When good values go bad...

I apologize for not writing in a very long time. I feel overwhelmed with all that is going on in the world these days...
But I'm going to resume writing. I feel strongly that the purpose of my existence on this rock just might be so that I can convey to others the things I learn, and if it's not too presumptuous to say, the things God shows me.
I wrote the following half a year ago, but never published it until now. I was trying to convey that there is sometimes a very small distance between good and healthy goals and values, and warped, oppressive and sick values. Many times good people end up doing grievous harm, and find themselves 'on the wrong side' because lofty ideals were persued by any means possible. But the ends never justify the means. The idea of values should regulate the process as much as it states the goal. Charles Colson writes in his book Kingdoms in Conflict,

"A side effect of this delusion is that rather than lose their access to political influence, some church leaders have surrendered their independence...While such rationalizing is understandable, the result is exactly the opposite; they keep their place but lose their voice and thus any possibility of holding government to moral account." (p. 479)

In the book Seduced by Hitler the attempts by the Jewish Council (Judenrat) to negotiate with the Nazis to protect the Jewish people is discussed.

"But as the trains kept rolling to the death camps, the Judenrate's authority slipped away. In the end...the Judenrate's initial compromises with the Nazis became collaboration. The Judenrat became known as the Judenverrat, the "betrayal of the Jews." (p. 282)

Let me tell you what we humans are really good at, where we excel. We kill and eat a cow or a pig, we feed on the best of peaches, pears, and other produce, and in the process of processing and digesting these beautiful things God has given us, we destroy them. What goes in is near perfect, but what comes out is revolting to the extent that you want it as far from you as possible, right? That's the system, that's how we live. So is it that surprising that we can take the best of intentions and the best of the human spirit and turn it into the macabre?

So let me say it again, the ends never justify the means. The idea of values should regulate the process as much as it states the goal.

Here are some examples of the wholesome and healthy vs. the despicable, the reprehensible.

1. Love. Supportive and giving vs. demanding or taking.
Desiring someone else's success and happiness vs. the 'love' of an obsessed stalker, trying to
manipulate the victim into loving back.
Do the ends justify the means, ever?
2. Knowlege. Scientific discovery, vs. product development and marketing.
Discoveries to benefit mankind vs. discoveries to benefit individuals or corporations.
One is constructive and liberating, the other is greedy, manipulative.
Do the ends justify the means, ever?
3. Faith. True faith vs. blind faith and religion.
Opening and nurturing a relationship with your creator, vs. trying to manipulate God or
others.
Do the ends justify the means, ever?
4. Ideals. Resolution of purpose vs. fanaticism. Ethics vs. a 'cause'.
One is guiding oneself, while the other is trying to manipulate others.
Do the ends justify the means, ever?
5. Patriotism. Striving to better our country vs. the pride of nationalism, thinking that your country is better than others. Can we not be proud, yet still love our country?
Those who yell the loudest about patriotism and pride, is their motivation personal or is it to
manipulate, even if it's with the best of intentions?
Do the ends justify the means, ever?

We are living in a confused time. There are some who would like to legislate morality, but it seems like to me the morality they want to legislate isn't for personal responsibility or anyone's edification or growth. The morality that is pushed is more geared towards control. Manipulate by politics and law in order to control the masses. Not even remotely can this be considered a good thing.

Examine your identity...

Today I feel like presenting a couple of exercises for you to try. Find a quiet place, and with a pad of paper and pen/'cil write down who you think you are. You can make it an essay, but probably a list of brief descriptive words would be better. Write down the things you like about yourself, and write down some problem areas that you have, or things you don't like about yourself. What do you think others see when they see you? What are some qualities that they like in you, or dislike? If you're as self-absorbed as I can be, this may take all afternoon! :-)
Now to the important part. Try to imagine growing up in a different family, going to different schools and churches, dealing with a whole different set of problems than you had growing up or that you have now. This is not to take away the value of your individual decision making process, your set of standards for living, but, what if...? What if you had been born in that other family, lived a different life up to now? Do you think your viewpoint would be different? Would you make the same decisions in your life? From the viewpoint of this different imaginary life, what are things you would like about yourself, and what are things you would still have problems with?
What I'm trying to get at is this. What are you made of? What is the core substance of your being? Who are you, really? And I don't mean the pat answer that you give when you're at a social gathering and someone asks you what you do for a living. Any person in their right mind should hate that question!
It's hard to be 100% honest with yourself about your motives, I know, because you're too close to be able to see them clearly. All of us have that innate problem in that, when we try to look at our decision making ability and the choices that we've made, we use the same faulty thought processes to analyze and look for problems. Hence, we only do a partial job of self-diagnosis and correction. Others may try to derive 100% of their feeling of self from what others tell them, and I think that way is incorrect as well. The best you can do is to balance your own 'self-diagnostic' with feedback from others around you, at home and at work, and try to make yourself accountable to someone, a close confidant.
What is left of you, if everything were to be stripped away? None of us wants everything to be stripped away, of course, but if this scares you to no end, maybe deep down you don't think you have much substance to your core being, not much to offer anyone without all of your acquired trinkets and gadgets. Do you need the sportscar to attract women? Do you need the alcohol so you can dance and have fun? Do you need stimulants to be able to compete in your industry? Do you need love and affection, or the financial freedom of money, in order to be happy or content?
EXERCISE:
Let me set up a very (admittedly) crazy scenario. By presenting this I don't in any form or fashion intend to convey that I think this is true (it is not), and I don't intend any sacriledge against our creator, nor do I intend to offend anyone's sense of religious beliefs. I am merely presenting the following as a mental exercise, to open your mind and get you to feel a kinship with others. What if-- There is only one life. By that I mean there is only one being, you. Your spirit has inhabited every single living creature on this planet throughout history, and your spirit is right now also in every other being currently living. This idea is similar to reincarnation, but takes it much further, wrapping around to include everyone and everything, making time meaningless. This means of course, that you are setting yourself up as God, which I believe is a very dangerous thing to try to do seriously. But I do believe that it is perfectly OK to try to sympathize, to try to feel with others and God (and I don't believe God resents an inquisitive mind). Now, as you look at people during the day, remind yourself of this exercise. Think to yourself, "That could be me." What if it was? What if we really were closer linked than any of us know?

A few words on skepticism...
When is skepticism appropriate? Is skepticism ever unhealthy, or incorrect? Does being skeptical mean that you have a closed mind, or an open one? What follows is what I think, and you are free to disagree, as long as you think it through!
Let's say you're in a shopping mall and the fire alarm activates, and people begin to evacuate. That is not the right time to decide to ask about the sources of information. You just calmly evacuate with everyone else, right? Common sense. But many times things are not so crystal clear. We live in a time now in which many things are very cloudy, despite the fact that we have more information at our disposal than people did at any other time in history. Because some people are motivated by an 'end justifies the means' type of ideology, they will try to 'put a spin' on facts to support their agenda. It is naive in the extreme to believe that everyone wants everyone else to hear and know what is really happening. So in this very complex age in which you are required to know car mechanics to understand whether your mechanic is taking you to the cleaners, in which you need to know a certain amount of law to keep from being sued, in which you need to become your own investment expert to guard your retirement, etc. (it seems ad infinitum), we need to become skeptical (our own judge, if you will) of the statements presented to us as facts. Will we always be correct? No, but at least we can make an effort to use the brains given to us.
As a child I was told that dinosaur bones were just fabricated from plaster, and that if there were any real bones they were collected from a wide area, and that what was presented to us as dinosaur skeletons in a museum was actually bones from several different species of regular, contemporary animals like giraffe, elephant, zebra, whatever. This was explained to me with a straight face, and I'm sure, earnestly and fervently held as a core belief by the teller. Why? Because in the mind of the teller, if dinosaurs were indeed real, then that somehow meant that evolution must be real, and that somehow meant that God was not real. What a small and powerless god they must have that has to run from science! Back to the topic of skepticism- People who believe this, that God and dinosaurs are mutually exclusive, or that God and evolution are polar opposites, are skeptical of any evidence to the contrary. These people have a closed mind to any new information, short of hearing it directly from God's lips. This is unhealthy skepticism. On the other hand, I was skeptical of what I was being told, which encouraged me to research and find out for myself what the truth really is. In other words, my skepticism was borne of an open mind that was in search of the truth. This is healthy.
There should be no fear. If your beliefs are nothing but pure rubbish, get rid of them! But if your beliefs actually have credence, if they are worth anything at all, then you should not fear any new information, should you?
We human beings are very good at analyzing data, and coming to logical conclusions. The trouble is that we get lazy and that laziness causes all manner of problems. We compartmentalize and separate by placing labels on people so that we can save time by making snap judgements. Racial predjudice is but one hugely glaring example of this. Partisan (exclusionary) Republican vs. Democrat (USA) thinking is another example. Is it productive?
So, healthy skepticism is that which encourages new data, new discovery.
I have intentionally avoided the word criticism, because I view that word as almost entirely negative. Does criticism ever encourage new thought, or is it merely meant to chastise and correct? I think it's more the latter. Negativity, always being critical, is a disease of not being at ease. Nothing is good. The grass is greener on the other side... etc.
To sum this up- Don't fear new information. Don't fear new thought, or discussing philosophy with someone new, unless you secretly think that your philosophy stinks. Whatever the real truth is, it must be pure and strong, and it can sustain any attack. Don't label or pre-judge people, and don't try to put God in a box (ie- say that God can't do this or that. If He's really God, by definition, He can). By all means, people, use your head. Think! It won't hurt, much!

First blog, yippee! Who knows where this will take me, but this looks fun. I feel I have a lot to offer from the extensive education I've had at the school of hard knocks. I'd like to think I could be a resource to others, a fount of knowlege (hmm - my ego's showing!) but I know this blog will probably mostly be a comfort and help for me.
Who am I? I'm a thinker. I've had more jobs than most people have had in one life. I've been through Bible college, and yet also studied the very spiritual martial art of Aikido, and the spiritual lessons from Alcoholics Anonymous. I've been conservative and liberal, voted Republican at times and Democrat others. This may lead you to think that I'm wishy-washy, but I'm not. My first, and instinctual response to things and people is always to try to see all sides of an argument. I empathize with both sides, and try to see where there is common ground. I am always looking for the hidden motivations of people, the underlying agendas to both sides. Many times, the basic desires of both sides are similar or the same.
The one thing with me that has never changed is that I 'know' without a doubt that God exists. No matter what I do, how long I go spinning around on my own, God is available if I just can relax my death-grip on the steering wheel. Prior to 15 years ago I thought God was judgemental, constantly critiquing and rejecting me, subjecting me to trial after trial in an effort to purify me. I thought that if I really liked something, God would take it away in order to teach me obedience and faith. These ideas have changed for me. I now realize that God is our loving parent, and as a parent wants us to grow up, but always wants the best for us. That just about says it all, doesn't it?
I chose the name Itinerant Soul because that is what I am -- just moving through from 'here' to 'there'. Recently a family pet died, and my grade-school kids were upset. I was sad, too. But I told them that one of the reasons I firmly believe that we do move on to another existence after our body dies, is this -- that energy really doesn't go away, it just changes state to another form of energy. So the energy that is 'us' that was given to us by God (even if you believe that energy came from the universe or Mother Earth you still have to admit that you were given that spark from somewhere) that spark will not just blink out of existence when your body fails, it has substance and must go somewhere, albeit changed, transformed. Meditate on that, and be encouraged. This is also why we must not try to hold on to possessions, people, and even our built up identity, if that identity is defined by things of this world. We must be ready to change, and we must accept the change, not fear the change. We are all itinerant souls.