Dwellings were carved in the windswept cliffs of the desert.
Seers
of the cave tribe had long foretold a child would be born to the
chieftain -- one touched by an eagle, who would become the greatest
leader of their tribe, bringing them the light of new knowledge,
strength and peace.
Yet over the years no child was born to the chieftain, who grew old.
In
his doddering years, the chieftain took a young wife after the passing
of his mate of many seasons, and she became pregnant. The tribe danced
in the chieftain's cave hut on the eve of the birthing, awaiting the
coming of prophecy.
But the male child was stillborn.
In dismay,
the chieftain and the tribe rent their clothing and cast out the young
wife from the chieftain's hut. In pain from labor, she crouched in a
stony shelter among lowest cliff caves -- where she soon gave birth to a
twin child, a female. Bending over her baby, her mother whispered in
her ear, "Your spirit name shall be Touched-by-an-Eagle, and will
forever remain unknown to all but me."
The mother held her tenderly through the cold night.
The
next morning, in disgrace, she returned to her own family's hut and
suckled her quiet infant girl. Over the years, the now infirm chieftain
oft stared angrily at the girl -- who, in spite of his anger, grew tall,
raven-haired and swift, with the probing eyes of a raptor.
When the
intent young girl became a woman, she chose not to take a husband, but
studied the hunting ways of her tribe, and then fashioned a new weapon:
short spears notched with eagle feathers, which flew straight through
the air -- with an eagle's spirit -- into the hearts of their prey.
With
these spears the tribesmen and women were also able to defend against
their aggressive neighbors -- until peace negotiations became their
enemies' only alternative to death.
And the young woman was the
first to insist on peace. She led the way by befriending the women in
the opposing tribes -- so that strutting men had no bed to sleep in
until they'd calmed their minds and opened their fists.
So did the tribes merge into one great tribe of brothers and sisters.
And,
when the time came to choose their leader, the combined tribe chose she
who'd brought them the light of new knowledge, strength and peace --
she whose secret name was Touched-by-an-Eagle.
Thus, do not be stillborn -- quicken to your destiny. -- via Whale Rider
May 17, 2014, excerpt from The Parables of Reason © 2007-2014 (Chapter 3, "Emotion's Mastery"), by Frank H. Burton, Executive Director, The Circle of Reason.
Aphorism of the Week
To call ourselves Homo sapiens, we must walk the path of reason in place of emotionalism.
Dedicated in admonishment of the failure of U.S. immigrant parents to
question, and of U.S. and state law enforcement to prevent, the female
genital mutilation of infant U.S. citizens, by overseas "travel" of
families for "vacation cutting."
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Sunday, May 11, 2014
The Evil, The Good
She sought the source of Evil and Good.
The Seeker traveled to houses of religion, and asked the pastors, priests, rabbis and imams, "What is the source of Evil and Good?" They replied, "Evil stems from not believing in our God, and Good from believing in Him."
The Seeker traveled to lawmakers and dictators, and asked them, "What is the source of Evil and Good?" They replied, "Evil stems from not obeying our laws, and Good from obeying them."
The Seeker traveled to communes, and asked those gathered there, "What is the source of Evil and Good?" They replied, "Evil stems from property and greed, while Good stems from sharing and self-sacrifice."
The Seeker traveled to gated communities, and asked their owners, "What is the source of Evil and Good?" They replied, "Evil stems from sharing and self-sacrifice, while Good stems from property and greed."
The Seeker grew confused, and wandered for days into the countryside. She squatted by the side of a dirt road, and told herself, "I will accept the opinion of the very next person to walk by!"
She looked up the road and saw, emerging from the thrumming waves of heat and cricket song, a gnarled old man in a dusty straw hat, shuffling with a cane. As he passed near, she plucked at his sleeve.
"Old man! Please tell me! What is the source of Evil and Good?!"
In the silence of the crickets' stillness, the old man stopped and looked at her face, his squinty eyes as impenetrable as dark trenches in the earth. His mouth broke into a harmonica-like grin. "The source of Evil...and Good? If you ask me...think for yourself!"
"But you didn't answer my question," the Seeker lamented.
"Oh, I did, young one. I did!" said the old man, who winked as he walked away.
Thus, Evil is the unreasoning, Good the reasoning.
May 10, 2014, excerpt from The Parables of Reason © 2007-2014 (Chapter 3, "Emotion's Mastery"), by Frank H. Burton, Executive Director, The Circle of Reason.
Aphorism of the Week
Rather than preach the right answer, ask the right question.
Dedicated in admonishment of the Supreme Court's acceptance of government-public meetings being allowed to proclaim and practice the "majority"-approved expression of religious belief and worship. When the majority of the public someday changes to a belief different from that of the Court, will the Court retain this logic? And can any government long proclaim a religion, without soon working to establish it?
The Seeker traveled to houses of religion, and asked the pastors, priests, rabbis and imams, "What is the source of Evil and Good?" They replied, "Evil stems from not believing in our God, and Good from believing in Him."
The Seeker traveled to lawmakers and dictators, and asked them, "What is the source of Evil and Good?" They replied, "Evil stems from not obeying our laws, and Good from obeying them."
The Seeker traveled to communes, and asked those gathered there, "What is the source of Evil and Good?" They replied, "Evil stems from property and greed, while Good stems from sharing and self-sacrifice."
The Seeker traveled to gated communities, and asked their owners, "What is the source of Evil and Good?" They replied, "Evil stems from sharing and self-sacrifice, while Good stems from property and greed."
The Seeker grew confused, and wandered for days into the countryside. She squatted by the side of a dirt road, and told herself, "I will accept the opinion of the very next person to walk by!"
She looked up the road and saw, emerging from the thrumming waves of heat and cricket song, a gnarled old man in a dusty straw hat, shuffling with a cane. As he passed near, she plucked at his sleeve.
"Old man! Please tell me! What is the source of Evil and Good?!"
In the silence of the crickets' stillness, the old man stopped and looked at her face, his squinty eyes as impenetrable as dark trenches in the earth. His mouth broke into a harmonica-like grin. "The source of Evil...and Good? If you ask me...think for yourself!"
"But you didn't answer my question," the Seeker lamented.
"Oh, I did, young one. I did!" said the old man, who winked as he walked away.
Thus, Evil is the unreasoning, Good the reasoning.
May 10, 2014, excerpt from The Parables of Reason © 2007-2014 (Chapter 3, "Emotion's Mastery"), by Frank H. Burton, Executive Director, The Circle of Reason.
Aphorism of the Week
Rather than preach the right answer, ask the right question.
Dedicated in admonishment of the Supreme Court's acceptance of government-public meetings being allowed to proclaim and practice the "majority"-approved expression of religious belief and worship. When the majority of the public someday changes to a belief different from that of the Court, will the Court retain this logic? And can any government long proclaim a religion, without soon working to establish it?
Sunday, May 4, 2014
The Way of Taqlid, The Way of 'Aql
Proudly the tribe reigned over deserts white with sand and spotted with black pools of oil.
Although war had been thrust upon them since the grey dawn of history, until peace was a fleeting memory, among their number had lived mathematicians, astronomers, scientists and librarians -- who had saved the foundations of the Edifice of Man.
Yet, when Man learned to transmute the black oil into gold, and when the hearts of many claimed the garden from which all men arose, the land and the tribe were torn with strife 'ere unseen.
Two youths lived in that place and that time.
The first youth grew to hate all who, long before, had oppressed and driven out his people. Hearing the cries of zealous religious scholars for jihad, one sunrise after prayers he said to himself, "I will do as my scholars preach, for surely they know best, while I know so little."
Imitating so many before him, he strapped on a bomb and blew himself up inside a schoolyard, killing the children of his enemy.
Following the way of Taqlid to his murderous death, his face, in its last moment, was sadly alight with expectation.
The second youth also grew to hate his people's lot, yet saw the children of his oppressors in a different light -- as people like him, trapped by both circumstance and belief.
Whenever hatred and the call to jihad surged in his breast, he recalled the terror in the faces of not only their tribe's children but of the children of their enemy, and his struggle turned inward. He, too, prayed to Allah, but said to himself, "As the Prophet used the way of 'Aql -- of intellect and mind -- to restore our tribes to faith, so too must my shoulders carry the weight of interpreting his teachings; I must use my own intellect and mind."
"And my ijtihad, my inner struggle, tells me that murdering others is not the way to paradise, either here on earth or in the heavenly presence of Allah."
So did the second youth start a madrassa, which he named The Lifting of The Black Stone, to teach ways of peaceful cooperation and non-violent resistance taught by Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, Muhammad, Sumayya, Bahá'u'lláh, Gandhi, King, Milk, Romero, Mandela, and Suu Kyi.
And his madrassa gradually restored to his people their once and future path of logic and questioning -- the only way to transform enemy into ally; the way of war through peace.
Thus, the true jihad is ijtihad. -- via Irshad Manji
May 3, 2014, excerpt from The Parables of Reason © 2007-2014 (Chapter 2, "Assumption's Denial"), by Frank H. Burton, Executive Director, The Circle of Reason.
Aphorism of the Week
Herding is not the same as leading.
Dedicated in admonishment of Boko Haram's acts of murdering and raping students, terrorism, and other human rights violations, all in the name of religious fundamentalism (acts which would be called "medieval" except for the fact that Muslim society and education was the most advanced in the world during the actual Medieval era); and in admonishment of the failure of Nigeria's leaders to create a bulwark against Boko Haram recruitment, through providing educational and economic reforms to improve the lives of its rural citizenry.
Although war had been thrust upon them since the grey dawn of history, until peace was a fleeting memory, among their number had lived mathematicians, astronomers, scientists and librarians -- who had saved the foundations of the Edifice of Man.
Yet, when Man learned to transmute the black oil into gold, and when the hearts of many claimed the garden from which all men arose, the land and the tribe were torn with strife 'ere unseen.
Two youths lived in that place and that time.
The first youth grew to hate all who, long before, had oppressed and driven out his people. Hearing the cries of zealous religious scholars for jihad, one sunrise after prayers he said to himself, "I will do as my scholars preach, for surely they know best, while I know so little."
Imitating so many before him, he strapped on a bomb and blew himself up inside a schoolyard, killing the children of his enemy.
Following the way of Taqlid to his murderous death, his face, in its last moment, was sadly alight with expectation.
The second youth also grew to hate his people's lot, yet saw the children of his oppressors in a different light -- as people like him, trapped by both circumstance and belief.
Whenever hatred and the call to jihad surged in his breast, he recalled the terror in the faces of not only their tribe's children but of the children of their enemy, and his struggle turned inward. He, too, prayed to Allah, but said to himself, "As the Prophet used the way of 'Aql -- of intellect and mind -- to restore our tribes to faith, so too must my shoulders carry the weight of interpreting his teachings; I must use my own intellect and mind."
"And my ijtihad, my inner struggle, tells me that murdering others is not the way to paradise, either here on earth or in the heavenly presence of Allah."
So did the second youth start a madrassa, which he named The Lifting of The Black Stone, to teach ways of peaceful cooperation and non-violent resistance taught by Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, Muhammad, Sumayya, Bahá'u'lláh, Gandhi, King, Milk, Romero, Mandela, and Suu Kyi.
And his madrassa gradually restored to his people their once and future path of logic and questioning -- the only way to transform enemy into ally; the way of war through peace.
Thus, the true jihad is ijtihad. -- via Irshad Manji
May 3, 2014, excerpt from The Parables of Reason © 2007-2014 (Chapter 2, "Assumption's Denial"), by Frank H. Burton, Executive Director, The Circle of Reason.
Aphorism of the Week
Herding is not the same as leading.
Dedicated in admonishment of Boko Haram's acts of murdering and raping students, terrorism, and other human rights violations, all in the name of religious fundamentalism (acts which would be called "medieval" except for the fact that Muslim society and education was the most advanced in the world during the actual Medieval era); and in admonishment of the failure of Nigeria's leaders to create a bulwark against Boko Haram recruitment, through providing educational and economic reforms to improve the lives of its rural citizenry.
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