To Be Thankful

One of my problems is that I complain. I do this not always out loud, but rather spend a lot of time complaining to myself. I complain about working 2 jobs, about not having extra spending money, about how tired I am, about being sick, about driving a hunk 'o junk car, and so forth. I hate each and every one of these things, and often feel sorry for myself and believe (somehow) that I deserve something better.

Well today I will make an effort to reverse my complaining habit. Today I make a list of things I am thankful for, dammit.

1. I am thankful that I have a free car to drive to work. Many people do not have this luxury.
2. I am thankful that I do have two teaching jobs when so many people around our country cannot find one job.
3. I am thankful for two good kids and a great wife.
4. I am thankful for a house over my head. Who cares if there are things that still need fixing? These will happen some time.
5. I am thankful for 3 great student readers this year. Without these guys I would be in a world of hurt.
6. I am thankful for the little stuff: my computer, television, microwave, fridge, bed, pillows, HTPC.
7. I am thankful for entertaining diversions: L4D Wednesday nights, movie nights with Jessie, date nights (don't happen often, but when they do they are nice), streaming NetFlix.
8. I am thankful for a God who cares about me, even though I don't always acknowledge that.
9. I am thankful for wonderful friends who care about me as a person.

Is it easy to be thankful for things all of the time? Heck no. It's much easier to whine. But, as a great man once said, sometimes doing the easy thing and doing the right thing are very different from each other.

Hit and run

Am currently on hold with my insurance company. Apparently our neighbor decided to hit our car (where it was parked in front of our house) and then make a break for it. It appears that another neighbor saw it happen, reported it to the police, and the police came to us about 15 minutes later. I asked if they knew who hit our car (minor damage, small dent, loooooong scratch) and he pointed next door from where I live. Ha. Apparently it doesn't pay to do a hit and run when you live right next door to the scene of the crime.

I can direct no ill will towards my neighbor, and I kind feel bad for her since she's the one who is probably feeling really guilty right now. I wonder if she will look me in the eye after this? I don't know if I could.

The good news is nobody got hurt. Both of us have insurance (at least she says she does) and now we sit down and wait. Hooray. I love it when the police knock on my door to tell me my car's been a victim of a hit-and-run.

Dreaming

I think there is something wrong with me.

Now I know there are probably a number of you out there who are thinking this very instant "Yeah, tell me about it!"

Anyways, one of my favorite hobbies is to daydream about computer parts and gizmos I could have if I had the cash to spend it. I dink around of hours sometimes looking at computer parts on newegg and whatnot. What a waste of time. (Sigh) But it's fun. It's like virtual window shopping.

Anyways, when the rare occasion comes that I have a little money to spend (like when I got my media center PC a month ago) I get all excited and think about it for days until it shows up in the mail. Thinking about the little things gets me jazzed. I know this sounds pathetic, but that's how I am. My wife thinks I am crazy, but what can I do? Perhaps I'm slightly OCD.

Anyways, I have to draw this post to a close...I've got some serious newegg dreaming to do right now.

Black and White Thinking

I recently watched an episode of "Family Guy" on Hulu. I am not a big fan of Family Guy, yet find sections of the show quite funny...or as funny as some episodes of "The Simpsons" were back in season 4.

In this episode Meg is converted to Christianity, and the dog (Brian) spends the entire episode trying to prove to her that there is no God. The evidence he uses against God include: suffering, pain, disease, and the like. Ultimately, Brian convinces Meg that she is wrong, and that part of the human experience is that there can never be belief in anything, that there is very little order, and that there are no answers to life's big questions.

Fine and good. Hey, I have known and been friends with atheists. These people are nice people. I have no problem with them; their belief structure is different from my own and I don't feel as though they should be marginalized for their view of the world. Thing is, Seth MacFarlane (the creator of "Family Guy") is one of those atheists we might describe as "angry about religion" in general...and he isn't afraid to use his cartoon show as the mouthpiece for his beliefs. Throughout this "Family Guy" episode in question, those who call themselves Christians actively burn books, throw bricks through windows, beat up Brian for his disbelief, etc. What appears to be happening is that MacFarlane wants to show the worst of Christianity and use this as proof that Christianity is fundamentally flawed.

What ultimately happens in this episode is this: MacFarlane creates a world in which life is terrible because of death and disease, and Christians are cruel, ignorant, and hateful of those who don't believe in God. Using these two bits of evidence, MacFarlane proves to his viewers that there is no God (how could there be when people die, get terrible diseases, and Christianity turns them into absolute dipshits?)

This line of reasoning bothers me. Really, really bothers me. I am not really upset that MacFarlane uses his cartoon as an occasional platform for sharing his personal agendas. Everyone (to some extent or another) does this, and some are more guilty than others. What does upset me is that individuals like MacFarlane utilize this black/white logic that leaves no room for thinking or belief, and hardly is tolerant of other world views. MacFarlane's view is: either you are with me or you are an idiot. This kind of either/or logic is self-defeating.

Let me put it another way: the kind of Christian depicted in "Family Guy" does exist, but does not represent the majority of Christians I personally know. The, shall we say "militaristic" Christian is hardly a believer in God at all...he/she zealously follows the word of God and believes that all others with a different world view are damned to hell. This kind of thinking is also either/or, and is extremely intolerant. To put it into words I have already shared: these militaristic Christians view the world in these terms: either your are with me or you are an idiot.

So we have both sides of the pendulum here. On the one hand is the angry atheist and the other hand is the militaristic Christian (or Muslim, or what have you). Both groups see the world in black and white. Both utilize an either/or mentality that marginalizes the other. Both think their world view is superior to the other. Both have an agenda, and use any media outlet they can to share that agenda.

So what happened to the middle ground? What happened to the moderates or those who put "no party affiliation" on their voter registrations? I don't like to think of myself as a fence rider, I like to think of myself as a person who tries to understand both sides of the issue. In my opinion, this is the only fair thing to do. Atheists have good reasons to believe what they do, as do militaristic Christians. Does this make either group right? I don't think so.

But that's not how popular media wants to represent faith (or lack therof). Popular media takes the either/or approach. On the one hand we have Seth MacFarlan and on the other the 700 club. This kind of anger, this kind of polarity gets people excited and entertains, but leaves very little room for fair thought and just rhetoric.

In a perfect world I sometimes believe that nobody would be marginalized for their belief and everyone would realize their world view might not be perfect. I would love it if all of humanity were able to humble themselves enough to realize they don't have all the answers, and that fighting like dogs over a scrap of meat never results in a clear winner.

So here is what I believe: I believe in Jesus and God, but I also believe there are things about this world (evolution and the like) that are not answered in the Bible. I believe in heaven and I believe in the saving grace of Christ, but I also believe the earth is more than 7,000 years old. In my world, elements of both belief structures can exist together because I accept that neither I (nor anyone else for that matter) has the answers to everything. In my world there is as much room for faith in the unseen as there is for trust in science. I don't believe in either/or logic. Time has demonstrated that this kind of thinking only hurts people.

Either/or athiests and either/or Christians are essentially the same in my book. Both act the same, both believe in something, both point the finger at the other and claim their line of thinking is superior. This is not reasoning. This is not logic. This is not fair, just, tolerant reasoning. This is simply stubborn narrow-mindedness. And in my view (again) stubborn narrow-minded people make terrible atheists and Christians.

Cat is gone

Day three and counting. Loki has gone missing. Don't want to think what might have become of him. Fighting sadness. Oh my poor kitty.

The worst shoe in the world

I was gifted (from my uncle) a pair of brand-new Asics shoes when I was down in California a few weeks ago. After one single day of use, the glued-on tread had mostly fallen off. I have never, EVER experienced the like with a pair of shoes. Even the shoes I purchased for myself in Thailand from the market stall worked better than these.

I sent an email to their consumer relations department. I got an email back from Asics a few days later. They said "sorry" and "you pay to ship the shoes back so we can look at them." I politely declined to cough up the dough to ship their crappy shoes back to them for inspection. Had they been willing to pay the shipping costs, I would have gladly done so.

The long and short of it is this: don't ever buy Asics shoes if you expect to get much more than a single day's use out of them.

Socialism

Socialism is something many in the right wing are afraid of. I was at Virginia City (a tourist town) a few days ago and saw multiple fliers that showed a picture of Obama superimposed over the old Russian hammer and sickle. The caption below the image said "Say NO to socialized medicine".

This made me laugh for several reasons:

1. Socialized medicine does not equal communism.
2. If those who created the flier believe socialized medicine is a bad thing, then perhaps they should also distrust other socialized programs our government supports, including (but not limited to) A: Socialized education (public education), B: Socialized highways (the highway department), C: Socialized medicare (government taking care of the elderly), D: shall I continue?

Are people silly when they equate socialized health care with Communism? You bet they are. Notice I did not call these same people "stupid". I am taking a higher road today (but probably not tomorrow).