Empathy

For a while now, I’ve been spending a little time each evening watching movies with two of my boys. It’s something I’ve come to look forward to every day and for many different reasons. One of these reasons crystallized more clearly in my mind after a long phone conversation with my daughter.

Some see movies as merely entertainment, perhaps a way to unwind and escape for a little while from the weight of daily life. For me, whether it’s the most serious drama or the most light-hearted animated Disney movie, I see life and human experience woven throughout. I see what binds us together as a human race. I see the heights of joy and the depths of anguish. And I consume all of it and allow it to pass through me, because the joy I see fills me with gratitude and the anguish I see fills me with empathy and a desire to reach out to relieve people’s suffering.

Anyone who pays attention to what I post may have noticed that themes of spirituality and religion often surface in one form or another. I have a literal belief in things that many see as only fiction. I know, however, there are many out there who will meet me halfway and concede that, while they don’t believe these things happened, there is still value and inspiration in the stories.

Until relatively recently, I’ve struggled with this idea. I’ve thought, if it didn’t really happen, then how can I derive something of genuine, lasting worth from it? I’ve suffered from similar skepticism when watching movies “based on a true story.” I’ve been disappointed upon discovering how little of what was conveyed in the movie is reflected in actual events. It has always somehow cheapened the movie, made it of less value to me.

Bari Weiss Resignation from the New York Times

Listening to a fascinating interview with Bari Weiss on the Megyn Kelly Show. Weiss resigned from the New York Times last Summer and this is some of her story. She describes herself as left of center on some issues and right of center on others. Anyway, starting at 21:20:

Kelly: “You’re a Jewish woman who’s engaged to another woman. I don’t know, I think some of us outside of that category would think it would save you or that it would help you with the New York Times. Nope, you have to be full submission to their orthodoxy or you’re out…. So, did you ever have in-person arguments with people or was it more just the frosty feeling?“

Weiss: “It wasn’t just a feeling. I mean, this was, by the end, there were slack channels with – this was following the Tom Cotton op-ed – there were slack channels with more than 2,000 employees of the New York Times including every member of the masthead of the paper going up to the very top. And people were saying, if this company is going to be an inclusive and diverse company, we need to talk about how Bari Weiss still works here. Or people were putting [inaudible] next to my name. They put guillotine emojis next to the name of my, the boss that hired me, he was pushed out of the paper, James Bennett. I don’t think anyone was punished or fired for any – I know that they weren’t fired for any of those things. So, it was very explicit by the end.

“But, there were certain things – there was another editor who, my editor, one of the editors was checking a piece by me and said, is Bari Weiss writing about the Jews again? Now, of course, he laughed that off, because what else are you going to do? But, just imagine that being said about any other minority group. It would be unfathomable.

“…I’ll furnish the war”

Armed protests being planned at all 50 state capitols, FBI bulletin says

“You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war” (explanation in a moment).

I’ll be honest, I’m all in favor of impeachment, especially if that means Trump can’t run again in the future. My concern is the impact that will have on the most passionate Trump followers. I recently sat through a 2-hour “1st hand account on the front line in DC”. I did it to try to understand where they’re coming from. I guess you could say that the following is what I came away with.

Here’s my concern. These people (not just the 200 that stormed the capitol building, but the several 1000 others who were there peacefully protesting) came from all over the country (the person in the podcast I watched is from WA) with the expectation that they could actually stop the confirmation of the electoral college vote. They don’t see it as a legitimate vote. So, what some see here as the normal, lawful procedures required to confirm the voice of the people, they don’t see it as lawful. It’s not lawful, because they believe there was a large-scale conspiracy to hand votes to Biden.

I don’t want to misrepresent this person, so I’ll say that from my perspective, many of these people seem to view this as 1776 all over again. Their protest failed to accomplish its purpose. And when people who believe there is injustice and corruption at the highest levels of government start to feel that there is no other peaceful recourse, they’re compelled to use more and more extreme measures. I’m concerned impeachment will only confirm this narrative with all the more certainty. Ashli Babbitt (whose death was absolutely a tragedy) is most likely seen as a martyr for the cause of the patriots. Trump and others have been banned from Twitter and are regrouping in Parler. Amazon, Apple and Google have cut off Parler. Figuratively and literally, this feeds into the notion that they’re outcasts and they’re being oppressed.

Bias

https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/news/news/shameful-moment-history-sisters-react-insurrection-us-capitol

The more I’ve thought about it, the more convinced I am that human bias operates on the exact same principles as machine learning. It comes down to (1) what “features” (criteria) we base our “predictions” (judgments) on and (2) the number and variety of examples we expose our minds to.

Let’s say I want to “train” a model in my brain to recognize whether a person is “good” or “bad”. And, let’s say my brain already has some definition of “good” (someone who smiles and displays a certain amount of camaraderie with others) and “bad” (someone who makes angry faces, yells, and breaks things).

For item #2 above, let’s say I train my brain by exposing it to media images of a certain group of people who – oh, I don’t know – were in and around the capitol building of a major world power on a day when the the fate of the nation was being decided.

Based on my “good”/”bad” labels, many in this sample fall into the “bad” category and fewer in the “good” category. Standout physical features of this sample of individuals tend to be things like red MAGA hat, patriotic paraphernalia, and perhaps, to a lesser extent facial hair and hairy chests. These features (their presence or absence) will become strong predictors in my model distinguishing good people from bad people.

Now, it’s time to use the model in my brain to make “predictions” or come to conclusions or judgements about an independent sample of individuals – let’s say, a large population of people gathered earlier in the day in the same area as the group we used to train our model.

One Day

Taken from: https://livelifehappy.com/life-quotes/humanity-should-be-our-race-love-should/

[Originally written about 5 months ago in another forum] There’s a lot on my mind surrounding the state of things in the U.S and the song ‘One Day’, by Matisyahu, captures what I’m feeling…. But there’s another song I want to add to this that makes me feel the same way. It’s Wavin’ Flag by K’naan.

Matisyahu is “…an American Jewish reggae singer, rapper, beatboxer, and alternative rock musician…. Known for blending Orthodox Jewish themes with reggae, rock and hip hop beatboxing sounds….” K’naan is “…a Somali Canadian poet, rapper, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist…. [his] sound is influenced by elements of Somali music and world music….”

Two people emerging from ethnic, religious, and/or political traditions historically at odds with each other, but singing, essentially, One Song or One Story. That’s because this Story exists outside of, above, the barriers we set up to divide ourselves.

K’naan sang a remixed version of his song for the 2010 World Cup. Soccer (or should I say, football) is the one sport that I think belongs to the world. And hearing this song within that context makes me feel what I long for – One World and One Race.

There’s one word that stands out to me as the essence of the song, which I’ll put in square brackets, because I’ve seen a variant when looking for the lyrics. I like this version:

Give me freedom, give me fire
Give me reason, take me higher
See the champions take the field now
[Unify] us, make us feel proud

In the streets our heads are liftin’
As we lose our inhibition
Celebration, it surrounds us
Every nation, all around us

During a layover on an international flight a while back, I remember walking through the Amsterdam airport and being shocked by the diversity of people – every race, it seemed, but my own. And they felt like my people.

The One Race I care about is Humanity. And the One Religion I want is Love. And there are people of every sort, independent of religion, nationality, political affiliation, or ethnicity, singing the same Song. Whatever happens in the world, no matter how bad things get, there will always be those who continue to sing this Song.

The Tree

Source: https://www.lifeinminnesota.com/20-best-places-to-see-fall-colors-in-minnesota

Evolution, my pitiless, pragmatic friend, I have a question.

They say you favor the strong and most able. Beauty you permit only if it gains you something. The fleeting Flower is acceptable because it attracts the Bee. The bright color of the Monarch would be objectionable but for its utility in deterring the Predator. Never deviating from your course, you dispassionately consume the weak and spare the fit, fecund, and resilient.

I don’t take this personally. Your dominion is impressive. It reaches the ends of the earth and the depths of the sea. Surely you could not retain all of this under your control without a Law, and steadfast obedience to it.

To my question, though. The Tree is surely under your dominion and yet it seems to defy your Law. As the sunset leaves the heart glad at the onset of night, as the rainbow heralds the return of Light after the oppressive gray of the storm, the Tree transform its leaf into a beautiful rainbow before casting it upon the ground at the end of Summer. It’s as if, in imitation of the Sun, it wishes to cheer my heart before the onset of Winter.

They say there is only one Law in Nature and that is survival and perpetuation. Anything else, if it does not contribute to these, is superfluous, trivial, and should be discarded. So, why does the Tree transform its Autumn leaf into a rainbow just before casting it to the ground? Why go to the trouble when it appears to confer no advantage upon its own survival or the survival of its kind?

If I did not know better, I would think this an act of civil disobedience. Subtle, but pointed, it would suggest the Tree’s loyalty actually lies elsewhere, somewhere outside, even above your realm. The Tree, in this merciful, altruistic act, seems to obey another law altogether. One that gives without thought of reward or benefit for self. Like the light of the Sun, with its array of resplendent effects, the Tree makes its own meager offering, as if to declare it does not belong to you at all, but to the same Light that lights the whole earth.

Two Stories

Check out this incredible picture. What do you see in her eyes? With pictures of people, I sometimes cover up one eye at a time and look at each one individually. Often, they tell different stories. In this case, I see struggle, loss, and pain in one of her eyes. In the other, I see strength, determination, ruggedness, imperturbability, and resilience. In short, I see power in the face of extreme hardship. I’ll let you guess which eye tells which story. Together, they tell me an inspiring story of human will. For more pictures like this, see https://www.wowamazing.com/talent/photography/photos-show-that-eyes.

Cambodian Genocide in Numbers

This is a dynamic plot of life expectancy vs. child mortality of several countries between 1970 and 1993. Watch between 1974 and 1980, there’s one little red dot that drops from a life expectancy of about 32 (already low) to half that in 3 years and then swings back above 32 by 1981. By the end of the video, it has inched its way up to 56.

So, what happened to this country during the mid to late 70s? Something I’ve always heard about, but never knew much about, the Khmer Rouge genocide under Pol Pot: http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/pol-pot.htm.

“An attempt by Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot to form a Communist peasant farming society resulted in the deaths of 25 percent of the country’s population from starvation, overwork and executions.

“By 1975, the U.S. had withdrawn its troops from Vietnam. Cambodia’s government, plagued by corruption and incompetence, also lost its American military support. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge army, consisting of teenage peasant guerrillas, marched into Phnom Penh and on April 17 effectively seized control of Cambodia.

“Once in power, Pol Pot began a radical experiment to create an agrarian utopia inspired in part by Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution which he had witnessed first-hand during a visit to Communist China.

“Mao’s ‘Great Leap Forward’ economic program included forced evacuations of Chinese cities and the purging of ‘class enemies.’ Pol Pot would now attempt his own ‘Super Great Leap Forward’ in Cambodia, which he renamed the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea.

“He began by declaring, ‘This is Year Zero,’ and that society was about to be ‘purified.’ Capitalism, Western culture, city life, religion, and all foreign influences were to be extinguished in favor of an extreme form of peasant Communism.”

Caricatures

Some time ago, a friend shared a political article with me. I responded with the following: “It’s an interesting article and I think there’s probably truth to it. But one thing it does (satire does this in general) is create a caricature of a group of people that then becomes the object of our ire and our justification for dismissing what legitimate message the group might have. We do this on all sides of these issues to the point that we’re locked in a never-ending battle, every side fighting against the caricature or the exaggeration that we’ve developed in our mind. Liberals think the conservatives are narrow-minded, self-righteous, racists while conservatives think the liberals are poor-me, self-proclaimed victims who think the world owes them. All we have to do is keep a collection of anecdotes on hand that we can pull out anytime someone challenges the caricature and use those to assure ourselves that our sweeping generalizations and assumptions are warranted.

“Note, this isn’t necessarily a criticism of this article, so much as a general observation about what’s going on in our country. Our late night comedy shows are based on this kind of humor. And to be honest, I think it’s really funny. But every once in a while I sit back and think, what’s the effect this is having on us? Satire and caricature often takes away the human component and causes us to see each other as a sort of cartoon where everything we despise about society is exaggerated. I’m increasingly convinced that most of us are fighting against something at least in part imagined in our heads more than we’re settling down to look at and deal with facts in an objective way. That’s one thing the author of this article calls for i.e. a consideration of facts. But all the while he’s painting his own picture of a group of people that may not be completely true to the reality.”

God’s Grace

Growing up in the LDS church, I recall learning a certain number of ‘steps’ in the repentance process, all of which conveniently started with R. Such a brilliant mnemonic ensured that you would never forget this formula for reconciling (another R!) yourself to God. I can’t recall how many Rs there were; I thought it was 4 or 5. But based on the Google search I just did, there doesn’t seem to be a consensus. Furthermore, I couldn’t find something official on the lds.org site. So, here’s something I found on a blog called Mormon Momma: The Seven R’s of Repentance.

Can you believe that? Seven Rs! This must be the ultra deluxe plan for obtaining divine favor. Here they are: Recognition (realizing and acknowledging you have done wrong), Remorse, Relating (another way of saying confession), Restitution (making things right – this never fails to remind me of that old TV show ‘Quantum Leap’ and the tag line “putting right what once went wrong“), Resolution (resolving never to commit the sin again), Reformation (changing our behavior), and Realization (realizing the blessings that come from living righteously). The first four Rs jive with what I remember learning. You need to realize that you’ve done something wrong, feel remorse for having done it, confess (although I could never remember the R for this) and then try to right as much of the wrong you may have caused by your sin(s) i.e. restitution.

Now, I want to throw into the mix a verse that’s famous in modern Mormonism: “…we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” (2 Nephi 25.23) Despite the mention of grace in this verse, almost invariably it seems we focus on the latter part: “…after all we can do.” Combine this with the Rs of repentance (especially the enhanced super deluxe 7-Rs program) and it may give the impression that there’s a whole lot of work involved in earning God’s grace (I’ll discuss another possible interpretation of ‘after all we can do‘ in a little while).

Ironically, the Book of Mormon itself seems to present quite a different picture of repentance that, to me, emphasizes how quickly God is willing to forgive the humble soul who cries out for His mercy and grace. And it is a far more beautiful process than the 4, 5, 6 or even 7 Rs. What I observe from the following accounts in the Book of Mormon is that recognition, remorse and longing or desire for forgiveness certainly precede grace and forgiveness. But everything else follows naturally as a result of having tasted God’s overwhelming love for us. We no more need to grovel and scourge ourselves to obtain God’s grace than a small child needs to beg and plead for a parent’s love after a temper tantrum. All of those other Rs – restitution, resolution, reformation, etc. – they are the fruits of God’s forgiveness and love.

Our Relationship to God

The following thoughts are a continuation or an outgrowth of what I wrote about in my last post (Wave-Particle Duality). Mormonism – at least the Mormonism of today, taught by the LDS church – defines the Godhead as God the Father, his only begotten son after the manner of the flesh and the holy ghost; In other words, it’s composed of three individuals. A Mormon will sometimes capitalize ‘holy ghost’, because they think of it as a proper noun, referring to an individual that shares godhood with God the Father. Furthermore, the holy ghost is often referred to using the pronouns ‘he’, ‘his’, and ‘him’.

So, in the LDS church of today, it makes perfect sense to pattern all governing bodies after this divine triumvirate. The First Presidency, which was just recently reorganized (since Thomas S. Monson passed away), consists of a President and two counselors. Area presidencies likewise consist of three individuals. The same can be seen at stake (comparable to a diocese, I believe) and ward (similar to a parish, I think) levels. It’s all part of a perfect pattern that any faithful LDS member knows and loves.

With that background, the following seems a curious statement by Joseph Smith, the religion’s founder: “… the Holy Ghost is now in a state of Probation which if he should perform in righteousness he may pass through the same on a similar course of things that the son has.” (here is the source at the Joseph Smith Papers project)

I say this is curious, because elsewhere in Mormon scripture, it says that we – you and me – we are in a state of probation: “…we see that death comes upon mankind…which is the temporal death; nevertheless there was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead.” (Alma 12.24)

What a strange and interesting similarity in the way we describe, on one hand, the condition of a being we consider next to deity and, on the other hand, the condition that we lowly, imperfect creatures find ourselves in here. Is there a problem with this?

Wave-Particle Duality

We are all, to a certain extent (compared to God), dark or crude creatures. But we have something within us connected to the divine, even if we don’t always pay attention to it. We are in a veiled existence. The flesh we occupy is heavy matter by comparison to the more refined matter composing God’s being (“There is no such thing as immaterial matter…“; D&C 131.7-8). The veil of the ancient temple represented this coarse matter. The high priest in the holy of holies donned a robe in representation of what happens when a being of light descends to this earthly realm to make intercession for those who are stuck here.

We periodically open ourselves up to and receive some of the light from the eternal realm. When we write it down, when we share it with each other, we generate a momentary spark of light in this veiled place. What if we seek out and collect all of these sparks? What if we sift out from the chaff of our error and ignorance the grains of wheat which are these sparks of light and collect them? What will happen?

We should recognize these sparks in each other and be grateful for them. We should acknowledge the bits of light in each other, never assuming that one of us is all that much brighter than the next (again, using God as our frame of reference or standard for judging the degree of light). In this way, we have some hope of living in peace with each other. It’s possible that if we see each other this way, we will no longer be opponents, but we’ll become collaborators in an experiment wherein we seek to identify and collect together the light that emits from us from time to time.

Solid or ‘Solid’?

How solid are we? You might say we are as solid as E=mc², the famous equation summarizing the equivalency (or interchangeability) of energy and mass. After a nuclear reaction, the mass of the solid products is actually less than the mass of the solid reactants. Where did the mass go? It went to energy or light.

So, again, how solid are we? The truth is, even without (heaven forbid) undergoing a nuclear reaction we are mostly empty space anyway. If you could look at the atoms composing matter, you’d find they consist of a dense nucleus surrounded by a charged, energetic cloud. So, what makes us solid? Or, should I say, what makes us ‘solid’? There are two things: (1) We feel ‘solid’ and (2) We look ‘solid’.

To elaborate on #1, something only feels ‘solid’ because of repulsion between the energetic particles composing bulk mass. Together, the composing particles generate force strong enough to repel other bulk objects. So, if I grip my arm and squeeze, the repulsive force only grows and it’s impossible for my hand to pass through my arm.

To elaborate on #2, something only looks ‘solid’ because visible light does not pass straight through. It takes a wandering, meandering path of continually dissipating energy until ultimately the light-energy is emitted from our bodies in the form of electromagnetic radiation that is below the frequency our eyes can detect, e.g. infrared light.

Imagine this, though. What would happen if the range of frequencies of light that our eyes perceive suddenly shifted up? How different would our solid, tangible world look then?

The tendency for light to pass straight through ‘solid’ objects increases as the frequency of the light increases. So, as the range of light our eyes can detect increased, we would initially perceive our neighbor as a Halloween horror, a living, moving skeleton. Eventually, as the detectable range increased further, our neighbor would completely disappear to our view. It wouldn’t be until we reached our hand out and touched them that we would again perceive them as ‘solid’.

In conclusion, as interesting as this all is to consider, I guess I don’t really know how to answer the original question…

Coming to Oneness

TL/DR: Whence comes the natural fruit (the unity that existed in the beginning)? Thoughts on the top-down authoritarian LDS church model versus bottom-up, grassroots, self-determination.

The city of Enoch were of one heart and mind with each other and with God to such an extent that the Lord walked with them. Jacob chapter 5 in the Book of Mormon describes a unity that existed at the first – perhaps the original condition before the fall of Adam and Eve – and that will exist again at the last (yet future). It refers to this as the natural fruit:

“…the trees had become again the natural fruit; and they became like unto one body; and the fruits were equal; and the Lord of the vineyard had preserved unto himself the natural fruit, which was most precious unto him from the beginning.” (Jacob 5.74)

As Margaret Barker has elaborated at length, the ancient temple (in the first temple period) strongly paralleled this idea in its symbolism. The Lord’s purpose (as the great high priest) is to invite us to come to him, to gain this oneness with him, and thereby restore the original unity that existed with God at the first. This is symbolized by the holy of holies of the temple.

Recently at church, we discussed Zion, the condition that existed with the people of Enoch and that the Lord attempted to achieve again with Joseph Smith and the latter-day saints. The two best comments (in my opinion) during this discussion, which did not gain traction, were that rather than manufacturing unity by externally-imposed means, such unity begins when we each individually come to know the Lord. Then, unity between individuals emerges naturally from those individuals having first developed a relationship with the Lord.

I don’t know why this idea did not gain traction. We quickly moved on to other topics. It’s a shame, because I think that what we have in the LDS church is a mirage of unity. We’re united in our mutual agreement that we should be following the program of the church. This mirage of unity is preserved from the top-down by our commitment to do what the general authorities outline for us, what our stake leaders outline for us, what our bishoprics and auxiliary leaders outline for us.

Hallelujah

My arrangement of Hallelujah, a song that I can’t tell is tragic or hopeful as it recounts the fall of the great and wise King David from his exalted place and also references Samson, who was betrayed and stripped of his strength.

My thoughts are on the former as I listen to this song. The violin and cello seem to intercede for the king, petitioning for God’s grace, first in turn, then together, in harmony.

Surely a subject of long Christian debate, whether the Lord’s salvation is broad and deep enough to save even David, guilty of adultery and responsible for the death of Uriah, the lyricist of this song concludes “...love is not a victory march, it’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah.”

The king composed beautiful and prophetic verses (see Ps. 22) concerning the man who would make his abode among the ordinary and broken – those rejected, even despised by society – and who would bring hope and salvation to these lowly and humble.