Farewell to Baris Akarsu

This past Saturday, I was playing around with the widgets for this blog. I found one for Vodpod and thought why not? So, I set one up and while surfing other pods, I came across a pod of Turkish music.

In the summer of 1974 (I was 15 years old), I got to go to Germany to visit my stepmother’s family. Upstairs from Oma’s apartment lived a Turkish family.

The Garden of Eden

We are told that “God loves us”….

Here is the story of Adam and Eve and “The Garden of Eden”. Most of us know this story, even if we are not Christians. It goes something like this:

One day in the garden, Eve was hanging out, relaxing (or maybe eating, whatever). She gets approached by “The Serpent” who tempts her with the fruit of “The Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil”. She eats it and gives some to her mate, Adam. He eats it, too.

“God” (Jehovah) had expressly forbidden them to eat from this tree.

This story has been told to me for the purpose of showing me that women are weaker than men, and that is why we women must obey men. What??? If women are weaker, why did it take a serpent (who must be more than a simple serpent as this one could talk, and knew what the tree offered) to tempt the woman; but it took a “mere” woman to tempt the man??? If I were the serpent and wanted to get both humans to eat from the tree, would I tempt the weaker one or the stronger one first? If I started with the weaker one, could I rely on that one to be able to tempt the stronger one? No, I would start with the stronger one, trusting that the stronger one could indeed tempt the weaker one. Or maybe the man and the woman were equally strong/weak and it did not really matter which one the serpent started with.

I have been told that God gave us free will, yet God forbade us to eat from the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil”. How can you have free will or use it, if you know not the difference between good and evil?

Liberals and Conservatives

We have always had our differences. It seems that today, that we are more polarized than ever. The arguments have become quite heated.

In a free society, some argument is to be expected. After all, we are free to voice our opinions, and we all know that we don’t all agree on everything. This is healthy.

I worry that our current state of extreme polarization is more a result of someone or someones egging us on. “Divide and Conquer” is another very old strategy of those who would rule us. Maybe I am just paranoid…

These days, I hear not so much the heated debates of rational arguments, but rather name calling, and slurs. The Conservatives sneer when they say “liberals”, and the Liberals mock when they say “conservatives”. Yes, these two groups have some differences in the way they see things, and in their goals…

Many years ago when I was a young woman, an older woman (friend of our family) told me that her priest had told her the following: That a free society needs both liberals and conservatives in order to be a healthy vibrant society.

Illegal Aliens

“Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” (Excerpt of the 14th Amendment – bold mine).

Read more at Wikipedia – ” Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution“.

To tell you the truth, I did not know all of this until last week when I received an email from a relative regarding this issue. I, like many others, believed that if a woman somehow managed to give birth on our soil, the baby would be American. In reading more, I have learned that those important words “and under the jurisdiction thereof” makes all the difference. It means that children born to ambassadors (while living here) are not American Citizens. The parents are not under the jurisdiction of our government. Persons who arrive here illegally are likewise not under the jurisdiction of our government. In fact, this amendment is not even about immigration law, but in reality was written as part of the Restoration after the Civil War. It was meant to ensure the rights of African Americans who were born here as a result of slavery.

Learn something new all the time.

This is a hot topic nowadays. I have some opinions and I plan on sharing them with you. So here we go.

I used to be more permissive in my attitudes regarding illegal aliens. I thought, let them be, they do jobs that American workers don’t want to do…Now, upon more reflection, I must say I have changed my mind.

Consider…If we enforced our immigration laws and eliminated illegal aliens as a cheap work force of persons willing to do our dirty work for a song, what would happen? Wouldn’t the employers (who currently pay these illegal aliens a pittance) have to raise the wages in order to entice American Citizens to do these jobs?

Consider…Many of our manufacturing jobs are going overseas. It seems to me that this means fewer jobs available in this country already. But, if we do need more workers, there is nothing stopping us from allowing people to immigrate here legally. Perhaps, on a year to year basis, we could have some sort of formula for determining how many persons we allow to come here to live and work. (I don’t really care where they come from, I think everyone should have an equal chance at immigration. I do think there should be some sort of screening process to weed out the criminals.) Once here legally, they certainly would have the right to study and become naturalized if they so desired.

I am not without sympathy for those who want a better life. However, if someone snuck into my backyard and then insisted I feed them, I would be very put out. Trying to force me to take care of you does not make me sympathetic, it makes me mad. That is what seems to be happening on a larger scale. Illegal aliens sneak into our backyard (country) and then demand rights. Now we must educate their children, pay their medical bills (when many legal citizens don’t have health coverage), and (in many cases) must have bilingual social service workers providing those services (because many of these aliens cannot or will not learn our language). As long as we put up with it, they will of course keep coming here.

On the other hand, I heard on National Public Radio (some time back) where the government increased the fee for applying for naturalization. I found this article: “Paying Too Much To Be American“. I don’t think that it should cost so much to become a citizen. I think it is more important that they learn our laws, history, government, etc. I think it is more important for potential citizens to show they want to work and live here peacefully and productively. So, the written test, a background check, and a reasonable fee (to cover administrative costs) seems fair to me.

Consider…The Republicans that are on such rant about this issue may not really be concerned with illegal aliens. It may be a red herring to keep us from being focused on Iraq, (or more importantly what is happening to our Constitution). It seems strange that just when things heat on on the Iraq issue, other issues like illegal aliens, gay marriage, etc suddenly become hot. (This is just my observation.)

And yes, I do think we should regulate who comes in to this country by securing our borders. In fact, I really don’t understand why this would even be in question. In terms of security, it should be a given. Unless, someone does not really want to secure our borders…

I may no longer be Christian, but I do find wisdom in the bible. One scripture comes to mind “By their fruits shall ye know them”. (Sorry, I don’t remember the book, chapter or verse.) This tells me that “they” can say whatever they want and some can weave a pretty tale; but look at the “fruits” (results) of their labors…What actually happens after all is said and done.

Personally, I care more that our Constitution remains intact with its Checks and Balances in place. With that foundation, we will be more able to solve these other issues. We all have a different perspective, which can be important in solving our problems. Different perspectives allow us to discuss (and understand) the entire issue, and eventually come to a decision. This is our government. The politicians are there to serve us, not the other way around. Remember that, whatever you believe about illegal aliens.

A Rose Still Smells as Sweet

This is an old rant of mine.

Once upon a time, I worked in the mental health services as first a mental health worker, and later as a counselor. I spent 10 years in this field.

When I first started out, we called the people we were helping “patients”. A few years later, we were told to now call them “clients”. Yet, again, a few years later, we were told that these people were “consumers”.

We were told this was all in an effort to remove the stigma from having a mental illness.

Yet, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, etc are still called illnesses. They are diagnosed, and treated with many medical interventions like medicine. Sounds like they are patients to me.

I didn’t even mind “client”. It implies a contractual relationship, whereby someone goes to a professional to receive services to solve a problem. It has a certain feeling of positive action on the part of the person seeking help.

But, “consumer”? It seems (to me) to imply a “consuming of resources”, without bringing anything to the table. When in fact no medical intervention will be completely successful without the “patient” actively participating in their treatment plan.

My other argument has to do with the effort to remove a stigma that is attached to mental illness. The stigma is not attached to the name “patient”, or “client”; it attached to the illness. No matter how many times they change the name, it does not change the nature of the illness. Until we address this issue head on instead of cloaking it in fancy name changes every few years, the stigma will remain.

These people suffer enough. Dealing with mental illness is a lifelong process, often with painful relapses. Just the struggle to find the right medications can be an ordeal. I think that people who are actively dealing with their illnesses deserve to be recognized for their heroic efforts.

Evidently the Current Administration is Omniscent

Please correct me if I get some of this wrong.

My understanding of part of the Patriot Act is that the president and his chosen representatives and/or agents can declare someone to be “an enemy combatant”. That doing so, negates any rights this person has for formal charges, legal counsel, and they don’t need evidence to try and convict this person. This person does not even qualify for the Geneva Convention rights of prisoners of war. When did we decide that some people are not human and do not deserve to be treated as such?

I guess the administration just “knows” who is guilty without the aid of evidence. Forgive me for being stupid, but I thought that evidence was what we used to figure out who was guilty.

Or maybe, this is just a convenient way to get rid of those the administration deems an interference. It certainly is a way to look like they are fighting terrorism. They can say, “See, we have all these enemy combatants in prison! We are protecting the country”.

I also read that after we went into Afghanistan, the people of that country were offered a reward of about $5000.00 for each Al Queda member they turned in. Without needing evidence, I have no doubt there were plenty of names turned in! I’ll even bet many of those names were of goat herders, and farmers, etc. I know I feel safer knowing that those nasty goat herders are locked up!.

This is Scary.

First, of course, there is the fear that eventually myself or someone I know will get declared an enemy combatant. What recourse would we have? Once those Checks and Balances are gone, there is nothing much to stop an unscrupulous (and evil) administration doing whatever they want. Even if this administration has no evil intent, this lack of any “balance of power” leaves us (the people) vulnerable to future abuse.

Secondly, it scares me that when goat herders are locked up without evidence, are the real terrorists going free. Without evidence, how do we know which is which?

Beginning of the End of Belief

My grandmother started me out with the Southern Baptist denomination. When my father remarried and I went to live with him and my stepmother, I continued to attend church even though my parents did not. I was a devout believer and was baptised at around age 10.

As a teen-ager, I even taught vacation bible school. I was involved with the youth group as well.

At age 16, I had a question about religion. I went to my pastor and asked. I was told that since I was female, I was not allowed to ask the pastor questions directly. He said I needed to ask my husband or my father. I was not married and my father did not attend church nor did he read the bible. I belonged to a very small church and my pastor knew these things. I even pointed them out to the pastor. He insisted I talk to my father.

How very unsatisfying! How demeaning! I ask you, does having a penis somehow endow males with spiritual knowledge? It made no sense to me (still doesn’t). After all, if I have a medical question, I ask a doctor, etc. I had a spiritual/religious question, so I went to the person who was trained in religion and spirituality.

It seems more of a way to make sure the females only know what their male “masters” want them to know. Maybe that pastor did not want to step on another male’s toes by giving the female any information her father or her (theoretical) husband did not want her to have.

That was the beginning of my deconversion from Christianity. I did not give up on Christianity yet, though. I have always had a deep need to seek Truth, and I am stubborn. I thought maybe it was just this church….

The Authoritarians

The Authoritarians – A very interesting ebook by Bob Altemeyer. It is about why people follow leaders, even ones who are cruel tyrannical liars. Although, the book is a sociological study, it is written in clear, easy to understand terms. It broadened my understanding a great deal. I highly recommend you check it out. It is free.