The Politics of Fear

I've lived through quite a few election cycles now. I cannot recall a cycle in my lifetime that was as fearful as this one.

Many on the left are so terrified of Donald Trump that they will overlook and rationalize anything Hillary Clinton says.

Many on the right are so terrified of Hillary Clinton that they will overlook and rationalize anything Donald Trump says.

And many of them do so on a regular basis.

Both sides freak out at the idea anyone would vote third party. "A vote for [third party] is a vote for {Trump,Clinton}" (insert whichever one they are afraid of). And each side is utterly convinced. (Apparently if I vote third party they will both end up in office. That actually sounds like a deal to me, as they'd be too busy fighting to do much else.)

People are losing friends over this. Almost every day I see someone threaten to unfriend anyone who will vote for {Clinton,Trump}. Or see that they have done so. There's a lot of bad "theology" in Star Wars, but sometimes Yoda is right:

"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

It's not guaranteed, but it often happens, and I see it running amok in the USA.

I refuse to live in fear. I refuse to be angry at any of you. I refuse to hate. I refuse to inflict suffering.

Whether you believe in the God of the Bible or not, I urge you to consider the following:

"There is no fear in love. Perfect love chases away fear." (my translation)

Choose to love those around you. Listen to what they are really saying. Talk with them instead of at them. Hold them. Hug them. Walk with them.

Fear will ultimately destroy you. It will steamroll everything and everyone you care about, if you feed it. Love will free you, and offer freedom to everyone around you. Which one sounds like the better deal?

I don't want Ms Clinton or Mr Trump as president. But I'm not going to unfriend anyone over their vote for either.

Don't Be That Guy

I just got back from coffee with a friend. She is the third young woman during the past week to say something that translates to "guys are jerks". None of them actually put it that way. None of them were being judgmental. They're simply fed up with guys treating them as something other than equals- whether as lesser people, objects, servants, fools, toys, diversions, or whatever.

I know that had I pressed them they would have agreed it's #notallmen . After all, they were entrusting their feelings to a guy. But the fact remains that a lot of the guys they interact with (in at least one case, a huge majority) treat them poorly. A common theme is that they don't feel it's safe to accept anything- even a frappuccino- from most men because they have learned there's a good chance that those men will expect sex.

Seriously? Guys, if you think she's just a cheap whore, what does that say about your sense of self-worth? While I'd like to believe that most of the guys I know would never do this, I know better. That's really sad- as much for the guys as for the women.

You're all worth so much more than that. Learn to love and respect yourself. And trust me; if you treat women (or men) this way, you don't really respect and/or love yourself, even if it's so deep inside you've buried or lost sight of it.

If you knew who you really were, if you could see the beauty in whose image you (and all those people around you) were made, you'd be so much happier. You'd make other people so much happier. God's crazy in love with you! Soak in that a while; life becomes a lot more fun.

You're awesome and loved. So is she (or he). Let's treat ourselves and each other better.

Escalator to Heaven

I haven't heard it via my ears in at least a week, but it's on repeat in my head. I've known this song by heart for years. I still love it. And no, I don't think "love" is too strong a word. Nor is "rapture". If I could go back in time to just one concert that I didn't make, the Led Zeppelin 1973 Atlanta concert would probably be it. It's definitely one of the top three.
I still remember where I was the first time I heard "Stairway to Heaven". It literally stopped me in my tracks, one of a select handful of songs to do so. Eventually I returned to Earth enough to find something to sit on while the song finished. Afterward, the DJ's babble and whatever music followed seemed profane. I turned the stereo off and tried to recreate what I'd heard. I couldn't hear the song enough.
I'd been a Zep fan since the first time I heard "Immigrant Song". I almost wrecked my bicycle when that came through my transistor radio. Yeah, music had a profound effect on me. It still does. And Zep did that to me several times.
I know a lot of people don't like Stairway because "it's been played to death on the radio!" I have a better solution; I quit listening to most music radio. Oh, I wander the "dial" now and then, but 99% of music on the radio is the dregs of a tiny subset of whatever the bean counters have decided America wants. Barf.
So I still love some of my old favorites, "Stairway to Heaven" included. There are times (like tonight) when it hits me like it did the first time, stopping me in my tracks, a transcendent, spiritual experience, effortlessly transporting me to an amazing place.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, if there's a band you really want to go see in their prime, go see them. Find a way. I don't run into many people who say, "Man, I wish I had never gone to see Zook Spliffer Ganesh when 'Reefling the Sterm Acht' was my favorite new album!" But I know a lot of Reefling fans who still rue the decision not to go.