Derek Crockett 5/23/22 Derek Crockett 5/23/22

Are We Insane?

“Election cycle after election cycle, our habit of reelecting the same or similar people and expecting different results, has pushed our republic precariously closer to its social destruction. Are we insane? “

Have you ever given thought to how life would be if far-right Christians got their way and created a theocracy in America? Our republic ruled by their interpretation of the Bible? If you have never read the Bible, you might think, what could be wrong with that? A government, run by the "good book," might be the solution we've been searching for. Okay, fair enough.

However, if you have read the Bible, actually read it, and not just highlighted certain verses on Sundays in church, you should immediately realize that a Bible-based theocracy would make life in America the most oppressive imaginable. And not even Christians, except those in power, would be exempt from its tyranny.

Electing and reelecting Moral Majority, Tea Party, Christian Nationalists, and other right-wing extremists, and yes, they are extremists; as America has done over the last thirty years, has not only divided us, but has eroded our civility and significantly diminished our quality of life. From the Office of the President to the offices of our local city mayors, partisanship and party politics have divided our federal, state, and local governments, and given us ineffective leadership. Yet, despite that, we repeatedly reelect or elect the same or similar representatives!

Election cycle after election cycle, our habit of reelecting the same or similar people and expecting different results, has pushed our republic precariously closer to its social destruction. Are we insane?

In his last book, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, published in 1995, Carl Sagan, astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrobiologist, author, and all-around smart guy, predicted an America much like America today:

"I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time—when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness."

And by dividing us with disinformation, misinformation, conspiracy theories, fear, and injustice, it is into superstition and darkness that those intent on creating a Bible-based theocracy in America are trying to lead us. And many, indoctrinated and conditioned through faith to accept a theocratic understanding of the Bible, manipulated to satisfy a Christian nationalist agenda, blindly follow.

What will it take for us to regain our democratic values? The rights they entail, our sense of justice and fair play, and yes, our sanity?

Perhaps we should examine those countries that are theocracies. Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Israel, and others. Is what they have what we want for ourselves?

Maybe you're thinking, well, those countries aren't Christian. So an American theocracy, being Christian, might be better. And I can understand why, as an American, you might think that way. However, because religious beliefs are subjective, I wholeheartedly encourage you to think again!

The truth about God is no one knows the truth about God. Therefore, all beliefs about God are concepts and nothing more than pure speculation. This means that whatever we believe about God is open to interpretation. God, then, can be whatever we want God to be. The same is true for a Christian theocracy. Whatever those in control want it to be, it will be. And it doesn't have to be based on any version of the Bible that we might be familiar with. Theocracies are not about God; they are about control!

Am I worried? Yes. The recent Supreme Court leak about the overturning of Roe vs. Wade certainly has given me cause for concern.

But despite the alleged leanings of an out-of-touch court, I doubt that most Americans would welcome a theocracy. However, that we might end up that way, because of our complacency, is another matter.

As for me, other than the sun becoming a red giant and burning up the Earth in my lifetime, when I consider the prospect of America becoming a theocracy, there is nothing else I find less desirable. But I would feel much more confident that it wouldn't happen if I was sure most Americans felt the same way, and were ready and willing to take a stand to prevent it!

We'd like to know your thoughts on the matter. Take a moment. And let us know what you think, in the comments section.

Derek Crockett 5/16/22 Derek Crockett 5/16/22

Us

“The United States of America is a multi-race, multi-ethnic, multi-culture country. Diverse in its people, beliefs, and lifestyles. A robust stew. Not a melting pot. Its flavor, not defined by only one of its ingredients, but by them all!”

The United States of America is a multi-race, multi-ethnic, multi-culture country. Diverse in its people, beliefs, and lifestyles. A robust stew. Not a melting pot. Its flavor, not defined by only one of its ingredients, but by them all!

Because some refuse to believe that, it bears repeating. So, I’m going to write it again!

For far too long, we have allowed the ambitions of power-hungry politicians, party politics, right and left-wing extremists, religion, and slanted media platforms to manipulate and divide us and foster the belief that our differences make us enemies. Then use our anger to allow them to justify their attempts to discriminate against and disenfranchise the groups they target. All under the same mantra: We are losing our country!

Since January 1, 2022, to date, there have been close to 200 mass shootings in America. The senseless killing of American citizens. By American citizens! Men, women, children. Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends.

And for what? To protect our tribe? To instill our fears in others? And because of what? Not electing political representatives who first ask, what is best for America instead of what is best for my party and me? The influx of social influencers propagating misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories? Or is it highly paid media voices sitting safely in their studios, promoting so-called news stories that encourage listeners to believe that they are being replaced with the ceaseless flood of immigrants pouring through America’s porous borders? Which is it? All of them? Some of them? Or is it us? Yes, us!

We don’t have to believe the big lie, the misinformation, and the disinformation. We don’t have to buy into conspiracy theories. But because many blame others for their shortcomings and what they lack, instead of themselves, many do!

The Christian Nationalist narrative on persecution, for example, is a red herring. If not an outright lie! There is not one government agency in the United States persecuting Christians. Nationalists or otherwise. Instead, Christian Nationalists and other Christian organizations have successfully lobbied their congressional representatives to enact more and more legislation to ensure and enhance their ever-growing bevy of “religious rights.” Which has given them a perpetually expanding cache of outdated laws. Allowing them to discriminate against minorities, disenfranchise members of the LGBTQ community, and marginalize other groups that don’t believe as they do.

In America today, it has become profitable for politicians to be obstructionists in any form or manner. From climate change deniers to big-lie repeaters to conspiracy theorists. The more outlandish their claims, the greater their opportunity for fame.

To harass and disenfranchise certain groups, ban books, prevent the open discussion of racial injustice, and block legislation intended to aid and assist the poor and the middle class have become lucrative checkpoints on the road to being elected or reelected. And who elects or reelects them? Us! And after we do, who forgets who they work for? Us!

So, if we want a better republic, a better America, and genuine change, we’ve got to fix some things. America’s infrastructure, the weaknesses in our system of government, supplementing the salaries of America’s workers to ensure a living income, protecting the rights of all, and much more. Okay, so it’s a lot of things. But first, we should start by fixing the main thing; the primary reason we are not making positive forward progress and living as a united people. Us!

Derek Crockett 5/9/22 Derek Crockett 5/9/22

Acting Against Our Own Best Interests

For myriad reasons, people consistently act against their own best interests. From dropping out of school, to who we marry, making investments without proper research, to who we elect to public office, we sometimes counter our past success with decisions that ensure our future failure.

How to support creating a theocracy and lose your rights:

Persist in ignoring the “Religious Freedom” legislation that gives Christian nationalist organizations the right to discriminate against and disenfranchise the LBGTQ community and other groups.
Keep believing the Capitol attack on January 6, 2020, was nothing more than “Legitimate political discourse.”
Convince yourself that Roe vs. Wade is no longer needed.
Continue to elect and reelect Republican Party candidates and incumbents.

You’ll get the government you deserve.

For myriad reasons, people consistently act against their own best interests. From dropping out of school, to who we marry, to making investments without proper research, to who we elect to public office, we sometimes counter our past success with decisions that ensure our future failure. Although studies on this matter are voluminous and numerous, researchers have not reached a consensus that satisfactorily explains the behavior.

Personally, I think that beneath our facade of responsible decision-making, we’re all a bit nuts!

But hey, that’s just me. Still, what else explains why people voted for Donald Trump and reelected the senators who acquitted him?

Today, what has the left side of America’s politics up in arms is the strong possibility that the Supreme Court will overturn Roe vs. Wade. The 1973 Landmark ruling that America has held as the law of the land for fifty years. Though most legal scholars think Roe vs. Wade should be “settled law,” it seems that the court is on the cusp of making another boneheaded decision that will probably cause more harm than good. (Think Dred Scott decision, Plessy vs. Ferguson, and Hanging Chads)

Before the 1973 ruling on Roe vs. Wade, many women seeking an abortion, which was illegal, died because of poorly performed procedures, unsanitary conditions that promoted sepsis, and various other complications.

How many? No one really knows. The statistics on how many women died from illegal abortions pre-Roe vs. Wade are mostly guesswork.

However, Erica Sackin of Planned Parenthood addressed the lack of accurate and provable data on the matter with the following statement:

“While stigma, fear, and poor tracking mean we can never know the exact number who suffered before Roe v Wade was decided, what we do know is that even one woman’s death from abortion before it was legal is one too many. Abortion is health care, and it is one of the safest medical procedures there is — there is no reason anyone’s health or life should be endangered by politicians hell-bent on keeping people from accessing this basic health care. Yet far too many politicians seem determined to take us back to the days before Roe was decided — where abortion was virtually inaccessible, and all those who could become pregnant paid the price.”

Well, there it is. With women’s health, the primary concern, the question now is, what will the American people do? Have a collective moment of acting against our own best interests, accept the end of Roe vs. Wade, and return to the situation before 1973? Or show our displeasure and demand that Congress write abortion protections into federal law?

We'd like to know your thoughts on the matter. Take a moment. And let us know what you think in the comments section.

Derek Crockett 5/4/22 Derek Crockett 5/4/22

The Truth and Reality of God

“The responsibility to create better lives for ourselves lies in our own hands. We decide what and what not to believe. We choose what to embrace and what to ignore. The truth of our reality rests upon the understanding that God is inherent within all creation. And through Divine Essence, guides each of us towards the most favorable outcome, for ourselves and other people.”

Herein lies knowledge: God is innate to creation. Inherent within all that exists. Although not personal, God is an individual experience. Though we cannot share the truth, depth, or understanding about how we experience God from one to another, for those who experience God and acknowledge and accept Him, God's existence is undeniable. And proving God's existence is wholly unnecessary. We gain knowledge of God, not through religion, but through accepting the truth of the reality in which we live. Religion is the antithesis of God. It purports knowledge of God that it does not possess. And resorts to mythology, superstition, and fear, to keep its adherents in bondage.
Herein lies the truth: That we are born, we live, and we die is beyond speculation. We have done nothing to prepare ourselves to be here. And yet we are here. Fully able to function in the reality in which we exist. That it was God who created us. That there is an eternal afterlife when we die, that we live again through reincarnation, and that we need a savior, are all beliefs; and have no factual basis. However, that we are responsible for ourselves and accountable to each other is a fact of everyday life. Firmly rooted in the second principle of The Divine Law: Respect and treat others as we would ourselves. And is the foundation upon which we must build, if we are to live at peace with each other in this reality. The penance for not understanding and accepting this truth is not an afterlife spent in the unquenchable fires of an eternal hell. But the war-torn, strife-driven, corrupt uncertainty of life in the reality in which we will live, every day!
Herein lies understanding: God's word is not bound in sacred holy books only a few can decipher. It is inherent within each of us through God's Divine Essence. Therefore, God has chosen none for special favor. Not one. A god that would favor one of its creations over another is a god created by man. God has revealed the truth of this reality to us all!
Many religions teach that we should fear God. But the fear of God is not of God, but of religion itself. The Divine Law holds that we experience God, not through fear, but through the realization and profound understanding that God's Divine Essence intrinsically connects us one to another, and all else God has created. We are of God, and God is of us. Our responsibility is to acknowledge and accept God. Without indoctrination, without mythology, and without fear.
Herein lies salvation: We have allowed religion to divide us and create the mythology that the divisions that exist between us are of God. But our divisions are of our own making and design. Through indoctrination and fear, religion has led us to believe that our salvation lies in the hands of their gods. And have convinced us that their pastors, priests, rabbis, and imams are the shepherds God has chosen to lead and guide us to what God desires of us. And many, like sheep, blindly follow them.
However, contrary to the concepts and teachings of some religions, the Divine Law teaches that salvation is not forgiveness and acceptance through the divine mercy of a god. Instead, it is the protection we provide to each other and our planet's ecology from ourselves.
The Philosophy of the Divine Law defines salvation as the prevention of humanity's social destruction and the deterrence of our planet's ecological devastation by human means. And holds that God has already provided humankind with the guidance essential to save itself and live in peace.
The responsibility to create better lives for ourselves lies in our own hands. We decide what and what not to believe. We choose what to embrace and what to ignore. The truth of our reality rests upon the understanding that God is inherent within all creation. And through Divine Essence, guides each of us towards the most favorable outcome, for ourselves, other people, and our current environment.
To save ourselves, we do not have to worship a god, follow a religion, perform rituals, or believe in mythology. Instead, we have but consciously to use and consistently practice what God has already provided us: the ability to love and respect each other, seek and accept the truth, and live our lives positively and responsibly.
The wise understand that salvation is not God's grace, or a gift, but a provision. And recognize that achieving salvation does not require a faith-based contract, or complete surrender of one's self to appease a god. But a conscious and sustained effort by humankind to do what is necessary, to save itself!