Until Further Notice
Kether Muse Will Have This Link At The Top Of All Posts
In Regard To Contacts And
Information To Help At Standing Rock.
Information Added To That
Page Regularly
Here is a little something that goes
for both the right and the left in this political season and its
tensions. I first began with reading an article on
Daily Kos about how "Joan Baez diffuses right wing protest at Idaho concert". Being from Idaho I knew of this event which happened in 2009. But if someone did not look at the date in small text at left of the top and just read the headline, they would think it happened yesterday.
It is so obvious that many are
entrenched in their opinions and beliefs to the point that even
rationally discussing any issue is near impossible. Changing your
mind is a hard thing to do and even harder to admit you have
reconsidered and “flip-flopped”. For presidents and political
candidates it is often a death knell. On the left it is about much
protesting at this moment and from the right they do not seem to
understand the need for protesting or its history and power to enact
change in societies, even not realizing their vote for Donald Trump in itself was a historic move of political protest. And there are those from both sides who want to
“give peace a chance” in all of it. It is truly a
Brave New World and forming our
opinions don't just come from mom and dad any more.
Personal examples of my mind changing.
First example. After 911, I was a member of numerous political chat
boards. As a board member and founding member of the
Idaho Peace Coalition it was an early morning daily ritual to see what other thought about war. In one heated exchange in conversation about war and Bush I
was convinced by another poster that perhaps the best person to be
President of the United States would be a high ranking General. A
person who knows the horrors of war up front and personal. Perhaps he
would be less likely to engage the country in warfare across the
world. After thinking about this for quite a while I decided his
argument was sound. As a result I had decided if Colin Powell was
once again a potential candidate in the next U.S. presidential
election and I was going to vote for him. He never got to the
primaries.
Second example. In the current debates
I have been a proponent of eliminating the
electoral collage. As a
result I have been reading lots about it's history and pros and cons
from many sources. I have been looking for issues in which to engage
in a meaningful way. Although I am a full supporter of
non-violent civil disobedience and so wish I could be there and at Standing Rock,
my physical limitations make it too difficult these days to
participate in most events. But in the investigation of the issue of
the electoral college I have discovered that I may not be so attached
to my belief as I thought I was for so many years. The jury is still
out at this point for me.
Anyway, the point is, if we are to move
forward we must keep an open mind. Having an open mind is not easy.
Some of the reasons it is hard are these. Fear of letting go of
control, experiencing changes, making yourself vulnerable and the
fear of making mistakes. But some of the benefits are strengthening
yourself, gaining confidence and learning to be honest with yourself
and others.
It is important to study history and
realize that freedom of thought isn't free. From the time of the
Pharaohs, to the Greeks to the founding of America to the Age of
Enlightenment in Europe. The fight for freedom of thought is still to
this day a fundamental struggle. The oppression of ideas is at the
heart of much political discourse. Achieving unity of thought or consensus in our dualistic
world seems a Herculean task.
And the issue of where people get their
beliefs is a huge one. One of my heroes is activist Aaron Swartz (now
deceased) who was, as I am, frustrated that most people did not have
ready access to credible and scientific and scholarly information.
My page on this is here. These
days I have been pointing out on social media the fact that the
majority of news shared is so biased from the right and the left it
is maddening. Finding what one could consider “the truth” is
almost an exercise in futility. The words of Andre Gide, "Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it." echo in my mind constantly. And
Godwin's Law is rampant. I truly attempt it as best I can but
so many hardly put forth any effort at all as they spread memes
across the internet and post fake stories to “prove” what they
believe is true, practicing what Saul Bellow said, "When we ask
for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice." And the
Russell's Teapot
option is a circular hamster wheel that gets everyone nowhere. My
search for reliable news sources has developed into a new page
Media Matters at Kether Muse.
This post was precipitated by the
discourses I see on Facebook and my fascination of it all. In my
morning reading and adding to
my website I came upon this
book and the following paragraph was taken near the beginning of the
book “A History of Freedom of Thought” (
Full Text Here)
written in 1913 by J.B. Bury who was was an Irish historian,
classical scholar, Medieval Roman historian and philologist.
I wish
all to think about personal change, open-mindedness and what you wish
to do and how you wish to act in the coming months and years. And in
closing, as always, my default position is to “seek peace” in the
world and inside myself. And I realize so well that at times
accomplishing both at the same moment is extremely difficult.
“The average brain is naturally lazy
and tends to take the line of least resistance. The mental world of
the ordinary man consists of beliefs which he has accepted without
questioning and to which he is firmly attached; he is instinctively
hostile to anything which would upset the established order of this
familiar world. A new idea, inconsistent with some of the beliefs
which he holds, means the necessity of rearranging his mind; and this
process is laborious, requiring a painful expenditure of
brain-energy. To him and his fellows, who form the vast majority, new
ideas, and opinions which cast doubt on established beliefs and institutions,
seem evil because they are disagreeable.”
