Ostrich

I don't watch news. The information I get is what I read from the 5 headlines on the Yahoo home page, and the morning update on my radio station. Sometimes I click on stories to get more information, but the stories I click on are usually science or health related and so normally I avoid delving into more info on current events & the state of the world because it just creates fear.

Fear for the future. Fear for America. Fear for the world. Reading an editorial
in regards to the London Terror plot made me cry. It mentions that a moderate (read non-fanatic) muslim who reported an overheard conversation to a Brit, wouldn't sit down with an American to mention disturbing converstations he or she had overheard. See why I don't watch or listen to current events? It runs from ridiculous (how many days until Paris Hilton retires from public life?!) to terror-ific (the next attack on the West may be 10 years down the line).

Having lived in the UK has given me a MUCH broader scope of perspective. As frustrated as I was with the culture when living there, I did indeed feel safer than I do here in America. That seems so obvious as I write it... Great Brittain has survived, flourished, conquered, been conquered, survived and thrived for centuries... we, the colonists, are just young upstarts -- trying to prove ourselves and make lots of money, in a different age than when the Brits were doing their war-mongering and conquering. Nukes didn't exist. Instant news reports didn't exist.

One could make the argument that where we are today can be traced back to the crusades -- yes the crusades were bloody and horrible and unfair. Not to mention a long long long time ago... But the repercussions *then* -- well, no one was able to kill thousands of people with two airplanes and two high rise buildings. The world as we know *now* that we are dealing with -- have roots in the crusades, I would think. Hatred for a culture (Christians) being handed down from generation to generation, the stories growing as they were told over and over and over again...

I'm a Christian, so I'm supposed to replace the fear with faith, and 98% of the time I am able to do that -- I stick my head in the sandpit, ignore all the fear-mongering, hate, war.... and I get it that fear (even just 2% of it) paralyzes us (me), and stops us (me) from doing all the things that we (I) want to do. Himself's family lives in Scotland -- at this minute I don't ever want to get on an airplane again. Ever. I love travelling. I like flying, despite all the pains-in-the-a**e* of airplane travel.

Even if I take on the attitude of "If its your time its your time" -- which is what often gets me through fear -- and get on the plane, holy desert drought batman, NO WATER?! For 13+ hours?!! Or worse... what if himself has to fly without me to see them -- that separation invokes all sorts of horrible fearful feelings. The What If's take over and there the paralyzation begins, which then begets the 'why bother' attitude, which turns into depression because I'm not accomplishing anything.... and that is a crappy downward spiral I don't want to be in. again. Ignoring has worked well for me in being the person I want to be...

I also believe 100% that what we put out there is what we'll get back. Energy. Attitude. Hate. Love. Fear. Judgement. Do not judge lest you be judged. So Fear begets Fear. Love begets Love. The gentler energy takes more time, but like water on a stone (a la Beth Nielson Chapman song "Sand and water"), it eventually wins. Ultimately I'm an optimist with realistic tendencies (sounds like some kind of medical diagnosis).

I strongly dislike talking and discussing politics and world events -- it just brings to the surface my frustration, it shows my lack of knowledge and then I feel ignorant, and one thing I say I can't abide is purposeful ignorance. Well, guess what I'm doing when I bury my head in the sand? Guess I need to revisit that attitude ... (!) Mirror Mirror on the wall -- there is some quote or philosophy out there that says we hate in others what we hate in ourselves. Ta-Da!!

And my mom & step-dad are die-hard republicans, my dad & step-mom and half-brother are seriously die-hard democrats -- and according to my step-mom, it is okay being a conservative democrat, but not okay being a liberal republican. eh?!? The golden rule applies to both sides I guess - "Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You" -- but can anyone really live this ideal honestly, without judgement, without hypocrisy, without arrogance for being 'more moral' than everyone else... ?

My mom bought Crunchy Cons by Rod Dreher for me to read, as it seems to sum up a better idea of the kind of republican I would make if I put any effort into a political belief. I registered republican at 18 because my mother was... and boyfriend at the time rolled his eyes and said, "I knew it!" and I countered with the reason he had registered as a democrat... because his parents were. I guess he didn't want to argue about it.

And if you want to read something really interesting that will shake up some of your belief system (if you are a person of faith), take a look at this website by Brian Elroy McKinley.

I was doing a search on ultra conservative guy James Dobson and found Elroy's site. Sometimes the Religious Right invokes the same fear in me as other ultra groups... and reading recent Christian blogs has showed me it is okay to be a Christian AND a Democrat (Gasp!), which (here comes a major shift in thought) is why I'm so grateful for the internet! [hows that for a transition out of sticky religion/political crap, er... stuff?!!]

Net Neutrality. Here's a paper that is worth reading to help get what the issue is about and why it is important to us (me). And here is a site that tells you about it in less words. And here is another, better, even easier to understand analogy of the 'net and what net neutrality is. I'm not saying for or against, just we (and I do mean WE) all, who value the internet and what it has added to our lives -- or, er... distracted to our lives -- should be aware of regarding the issue.

This is longer than I anticipated, and if you're still reading -- if you don't know or understand where I'm coming from regarding the state of the world, and how God and faith is supposed to somehow be added into the mix -- well, welcome to my world. Now... where is that sandpit?