Opus 2012-313, New? Term: Projection

One of the first things I did after the election was to remove the Romney/Ryan sign out of my yard.  The second thing I did was pull the stickers off my cars.  This was not because I am ashamed.   I have not given up but I know the attitude of the left.  If I don’t remove them they will be torn down.  It was done twice before the election.  Left on the car, stickers are an invitation to vandalism.   That is how they are.  Although they always accuse the right of being violent and aggressive that is just projection. 

Projection is not really a new term but it is one that is forgotten and overlooked.  It is a term from the world of psychology.  It is the situation where you take your own feelings, and claim that other people have them.  You are projecting yourself and laying in on others.  Thus when I hear the Progressives (Liberal, Democrat, elitist, socialist) showing concern about voter fraud, they have been busy perpetuating it with all their might.

When they talk about racism, it is because they see everything in terms of race.  When they bring up the gender wars, it is because they are doing everything they can to perpetuate them.  The list goes on. 

I hear repeatedly about how full of hate conservative talk radio is.  Really?  Most of the bile, lies and distortion I hear come from the left, not the right. 

So when a Progressive (Liberal, Democrat, elitist, socialist) speaks, listen, turn it 180 degrees and you see who is truly guilty of whatever they are proclaiming.

Projection, coming to a conversation near you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-312, 12/7/41=9/11/01

How soon they forget.  Remember the motto of the Holocaust survivors?  “Never Forget.”  Remember how 9/11 was singed into our awareness?  No?  Then you probably are not remembering 12/7/41 either.

What is 12/7/41?  It used to be called Pearl Harbor Day.  This year it is simply called Friday.  Since our modern culture assumes that only white people (preferably male, Christian and conservative) can do or be evil, we have forgotten how the Japanese attacked the American forces in Hawaii with no notice.  In fact, the Japanese diplomats were meeting in Washington about working out misunderstandings. 

It was a really stupid thing to do.  If the Japanese had not attacked, Roosevelt would have had a hard time getting Americans to go to war.  Hitler would have not felt a need to declare war on us.  The entire agenda of the fascists, east and west, might have been realized.  For the sailors, soldiers and airmen of Hawaii it was a tragedy.  For the world it was a blessing in disguise.

The attack united our resistance to tyranny.  The commitment lasted until victory was assured.  How is that different from the response to 9/11? 

The initial response was the same:  Outrage and unity.  The Presidents responded the same.  The difference comes in the cast of supporting characters.

The Media is different.  The people involved in journalism in 1941 were Americans.  They loved this country and its institutions.  They believed in the American dream and American exceptionalism even if the word was not used.  We were unique and virtuous.  They kept secrets if it was necessary for the security of the country.  They supported the war against evil.  Not so today.  Take very sentence I just wrote and reverse the sentiment.  That is our media today.

The loyal opposition is different.  When Roosevelt called on Republican businessmen to help him get the country ready for the war that was coming they put aside their personal feelings and did what was best for the country.  The minority party worked to make the country stronger and move us toward victory.  Not so today.  The Democrats have been willing to sell the country down the drain to humiliate George Bush.  They will twist and distort anything for political gain.  They are currently willing to allow the economy to fall apart rather than have an honest discussion. 

Things are different.  We are still at war with terrorism.  They are out to get us.  They will keep trying.  My fear is that we will have another date to add to the headlines before we wake up and smell the gunpowder.

“Never forget.”  Or is it already too late?

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-311, John and Martin

I usually have a collection of books going at the same time.  One that I picked up at a used book sale was the personal journals of Pope John XXIII.  I am not a Roman Catholic.  I don’t see any way I would ever be a Catholic but that is not because I cast them out of the Christian family.  I don’t think I could ever be a Baptist either.  The family of God is much bigger than my personal opinions.

But it caught my eye.  One of the subjects I have taught on is the Protestant Reformation.  I firmly believe that if the popes of that day had not been so corrupt and secular then Luther would have found his answers inside the church and Lutherans would be a Catholic order like the Franciscans and Jesuits.  During my lifetime I feel the popes have been decent, godly men.  I know that is big of me.  It is just an observation, not an attempt to replace Arnold Toynbee.  They have been seeking to serve God through their understanding, rooted in the Roman Catholic tradition. 

So I am working through this book.  I don’t know if I will finish it.  I am skimming already.  One strange feeling I get is that Pope John XXIII and Martin Luther would have been soul mates.  The struggles that the pope is sharing sound like echoes of the inner turmoil that the reformer was dealing with.  One became pope; the other a rebel. 

Pope John XXIII, Journal of a Soul.  New York:  McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1965.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-310, Are Carpenters Required to Buy Their Own Nails?

My title is a real question.  I might expand it a little.  Are bus drivers required to fill the tank out of their own pocket?  Are you required to bring your own flatware and condiments when you eat out?  Okay, so you have to bring your own lunch when you fly, but you get the direction of the question.

So why do teachers need to buy their own paper.

I was given a case of paper at the beginning of the year.  I have already gone through it and I am barely a quarter of the way through the year.  “Where does it go?” you say.  If I give a quiz a week and fit it on half a piece of paper, with 200 students that is 100 sheets a week.  We have at least 38 weeks of school a week.  That is 3,800 sheets of paper.  A case of paper has ten reams of 500 sheets each.  My math says that is 5,000 sheets.  That leaves me with 1,200 sheets of paper for the rest of the year.  My syllabus, if I use a font large enough to read, takes two pieces of paper.  I have many other documents to send home.  I get past my one case and I have not even done anything for class yet. 

And I am told I get one case a year.

I have a choice to make.  I can pay for paper out of my pocket or I can find ways to use less paper.  I resist paying for it myself on general principle.  I see how our school has money to put up bulletin boards to list students with perfect attendance.  I receive large posters printed in complex colors about the Harvest of the Month.  We have money to buy anti-bullying curriculum.  The list could go on.  All I do by spending my money is subsidize the public welfare state.  I become an EBT card for my school.

The other choice keeps me from doing my job.  I can give fewer quizzes.  I can stop sending communication home to the parents.  I can make students copy off the screen as long as the bulb lasts in my projector.  I can do more oral work.  I can shortcut the education of my students.

How will I make it work?  I don’t know yet.  If push comes to shove, I will probably spend some money.  I know one solution that will not help:  More money for schools.  We don’t need more money.  We just need to spend what we have as if the supply is limited.  We need to make hard choices. 

We didn’t succeed in voting the suckers out. 

Maybe we should make bus drivers fill their own tanks.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-309, Cornerstone Considerations: D of I, Truths: Inalienable or Unalienable?

We hear a lot of talk about our rights.  The core rights are not to be taken away.  The Declaration of Independence says people in general and Americans in particular are

“endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,...”

If you are detail oriented you will notice a possible spelling problem.  Whether you start the word with “in” or “un” it means the same.  One is a Latin prefix, the other English.  Both words make it clear that certain rights are permanent.

The key concept is that the government does not have the right to take away what were considered the basic rights of human beings.  The list is not long but it is important. 

We believe, our Founders believed, in limited government.  The current leaders in our political wars need to be reminded of that.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-308, Decalogue or Debacle?

This morning I was drinking coffee out of a cup that listed the Ten Commandments.  As I looked at the last six I noticed that these are all broken in the average TV program of our day.  There is no sense looking at the first four because those are rejected out of hand.

5.  Honor your father and mother.  The very heart of modern comedy is that children are wise and adults are stupid. 

6.  Don’t murder.  Some comedies may avoid this but action shows justify all kinds of reasons for killing people.

7.  Don’t commit adultery.  Really?  How old school.  The modern standard is, “Do you love me?”  Even if it is only love that lasts long enough to order another round, it is justification for violating sacred vows.

8.  Don’t steal.  Why not?  If I can pirate software and CD’s why not take whatever I want?

9.  Don’t lie.  How can you have a TV program without non-stop lies?  If you did not have lies you might need to develop a plot or characters.  That would cut down on your audience.

10. Don’t covet.  Most people would need to look that up in a dictionary, if they have one. 

Maybe I am missing something.  How can you expect a younger generation to grow up to be honorable and worthy when all of their examples are 0 for 10?  How can you expect them to be law abiding when our culture is removing the Eternal Ten and replacing them with the Big Ten or the Top Ten?

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-307, Religion and Culture: Sacred Cows

Your religious beliefs effect your material situation.  Religious values shape a culture.  Ideas mold your world.  These should be obvious and non-controversial points but we continue to live in a culture that is rejecting the obvious and avoiding the truth. 

If you looked at an economic map of the world and compared it to a map showing religions you would see that prosperity and Christianity have a close correlation.  The only exceptions would be the current status of an oil rich country like Saudi Arabia.  Within Christendom the historically Protestant areas are more wealthy than those with Catholic traditions.  Obviously material wealth is not the final measure of what is good about life, but it says something.  As a wag once said, I would rather be rich and miserable than poor and miserable. 

My point here is not the value of life styles but the effect of religions on culture.  Let’s look at a few examples.

Several cultures hold the cow in special relationship with their religion.  Thus we get the term “sacred cow.”  The example that is most obvious is Hinduism in India.  Cows are given a special status in India because of its Hindu foundations.  An interesting quote I found on Wikipedia comes from, of all people, Mahatma Gandhi himself.

"I worship it and I shall defend its worship against the whole world," and that, "The central fact of Hinduism is cow protection."

The reference is cited, you can check it out if you want.

One of the reasons for the historical poverty and hunger in India is the numerous sacred cows.  If you had a garden that you planted to feed your family and a cow wandered in for lunch, you could not do anything about it.  You could be punished for bothering a sacred cow.  It is still illegal in some parts of India to slaughter and eat cows.  Beliefs make a difference.

homo unius libri