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Two thoughts come to mind this morning. The deficiencies in       our systems of governance - local, global - and the first two pages of The End of Faith in which he       mistakes political (acts of war) for religious acts, but recognizes understanding the workings of the world is not       the same as knowing the unknowable. Every new twinge provokes fear but what is there to fear?       That one won't live forever? The year of a man is the day of an inchworm and 267 years       on a reverse- rotating Venus. A billion of anything is a lot unless it's the distance one must       traverse to look at God. How much silence, or tinnitus, can you handle? A chipmunk       cannot for long stand still. Once the twinge passes I'm off to the next task: building a       constituency for this compassion, that solution. The dialogue starts with a question. To know the question is       almost certainly to find an answer. Conflating questions is the commonest of logic errors. No       negotiation unless the violence ends. Why not talk while we fight? We can always **** torture or       assassinate between conversations. Justice, or retribution if you want, can remain on the table       even after we achieve understanding. Nature is my religion, I know no other, and community is my       church. The sacrament is policy debate. I attend church everyday. Our jobs are       hymns (the classifieds a hymnal) and payment for services rendered is sung praise and       gratitude. Walking and talking is prayer. Strategies to limit or subvert discussion are the only evil.       Violence is one but not by far the only one. What's the hurry to build a       highway or free a people? The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time and time is       the mercy of eternity.
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Aug 10, 2015
Aug 10, 2015 at 9:20 AM UTC
The End of Faith
Two thoughts come to mind this morning. The deficiencies in       our systems of governance - local, global - and the first two pages of The End of Faith in which he       mistakes political (acts of war) for religious acts, but recognizes understanding the workings of the world is not       the same as knowing the unknowable. Every new twinge provokes fear but what is there to fear?       That one won't live forever? The year of a man is the day of an inchworm and 267 years       on a reverse- rotating Venus. A billion of anything is a lot unless it's the distance one must       traverse to look at God. How much silence, or tinnitus, can you handle? A chipmunk       cannot for long stand still. Once the twinge passes I'm off to the next task: building a       constituency for this compassion, that solution. The dialogue starts with a question. To know the question is       almost certainly to find an answer. Conflating questions is the commonest of logic errors. No       negotiation unless the violence ends. Why not talk while we fight? We can always **** torture or       assassinate between conversations. Justice, or retribution if you want, can remain on the table       even after we achieve understanding. Nature is my religion, I know no other, and community is my       church. The sacrament is policy debate. I attend church everyday. Our jobs are       hymns (the classifieds a hymnal) and payment for services rendered is sung praise and       gratitude. Walking and talking is prayer. Strategies to limit or subvert discussion are the only evil.       Violence is one but not by far the only one. What's the hurry to build a       highway or free a people? The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time and time is       the mercy of eternity.
--ending with lines by James Taylor and Kenneth Rexroth www.ronnowpoetry.com
robert-ronnow
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Aug 10, 2015
Aug 10, 2015 at 9:20 AM UTC
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