Choking Planet • Net

Do we elect people we think will do what we want, or just those who we believe think the way we do? I know people in various positions to the left and right, and I think they really hope for the things they’re passionate about, to come about. Yet, under so-called conservative governments we had our largest tax increases, highest deficit spending, biggest loss of private rights. The liberals have given us cuts to education, continued bias against people who are gay, kept the same basic health-for-profit system, and escalated the wars none of their core supporters want.

The people we know, the people we work with, volunteer with, or even just talk to in the park; those people seem more likely to be doing with their life something close to what they say they believe. Of course, everyone is a little different inside than the public self they present. But honestly, it seems that those we vote into office are about as far from what they tell us they believe in as is possible. Or, it may be that they know in a world of compromise, the things that people want to hear is going to happen, can’t really happen. But in that case, aren’t they just lying to us?

Is PETA an organization created by the meat industry, or at the least highly infiltrated by it? Is there a saboteur high in the PETA ranks that makes certain to mix in over-the-top ideology with the more or less sensible press releases? (Yes they have sensible releases, but they are clearly over-shadowed by the nonsense). Think about it. In the week one of the PETA offices is going to release a statement about local chickens waiting out their pitiful “lives” in the dark with less than an inch of space around them, the PETA home office releases a statement condemning the President for killing a fly on national television.

The latest press release to get media attention dealt with a PETA objection over the use of Punxsutawney Phil to predict weather. This is the same organization that protests the needless torture of animals in a stockyard. For me, this is the problem. Organizations that start out with one objective that could seem sensible to many people and would end up being realized, are steered off course headed in too many directions. It’s as though they’re trying to find reasons to be exclusive, or ridiculed.

In the past, most charities relied on growing in scope to support a heavy infrastructure through more and more donations; it’s like the restaurant that keeps adding crap to it’s menu rather than concentrate on what it does best. But with what we saw with respect to Haiti, I think this might change. Through small donations via Paypal or cell phones, people will be able to make a difference by directly supporting specific causes they believe in, rather than large organizations that merely reflect a percentage of what they believe.

That brings me back to the discussion of PETA and animal rights. While I am totally in favor of humane treatment of farm animals (something like the shepherd guys mentioned in the Bible), I don’t believe that raising animals, or hunting them, for meat is inherently bad. Nor do I think that the screwy opinions PETA occasionally expresses lets me off the hook when it comes to giving a damn about how living creatures are treated. I support the SPCA where I can, because they more closely reflect my beliefs and because they focus on things that can be done right now-in the real world.

Now, here’s my favorite recipe for oven cooked baby back ribs:

There always seems to be some drive to argue that America is or isn’t a nation of religious faith: it isn’t. America is a nation of choice when it comes to God, and there’s good reason to be happy about that.

Many nations have an official religion, which means they have no religion at all, because their citizens aren’t operating out of faith but out of force. If people are coerced into worship, either by a government, a social group, or a parent, then there is no act of faith. If, say, the fundamental basis of Christianity is that a person must come on their own to Christ, it is impossible to ever do this when one is partially there because of outside pressure.

So the next time someone suggests that America is truly a Christian nation because the majority of people who believe in God also claim to accept portions of Christ’s teaching, inform them that we are a Christian nation only because so many people here do not really live within any religion at all. If everyone was a “real” Christian it would be instinct, or a mandate, but it wouldn’t be faith.

How to use a trashcan.

Definitions from the Dictionary of Dichotomy:

Landfill: A place where humans store waste from their current homes to build space for their future ones.

Litter: A scattering of mammal garbage but also refers to a smattering of mammal newborns.