Talking the Talk

Walk lightly...

The earth is a gift we were given, but more than that it is our responsibility to take care of it, to ensure that those who will come after us can continue to benefit from it. If we can to leave it better than we found it-and at the very least to to minimize the damage we do. It is short-sited and narrow-minded to think that we can take what we want (or need) without regard for the consequences.
The level of consumption has increased to what an unsustainable level, especially as the developing world increases its consumption. There is so much wasted that a movement was spawned, Freeganism, of people who minimize their consumption and make use of the waste that is produced. Another less extreme way to reduce consumption is by joining a Freecycle group, which encourages limiting consumption by trading something you no longer want for something someone else in the group no longer wants.
We are constantly bombarded with advertisements designed to make us want to keep buying the latest products, highlighting a new feature that you simply cannot live without. The satisfaction of buying a new product lasts only until the next model is released-if that long, while the joys of living simply do not have a time limit.

Revisiting "Don't Ask, don't tell"

The reason given for the policy is there is no constitutional right to serve in the armed forces, and that it is necessary to exclude homosexuals because "the presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability." And here I thought that unit cohesion was based respect and trust in the skills of the people around you.
Let us assume for the moment that homosexual sex is a sin. There is no doubt that rape is a sin, and yet "only 181 out of 2,212 subjects investigated for sexual assault in 2007, including 1,259 reports of rape, were referred to courts-martial... and in nearly half of the cases investigated, the chain of command took no action." I cannot imagine anything more harmful to the high standards of morale, good order, discipline, and unit cohesion than rape.
I think that the separation of church and state should apply to the military, and therefore they should only be allowed to exclude someone if they have committed a crime, not if they have sinned.

Frauds

We are all frauds. We take on tasks with no proof that we can do it, the only way to push forward is to convince yourself, and everyone around you, that you are capable of doint it. Sometimes you will find that you were right, and sometimes you will find that despite your best effort you fall short. Life may sometimes feel like a punishment, but it is also a gift. We all mess up, and sometimes if you are lucky you get another chance, though not a fresh start since that is not really possible. In the words of one who has fallen and gotten back up: "I now inhabit a life I don’t deserve, but we all walk this earth feeling we are frauds. The trick is to be grateful and hope the caper doesn’t end any time soon."

The more things change the more they stay the same

Nearly 2000 years ago today the twelve "Scillitan Martyrs" were executed for their beliefs. Since then the world has changed in a very fundamental way more than once, yet people are still judged and persecuted because of their beliefs. Though it may seem like heresy to those who preach acceptance of all opinions, there are some beliefs that should not, that cannot be condoned. Where do you draw the line. When does something cross the line between that which (merely) makes you uncomfortable into something that is amoral by any standard of morality?

"Late Fragment" Raymond Carver

And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.