Now, relax. Though it sounds ominous, the above is not leading into a rant in the intro; I told y’all we wouldn’t do that any more, and, I’m trying to live up to that. No, such statements are a new technique, wherein I make a short reference to such matters, without falling into full ranting mode, thus saving me, and y’all, the effort of extricating ourselves from such a sticky engagement too early in the Pearl. It also provides some new ways to wander around here, just chatting about stuff that matters not at all, a pastime which, if you’ve been here before, you’ll know we enjoy frequently. We do love our blather, even if it makes extra laundry.

Okay, that’s probably enough. Any more & we’d start dropping readers like dead skin cells. Ooh, that’s an ugly image, isn’t it? I think, maybe, we’d best be on our way down the page, before I get actively gross. I can feel the elegance and grace dropping off our demeanor rapidly, so, it’s just as well we planned to use one of the Tardis toys today. Here, let’s see what this one does, shall we?…. I’ll just push this little green button, and….

Shall we Pearl?….

From 9/7/2012:

“Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other “sins” are invented nonsense. (Hurting yourself is NOT a sin–just stupid.)” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

It would be foolish to try to claim that there is NOT a part of me that wishes there was a God as described by most of the Christian sects, or the Islamic, or Jewish, or any other of the major and/or minor religions in the history of Man. Who wouldn’t want to have all the responsibility for thinking, or for acting within reason, taken out of their hands? It would be wonderful, but as it’s pretty unlikely, to all appearances, that part of me will have to remain unfulfilled….. I’d rather adopt and set the above moral standard as my own, as I happen to agree with it wholeheartedly. It forms the root, the base, the touchstone of all of my morality, the basic raison d’etre for my every decision of whether or not to act, and how to react, from an ethical standpoint of my own choice, without thinking about whether or not it is according to dogma.

I first came across this particular quote from Lazarus when I was about 15 or 16 years old, right when I was taking classes at my parent’s church to fulfill the requirements for admission as an official, saved member of the church (Presbyterian, if it matters….), and wondering how I was going to break it to all of them that I couldn’t do it…. It was a hard decision, but, since the teachers couldn’t answer my questions about Bible incidents that puzzled me (not part of what we studied, but from different chapters I had read…), I stopped attending any services, because I didn’t want to be a hypocrite…. I could even rationalize my decision, as having been made out of concern for the safety of my family and friends, since now the church would conceivably fall down on them if they were with me when I came in…..

“Anybody who wants religion is welcome to it, as far as I’m concerned — I support your right to enjoy it.  However, I would appreciate it if you exhibited more respect for the rights of those people who do not wish to share your dogma, rapture or necrodestination.” — Frank Zappa, “The Real Frank Zappa Book”

I also happen to agree with Frank on this one. What I do believe about religion, and the concept of God, or god, or Dog, is my own business, and begins with not pressing it on others, unless they ask; in such cases I will discuss the subject superficially, without expressing any preferences one way or another….. Unless, of course, they begin to proselytize. In THOSE cases, I will use every bit of shock value pop psychology I know of to lead them down some primrose path, messing with their heads until I get bored with them…. which usually doesn’t take long; they’re generally fairly uninteresting people. I tend to prefer people who have a bit of salt to their personality, just a touch of insanity somewhere in their blood…. Such ffolkes are much more fun to be around than folks who spend their time feeling bad about wanting to feel good….. and they annoy me far less often, as a rule…..

If God is omnipotent, why does he need my money? — Smart Bee

“The human condition is such that pain and effort are not just symptoms which can be removed without changing life itself; they are rather the modes in which life itself, together with the necessity to which it is bound, makes itself felt. For mortals, the ‘easy life of the gods’ would be a lifeless life.” — Hannah Arendt

I made it. I had my doubts (go figure….), but, all’s well that ends. (We use a slightly more realistic version of that particular phrase around here, as you see….) For the record, it’s Tuesday, and I’m awake. For the balance required, I’ll just say, Whoopee…. No, don’t ask. Just be glad I’m done. I will, as always, issue our standard disclaimer, also known as legally fair warning, I will return tomorrow to do this again. Please don’t ask why, or the auto-defense lasers will start firing. Just wave nicely, and know I’ll be back. It’s pre-ordained….