Saturday, May 30, 2009

Reflections On God And Control

I had a thought about the origin of God cross my mind the other day. I texted this thought to a number of people and received a number of interesting reflections.

My thought was that God is just a manifestation of humans' need for control. By control I mean the ability to influence events to achieve a preferred outcome as well as the ability to know the unknown.

Lack of control is a scary thing. There are a number of things that are out of our control including our mortality and the behavior of other people. This lack of control also involves the unknown. When something is unknown to you, in essence you don't have control of it.

The human experience has a vast number of things we cannot control or do not know. As we have evolved, we have learned a good bit and some of the unknown has become known like the microbiology and astronomy and so on. But we still can't control our mortality. As hard as we try to control other people, and in some cases, are able to get people to behave in a preferred manner, in the end it is their brain that dictates what they do.

So we create this deity called God.

This God is represents this control. Through the existence of God, we can feel like we have some sort of control over our mortality. We can do good while alive and enter a place called heaven. Death becomes much less scary inevitable.

Many times I will hear people talk about their lack of control. They will say that they can't control other people or the outcome of certain things. So they will give it to the universe. Or they will try to let it go and avoid wasting time worrying about it. Finally, many say they will turn it over to God. Because, as I said, God can control it and will take care of it.

We can also use God and the idea of heaven and its counterpart, hell, to influence others' actions. Those people out there that may do harmful things to us or the ones we love can be swayed otherwise by the deterrent that if they do, they will suffer eternal damnation. It helps our grieving and pain to feel like someone who does us wrong will pay the consequences for it.

The concept of God goes much, much deeper than this. The various religions have created these intricate frameworks from which to experience God and these frameworks explain away countless other detailed "unknowns" that exist beyond death and ethics.

My text message never got this in depth. But four people who responded did. There were a number of interesting points they made.

The first point from my mom was that God represented a parent-like figure for her. Obviously, not everybody has had the same experience with their parental figures. So what this means for one may mean something different for another. Traditionally speaking though, parents are though of as warm, loving caregivers who offer guidance.

This is a warm, fuzzy way to look at God. But at the same time, it doesn't disprove my points. Of course, I don't think my mom was trying to disprove it in the first place.

God as a parent actually fits my point exactly. As a young child, your parent(s) perfectly represent this idea of offering control and answers to the unknown. You enter the world knowing little more than how to poop, pee, breathe and swallow. You have zero control. You quickly learn you can cry to get fed or cleaned. But this whole time, its the parents that are getting the food to you. So you look to them to provide this control.

As you grow and become more and more independent, you rely on your parents less and less. But throughout your childhood, it is your parents that have this control you are unable to have and provide that safety and security that God does for us as humans in general.

Another point my friend and I got into was the irony that this creation of God makes us more powerful than God who is supposed to be more powerful than us. The point of its creation was to have the power to control something we are powerless to control. From a Christian standpoint, the idea that we are equal to or more powerful than God is blasphemous. It is also contradicting in a way.

This led to some thoughts on faith and how faith is critical to the numerous religions that exist. Without faith, there is little reason to follow a particular religion or any way of thinking for that matter. It is crucial to blindly believe or have faith that there is a all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving God out there that is above all of this and able to exist and "control" everything in a manner that is in our best interests.

The thoughts on faith were echoed by another friend who referenced a book he was reading that was related to this subject. Our texts reminded me of observations I have made that many times when I notice people who are blindly following the Bible and proclaiming their faith in it, they are usually of a lower education. At the same time, when I notice people who are atheist or agnostic (assuming I use that term correctly), they are of a higher education.

Obviously, these observations are generalizations. I am NOT trying to say educated people are atheist or atheists are automatically highly educated. Nor am I trying to say that if you have faith, you are not highly educated. I can provide numerous examples of extremely intelligent people who have faith in God. But this observation still exists.

The Bible has been used for centuries to prey on the unknowns of people. It has been a tool of control as it supposedly has offered answers to these unknowns and control for the uncontrollable. It has been used to control human behavior as well. But faith is a requirement. Without it, the church doesn't have a leg to stand on.

Before I begin to follow a tangent taking me away from the point of this post, I'll end it with this:

I enjoy this kind of analyzing. This is not some kind of attack on religion or God. I am continuing to seek out my place in all of this. Reflections like this make me think. While I plan to continue thinking like this, I really do want to find some framework to stick to. But I want it to genuinely from my heart and not just my brain. Christianity is not the answer for me, but it is NOT because I think it is wrong, evil or negative. Any negative overtones I present are usually directed to the people who transmit it or practice it in a way I disagree with not the theology itself.

Friday, May 8, 2009

No Excuses

I often hear members of the Cleveland Cavaliers say they are a "no excuse team." This means that they will not come up with some reason why they lose a game or make mistakes other than the fact that they were outplayed or did not get the job done.

It is refreshing to see and hear this. Instead of passing the buck or blaming someone or something else, these players and coaches answer to a self-accountable agenda and own their mistakes in an era and culture that does the opposite.

This is where my sports reference stops.

Whether it is in my classroom or in the general public, I consistently hear people avoid any kind of ownership in their own actions. Mistakes are inevitably followed by what somebody else did or some other factor that led to their mistake.

I have heard it a million times. "I didn't make the team because the coach is a jerk." "It's all politics. I'm as good as anybody on that team." "The refs had it out for us. You can't beat your opponent AND the refs."

"He was talking too. Why are you mad at me?" "He hit me first." "She was talking about my mama!" "You always pick on me." All of this as they watch me watching them doing something wrong.

I have heard people who can't keep jobs (or drag their feet looking for a jobs) explain every time that it was their boss' fault or a problem with the business itself or the people they worked with at the place of employment. Never do they admit that they didn't perform the way that was required.

I am a culprit as well. This is not an attempt to point my finger at anybody in particular or to ignore my share in this tendency. At some point, we need to toughen up and admit our mistakes and focus on fixing them or moving on from them.

Personally, I have consciously made an effort to avoid this type of behavior. But these attempts are just looked at as pessimism or negative thinking. Sometimes, people make comments that I am too hard on myself.

It is a difficult line to walk. Balancing between self-accountability and pessimism is not easy.

This past week I made two bad throws during double play attempts. It wasn't the runner coming at me, it wasn't the sun, it wasn't a bad throw from my teammate, it was purely, 100% my inability to make that throw well enough.

When I get upset with myself and later make a comment that I can't make that throw, I come off as pessimistic.

I understand my personal issue here. I generally make numerous negative comments about things before they happen. I also go overboard in my negative talk and overtones. So I am seen as a pessimistic person. The Huey Karma is a perfect example.

I'll own this.

In my case, I need to better balance the accountability and pessimism by forcing myself to be more positive in general.

But people in general need to quit coming up with excuses. Call it what it is. If you are lazy, you are lazy. If you don't like it....change it. If you don't want to change it, then realize you are what you are and quit coming up with excuses about why you are that way. The reason is that you have chosen to be that way.

I am pessimistic. I am trying to be more positive. No excuses. That is what I am. Hopefully, I won't be in the future.

Man up and deal with your shortcomings in honest way. Nobody expects you to be perfect and if they do, that is their problem not yours.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Failed School Levies Will Have A Negative Impact On My Family AND YOU!

Fortunately, it looks like a number of school levies in central Ohio did pass yesterday in the May elections. But the two levies my family was affected by failed.

Individually, I am not affected by either of the levies because I do not teach in either district. But my wife does and my daughter will most likely attend a school in the other district next year.

With two teachers in my household, we obviously have a biased view on this topic but I still believe I would be pro-schools had I chosen a different profession. I was raised by two parents who always supported public schools despite the fact that my siblings and I attended Catholic Schools for much of our early years. I also understand the importance of strong schools in a capitalistic society.

There are a number of specific reasons I pledge my support to public schools beyond the well being of my job. As a citizen of this area, I am counting on the youth to grow and learn and become productive citizens contributing to my well being. We all need each other to perform our jobs well whether it is digging a ditch, working on our roads, running our government, developing new technologies, taking care of our children, running our businesses and so on.

I also prefer that the youth is not out causing problems or committing crimes. In fact, even grown adults will commit less crime if they are more educated. Less crime means a better overall well being for me and my family. It means a safer place to live and usually, a cleaner place to live.

Generally speaking, I think we should support sports and unified arts in school. These outlets and opportunities provide children with talent in these area a chance to foster these talents and grow and become contributing citizens. Without them, they most likely struggle in the traditional classes and become frustrated, disenchanted and more likely to become a burden on their fellow citizens instead of a contributor.

In my specific case, I have a daughter who is cognitively impaired and needs as much intervention as she can get. Her mother, stepmother and I intervene as much as we can but we need the schools to contribute. Her significant advancements this school year are a direct result to the number of specialists and assistants that work in her room with her teacher. Her small class size allows her teacher to give her more individualized attention. All these things have helped her tremendously and they cost money. These services are high on the list of services to be cut when levies don't pass.

Imagine children who are in more need than my daughter. Not every child with cognitive impairments has three teachers in their life. Some don't even have two parents who care that much. If they fall through the cracks, it means more money from us later to jail them or keep them in a mental institution like they did before special education and MRDD were created to help.

That is not a kind of life I want my daughter to live or anyone for that matter. We have moved away from that for a reason.

I am willing to pay to intervene early through the schools.

Times are tough. People do not have the money to pay even more taxes. It seems like we have "bailed out" every industry that exists and it is frustrating that things only seem to get worse.

My point is that education should be a top priority on the list regardless of whether we have kids in the school system or not. We are all affected by it. The good of our country and society depends on it. We will not be able to brag about how great our country is if we can't compete with the China's and Europe's of the world. We need smart people to deal with diplomacy and figure out new ways to fix the economy and new energy and a way to release from our dependency on oil and fossil fuels.

Everybody loves to blame schools, but when it comes time to help, they refuse to help. It is not fair to complain and then do nothing about it. Either vote for levies so you have a right to complain, or shut up!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Living Funeral

Isn't it depressing that a funeral attracts so many people that love and care about the deceased but the deceased isn't there to enjoy their company?

Wouldn't it be nice to have all of those people together at one time while you are alive to enjoy their company?

As I thought about this, I wondered why we don't have more formal or traditional celebrations to invite every one of our loved ones and friends?

There are events when this happens like weddings, graduations and birthdays. But even during these events, the attention is on the specific reason for the event. In my case, the only reason would be time with people you care about and who care about you.

I guess it would be rather narcissistic and egocentric. It is difficult to find time and many friends have busy enough schedules that they couldn't break away just for some celebration for the sake of celebration.

But what if we, as a culture, made it a point to make celebrations like this acceptable. If everybody understood that these were to bring people together before they died and enjoy the relationships and the love and care within these relationships regardless of how serious or close the relationship is, then maybe it wouldn't seem too vain. Despite the fact that the party centers around one person, the fact that it is to share in the energy we all give each other, it would be seen as something more than a selfish excuse for attention.

Even though someone may coordinate the celebration around their numerous circles of friends, many circles overlap. Friends would have other friends there. Therefore, being invited is beneficial to the invited as well as the inviting because they are sharing in this positive energy created by the celebration.

The format wouldn't need to mimic that of a funeral. It could be anything the inviting person wants it to be according to their preferences. I keep envisioning a wedding reception type of deal. Food, music, spirits, dancing, lots of pictures and some speeches or something. I also picture some sort of sports game playing on the screen in the background, maybe some arcade type games going on or other forms of entertainment.

Why wait for your death to pay respects? Why not enjoy the thoughts and concern or care of your friends and loved ones while you are alive?

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Huey's Mixed Tape Tour

Ever since middle school I have loved to make musical mixes. It started by taping songs off the radio and has progressed to CDs and now MP3s.

I loved making different themed mixes for different events or reasons.

I thought I would have some fun and make some lists of mixes I could or would make from my collection of music if I had the time.

Angry Mix
I am not fighter, nor do I want to be one. But I do get mad and sometimes music can be an outlet.

Lunchbox-Marilyn Manson
History's Strangler's-The Bronx
Let The Planet's Burn-Hanzel Und Gretyl
Right Now-Korn
Last-Nine Inch Nails
Bad Habit-The Offspring
Du Hast-Rammstein
Drivel-The Union Underground

Celebration Mix
My team just won. My daughter accomplished something or I just realized how happy she makes me. I am having a great day. My debt is paid off. Anything worth celebrating.

Glorious Day-Weezer
Happy Together-The Turtles
Have a Nice Day-Stereophonics
Song #2-Blur
Another One Bites The Dust-Queen
Feelin' Alright-Len
Don't Stop Believin'-Journey
I Can See Clearly Now-Jimmy Cliff
One More Time-Daft Punk
Groove is in the Heart-Dee-Lite

Dance Mix
For some reason, maybe the one above, I feel like dancing around in circles or
straight lines or whatever directions feels right.


In The Clouds-Under the Influence of Giants
Dance the Night Away-Van Halen
Shut Up and Let Me Go-The Ting Tings
Come On Come On-Smashmouth
Le Disko-Shiny Toy Guns
Shove It-Santogold
Car Wash-Rose Royce
Time Bomb-Rancid
The Whole World-Outkast
Final Chapter-Mike Macaluso
Sandstorm-Darude
We Like To Party-Venga Boys
Flagpole Sitta-Harvery Danger
DARE-Gorillaz
Jerk It Out-Caesars
Magic-The Cars

Love Mix
My wife.

All I Want is You-U2
One-U2
Next To You-Tim Easton
Still Remains-Stone Temple Pilots.
Cherish-Kool & The Gang
Dakota-Stereophonics
You Are So Beautiful-Joe Cocker
The Air I Breathe-The Hollies

Chillaxin' Mix
Just looking to relax and unwind.

Can I Kick It?-A Tribe Called Quest
Summertime-DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
Don't Let Go-Weezer
Red Hill Mining Town-U2
The Late Greats-Wilco
Doin' Time-Sublime
Tha Shiznit-Snoop Dogg
6 Underground-Sneaker Pimps
The Boxer-Simon and Garfunkel
You're a Wolf-Sea Wolf
L.E.S. Artistes-Santogold
Passin' Me By-Pharcyde
Summer Babe-Pavement
Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress-The Hollies
Clint Eastwood-Gorillaz
I Can't Get With That-Fun Lovin' Criminals

Cardio Mix
Pump me up for a game or exercise.

Eye of the Tiger-Survivor
The Final Countdown-Europe
Wicked Garden-Stone Temple Pilots
Ladies and Gentlemen-Saliva
Engel-Rammstein
Here It Goes-OK Go
The Noose-The Offspring
Breakin'-The Music
Knights of Cydonia-Muse
Move-Moby
Just One Fix-Ministry
True Nature-Jane's Addiction
Right Here Right Now-Fat Boy Slim
Lose Yourself-Eminem
Galvanize-The Chemical Brothers
Knifeman-The Bronx
Glory Days-Bruce Springstein
Centerfield-John Fogerty
Thunderstruck-AC/DC

Sing Out Loud Mix
The songs I have to fight to keep from belting out for the world to hear.

Sweet Caroline-Neil Diamond
Free Fallin'-Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
California Dreamin-Mamas and Papas
One-U2
My Way-Frank Sinatra
Solitary Man-Neil Diamond
I Can't Smile Without You-Barry Manilow
Paradise City-Guns 'n Roses
I Can't Help Myself-The Four Tops