Okay. So it’s not that exciting. Perhaps it is even a trap. Just the same, we are having some bitterly cold weather here in Gainesville, VA. So I would rather stay inside and catch up on the websites I have not had time to visit.
has been quite active on his blog here of late. In addition to developing his contributions to this blog into thoughtful posts on his own blog, he has recently written timely posts on religious tolerance, Killer Jesus? and Religious Differences; a false accusation against Ted Cruz, Sachs of Manure; and the thoughts of Thomas Jefferson on our national debt and our Constitution, In Debt to Jefferson and Thomas Jefferson, Progressive.
Anyway, during the next several days, I hope to have fun visiting other blogs and writing a few posts of my own.
What posts?
DATING THE GOSPELS. Most of the books Bibles have an introduction that includes the probable author and the probable date the book was written. Where does that information come from?
DOES GOD HATE: WHAT IS THE LOGIC OF LOVE? We live in an era that emphasizes love. On Valentines Day we celebrate love. We even say God is Love. Can the God who is Love hate?
WHICH OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES IS MOST PRESIDENTIAL? What does it mean for a candidate to be presidential? Is it important for a candidate to be presidential?
In a previous post, SO YOU LIKED MY POST?, I expressed considerable ambivalence about the like function. There is no restriction on its use by spammers and trolls and various other troublemakers. Thus, the fact that spammers now like everything they can get at does not surprise me much.
Nevertheless, I am still somewhat puzzled by people who like what I have posted when I in fact know they don’t. I suppose they do it for the same reason as the spammers. By pretending they are what they are not, they want to bring unsuspecting people to their websites.
There is also another possibility. Frustrated trolls may just want to remind me and their other victims they are still around. That thought actually caused me to chuckle. The gravatar of one of guys I kicked off my blog refers to an Egyptian pharaoh. It is long time since that pharaoh been around.
So what have I learned. Be wary. The Internet is a wonderful place except when it is not. If we don’t recognize the gravatar, there is a good chance that clicking on it will just take us where we did not want to go.
Anyway, while it is thoughtful to “like” what others post, we should not expect anyone to click on an unfamiliar gravatar. If we want a visit, we must now do what a spammer can’t do and what a troll won’t do. We must leave a thoughtful comment.
addresses a difficult issue. When we blog about our personal lives, when do we cross the line and share secrets we have no right to reveal.
My blog, is in essence, a reflection of me. It tells hidden (and not so hidden) stories of what I have experienced. I appear to be tellingyou how to react or feel or respond or believe, but in truth, I am really telling me.
When speaking of my life, it is really hard to not speak about the people in it. I didn’t get through this life alone… after all.
After the post about my abortion gained as much attention as it did. After I read it and re-read it, again and again, each time, through the eyes of someone else. I started to see how much of other people’s business I was potentially airing on my blog. (continued here)
Why the picture above? Here is book that provides a commentary on Nussbaum’s pictures. The Secret shows how people react to the true horror of a dreadful invasion. When considered with a wider perspective, what may seem like a dreadful invasion may actually be small potatoes. Therefore, before we angrily blow up at an overzealous blogger, we may wish to think things over first.
Was anything actually revealed? Are a bunch of detectives now on your trail?
Does it truly make any difference if the “whole world” knows? Is the “whole world” really going to laugh at you or despise you? Are you going to jail?
Do I blog personal experiences? Rarely. Because I want to keep the focus on a logical and relatively dispassionate discussion of issues, I don’t speak about myself. Others, however, use what they have learned from their personal experiences as a testimony. Frankly, such personal testimonies sometimes strike me as a bit reckless. Just the same, I must admit such testimonies can also be quite powerful. See I Killed HIS Baby, for example.
I hope that each and every one of you is having a happy Fourth of July. The “happy” part of that is significant, and I sincerely hope that you have the skill and the circumstances to achieve it.
Skill? Yes. Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, wrote one of the most oft-quoted lines in history describing unalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Someone suggested to me today that:
Happiness is a thing based on the circumstances we are in. Good circumstanced=happy, bad circumstances=unhappy.
I disagreed. (And later, the commenter pretty much agreed with my objection, which is posted below.)
Happiness is a learned skill. To describe it as as merely the result of circumstances would be like saying a person is a skilled carpenter simply because he lives in a neighborhood of well-built homes. (continued here)
What I think curious about this post is that Keith DeHavelle never explains what skills we require to make us happy. He simply says:
You can be as happy as you decide to be, if you follow up on that decision by seeking and acquiring the skills involved. (from here)
Are you happy? What skills do you employ to sustain your happiness?
Okay. So it’s not that exciting. Perhaps it is even a trap. Just the same, we are having some bitterly cold weather here in Gainesville, VA. So I would rather stay inside and catch up on the websites I have not had time to visit.
