Freedom Versus Tyranny

I have written more than once on the Garden of Eden. I keep getting drawn back to that story. It seems to be central to our continued struggle between freedom and tyranny.

Consider memes as defined by Wikipedia:

A meme (pronounced /miːm/), as defined by memetic theory, constitutes a theoretical unit of cultural information, the building block of culture or cultural evolution which spreads through diffusion propagating from one mind to another analogously to the way in which a gene propagates from one organism to another as a unit of genetic information and of biological evolution.^[1] Multiple memes may propagate as cooperative groups called memeplexes (meme complexes).

Biologist and evolutionary theorist Richard Dawkins coined the term meme in 1976.^[2] He gave as examples tunes, catch-phrases, beliefs, clothing fashions, ways of making pots, and the technology of building arches.

Meme-theorists contend that memes evolve by natural selection (similarly to Darwinian biological evolution) through the processes of variation, mutation, competition, and inheritance influencing an individual entity’s reproductive success. So with memes, some ideas will propagate less successfully and become extinct, while others will survive, spread, and, for better or for worse, mutate. “Memeticists argue that the memes most beneficial to their hosts will not necessarily survive; rather, those memes that replicate the most effectively spread best, which allows for the possibility that successful memes may prove detrimental to their hosts.”^[3]

A short story written in 1876 by Mark Twain, A Literary Nightmare, describes his encounter with a jingle so “catchy” that it plays over and over in his mind until he finally sings it out loud and infects others (also known as an earworm).

I have only recently begun looking at the topic of freedom from the perspective of memes. What follows are some of my thoughts.

Did God Lie?

I use the New International Version of the Bible as it was my grandfather’s Bible, given to me by my grandmother after Grandpa died.

Find this version (and many other versions and translations) at BibleGateway.com, a searchable online bible.

In Genesis, in the story of the Garden of Eden, God tells Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He told them they would die if they ate from this tree.

Genesis 2:15,16,17

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” – Bible, New International Version

But, then, they ate of it and did not die. God got mad instead, cursed them, and kicked them out of the garden.

Genesis 3:1-5

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ “

4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

And here seems to be the motive…”For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” I know, everyone believes the serpent is a liar. But, Adam and Eve did not die when they ate of that fruit…and I wonder why God does not want us to know good and evil…would we then see not only what is good and evil in ourselves, but would we then be able to recognize good and evil in others? Why would God not want this, but the serpent would?

Protest Pit

It seems that the Bush Administration wants to limit where protestors can gather.  The Mall is traditionally the place where demonstrators have rallied for such ideals as free speech.  See Washington Post article here.  hmmmm…

Recently in San Antonio, they have been trying to limit where demonstrators my gather as well.  hmmm…

When we allow them to shuffle us off to the side, it is a small step to eliminating our right to assemble at all.  Remember that frog…

ImpeachBush.org has a form you can fill out to send your message to the National Park service (the agency involved in this development) that you support free speech and the right to assemble at the Mall as is traditional.

In an email I received from ImpeachBush.org, they said:

The NPS has set up a “public-private” partnership that allows business interests and real estate developers — in coordination with the government — to determine the future of the National Mall. The Jan. 12 public meeting was intended to have low attendance to allow the government to claim public involvement while simultaneously excluding it. When confronted with the fact that they had done no legitimate outreach about the public meeting to the hundreds of thousands of people who have actually used the National Mall, the President of the Trust for the National Mall responded that she had sent notice to the Board of Trade!  The NPS issues 3,000 permits a year for the use of the National Mall, but there has been no effort to notify any of those organizations about the proposed changes. Their attempt to exclude people from this process could not be more clear.

I personally think this is insult to injury.  Take away our traditional place of assembly and turn it into a commercial enterprise…

Invoking the Spirit of Martin Luther King

On this day we honor a man who had a great dream.  His dream was for all of us to have the same rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  On this day, we need his spirit to come alive again; to remind us of that dream.  This video report with excerpts from Mr. King’s speeches, illustrates quite clearly our current situation.

Some of the stories remind me of an observation I made some years ago.  About 9 years ago, I worked for a corporation’s call center (setting up repair appointments for customers).  When I first started, the corporation had a weekly tradition of buying bagels for all the employees on Fridays.  After I had been there for some months, we had a staff meeting where it was announced that we had just had the “most profitable quarter ever“.  The following week, at another meeting, we were told that it was too expensive for the company to buy us bagels and would therefore discontinue the practice.  I know, bagels are such a small thing.  For me, it was not the bagel.  For me, the point was that they told us we had just helped them make more money than ever before and now they could not afford the small morale booster of a weekly bagel.

It is the way of cooking a frog to do it in small degrees at a time…Chip away at benefits…slowly raise the deductions for health care…slowly integrate two worker’s jobs into one worker’s job…they really don’t need us anymore.

Hear What Kucinich has to say in Re-hosted Nevada Debate

From what I understand, MSNBC originally invited Dennis Kuchinich (Democratic candidate for President) to participate in the Nevada Debate. Within 48 hours, MSNBC contacted Kucinich to say they had “changed their criteria” and that Kucinich was no longer invited. Kucinich then filed suit and the court sided with him. MSMBC then appealed and just prior to the debate, the court sided with MSNBC. Hmmmm.

In response, Democracy Now “re-hosted” that debate so as to include Dennis Kucinich. In spite of MSNBC’s efforts to squeeze out Kucinich, we still get to hear what Mr. Kucinich has to say. Click below to listen for yourself.

Part 1

Find Parts 2 through 5 listed here.

Constantine

A while back, I joined the “de-Conversion Forum“. It is a forum dedicated to those who have “deconverted” from their religions. Some have become agnostic, some athiest, some merely doubt. A very diverse and interesting crowd, they welcomed me.

On my introductory thread, one member (after having read my “Letter to My Mother” had a problem with one of my statements.

Leopardus said:

“There was one paragraph in your letter I had to call out. Know that I’m an apostate too. So I’m not pointing this out for any reason other than that I think we should have the truth in all matters.”

Leopardus quoted this excerpt from my “Letter to My Mother“:

“Constantine knew this when he created the Roman Catholic Church. He was a pagan, himself, but the relatively new “Christianity” was growing. This early Christianity taught people that they did not need church or priests to commune with God. They were not as controllable with these beliefs. So, Constantine got a committee together to decide on what books would be in the bible. People were much more biddable when they had to follow the priests rules.”

Leopardus goes on to say:

“That’s just wrong all the way through. The Church was already around. Constantine wasn’t in Rome. The decision about what books went into the Bible went on before and after Constantine. The priesthood and ideals of obedience were quite entrenched.

OK. Enough. More history only if you want it.”

See, even when correcting my assertion, this member is still quite civilized. Thank you Leopardus.

Now, I know I had read somewhere about Constantine and Christianity, but it had been so long ago, I could not remember the details. So, I did a search.

First, of course, I went to Wikipedia:

Can You Spell Despotism?

I have not been writing much lately. That is because I have been surfing. I have been reading and watching videos on everything I can find on religion, politics, etc. I am still digesting what I am learning, but I did want to share this fun little video.

Is your community sinking into… despotism? Find out with this handy video from GroundZeroCoffee.com. Based on an actual 1946 classroom film. From the media to schools to elections: how did they know…?! – Quote by “groundzerocoffee” at You Tube.

The film quite clearly outlines several scales with which to measure your community. Scales include the “The Respect Scale” and the “Power Scale”, then goes on to “The Economic Scale” and “The Information Scale”.

Tell me what you think, or even better share it with your friends.

Wexler Speaks on House Floor

Representative Robert Wexler has taken the next step. Go to WexlerWantsHearing.com to listen to the speech he made to the House of Representatives this week. Some would say that “it is too late” for impeachment hearings. Wexler rightly points out (paraphrased by me) that failure to hold our leaders accountable because “it is too late” will send a message that a leader can do whatever he/she wants in their last year of office. Is this the message we want to send? All anyone is asking for is a hearing. We want a hearing in order to determine the truth.

I did a quick google and found this article “Wexler Calls for Cheney’s Impeachment” at CBS News.com. I could not find a video of TV coverage, but at least they printed an article. Of course, most of the usual alternative news sites and blogs have posted articles on this next step.

On a side note, while at CBS News.com, I found several videos “Consumers Dogged by Inflation”, “Bernanke Signals Rate Cut” among others that say we are entering a recession. Food prices are up, gas prices are up, and salaries are not keeping up.

Global warming (however it is caused), war, political turmoil, inflation…

Please fasten your seat belt, I think we are in for a bumpy ride…