Year of Gratitude - Day 270 - Pope Francis

I am not a religious person, but I would be a fool not to recognize the good that religion does for people. I DO believe in the golden rule, the commandments and other worthy teachings. Hence, why I really love Pope Francis. He practices what he (and his religion) preaches. His United States visit has been truly wonderful and I've really enjoyed hearing his message; he's a great orator. Also, he's a chemist. That's solid. I hope people are inspired by the Holy Father. 

With so many crappy leaders and poor role models, it's good to see that the Pope is once again a shining beacon of moral and spiritual strength. The world needs more of his kind.

Some things never change.

Some things never change and that is what incredible authors can capture in their writing. One of my absolute favorite authors is the Colombian-born Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I read and reviewed Love in the Time of Cholera and now I am in the midst of 100 Years of Solitude. I wanted to share an excerpt which shows that it doesn't matter where you are or what time you live in, the human constructs of politics and religion are the same regurgitated concepts that surface time and time again. This book was published in 1967; the story of the family is many decades older than that. Yet, this excerpt appears to still be relevant today.

Since Aureliano at that time had very confused notions about the difference between Conservatives and Liberals, his father-in-law gave him some schematic lessons. The Liberals, he said, were Freemasons, bad people, wanting to hang priests, to institute civil marriage and divorce, to recognize the rights of illegitimate children as equal to those of legitimate ones, and to cut the country up into a federal system that would take power away from the supreme authority. The Conservatives, on the other hand, who had received their power directly from God, proposed the establishment of public order and family morality. They were the defenders of Christ, of the principle of authority, and were not prepared to permit the country to be broken down into autonomous entities. Because of his humanitarian feelings Aureliano sympathized with the Liberal attitude with respect to the rights of natural children, but in any case, he could not understand how people arrived at the extreme of waging war over things that could not be touched with the hand.

This is poetry disguised as prose. It is beautiful writing, which is why I will likely read every one of Marquez's books in my lifetime.

Kosher Cell Phones

I thought this was an interesting way to combine age-old traditions and rules with today's technology. I'm sure the imams will follow the rabbis on this shortly, if they haven't already. Cell phone companies are already realizing the marketing power this provides. Here's a bit from MSNBC:

The kosher phone is stripped down to its original function: making and receiving calls. There's no text messaging, no Internet access, no video options, no camera. More than 10,000 numbers for phone sex, dating services and other offerings are blocked. A team of rabbinical overseers makes
sure the list is up to date.

Read additional articles:

• ‘Kosher’ cell phone rings up growth
• Kosher Phone: Does Nothing, Especially on Saturday
• Israel’s kosher mobile tweaks Arab interest

Double-Sided Sword of Religion

If you are at all familiar with Christian Zionism and manifest destiny, than you know how messed up these concepts are. I'm not one for religion to begin with, but these two ideas are essentially a response to radical Islam. They are crazy and quick to judge. These concepts are also believed by millions of people in the United States.

Here is a bit of a description of these folks' theology, from Bill Moyer's website:

"Increasingly, some American evangelical Christians have emerged to form an alliance with Israel. Citing Biblical prophecy, this group of evangelicals call for all of the West Bank to remain in Israeli hands, and they oppose any two-state solution. Sometimes called Christian Zionists, they believe that a Christian Messiah will return to earth in Jerusalem. They have joined with conservative Israeli politicians to oppose any division of the city."

Pretty scary, huh? When I learned about these kind of folks back in college, I thought that it was too absurd to be true. After taking my politics and religion course, I realized that there were plenty of souls that thought this way - that wait eagerly for the Messiah and Armageddon and all that jazz.

While these people provide me plenty of concern and frustration, there is always the other side of religion that makes me realize that it is good for some people. I understand that religion is good to raise children with, a relatively easy way to instill values into them.

Yet, what really gripped me about religion was the wonderful message of forgiveness. Of course, not all religion practices what they preach, but the Amish do.

While working out one morning (and listening to Bill Moyers), I heard the story of Amish forgiveness. On Oct. 2, 2006, a local milk man went into a school house and murdered five little girls, while injuring 5 others. He then turned the gun on himself.

Normal Americans were outraged, but the Amish took it in stride. They went to the killer's funeral. They comforted the killer's family. They stuck together as a community and healed as a community. Instances like these make me wish that I had something that strong to hold onto. I wish that there were more communities that were that close, that strong. Instead, I feel the opposite is true.

I truly recommend that everyone check out all the stories from that week of Bill Moyers, who is an excellent journalist. You can read about the Amish HERE. You can read about Christian Zionism HERE and HERE. I HIGHLY recommend that you watch the video and here some of the Christian Zionists talk. You can't make stuff like this up.