Today, a potpourri of my thoughts...
I'm seeing so many posts regarding religion and morality lately. My thoughts? Morality precedes religion We KNOW in our hearts and minds what is moral. Religion attempts to codify that. In my opinion, humans had an inbred sense of morality long before religion entered the picture. We KNEW the difference between right and wrong before we were forced to believe one thing or another. That is why even those who do not believe in ANY "gods" can still be moral beings. "God" was created by people, not the other way around. And from that point on any religious discussion of "God" became a discussion of "my" God vs. "your" god. So many people who claim to be "Christian" are so far from the basic tenets of Christianity, that they can no longer legitimately claim to be Christian.
Trump wants the Bible taught in public schools, as do many others, including our "christian" governor. As long as it is an elective, and is taught as literature or history, and as long as the Torah and the Quran are also taught, I don't see a problem. But we all know that some of the more evangelical "christians" are going to use that as an excuse to proclaim "The Word" in a public school. And at that point, teachers who do that should be fired, and the courses taken out of the curriculum.
I once taught a unit on comparative religion to my 7th graders. I wrote a 20 page booklet in which I compared all the major religions, from leaders, to sacred texts, to basic beliefs, to basic practices. Before teaching it, I sent a note home to parents letting them know what I was doing. I received (as far as I know) 100% approval. I even had parents asking for THEIR copies of my booklet. My first statement when I began was that ALL religious beliefs are private and personal, that no one's beliefs are superior or inferior to anyone else's, and that absolutely NO, and I MEAN NO criticism will be tolerated. Then to test the kids, I told them I was a Black-and-Deckerite, that my altar at home hosted a drill and a circular saw, and that I worshiped the Twin Gods. I could tell right then and there who was going to have trouble understanding the religious beliefs of others -- not one student grinned, giggled, or otherwise made fun of my B&D-ism. And from then on, they learned, open-minded, ABOUT religious belief systems. We used the proper terms, i.e., "(Church of Jesus Christ of) Latter-Day Saints", instead of "Mormon" and "Society of Friends" instead of "Quakers." Some of my colleagues were horrified that I dared teach about religion -- at which time I showed them a letter from the Clinton White House encouraging the teaching ABOUT religion without actually TEACHING religion. I guess I was on solid footing.
And finally, I went to the gym (Planet Fitness) for the third time in a week. I was very sore the other day, so I waited two more days before going back today. Barry is using many of the upper body machines, as his knees are inhibiting his walking as much as he'd like. We used to be members of our local hospital's fitness center, but $37 a month was just too much. I have full membership for $20, his reduced membership is $5, and the only thing we do NOT have that McDowell has is a pool -- which we CAN use any time we want for $7 a day.
With my diabetes, I need to do a better job of exercising and watching the carbs in particular, which is horrible as I could just eat pounds and pounds of mashed potatoes, pasta, bread -- though I'm not that keen on sweets, so that's a good thing. But the exercise is really important.
AND FINALLY, for real this time, today marks a year, 365 days, one revolution around the sun, without a cigarette. Last January, Barry had back surgery, and I needed to take care of him. Well, several days after we got him back from the hospital, I came down with a cold that was so bad, he ended up taking care of me. I coughed very badly, and just couldn't stand smoking a cigarette, so I stopped. Just.Like.That. After smoking on and off since junior high, just like that. My Dad, who did the same thing, would be proud of me!
So now, to prepare for the Polar Vortex -- temps supposed to get down to 0 here, which is, for my Maine friends, a nice summer day, but for Kentucky, it's DARNED COLD. Outside cat is in for the duration, and we're in good shape here.
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