knows there are more than enough churches in more than enough denominations that everyone is likely to be able to find somewhere they feel comfortable and that adopts their particular set of beliefs. But what I thought was so interesting about that article was that younger people aren't just staying away from the more conservative and traditional churches; they're staying away from all churches, and see all churches as part of the same religious machine with a political agenda. And that's a fact that I find terribly tragic, given all the good that religious institutions can do for a person. Especially young adults who are at tumultuous points in their lives, church - for many - can and has proven to be a stabilizing presence in their lives. How many troubled teens might be helped if they knew they had a place they could go when they were having problems with their family, their friends, or their decisions? In the absence of a wholesome home life with their family, how many places to kids have to turn when they're struggling? Church isn't necessarily the answer for everyone, but I'd be willing to bet its an answer for more than a few who are currently staying away because they're afraid of judgment or persecution.
To me, the danger of mixing religion and politics is not that the two are somehow diametrically opposed or incapable of inhabiting the same space. It is instead when religion is used as the basis for political action that takes a particular moral stance on an issue and seeks to bend others to its definition of what is acceptable, what is right, or how things should be. If you are, for example, opposed to abortion (on religious or any other grounds), that's perfectly okay and your right under the First Amendment to believe that. But there are also people in this world who believe that abortion should be legal, or at the very least, legal within certain contexts of circumstance, prenatal development, etc. and those beliefs are also protect under the First Amendment. When religious groups take political action in support of a stance, the side effect is that many people who were perhaps undecided about the institution of religion could potentially see the institution of religion as a whole as making a statement about the issue.
Keep in mind, too, that this is also true of our writing. When we write about religion, there's a strong possibility that our writings can be perceived as representative of our religion as a whole. Our writings might be read by someone who is uncertain in their faith, or just embarking on their spiritual journey, and a particularly vitriolic or abrasive piece written from a place of religious authority might just convince someone to turn away from exploring their spirituality. Conversely, if our writings are encouraging and patient, we might just be that moment of clarity that convinces someone to put their faith in something.
Religion and politics are two issues that many people find very incendiary; it's understandable considering that these two topics are responsible for governing the legal and moral guidelines under which we live. My hope is not that the two remain strangers and we find reasons to squabble over the little things like the use of the word "God" in a public school address... but that we find a way for those of a particular religious orientation to express their faith (and their politics) without trying to legislate it upon others. And perhaps more than anything, my hope is that we can find a way to show those who are lost, who are weary, who are troubled and lonely and despairing... that there might just be a place for them. That religion is not a one-size-fits-all category and that maybe, just maybe, there's a path to spirituality out there that's right for them.
Until next time,
-- Jeff
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I encourage you to check out the following spiritual items:
I am
the memory
of all I was.
I will cry with the wolf for friends have I none. I walk the broken road with only a black shroud covering my nakedness. The land I travel is flat and covered with dead weeds for as far as the eye can see. The sky reveals its most brilliant blue creating the most beautiful yellow reflection upon the land. The land was like this for quite some time before it finally turned into jagged rocks.
No one truly knew how old Ester was. She never told her age and no one dared ask, but we figured she was at least eighty-something. Unusually tall and wiry for an old lady, Ester always boasted of her good health and ability to win at arm-wrestling anyone who thought her too frail. Her rowdy, white hair thrust itself in all directions giving her an "orphan Annie" caught in a windstorm kind of look. Strands of hair would get trapped in the frown channels between her eyebrows framing the piercing brown eyes that missed nothing, examined everyone and calculated their worth. Ester dipped snuff and it wasn't pretty. Dark brown stains surrounded her cuticles and the dark yellow fingertips were nearly as repulsive as the tobacco juice that slithered out and down the deep creases on either side of her mouth.
Looking towards the vast horizon,
I feel the broad expanse of land and time.
The azure sky, the benevolent sun bear witness.
I wander the garden a lot. It was my favorite spot here when I was alive. I use to walk among the roses and lilies smelling the smells and listening to the animals moving nearby. I'm not dead by choice. They use to tell me I was too young to even think about death, and now I am a twenty three year old ghost, wandering the ruins of what use to be my home.
Moses 1:10
... Now, for this cause I know
that man is nothing,
which thing I never had supposed.
She walked through the forest; just like she did every time her boyfriend hit her. Her grey t-shirt was torn with newly made blood stains on it. She wasn't wearing a bra or even pants. She came out here to escape him; to breathe.
We watched her from behind the bushes, hiding among the trees. We would sneak glances at her wondering eyes, wondering if she would ever leave him, wondering if she would ever let herself be free.
I see You.
I want You to Know, I Understand.
You are not Forgotten,
Displaced or even Misplaced...
You matter in this Universe.
You have Value, You are Beloved.
"Let freedom ring," in this land we do say.
Every jot, tittle, and line meant to show the way.
This is our declaration, this is our announcement, we shall be free!
Young man, pacing back and forth
In that hospital's waiting room,
Sweating bullets like no tomorrow.
Young nurse comes though the door.
He grabs her arms and asks a question-
"Are they alright? I need to know."
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Feedback from my last newsletter on The Black Swan Problem:
shaara says, "What a great job on the newsletter. I enjoyed the read thoroughly. You offered enlightenment, philosophical debate, and intriguing ideas. Stupendous."
 Thank you for the kind words, Shaara!
BIG BAD WOLF is Merry  says, "Some things are crazy."
That's why I steer clear of asylums. 
platinumbwords says, "I find the argument concerning deductive and inductive reasoning fascinating, but I think all too often we divide things into "absolutely true" and "possibly." Is anything ever "absolutely true"? Let's take your example of deductive: "from the statements "James must eat every day" and "James only eats pancakes," it can be deductively and absolutely concluded that "James eats pancakes every day.") James only eats pancakes so far, but for all we know, in the future, that will change. One can never know how things will change in the future. (Or know how things were in the far, distant past.) i.e. Earth has gravity now, and has had it for a long time. But did it when Earth first formed? And will it millions of years in the future? (That's the result of too many college philosophy courses.) In short, nice piece. This is a convo I could talk about for hours :)"
Thanks for the food for thought... I agree, these are topics that can be debated for hours and hours. The original example of deductive reasoning I was going to use is the famous "All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal." But then I got to thinking, "How do we know all men are mortal and we just haven't witnessed an immortal man (or woman)?" It seems whether we're talking about people or pancakes, there are quite a few scenarios for which you can argue a slight, albeit minuscule probability of something extraordinary. 
Steve adding writing to ntbk.  says, "Welcome to the Newsletter and thanks for sharing your opinions. Found 3 good ones for reviewing and let them know you featured them here. The highlighted item is from last year around the 4th of July and wanted to share it with you here. Have a blessed day and write on! Copenator out! BA, MDiv Leader of Copenator's Crew and SGDG"
Thanks for writing in, and I'm glad you enjoyed the featured items! I've put yours in this edition as a humble thank you.
~SilverMoonNoel~  says, "I loved this Black Swan problem newsletter. You shared what it means and explained your view well. There is nothing in particular I'd like to highlight. Thanks."
I appreciate you taking the time to send in a comment!
ofbliss77 says, "I completely agree with what you've said in your newsletter :) You may like what I've said in my prose piece I've written; I've included it - heaven only knows if I've submitted it correctly ;) I'll leave a the link here too hehe "Invalid Item" "
I'll definitely check out your item and will even feature it in the next newsletter. The one you're reading right now!
Lunarmirror says, "There's actually a book called "The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb"
It's an excellent book; I read it a couple months ago, actually. For those of you who haven't read or heard of it, the book examines what Taleb calls "black swan events," or those fringe situations that are the truly extraordinary outliers. In fact, he's made quite a comfortable living analyzing these occurrences for other companies and individuals!
ember_rain says, I always loved the philosophical idea of I think therefor I am. One could take that and twist it a bit into, what we think we create. Which is true as well. No novel, painting, computer design, or the next great invention ever came into being without someone thinking about it first. Voltaire once said, "If God did not exist man would create him." If you put the two together, you get the idea that God is what we each believe him to be or not to be. We think there is a heaven and hell so there is. We think there isn't then for us their isn't. God in whatever form, is both to large and too small to put into a box and say it has to be this one way. No, the God we each individually believe in or don't believe in is the one that exists in our world, simply because what we think, we create.
That's a really great philosophical premise. There's actually a new horror movie coming out this month called THE APPARITION which is a darker take on the same question, where an evil spirit can't get to someone until they believe it's real. And with so many stories of people who have accomplished remarkable feats through sheer willpower and belief that they can do it, it really makes you wonder how much of the world around us and even the world beyond this one is shaped by what we believe it to be.
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Spiritual: August 01, 2012 Issue [#5188]
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