I Would Rather Be Riding My Harley

I don't have an active internet connection for my computer. I don't remember much about using the word processing tools here at Blogger. There is only so much I can do with this iPhone, although it's obvious it's more than I originally thought.  But it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe ... I think Bob Dylan said that.

I am back on for a reason. There is a line of argument about something I want to pursue, when I finish figuring out how to express it. I'm grateful to some people though, for causing me to wake up again, at least for awhile. There's my wife.  And my mother.  God bless 'em.  Man, I sound like that character Howard Wolowitz, the aerospace engineer, on TV's the Big Bang Theory. Well, that's okay, I like the Big Bang Theory. There is also my father, my brother, my sister, my 4 daughters, my friends, D, W, B, my uncle, my aunts ... and a bunch of others. Cheez. What is this, a hoedown?

Still, I have something I feel I have to say - nay, want to say.  Soon.

But, quite frankly, I would rather be riding my Harley.

March of History

          
       March of history,
       flow of time,
       imbued with meaning
       oft sublime.

       Flow time will,
       as if down hill,
       to its own home,
       like a rolling stone.

       We push left,
       while we push right:
       we're Prometheus-bound
       against our might.

       Four steps forward,
       with three steps back,
       or is it three steps forward
       and four steps back?

       We work our art
       so ever smart;
       yet march our band
       on a bed of sand.

       If Zeus won't check
       or annul his hate,
       will Heracles come
       to change our fate?

       Can Pandora's hope
       avert the brunt,
       or shall we avow,
       'that pup won't hunt'?

       No intent here
       to denigrate
       the role of hope
       -'less it's too late.

       For time flows
       whether or not hope grows,
       and history may march
       under no hero's arch.



           

O Holy Night

     
The reverberating voice of the baritone floats on the night like a ribbon of silk  . . .

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

And then the voice pierces the night ......

Fall on your knees,  o, hear the angels' voices!
O night divine, o night when Christ was born,
O night divine, o night, o night divine.

Merry Christmas.
Happy Holidays.
Everyone.

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Credits -
     Music, 'Cantique de Noël' composed by Adolphe Adam, 1847
     Poem, 'Minuit, chrétiens' by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877)
     English Lyrics, John Sullivan Dwight, 1855
     source, Wikipedia


         

A Comparison

            
Location makes a difference:

                                     USA                             Zimbabwe

population               300 million              11 million
land size                     --                                  slightly larger than Montana
arable land               18.01%                       08.24%
birth rate                  14.2 /1000               31.6 /1000
death rate                 8.3 /1000                 17.3 /1000
infant mortality     6.3 /1000 births     33.9 /1000 births
median age               36.7 years                 17.6 years
% employed             93%                             20%
rate of inflation       1.1%                            231 million%
life expectancy        78.1 years                 44.3 years

In the USA the Republican administration is currently in the process of transferring power to a Democratic administration following the November elections.

In Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is under increasing pressure to step down amidst rampant inflation and continuing repercussions following the disputed runoff election last June in which supporters of the opposition were brutalized or killed.  President Mugabe, now 84 years old, has been in power since Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980.  Last Friday Mugabe said, "I will never, never, never surrender.  Zimbabwe is mine, I am a Zimbabwean.  Zimbabwe belongs to us, not the British."  The country is currently facing economic collapse and a cholera epidemic.



            

Human Nature: Religiosity

     
Religiosity means, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, the 'quality of being religious.'  Religion is defined, by the same dictionary, as 'a set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader,' while Random House defines religion more extensively as 'a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.'

With respect to human nature, I wish to use the word religiosity in the sense of our affinity, if any, for religious belief or religious feelings.  A place to begin this short review is the World Factbook (a CIA publication), which provides the following distribution of religious and non-religious adherents:

            33.32%            Christians
            21.01%            Muslims
            13.26%            Hindus
            05.84%           Buddhists
            00.35%           Sikhs
            00.23%           Jews
            00.12%           Baha'is
            11.78%            other religions
            11.77%            non-religious
            02.32%           aetheists

Wikipedia provides similar statistics, with minor variations, along with other information about classifying modern and ancient religions.  The EMuseum at Minnesota State University offers an online introduction to the study of world religions (not a class, but a series of links), while a site named ReligionFacts (just the facts, ma'am) offers a point and click technique linking you to numerous books and references for 37 different religious belief systems.

Religion is an explosive issue, so it is not my intention, at this time, to delve into the specifics of any belief systems.  Religion versus religion is an explosive issue.  Religion versus agnosticism is an explosive issue.  Religion versus aetheism is an explosive issue.  Religion versus science is an explosive issue.  Why is that?

But it does seem that our propensity, or our affinity, for religious belief is part of our human nature.  And a deep part, at that.  Why else would humans become so aggressive, so spiritually territorial, if you will, over differences in religious beliefs?  Feelings sufficiently powerful to motivate us to kill each other over these differences, as numerous periods and numerous episodes in human history seem to show.  Conversely, religion is frequently credited for its redeeming, uplifting, saving, rescuing, redirecting and reorienting effects, as personal stories too numerous to recount also seem to show.

This seeming contradiction is reflected in Random House's two-part definition of the idiom to  'get religion' as meaning:

            a.    to acquire a deep conviction of the validity of religious
                   beliefs and practices.

            b.   to resolve to mend one's errant ways.

I might be inclined to add a third element, or part, to the definition, along the lines of 'to experience a deep spiritual or emotional connection with a spiritual power, force or entity greater than oneself.'   But perhaps that thought is already contained within part a, if not part b, of the current definition.

One other thing also seems certain.  The CIA's World Factbook could not include an analogous list, like the one above, for any other species on the planet other than humans.  Why is that?


 * * *
See previous postings in this conversation:
      
            - Human Nature: Selfishness
            - Human Nature: Maelstrom or Multi-threaded