Atlanta Unitarian

Yes, you read me right. The search for the most pure anti-war candidate among the Democrats is an exercise in futility, backward thinking, and self-defeat. Yes, the Iraq war is wrong. Yes, the Iraq war was always wrong. Yes, it would have been great if someone had stood up to President Bush at the time he was planning this ass-backward, imperialist invasion. But the problem is this is not 2003, or even 2004. This is 2007. The Iraq problem now is how do we leave their country in a way that minimizes the threat of expanding into a possible regional civil war. It does not matter what various Senators wish they had done or might have done in 2003. George W. Bush was the president in 2003 and he was going to find a way to go to war and invade Iraq one way or another. It's doubtful that one or two or even ten principled senators could have done much about that. The debate about which candidate was or is the most anti-Iraq war, to paraphrase John Kerry, is the wrong debate about t...

Inspired Thich Nhat Hanh' s ideas on inter-being, I have developed a related idea of non-duality. The main concept is to see others as essentially similar to yourself, especially when you have the impulse to distance yourself from them. It's an interesting but difficult practice for me. A number of times each day, I see someone who I pronounce a judgement on in the quiet of my own mind. I decide that they are mean, or selflish, or stupid, or inconsiderate. This is almost a relfex action. It comes from my very well developed sense of wrong and right, which others are continually violating. When someone else violates my sense of right, I judge them, I feel disappointed from them, and then become estranged from them. I decide that it's better if I avoid them. The principal of non-duality says to me that the flaw which I see in them is also somehow in me, if only in a small and hidden way. Even if I do not agree with what they do, I can see the human feeling or impulse...

It seems to me that the reason we in our culture are driven to distraction is that we have forgotten how to love emptiness. The Tao Te Ching makes great mention of emptiness. It is noted that emptiness is a valuable characteristic. It's emptiness that makes a cup or a room valuable. Vessels of empty space are what make all other forms of activity possible. The most sacred emblem of emptiness is the womb, from which all life comes. We, people of our day and age, abhor emptiness in all of its forms. We work against empty schedules, meetings with empty agendas, empty wallets, empty minds. We see emptiness as a sign of poverty and weakness. I myself have always greatly feared my own boredom. But boredom is not so frightening really. It's quite human and mundane and perhaps even comfortable now and then. I'd like to be able to see emptiness as a strength and a virtue. I'd like to be able to sit with emptiness comfortably, to make friends with her. I'd like to ...

Any item that is of value in the right proportion becomes a hazard in excess. Food we need to live, but in excess it causes obesity and discomfort. Rest we need to recuperate, but in excess it can make us dull and listless. We are biological creatures, and our health and vitality depends upon balance and moderation. But we are driven by an economic system premised on the concept that more is always better. It is always better to be richer rather than poorer. It is always better to make more money. It is always to consume more things, have bigger homes and vehicles, to go more places, to have more experiences. It is better to read more, to know more, to do more, to conquer more. Not only is our economic system based on the concept that more is better, our culture is based on the concept that more is better. Even among the bohemain counter-culture, where accumulating stuff is looked down upon, people still want to travel more, to hike in more wild places, to try more unusual exp...

It's interesting how this innocuous phrase has turned saccarine because of its abuse by certain right-wing talking heads. "Great American" now sounds like it has something to do with a steadfast patriotism and jingoism that stands against criticism, no matter how soundly grounded. But America has produced a significant amount of greatness, which is easy to overlook considering our current retrograde state. The following is a brief list of some of my favorite great Americans; I'd like to hear about some of yours. Walt Whitman Whitman is one of the great scribes of the American scene in all its diversity and nobility. Whitman celebrated American vitality, creativity, and versatility. He celebrated the common man and woman and the multiple everyday people who comprise the pride of the country. Whitman elevated the glories of democracry to higher than that achieved by any previous aristocracy. Ralph Waldo Emerson Emerson was considered one of the first American intel...

I was reading through the UN Millenium Human Development Goals the other day for research at work. Human Development Report 2003, Millennium Development Goals: A compact among nations to end human poverty . As I reflect back upon this report, among the goals that I recall from the report: -Reducing child mortality -Increasing access to basic health care -Increasing access to education -Spreading democracy and democratic practices -Reducing violent conflicts around the globe -Reducing violence against women and empowering women Aren't these American values? Aren't these moral values? Wouldn't you like to see an American foreign policy that supported these goals as a primary objective? Wouldn't such a foreign policy lay the groundwork for putting an end to terrorism? I have a hard time understanding those who oppose the UN as an institution and its mission. By the way, the world is currently falling short on reaching these goals.

I went to Great Clips the other day for a haircut. I was struck by the soul-crushing corporateness of the whole experience. Every time the door opens, some disheartened employee chirps "Welcome to Great Clips." Each cutting area is designed with corporate flags, large blow-up pictures of smiling models, but no signs of the personal identity of the cutters - no photos, no news clippings, no comics. The music is on a generic, very white-sounding pop station. The employees are wearing near-uniforms, all dressed in long-sleeved black. I tried to make some conversation with my cutter. Her name was Kendra, she looked to be about 20. My haircut was complete in about 15 minutes. I wondered to myself if Kendra had worked at any other salon, and if she had, why she ended up coming here. Maybe Great Clips gave her a chance as a newly trained stylist. All I know is I keep coming back and I hardly ever seem the same stylist twice. Should I avoid Great Clips because they try to homo...