The Cesspool called Hollywood...

In the news lately we've heard about hurricanes hitting American cities leaving thousands homeless and without power. We've heard about more mass shootings with innocent people being murdered by crazed gunmen. The news has even touched on the crazy dictator in North Korea threatening nuclear war with the US...when it was a slow news day of course. 

What has overshadowed all these stories is the 'revelation' that men with power in Hollywood have been sexual predators for decades. That's the Real news after all! I call it a 'revelation' because, while it may sound new to many of us, most of Hollywood seems to have known about them all along. Hollywood has become the defacto American aristocracy. We hold, in the highest esteem, the actors who entertain us. We, as a culture, are drawn to the famous and want to know all about them. We can read all about their personal lives while in line at the grocery store. In what is the greatest of ironies they have become the moral voice of our generation. If the rich and famous believe it...it must be true. If they are 'doing it' it must be worth doing!

Let's bear in mind for a moment exactly what actors do. They don't cure diseases. They don't feed the hungry. They don't defend their country. They don't build our homes or grow our food. They don't put their lives on the line keeping our streets safe.  They pretend to be other people in front of a camera for the approval of strangers. They just entertain us. If they pretended to be other people without the cameras rolling they would be seen as common liars and con artists. Those who engage in sexual activity for the camera would be seen as common prostitutes...if there were no camera. The camera brings fame. Look at how many people want to be in front of it. Reality shows are at record numbers because of the promise of making, even the lowliest of us famous!

Many actors do this for obscene amounts of money that come with the fame it brings. For that many of them have sold their souls and compromised, or completely sold out, any values they may have begun with. Because, obviously, riches and fame are more important than integrity and good character.

Many actors, out of guilt or perhaps the desire for even more fame, take the time to advocate for some social cause so they can alleviate their consciences and convince themselves that they do something of value in our society. Many even tell us how they think we should vote! You see, Hollywood types and politicians have a great deal in common. Both want to be seen as good, decent people regardless of what they are really like in their private lives. Their lives are all about appearances over actual substance. 


Now...I like well written, well acted movies that tell a good story or makes some point. They entertain me...for a couple of hours at a time. 

Hollywood also cranks out more filth in the form of movies than a sewage treatment plant. What I'm talking about are those movies that glorify gun violence and gratuitous sex because those things sell...very much like illegal drugs. They appeal to the lowest, basest parts of us.

The people that make those movies tend to subtly, and sometimes not so subtly, push their own values off on the rest of us. While glorifying gun violence they preach to the rest of us the evils of owning guns. While making contemptuous comments about people of faith they advocate for all kinds of perversion. While giving lip service to treating women as the equals of men...those in power have sexually abused and degraded women just because they could. The same is true of those homosexuals in positions of power...many of them have equally abused their positions over young men and women because they could.

We are finding these things out now because it has become fashionable for victims to speak up. Many of the victims bear some responsibility for the culture that permeates Hollywood because most have waited to speak up for fear of their careers being damaged. They've held their silence to advance in their careers and allowed their abusers to continue their predatory behavior on new victims for decades...


These are the people who tell the rest of America what we should value? These are the people who want to tell the rest of us how to live? That sounds like a very bad B-movie comedy doesn't it? All they, in fact, do is pull down and trample on the values that have made this country great and sustained it through multiple wars and upheavals.

We, as a society, need to put actors and other Hollywood types in their proper place as simply entertainers and nothing more. They have it in their power to educate and uplift but few of them ever exercise that. They are no better than any one of the rest of us. In fact one may argue that they have something missing in themselves that they have a need to be recognized by strangers and held on some kind of pedestals because we can identify with the characters they pretend to be. I call that pathetic...worse yet some are plain evil. None of them are worth looking up to...

Human Nature

I'm a game of thrones fan...just like millions of other people. I think a part of it's appeal is that all human beings recognize greed, unbridled ambition and people who will do anything to get what they want. We recognize those, and the other qualities that the GOT characters demonstrate because they are all a part of each of us. We all draw from the well that is humanity.

While watching one evening it occurred to me that the various characters run around just like they actually have power, like they are in charge of the earth. Human leaders everywhere are little different. I thought: "How foolish human beings are to think that we control things!". That kind of control is a pure illusion. We have no real control over life. Sickness, old age and death come to us all eventually. We can't keep someone we love from dying when their time comes. We can't control what someone else thinks or feels. We can't control the weather or the geological changes in the earth. We live on the surface of a big ball and we are little better than ants. Someone observing us from a great altitude would, undoubtedly, come to a similar  conclusion.

What we do have power over; what we can control is ourselves. This is a truth that has been discovered and described by the wise in every race; every culture and every age. Theirs are voices that get drowned out in every generation because the young believe they are the first to discover all the wonders in life. For them everything is new so they must have discovered it. We can pass down our genes and we can pass down the body of knowledge that our race has amassed but we can't pass down wisdom. Wisdom is something that must be earned by every individual and, try as they might to pass it on, every wise person who has ever lived has found that very few will actually learn from their experience. You see...that's what wisdom is...learning from someone else's experience.

We have the power to destroy ourselves...and all life on earth for that matter. What we don't have the power to do is create life. The power that we think we have is an illusion. We like to delude ourselves that we are much more than we are. We, collectively, have thrown God out of our lives like we don't need Him. 'That' is delusional. We need Him now more than ever.

We'll all realize that one day. And that day is coming sooner than most of us think.

Civil War

I've often wondered why they call the war between the states 'civil' when there was nothing civil about it. Our country almost tore itself apart at that time. That the current generation, most of whom are ignorant of their own history, is behind the movement to tear down civil war monuments speaks to that ignorance. The country needed to heal after that devastating war between brothers. The Confederate monuments were a symbol of that healing. They weren't erected to celebrate racism or slavery. They were erected to recognize the courage and bravery of a people who fought for what they believed in. Most of them never owned a single slave. Though many modern historians try to tell us that war was all about slavery it was much more complicated than that. It was about states rights and the refusal to be told what to do, how to live, by a central government.

There is no question that slavery is wrong. It is an evil that almost every nation on earth has some history of. Over 500,000 Americans died paying for the sin of slavery. To help heal the rift between the winners and the losers of that civil war monument were erected in many cities to acknowledge it. In much the same way streets were named after and statues erected to Martin Luther King...to  heal a rift between two factions. Having those monuments acknowledges a time in our past where our people were violently divided by what they believed.

That time of conflict was a time very much like now. Our country is tearing itself apart by people who are beginning to see those that don't agree with them as less than they are somehow. Both sides have likened the other to Nazis...by people who have no idea how evil Nazis were. We have a history of different factions clashing; of people striving to be recognized as equals of the majority. Europeans clashed with the Native Americans, society clashed over women's rights, blacks have clashed against whites, political parties have always clashed against each other...sometimes more violently than others. These are many things that have divided us...but somehow, through it all we, eventually, came together or at least called an uneasy truce.

The time of turmoil we are entering now is only in the beginning stages. We have some dark times ahead of us. Americans, once again, seem unwilling to talk to each other...or even acknowledge the other side isn't made up of evil people...just people who disagree. We have enemies all around the globe that lie in wait to pounce on us in a time of weakness. God help us that we can come through this time of turmoil and come back together like we have in the past.

If enough people can remember that what we have in common is far greater than the things that separate us we may come through this time. If not...history has it's lessons to teach us there too. Ahead lies darkness or light...

Only time will tell...

World War III is coming...

World wars I and II were both supposed to be the wars that ended war. The trouble is...human nature hasn't changed. The technology has only gotten better. We humans are quite clever at figuring out how to kill each other in greater and greater numbers more effectively. If you are paying attention you know there is a general sense among many people that there are some very dark days ahead. The world is preparing for war.

Make no mistake about it. Many foreign leaders are doing what every chess player understands, they are positioning themselves for war. Like World Wars I & II once hostilities begin...once the first shots are fired...many nations may strike against their perceived enemies and it could spread like wildfire.

The only thing history really teaches us is that we learn nothing from history. The world is very much like it was in the 1930's...people have forgotten what real war looks like; there are waves of nationalism generated in many countries. Civil strife tears at the fabric of many countries. Economic uncertainty abounds. There are potential flash points all over the globe. India and Pakistan; India and China; China and Taiwan; North Korea and the US; Israel and it's Arab neighbors...just to name a few.

The sad fact is that every weapon ever invented by man, up to and including the atomic bomb, has been used in warfare against other human beings. The weapons we possess now almost make the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki look like toys. Nuclear weapons are horrific to be sure but biological and chemical weapons are their own kind of nightmares. Mankind has truly reached the point wherein we can destroy all life on earth. And, I'll say again, the trouble is...human nature hasn't changed.

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. And, while most humans beings have learned very little from history...those of us who have tried to learn from history are terrified because we know that one day all the weapons we've created will be used.

We've thrown God of our public discourse at a time when we need Him most. He is our only hope of deliverance...from ourselves. I take comfort in my faith that teaches me He will deliver us from ourselves but not before some very dark times ahead.

"Come let us return to the Lord..." Hosea 6:1

Ramblings of an Old Guy Part 8

I recently turned 60 years old. (Hold on a minute...I have to read that first sentence over a few times for it to sink in!) Someone must have made a mistake! Someone screwed up the math! I can't be THAT old!!

I'm on the down-side of life's journey now. My youth is gone. It occurs to me that one of the great ironies in life is that we are expected to choose a career and a life partner while we are in our twenties. While I thought I knew everything when I was in my twenties...I realize now that I was an idiot! At 60 you can understand 20...but it doesn't work the other way around. In some ways growing older is like climbing a mountain.The higher you climb the farther you can see. I had no idea what I wanted out of life when I was in my twenties. Now that I've had a few birthdays I've figured it out...but don't have the energy I once had to enjoy it.

In my twenties I might have gravitated to someone who seemed to have "all the answers".  I don't fall for that trap anymore. Now, I'm leery of anyone who makes such claims. My experiences in life have taught me a few things...though some had to be hammered in my head over and over before they finally sunk in.

There is a sadness in growing old...but there is a joy too. I'm not impressed by a lot of the things that impressed me in my youth. I've become too jaded. The things that impress me now are the simple and honest things. I find a good dog to be near the top of the list. I've learned to be a better man from dogs. As far as people go, I've come to see the truth that Marcus Aurelius wrote in his "Meditations". I try not to concern myself with other people except for some unselfish purpose. I realize we all have it in our power to tear each other down or uplift each other. My faith teaches me to try and do the latter.


I've lost too many friends and family members to death at this point in my life to think life is all joy. It has its joy to be sure...but seeing someone I care about die tempers that joy. I've come to see love as the power that transcends life and death and possibly even time and space. My love for some who have crossed the veil has grown stronger over the years. My faith teaches me that I will see them all again. In that way, one day, death will be welcome. I've grown to hate death but see it as a way out too...a chance to finally find out the answer to life's biggest questions.

There are still too many things I want to do in life...but I leave all that in God's hands. Right now I'm just enjoying the simple things.

All Creatures Great and Small

I find it the height of irony that mankind is so intent on finding life on other worlds while taking for granted the wonder of living things all around us. We spend our time and money on building elaborate, advanced technologies
to find any kind of life not-of-this-earth. If our search for extraterrestrial life has taught us anything, it is that life is rare and precious. We too often take for granted that we share this amazing little blue planet with other living things. And when we take the time to really see them it becomes clear that each of them is a miracle in itself. Each of them has as much ownership of this earth as we. Each of them has the right to be here.

We hold the unspoken belief that the earth, and everything on it, is ours to do with as we please. God gave us dominion over everything else on the earth. We are the pinnacle of life on earth after all. Unfortunately our history is one of misuse and abuse of the world and the living creatures around us. We've failed to realize that with the dominion God gave us comes a great responsibility. We have the responsibility to treat other living things with respect and compassion. Instead, we all too often take all other living things...including each other...for granted. Why would God allow us to find life on another world when we treat the life on the world He gave us with such abuse and neglect?

We have misused animals, and each other, for our own perverted purposes as long as there have been human beings on earth. I believe the way we treat animals tells us something about who we really are...and it's not a good picture.

Some believe animals should entertain us. That's at the heart of things like circus's.  I don't care for people teaching animals that they need to perform tricks for their keep. I've never liked the circus or any practice that uses animals for entertainment.They don't need to do anything other than be themselves as far as I'm concerned. So many of them are far more intelligent than we give then credit for. So many of them are capable of love and friendship. We could learn so much from them if we'd just pay attention.

We owe them our love and respect because they are our fellow inhabitants of this planet. They add so much to life. I find practices that use animals for some perverse human purposes to be despicable. The Chinese practice of using rhinoceros horns, tiger bones; elephant tusks and bear gall bladder among other things are plain barbaric as far as I'm concerned. The world would be a far less interesting place without these noble creatures. For people to use them, especially for such ignorant, backwards purposes, speaks to our shame. Unfortunately, as the Chinese and Vietnamese grow richer because of capitalistic reforms, more of them have the money to afford black market rhino horn and other animal parts for their fantasy drugs. The practice is driven purely by superstition combined with greed and the uneducated lunacy that promotes it has endangered some of the most magnificent living things on earth.

There is no question that we, human beings, are an arrogant and immature species. We trample on the earth instead of walking softly upon it. We kill what we deem to be different or somehow 'less' than we are. We use living things for decorations and current fads. Even the most 'civilized' peoples among us are no better than jungle tribesmen in some ways. At least jungle tribesmen kill mainly for food and survival.

The creatures that inhabit our planet with us aren't things to be used...they are living, breathing examples of God's glory. There are many species that can feel the same emotions we do. Many animals are capable of love. And we are losing more of them every day by encroaching on their habitats; poisoning the air and water that they need and, too often, killing them just to suit some perverse and base desire.

While I believe in a kind of "food chain ethics" that we have the right to use animals for food the way any other predator on earth would, I also believe we owe them a measure of respect. With the right to use and kill animals for our survival comes the responsibility to treat them humanely. We use domesticated animals for food and work and that gives us the responsibility to care for those so used. This has been a common value among peoples who have used domesticated animals for their livelihoods for thousands of years. Too many other people kill and maim animals for profit and sometimes just because they can. Far too many take animals into their homes as pets or domesticated partners and misuse and abuse them. We humans, the 'highest' form of life on earth, often seem to be the most despicable to me. Animals only kill when they need to for survival...unless they've been perverted by contact with humans. Human beings kill...because we can.

Life in the universe is rare...if it exists anywhere else...and we, here on earth, have been richly blessed with an abundance of life forms. If we want to study alien life we, often, have to look no farther than the world around us. Insects and microscopic life forms are as alien as any other planet could produce. If we were to find life on another world...our history of  how we've treated them speaks to how we would eventually treat alien life. Why would God allow us to infect the living things on another world with the barbarity that we have treated the living things around us with? This planet is a training ground to prepare us before heading out into the universe. All we have done is prove that we're not ready for such a trek.

The Buddhists and others are right. We are all a part of a greater whole. The way we treat the least among us tells us who we are. We have a long way to go...