The Price Of Freedom

Politics and religion -- to paraphrase David Bowie -- are like fire and gasoline.  They seem to be unavoidably attracted to each other, but incendiary when combined.  Incendiary like say, I don't know, when you burn copies of the Koran.  Before I get too far into this, let me say for the record, yes, this was a stupid and insensitive action.  However, this incident has more shades to it than the popular media are willing to paint.

The most obvious starting point is the overall context.  Although details on the whole incident are murky, the burning itself doesn't seem to be a calculated statement by the soldiers, but rather that they were disposing of items confiscated from detainees.  Also, it's difficult to determine the actual extent of the burning.  When you flash the words "Koran Burning" in the media, it evokes images of truckloads of books dumped into a blazing bonfire, lighting up the night.  That does not seem to actually be the case.

Depending on where you fall on the religio-politico spectrum determines your ability to chain logical arguments together (clearly in evidence in Rick Santorum's campaign for president).  That's the only explanation I see for the logical conundrum that comes out of the religious extremist view on the sacred nature of every single copy of The Koran.  It's one thing to believe it contains the word of God, another to assume God's printing them up himself.  As a manufactured item, is the book sacred while its component parts are not?  The paper, the ink, the entire supply and printing pathway?  Why is it an affront to God when the book is burned but not offensive to him in any way when a suicide bomber could be killing those very men and women who printed and distributed it?  (Of course, I'm guessing most suicide bombers are incinerating their own copy of the Koran when they touch off the explosive and where does that leave the holy martyr?)  Beyond that, I find it over the edge of sanity to claim a book is sacred, while casually dismissing the value of human life.

To give an analogy that may help illuminate how far off the reality chart the fanatics are: imagine I barbecue a whole bunch of sacred stuff in my backyard including a Bible, a Koran, the American flag, a copy of Bambi, etc.  Then, the reaction I get is that US Senators, on the floor of Congress, insist the army be dispatched to my door and call for private citizens to kill me.

Thankfully, that's not the way America works.  Our freedom is is a guarantee that I can burn whatever I want as long as I'm not violating local fire codes.  I can't imagine the circumstances under which I'd ever be moved to burn a book or a flag, but the point is that it's my choice.  The price of that freedom is tolerating those you don't agree with.  Until that tolerance exists, freedom is bound as surely as if with iron shackles.

Tolerance does not imply agreement.  I tolerate Republicans, but rarely agree with them.  I would never willingly trample someone's religious beliefs, but at the same time I cherish my right to speak freely in dissent.  American soldiers are steeped more deeply in freedom than most, since they fight for it every day, so the actions that are so abhorrent to the fanatics can not be evaluated solely through the eyes of those fanatics.

Images, Not Words

Occasionally, I try to teach writers the value of closing scenes with images, rather than a line of dialog.  This morning, as I was having my coffee, I came across this quote from someone who can speak more eloquently about the power of images than I ever can.

"And you who claim to demonstrate by words the shape of a man from every aspect of his membral attitudes, dismiss such an idea, because the more minutely you describe, the more you will confuse the mind of the reader and the more you will lead him away from a knowledge of the thing described.  Therefore it is necessary both to illustrate and describe." -- Leonardo Da Vinci

This quote appeared in the opening of a chapter in a book called Field Notes on Science & Nature, edited by Michael R. Canfield.

Eyes On The Ball, People

What passes for a new year's resolution for me is more like a general intention to do something.  This year, it wasn't to lose weight, or to be a better person, or to clean the house, because I like selecting somewhat attainable goals so I can, you know, feel good about myself while ignoring those unattainable goals like losing wei-- well, you get the picture.  This year, I want to keep up with reading the paper along with the news and magazine webs I cull from the internet.  A modest goal.

So far, so good, but it's only been about two weeks, so I can't really pat myself on the back, yet.  What I can do, though, is highlight the stuff I don't really give a shit about but that seems to dominate the news.  Should you care?  Maybe not, because it's just one guy's opinion, right?  I don't expect us to agree on everything, but the point of this is that you should always be questioning the media you consume.  Here's the current list:

1. Tim Tebow.  Seriously?  A mediocre athlete gets front page coverage in the New York Times because of his very public religious worship.  
2. Republican debates.  It's like watching monkeys fight over bananas.  The only thing less interesting is the endless churning coverage on the TV news.
3. Penn State.  Joe Paterno behaved poorly on a number of counts.  People who need their jobs a lot more than he did lose them every day.  Move on, alums.  Rebuild your institution on a better model.
4. iPads in the classroom. This is going to revolutionize education?  Sure it is.
5. Catholic School Closings. I feel sorry for the kids who are going to have to find a new school, but not for the institutions.  If we spent this much effort on public schools, your neighbors would be freaking out.

That's the tip of the iceberg, by the way, but you should be asking: why is this anything more than a personal rant?  Because these stories are a bit like stage magic: they're mis-direction which draws your attention away from the really important stuff.  Like our economy.  Like the clear evidence that Iraq is collapsing and that we have officially flushed the last 10 years of money, blood, and effort down the drain. Like our trade deficit with China.  Like climate change.  Like income disparity.  See what I'm talking about?

Keep your eyes on the ball, before it nails you between the eyes.

Ho, no! It's the holidays.

I made it almost the whole way through.  Christmas was in sight and I'd managed to keep my spirits genial and bright throughout the season, no matter how much repetitive Christmas music I heard on the radio, no matter how disgruntled my family became, no matter how much extra work I was doing.  I was surprisingly relaxed and of good cheer.

Then I went to The Whole Foods.

Just by itself, that isn't a bad thing.  I've been shopping at my local store since it opened and I've been there around the holidays, so I pretty much know what to expect: a crowd of holier-than-thou entitled patrons short on patience and long on sharing their opinions.  What I didn't expect was the employees at the bakery counter, and their attitude.  They ignored me first, then walked away from me to complain amongst themselves about how my daughter had put her hand on the counter, then came back to the counter and treated me as if I were holding them up from more important things.

I've worked retail Christmases in the wine trade and the book trade and I never, ever, treated a customer the way those two men treated me.  I know how bad it can be on the other side of the cash register but I also know that no matter what, you never lose your cool with a customer and the customer is always right.  Every other store employee was courteous and helpful.  Add to that the fact that the bakers' behavior was nonsensical: if they wanted us gone so badly, then ignoring us wasn't going to make that happen; my need for bread wasn't going to evaporate just because these guys were inconvenienced.

I tried to make sense of this experience on the way home through the cluster-bomb of holiday traffic.  What, exactly, was their problem?  Had I somehow done something to bring on this reaction?  Was there a way to rationalize this all with the holiday season?  Where exactly, does it fit, with the message of Christmas?

For me, the over-riding through-line of religion is: don't make someone else's life worse for having met you.  So, these guys clearly weren't with my program.  Rather, they were of the bitter retail school where they're too good to be doing their job, they're meant for better things, and the customer is always an inconvenience.  As I drifted to the checkout line and out into the night, I wondered how out of touch that attitude is in a country with unemployment at the current rates.

The next day, I realized something, though.  I had restrained myself at the store.  I hadn't stomped off to demand to see the manager and demanded apologies or tried to somehow dump back on the bakery guys.  Although they had shown me none of the holiday message, my Christmas spirit was actually intact.

Good luck keeping your balance through the season.

A Little Thanks

In the few hours before it's officially Thanksgiving here in America, I'm trying to engage my personal attitude adjustment function.  You know, that little mental switch you make to allow just a little decompression from work, family, politics, and every other stress factor I seem to carry in the tendons of my neck.

I'm usually only moderately successful at relaxing, so my mental switch is actually the size of that circuit breaker in Jurassic Park.  I am making an effort, though, because no mater how trite it sounds, it's good to step back a little from your own life and count the blessings.

Don't get me wrong.  Everyone has struggles, some more profound than others.  I've got my share, but they'll still be there after the holiday, so I'm making the attempt to focus on the good stuff for the immediate days ahead.  I'm as guilty as everyone else of taking some basic things for granted and perhaps I've got to be working harder on being thankful.  I've got a family, a job, a place to live.  The number of people I've helped in life is larger than the number of people I've harmed.  I've got some really good friends.

While it's probably part of human nature to constantly strive for more of everything (probably a throwback to times when basic resources were scarce), it's worthwhile to take a look at just what we have.  I have many things.  I am blessed.  I hope you can feel the same way.

Happy Thanksgiving.