posted April 07, 2014 11:30 PM            

Karma is not an exclusively Hindu idea. It combines the universal human desire that moral accounts should be balanced with a belief that, somehow or other, they will be balanced. In 1932, the great developmental psychologist Jean Piaget found that by the age of 6, children begin to believe that bad things that happen to them are punishments for bad things they have done.

My take is simple: Karma is ******** – the greatest lie ever told. In truth, the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards death and destruction. The universe is either utterly indifferent to your suffering or it actively seeks to destroy you and repurpose your molecules for other uses. In no way, shape or form is it your friend. In no way, shape or form is it balanced or just. If there is evil in the world then it is nature. If there is a God then he is a demon. If there is fate then ours is doom.

This story only has one ending and it ends with the extinction of all life. Good will not ultimately be rewarded. Evil will not ultimately be punished. The story will simply end. It is not just. It is not fair. It is not OK.

The only remedy open to us is to fight daily for our survival and our values. To live in open defiance of the physical laws that will eventually extinguish us. To suck every ounce of happiness from the world before it is done. To eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow the universe will grow cold and all life will die.

And, to along the way, ease the suffering of those we can. Suffering is not a lesson or a just dessert. It is an evolved mechanism that serves not our purposes but the purposes of natural selection. Poverty is not the punishment for ills but where the evil of nature has not yet been beaten into temporary submission. It is an uncaring universe crushing our brethren underfoot.

This will not end well, because nothing ends well. In the end, the universe, like the house, always wins. Yet, we do not have to tolerate agony and pain all the way up until our inevitable demise.

We live. We love. We laugh in defiance of that inevitability. If we have our heads on straight we’ll do it right up until the cold, bitter, utterly unjust and utterly unavoidable end. We are mortals – those who die. That fact should infuse our every value and animate our every action.

When my loved ones take ill they sometimes ask me –with hope in their eyes – “Am I going to die?” Yes, I answer, I cannot change that. But not today.

Not today.

By Karl Smith

posted April 09, 2014 12:02 AM            

Here is a question for you Randall-
Child Abuse is Karmas Prerogative!
You have only one choice to make.
AGREE? or DISAGREE?

Note:You will earn all the fringe benefits of adding some good karma into your own business of life, if you make this choice in this very month.

The month of April is Child Abuse Prevention Month----Awareness Month.

Surviving Abuse
This is the game. Learn it, know it, understand it. -Jarryd

"In order to escape accountability for his crimes, the perpetrator does everything in his power to promote forgetting. Secrecy and silence are the perpetrator's first line of defense. If secrecy fails, the perpetrator attacks the credibility of his victim. If he cannot silence her absolutely, he tries to make sure that no one listens. To this end, he marshals an impressive array of arguments, from the most blatant denial to the most sophisticated and elegant rationalization. After every atrocity one can expect to hear the same predictable apologies: it never happened; the victim lies; the victim exaggerates; the victim brought it upon herself; and in any case it is time to forget the past and move on. The more powerful the perpetrator, the greater his prerogative to name and define reality, and the more completely his arguments prevail."

posted April 09, 2014 10:20 PM            

The Greatest Gift of God to Man is FREE WILL.

AGREE? or DISAGREE?

posted April 11, 2014 06:33 AM            

The prize Awaits all of us.
Please be patient untill the very end...
This is going to be a looong journey.
Not a never ending one...just long enough to say goodbye.

posted April 11, 2014 11:15 PM            

1.The road to perdition is paved with good intentions.
2.The Road To Success Is Paved With Failure.
3.The Road to Life is rocky and you may stumble
4.The Road To Happiness Is Full Of Potholes
5.The Road to paradise begins in hell
6.The Road to death is awe
7.The Road to a life of peace is virtue
8.The Road to wealth is paved with goals
9.The road to the pinnacle peak is lonely
10.The road to the truth is elusive

posted April 12, 2014 09:32 AM            

If I were in the room with a man abusing a child, and I could do something to stop him, I would be morally obligated to do what I could, right? So, according to my upbringing, God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He has the ability to protect every abused child in this world. Why is he morally exempt from acting? Either he wants to act, but is incapable, or he can act, and chooses not to. But I can’t think of a morally good reason for him to choose to allow the abuse to continue if he is able to stop it and protect a child who cannot protect him/herself. I’ve always admired your continued faith and rationality. You don’t often see faith and rationality together these days. So, I would like to know if you can provide some insight into my dilemma. Is it possible to believe in an all-powerful, loving God in the face of such a question? I will say I don’t think it’s a matter of God respecting free will. That would work as far as adults go, but how does respect for someone’s free will trump a child’s safety? No human on earth would be granted that moral leeway, so why should God? Okay, I could probably monologue about this question forever, but I would rather hear what you think because, at this point, I’m stuck. Thanks.

It is a matter of God respecting human free will. Our free will is what makes us who we are: it’s the defining human characteristic. God gave us free will because he loves us so much that he granted each and every one of us the power to reject him. That means we must love God out of choice—which is the only kind of love that’s of any real value at all. A love that is forced is no love at all.

We have free will; God gave it to us; out of his love for us he will not violate it. Ever.

We can do whatever we want. We can do whatever healthy, wonderful thing we want—and we can do whatever vile, evil thing we want. We can steal. We can rob. We can rape.

We can beat children.

Anything we want.

Violating the free will of a weaker being is one of the options all of us have in life. It’s a horrible thing to do: it’s the very definition of evil. But if you’re a fan of rational thought, then you’ve got to understand that the fact that people are free to violate the free will of less powerful people isn’t a sign that God is weak or morally corrupt. It’s a sign of just how sacrosanct God considers human free will.

The beaten child’s free will is being robbed. And that’s a heinous offense. But it’s not one being committed by God.

God witnesses such affairs, and cries.

posted April 12, 2014 09:38 AM            

The Gods of karma will not hesitate to wield their double edged sword for their own selfish needs.
None of us can escape the gods of karma untill and unless we play it right.The sooner the better.