It is Possible for One Side to be Wrong

It is time to face the facts in this country. We are dangerously divided. You can’t sugarcoat it by saying it’s always been this way between people and groups. You can’t dismiss it as just life in contemporary society. You can’t pretend there is any middle ground any longer.

The evolutionary biologist and author, Richard Dawkins, has said, “When two opposite points of view are expressed with equal intensity, the truth does not necessarily lie exactly halfway between them. It is possible for one side to be simply wrong.”

How true. It’s not that the Democrats are a little right and the Republicans are, too. It’s no longer true that both sides share basically the same political ideals. They don’t. Maybe once, but not anymore. Democrats are not without their own hypocrisies, blunders, irritating passiveness, and cheap compromises. But there are clear differences in the crafting of traditional, well meaning, good for all of society political legislation, which they are still committed to, and what Republican and Tea Party leaders are doing. Big differences there!

It is time to say the Republican and Tea Party leaders in Congress and many of them across the country are simply wrong. Here’s what they are wrong about:

The endless, cynical political obstructionism is wrong

The shaming, belittling of women is wrong

The defunding of Planned Parenthood clinics resulting in many of them closing their necessary services to women is wrong

The distrust of and hateful resistance to Latino immigrants is wrong

The contempt for public education is wrong

The aggressive and hostile and everlasting mocking of the president is wrong

The old, small minded, fear obsessed prejudices against African Americans is wrong

The sneering disdain and refusal to accept gays and forever fighting equal rights for them is wrong

The bowing down to and worship of money and power is wrong

The total approval of creating a society of the haves and the have nots is wrong

The refusal to accept the Affordable Care Act which is now legally sanctioned is wrong

The phony use of religion to get votes is wrong

The excusing of and laughing at bigotry is wrong

The manipulation of the gullible with lies and false threats and getting pleasure in stirring up their anger and promoting hate in them is wrong

The list is not exhaustive, but it highlights many of the actions of Republican and Tea Party leaders whose flawed ideology is breaking down the political and social structures of our society. Nothing gets done in Congress. Instead of giving us a model of cooperation, intelligently working together, guiding the nation in healthy and valuable ways, it displays the worst kind of cynical bickering and discord and utter selfishness.

Just once it would be refreshing to see Republican leaders openly say they are going to work with the President and the Democrats and then follow through with reasonable, useful legislation that reflects what the majority of Americans want and not what the rich and powerful elite and the rigid religious right wing fundamentalists want.

This is not a careless slam against Republicans. And it is not a blanket approval of Democrats. It’s simply an observation that the differences between the two parties could not be any clearer. And though Democrats are not without fault—in my opinion, Republicans are, in everything they are now doing politically and otherwise in this country, simply wrong.

If I had five minutes to evacuate--what would I take with me?

If I was told there was a bomb in my building and I had five minutes to evacuate my apartment I’d grab a grocery bag and quickly toss these items into it: 1. A photo of my grandparents, Mom and Pop and me, when I was 15 years old. I learned what love is made of from them. I learned what it is to be kissed on and hugged in arms so tender they felt like God’s arms. I discovered self worth from those two angels in human flesh. Of all the people in my life, they were the ones who made me feel I counted. Honestly, whatever capacity I have to love others came from them. 2. A sentimental, dog-eared, stars in the margin copy of Pat Conroy’s, “The Prince of Tides.” It is a book I have read three times and often return to for its wisdom. It is a harsh, profoundly tragic novel, the story of a family so broken and tortured by such flawed and wounded people that it is sometimes difficult to turn the next page. And yet it is the story of such Herculean courage and endurance that you want...

I Saw the Delicacy of Life

I was flying Across the deep And I saw the delicacy Of life Wrinkles on the faces Of the old So pure they glistened Like awards The joy of children Running with abandon Their laughter ringing Like chimes in the wind I saw the soft moving waves Across the sea And the trees releasing Their rainbow leaves Birds joined me on my flight And I saw the surface of their wings Adorned with patterns Glorious and unfurled I saw the tears of the sad And the smiles of the glad The suffering in mourning And the celebration of birth As I descended toward the ground Slowly, slowly, softly I saw the gentle grass of the field And smelled the fresh earth It was a perfect landing © 2018 Timothy Moody

Actions Make a Difference

“We make progress in society only if we stop cursing and complaining about its shortcomings and have the courage to do something about them.” ~ Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Physician/Author Pictured here is Kikuko Shinjo, 89 years old, a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb blast. As a 17-year old nursing student she helped nurse victims of the carnage back to health. Many of them died in her care. She says she holds no grudge against America and encourages interaction between the Japanese and Americans. She has devoted her life to peace, saying, “I want all the people around the world to be friends, and I want to make my country peaceful without fighting.” Today she makes colorful paper cranes and donates them to the Children’s Peace Monument at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

The Unclad Soul

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