Lightwaveseeker

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Howard H. Brinton's Insights and Warnings: the Modern World/Quaker Movement 64 Years Later

"Unless man [humanity:-*] can develop his[her] interior dimensions in such a way as to form a dyke against the floods from the world without, he will become engulfed in the world of nature and sink back to the subhuman level whence he long ago emerged."
Howard H. Brinton, Friends for 300 Years, 1952

How true this warning has become. In his brilliant book in 1952,
Friends for 300 Years, Brinton demonstrated not only insight
but prophetic foresight as to the future dangers of lopsided and
even delusionary philosophy/religion/ethics.

Surely, I need not document in detail more than I already have
(in the past few months of commentaries and reflections on this
blog) how modern American society--despite a few advances
including upholding rights for all humans--has seeped tragically
into relativism and subjectivism in ethics,
how so many smart educated humans
now claim that ethics are only
"personal preferences."

As bad as the 1950's were in many ways, most Americans including
Friends thought that there was objective good and evil, ultimate
truth, and that the Light is real, not a subjective experience.
Not so for many now in the darkening end of 2015.

Whew...that's the bad news.

But Brinton in the book offers
the complex answer of the Good News
as well.

According to Brinton, there are 4 key essentials in true religion:
"The best type of religion is one in which the mystical, the evangelical, the rational, and the social are so related that each exercises a restraint on the others.

--Too exclusive an emphasis on mysticism results in a religion which is individualistic, subjective, and vague;

--too dominant an evangelicalism results in a religion which is authoritarian, creedal, and external;

--too great an emphasis on rationalism results in a cold intellectual religion which appeals only to the few;

--too engrossing a devotion to the social gospel results in a religion which, in improving the outer environment, ignores defects in the inner life which cause the outer disorder.

In Quakerism the optimum is not equality in rank of the four elements. The mystical is basic. The Light Within occasions the acceptance or rejection of a particular authority, reason, or service." (pages 203-205, Friends for 300 Years by Howard H. Brinton, Pendle Hill)
--

While agreeing with Brinton so much in this book, I do disagree with his last statement--that "The mystical is basic. The Light Within..."

I'm not disagreeing with him or any other thinker in the sense that ultimate reality doesn't precede the rational but that for so many Quakers and other humans now, "mystical" has become another "empty-bucket" word which means a million different things. And has become primarily to mean something individualistic and postmodern.

If everyone were to use the term "mystical" in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary sense, then I would agree:
"Full Definition of mystical
1
a : having a spiritual meaning or reality that is neither apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence...
b : involving or having the nature of an individual's direct subjective communion with God or ultimate reality..."

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

--
*How dated 60-year-old books seem now with their un-egalitarianism language. It isn't surprising when one sees it in most books, but to see the old usage in a Friends' seminal work does shock, since Friends have emphasized equality to one degree or another for over 365 years. On the other hand, the "man," and "he's" were linguistic convention, probably something that Brinton didn't even notice.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

The ‘Darlossness’ of Dawkins, Harris, and Coyne

One Last Caustic, Satiric Negation of the False Worldviews of this Ending Year--

The ‘Darlossness’ of Dawkins, Harris, and Coyne

It-less blasts energy to matter
less ness

Cosmic lockstep determinism

Or the lucky infinite accident upon accident

To accident—what a fluke!

Every non-act of ours caught like a termite in amber

To be repeateddddd a trillion times

If Time

Runs again and again and again...zarathustraing

Perpetually motioning life from non-life then careening astronomically

Speaking,

Through geologic time

Rock-wearing ever so slower

Than the heart-rending billion cries.

In its juggernaut,

This holo(gram)caustic negation--

Without purpose, no meaning--

This Selfish gene

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreplicating

Through
billions of generations;

Yes,
Descent
to
the
Lower
Realms of the ‘outer limits’

Through modification.

Reality’s indifferent tyrant--

Natural selection 'chooses' with its

Unconscious, unSmitherly

Hand

Of pitiless indifference

The 1% of species to survive;

Waste muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Survival through sorrow

Not the Tree of Life--

But that random bush

of EXCESS.

Life is one eternal screammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Of total unreason

No One hears;

Huge mirages of hope delude

Brief “i”s

Harris claims to be illusions;

Breathe and think for naught

Worthless flesh for every temporal now;

But a few bones fossilize

While the cosmos verses and careens

continuing to blast out a c r o s s darkness

ever expanding,

Enlarging this petty matter which doesn’t matter

Until squished in the

Quantum’s flux--

Deeply
Vacuum
Cleaned.

Daniel Wilcox
First pub. in The Clockwise Cat

Lessen the darkness with more Light
in the New Year,

Daniel Wilcox

Part #2: Codes of Ethics for 2016

Continuing the 10 Commandments:

6. Don’t murder.

Such a long-standing ethical truth ought to be obvious,
but strangely many humans still disagree!

This morning's newspaper reports that two men sitting
in their sedan were shot to death in our neighborhood,
only 7 blocks from our house.

But in some ways even worse than the 11 murders here
this year, is that two secular writers, 2 weeks ago
on a web-blog, claimed that sometimes murder
isn't wrong!

One friendly poster even declared murder is only "unpleasant"!
All ethics are relative. There isn't any right or wrong,
good or evil for humans, only dislike.

What leads such former moral individuals to assert
there are no true ethics, that acts of murder
aren't wrong?

What goes on in their minds to argue such a horrendous
worldview?
And what occurs in the mind of a youth
and an adult when they murder?
What is the basis of their decision?
Instinct?
Twisted upbringing?
Wrong worldview?
Cold procedure?
Drugs
or alcohol?

However, most humans view murder as a horrendous crime, one of the worst evils. Opposition to murder has been a given in moral codes for thousands of years-- not
to murder individuals of your kin or group or nation.

But the last phrase is exactly where the moral code of the Jews, Muslims, and Christians needs to be revised.

It’s not enough to prohibit murder in one’s own society, because almost all societies and groups do that, even criminal gangs at least part of the time.

We humans need to expand/extend the prohibition against killing to go far beyond our kin and our society to include all of humanity.

NO KILLING of any humans!

No war.

No abortion-on-demand.

No capital punishment.

No euthanasia.

Caution note: "No euthanasia" doesn’t mean extraordinary
measures must be done to elderly individuals when they are
confined in hospital beds, barely coherent and near death.
This ethical guideline isn't advocating for a vegetative state,
but rather that no elderly person ought to be intentionally
killed with drugs.

Eventually humans could move toward
No killing of sentient animals.

Hopefully, more and more humans will include
not killing any animals. Good cases can be made
for non-meat diets.

5. Honor your parents.

What's wrong with that? Honor means to show respect to those who gave you birth and raised you, yet some secular critics even manage to disparage this good command. Sheesh.

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it special and separate.

Seems like good advice, to set aside at least one day a week for rest, reflection, and to focus on the transcendent; to look beyond one’s own self, interests, and obligations.

3. Don't curse and act profane.

Some things and concepts are of essential value and great worth. Respect is an important moral truth.
Caution note: This moral precept isn't opposed to strong satire or comedy,
but rather refers to the very present bad tendency in humans to disparage
what is good, what the famous Atheist psychiatrist Eric Berne called the "little fascist" in us all.

Yes, I revised the religious language to emphasize the ethical, not the dogmatic.

2. I must admit I don't see any good ethical points in this commandment. The law is even used by Muslims to justify persecuting and slaughtering anyone who criticizes Allah, or shows pictures of Muhammad the prophet.

This moral command is also used to justify the destruction of classic world architectural wonders and ancient sculptures such as when the Taliban blew up the gigantic stone Buddhas in Afghanistan.

The commandment seems the exact opposite of ethical and is especially horrific when it claims God is "a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation..."
Whew:-(.

How could intentionally punishing and harming little children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren for what their ancestors did possibly be just?!

Truly sick.

No wonder that many morally sensitive humans can't fathom some of the moral code of Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

1. Don't have any gods before God.

This an essential ethical command. If only humans had followed its real meaning, over a hundred million humans wouldn't have been slaughtered in the 20th century alone.

What the commandment is getting at is that we humans ought to never--NEVER--make what is finite, into our absolute center--
not our self, not our family, not our social group or race, not our nation, not our ideology, etc.

--
Then there are moral codes according to Buddhism:

The Ten Essential Precepts
1. …does not kill but rather cultivates and encourages life. ..work for the benefit of all beings.

2. …cultivates and encourages generosity… live from a generous heart rather than from an avaricious mind.

3. …does not misuse sexuality but rather cultivates and encourages open and honest relationships.

4. …does not lie but rather cultivates and encourages truthful communication. Lying to oneself, to another or to one's community obscures the nature of reality…

5. …does not intoxicate self or others but rather cultivates and encourages clarity.

6. …does not slander others but rather cultivates and encourages respectful speech.

7. …does not praise self at the expense of others but rather cultivates and encourages self and others to abide in their awakened nature… rejoicing in one's wholesome qualities and deeds is a time-honored Buddhist practice…

8. …is not possessive of anything but rather cultivates and encourages mutual support…should make decisions together in a cooperative and accountable manner, and with a wholehearted effort to consider all points of view.

9. …does not harbor ill-will but rather cultivates and encourages lovingkindness and understanding. Even more corrosive is the harboring of ideas of revenge…attempt to resolve them with anyone directly involved in a spirit of honesty, humility and lovingkindness.

10. …cultivates and encourages awakening, the path and teaching of awakening and the community that takes refuge in awakening.

http://www.sfzc.org/about-zen-center/principles-governance/ethics/ethical-principles/the-ten-essential-precepts
--

Here's the 10 Commandments revised with a modern interpretation based in the Enlightenment:

1. Love the Good, the Truth, and the Loving with all of your heart, all of your mind, and
all of your strength...

2. Love all other humans as much as yourself including those different from you, and
even your enemies.

3. Be sacred in your words and thoughts. Don’t ridicule or profane what is of worth.

4. Take at least one day and evening a week for recreation and reflection.

5. Show caring and concern for the elderly.

6. Protect and cherish others. Don’t do violence to them in thought, word, or deed.

7. Be faithful and loyal to your spouse– intellectual, emotional, and physical union.

8. Be generous. Don’t take the land or things of others without permission.

9. Speak the truth always in love. Be honest and forthright.

10. Simplify; be content with what is good and necessary; don’t be greedy for what others
have.
--

Next is Michael Shermer's ethical code
from his new book, The Moral Arc:

1. The Golden Rule Principle

2. The Ask-First Principle

3. The Happiness Principle ("always seek happiness
with someone else's happiness in mind"), and the
Rational Principle ("try to find rational reasons
for your moral actions that are not
self-justifications or rationalizations
by consulting others first")

4. The Liberty Principe

5. The Fairness Principle

6. The Reason Principle

7. The Responsibility and Forgiveness Principle

8. The Defend Others Principle

9. The Expanding Moral Category Principle

10 The Biophilia Principle

Shermer's Code in one sentence: "Try and expand the moral sphere and to push the arc of the moral universe just a bit farther toward truth, justice, and freedom for more sentient beings in more places more of the time."
Michael Shermer

And, of course, there are many more moral codes which purport to be the true one.
It's like the famous quote from
Oliver Twist

"You want MORE?!"

--

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Monday, December 28, 2015

Seeking True Ethics in the New Year

Besides such a wonder-working miracle--finding true ethics--I will also explain the future of the multitverse in the billion-year'd future and what stone age men thought about women;-)

Seriously, seeking true ethics is one of the most difficult tasks any of us can choose. Given that so many non-religious leaders in 2015 (and before) have stated that ethics are only "subjective," "relative," "personal preferences," and not "real," is it any wonder that many humans are confused when it comes
to the questions of "ought"?

Or consider the strange anomaly of so many religious leaders in 2015 claiming that various immoral or unjust actions are only wrong because such actions contradict what God has commanded, Divine Command Theory. If God changes his commands (as the Deity often did in the past), then true ethics change.

And even worse, so many church leaders claim God will call you to commit immoral actions.

Worst of all many Christian, Muslim, and Hindu leaders, again, claimed God--before the universe began--pre-planned every murder, every rape, every molestation, every natural evil disaster for God's-self! And if you question such a gargantuan horror, they ask who do you think God is?!
God can do whatever he wills because God is God!

To Hell/Abyss/Sheol with all such terrible claims.

Eliminating those majority views at least narrows the multi-pronged choices staring at us at every moment when we need to choose.

Now for the New Year:-) Let's seek the Light, seek the Life, seek the Good, seek the Just.

But how does one do so? The difficulty is in the details.

On Christmas Eve one online commentator challenged me to provide a better method than the Christian religion has provided in the last 2,000 years.

First, it would appear to most people who study history that religion hasn't provided a good code of ethics. On the contrary it has done a horrific job supporting everything from slavery and slaughter to discrimination and persecution. No, Christianity hasn't provided a reliable ethical guide. Check out books such as Jesus Wars by Phillip Jenkins or some of the recent critical commentaries on Islam.

BUT
that doesn't mean anyone else has come up with a sure method of finding what is "oughtfully" true.

The human conscience (except in sociopaths) declares we are to do right, to do the good, but doesn't usually clarify what or how. In fact in history, the most evil actions were committed not by immoral choosers, but by conscientious, dutiful humans!

Let's get an eagle's overview of the mountainous region of ethics:

#1 Probably, the spiritual side of the Enlightenment has achieved the most ethically.

Most humans have come to at least give lip service to the ideals of human rights, equality, justice and to condemn the slaughter of innocent humans, poverty, prejudice, torture, slavery, and so forth. Reason has shown to be more true, more effective, more real than any religious dogma ever was.

However, even in reason and transcendent claims there are doubts and problems and dilemmas. Fortunately, most humans seldom have to deal with the extremes such as the trolley car dilemma and other difficult choices.

Indeed, I wonder why so many ethicists immediately jump to the most extreme difficult examples when the subject of morality is brought up.

In general, for instance, it would seem that honesty and justice are reliable goals, even if in a few severe situations, one might choose dishonesty and injustice in order to save human lives.

After all, if I moved back to the Middle East and soon was faced with a dire threat by HAMAS or Hezbollah, and chose to lie to protect innocent Jewish civilians,
my lie still wouldn't be true.

Later after human rights organizations got the innocent safely out of the clutches of "Godly" religious organizations, I ought to then print an acknowledgment of my dishonest statement.

Too often humans quickly jump to the immoral choice--declaring it good--when encountering a difficult trial. For example Americans constantly condemn Muslims in the Middle East for using torture and terrorism, but quickly defend the U.S. government when it tortures and slaughters.

Let's take non-religious leaders' most extreme example: Ought a good human--if there are no other possible options--murder or rape to defend innocent people?

No.

When making ethical choices, the means is part of the end. When you pick up the immoral ethical stick on one end you get the other, too, even if your intentions are good.

Just for the sake of illustration, what if a U.S. Seal coulc only save a young Iraqi girl in Ramadi from being tortured and murdered by raping her?

Such an undercover individual might choose to rape the girl because he thinks raping her isn't as evil as letting the Islamic State thugs behead or stone her.

HOWEVER, his act of rape--even though done with good intentions--still will harm the girl and is therefore wrong.

Cliche warning: One evil in response to another evil doesn't make a good. Never.

#2 Keep in mind that many ethical truisms from the ancient past don't need to be jettisoned, probably not even questioned.

Contrary to what various thinkers such as Michael Shermer and Valire Tarico state, the 10 Commandments of Jews, Christians, and Muslims are a very good start toward seeking true ethics, especially when updated with the new ethical insights of the Enlightenment.

10. Don't covet. Don't inordinately desire what belongs to another person.

Sounds like a good start toward community and well-balanced mental/emotional health for each individual.

9. Don't lie. Honesty is the basis of so many other ethical truths. Heck, Enlightenment actions such as scientific method and reason can't even work if adherents practice lying.

8. Don't steal. Think how many wars and conflicts would never occur if humans didn't steal. The tragic events in Palestine/Israel would never have happened if in the past (and at present) Jews, Muslims, and Christians hadn't stolen.

7. Don't commit adultery. In Shermer's new book, The Moral Arc, advocating good ethics based on reason, he writes that this commandment "doesn't take into account the wide variety of circumstances in which people find themselves."

What sort of weak reasoning is that?!

Ethical codes are meant to guide us, not to excuse us, and aren't to be controlled by circumstances in which we "find ourselves" but to CHANGE those circumstances and change us!

On the contrary, circumstances often lead humans to "lose themselves." Think of how many famous leaders in the last 30 years have "lost themselves" and caused all manner of harm to others because they committed adultery.

Consider how many families have been broken apart because one spouse was disloyal/betrayed the other.

Trailrunner iRunFar/Bryon Powell

To be continued--

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

C.Q.H. #7: I Kid You Not; Go Ahead and Get My Goat!

Corny Quaker Humor #7

Did you hear about the Friendly city animal lover who kept goats in his garage, manger and all?

Angry Neighbor: “I keep hearing bleating noises coming from your garage. What gives?”

Quaker: “Let me ‘goat’ check. Moments later—“Oh that was just the little one wanting her nanny.”

A.N.: I’m calling the police, er, uh Animal Control on you!”

Quaker: "You can’t get my goats. I kid you not.

"We're sending them to the Middle East to help a refugee family. Mother and kid will bring some stableness to that angry place. You remember, don’t you, that goats calm others*. Maybe the Palestinians and Israelis need to raise them."

"Maybe, you would you like to borrow our goats for this Eve?"

"It won’t be a silent night though!"

A.N.: “Bleepbleep#$%X! What’re you talking about? You can’t keep animals in this neighborhood."

Quaker: Hmm…you almost sound like them;-) Just kidding:-)”

A.N.: “I’m warning you!”

Quaker: “Sorry. Did you ever see that old western, Have Goat, Will Travel?"

http://donate.worldvision.org/ways-to-give/by-category/animals

Idiomatic Expression: Get your goat."
*"The Phrase Finder concludes that the saying is distinctly American dating back to 1909 and sticks by the “commonly repeated story which purports to explain the phrase’s origin is that goats were placed with racehorses to keep them calm. When ne’er-do-wells who wanted the horse to race badly removed it, i.e. they ‘got someone’s goat’, the horse became unsettled and ran badly.” The site admits, though that there’s no evidence to support this etymological tale."

"...Ye Olde English Sayings discusses the origins of “getting your goat” with reference to “an old English (Welsh?) belief that keeping a goat in the barn would have a calming effect on the cows, hence producing more milk. When one wanted to antagonize/terrorize one’s enemy, you would abscond with their goat rendering their milk cows less- to non-productive.

Whether the phrase is English or American, the common thread is “goats as the great calmers of nature.”
http://goatberries.com/2011/03/the-origins-of-get-your-goat/

In the heavenly noise;-)

Daniel Wilcox

Bring Hope to a Child in the New Year

"It's not a handout;
It's a hand up! We come alongside children, families, and communities to provide tools, training, and hope so they can become self-sufficient."

"War in Syria has displaced 12 million people. Worldwide, nearly 60 million people have been driven from their homes by conflict."

"13.5 million people in Syria need humanitarian assistance."
World Vision
http://www.worldvision.org/

Sponsor a child in this season of celebration.

Bring hope to at least one in the New Year.

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Words of Truth

TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives…If we remember those times and places…where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.
--Howard Zinn

I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the "isness" of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts him.
--Martin Luther King Jr.

True religion consisted in an inward life, wherein the heart does love and reverence God the Creator, and learns to exercise true justice and goodness...I found no narrowness respecting sects and opinions, but believed that sincere, upright-hearted people, in every society, who truly love God, were accepted of him.
--John Woolman

Love each other as I have loved you.. I call you friends because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father.
--Jesus in John 15: 12-15

...Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.

You have answered right, said Jesus, do this and life is yours...

Who is my neighbor?

Jesus replied with the Parable of the Good Samaritan [heretic, outsider, enemy].
--from Luke 10:27-37

Religion has been emphatically embodied, not in speculative theories, but in practical righteousness, in active virtues, in reverence to God, in benevolence to man- the latter being the only sure test of the former.
--Thomas M'Clintock

...It is safer to approach God through the Holy Spirit than through the door of theology. We can identify the Holy Spirit whenever it makes its presence felt. Whenever we see someone who is loving, compassionate, mindful, caring, and understanding, we know that the Holy Spirit is there.
--Thich Nhat Hanh

Faith...manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love; it clothes the naked; feeds the hungry; consoles the afflicted; shelters the miserable; aids and consoles all the oppressed; returns good for evil; serves those that injure it; prays for those that persecute it.
--Menno Simons