The Amercian Anthem: Drawing Cartoons of Muhammed
Hi! Happy Thursday!
Irreni World Scale is about solutions, not political punditry. This solution presented is how to think about the current national turmoil about NFL players taking the knee during the playing of the national anthem.
No one can disrespect anyone unless someone lets them.
That's worth repeating:
What is the correct morality with respect to this national outrage? What is good?
The Good:
Another book with a positive spin on the same message is, "Dorsai!", by Gordon Dickinson.
The good versus evil line is clear: allowing someone to control you simply by disrespecting you is evil. Let's call this pushing buttons. That's evil. When you allow someone to push your button and perhaps spark a subsequent action based upon that button pushing then you are being evil by allowing others to control you with your permission.
That's it. Personal responsibility means you are not given a free pass to get angry, get pissed and condemn others because of perceived disrespect. That's on you, you are evil. Period. People condemning others for flag burning or taking a knee during the nation anthem are evil. They are evil because they are the ones not in control of their emotions.
Weinberg's observation can be observed with today's killing of people who draw cartoons of Muhammed. Some Muslims feel they are given a license to kill due to some perceived disrespect. Killing people for drawing cartoons of Muhammed is evil. The person doing the killing is doing evil.
The American flag and the national anthem are America's version of the Muslim world's cartoon drawing of Muhammed. Nationalism and religion are alike in this regard.
The moral good is that no one can be disrespected unless they let someone. If anyone let's someone disrespect them then the evil begins with them. They are handing over control of themselves to someone else. That's evil. If you allow yourself to feel disrespect by someone that's on you.
As for myself, no one can disrespect me except those people whose opinion I respect. The circle is very small and certainly does not include strangers.
And so it is with disrespect or shame. You are responsible. So if someone feels disrespect due to an NFL player taking a knee during the playing on the national anthem then the evil person is the same evil person in the husband killing the lover scenario or the Muslim killing the person drawing cartoons of Muhammed. It is the person who cannot control their emotions.
On the flip side, speaking personally I can attest to the power of not having buttons, i.e. having a thick skin. Anyone with a plan will run into competitors and enemies looking for the easy out so as to derail us by pushing our emotional buttons. By not allowing yourself to have buttons you are impervious to emotional cheap shots. Yes you will feel emotions, but you control if outwardly acknowledge them. If you feel uncontrollable outrage from disrespect you are being controlled.
No one can disrespect anyone unless someone lets them. Allowing someone to disrespect you is on you. Allowing someone to control you by disrespecting you is on you and you are the evil one if you let it happen.
This is why religion and nationalism are so thoroughly and totally evil as a concepts: symbolism disrespect is used to emotionally control the masses.
Down with symbolism. Do not acknowledge symbolism. Nothing good has ever been attributed to symbolism, but all kinds of evil has, primarily by condemning, dehumanizing and ultimately killing.
Christopher Hitchens had an unmet challenge that he was running up to the time of his death:
Here's the symbolism version:
Religion buys you nothing. Nationalism buys you nothing. Symbolism buys you nothing. Feeling disrespect by strangers buys you nothing.
As Christopher Hitchens famously proclaimed, "Name me one good act a religious person is capable of that an atheist is not. You cannot think of any. Now name me an evil act only a religious person is capable of and you can immediately name a few."
Blaming others for you emotional reactions is irresponsible and immoral. If a sexy woman is walking down the street and a man harasses the women or touches the woman then the evil, immoral actor is the man, not the women for what she wears. It is the same here. Blaming others for your emotional reaction about the national anthem is irresponsible and immoral. You chose to feel any disrespect for yourself or others and then you condemn someone or otherwise act on the feeling you are the evil one. Respect those people's opinions whose opinions you respect. Worthless people's opinions are worthless. Sticks and stones may break my bones but symbols will never hurt me.
Are you going to feel something if some random person calls you a name? Maybe. Do men feel urges when they are in the presence of an attractive women? Maybe. In any case we are civilized people. And by that I mean we are responsible for how we ultimately act on our emotions and are responsible for showing and controlling our emotions.
And we can train ourselves to limit unsolicited emotional reactions via emotional exercises. In fact, this is one reason I have far more respect for Eastern philosophy than Western philosophy: Eastern philosophy works. Meditation, visualization and other Eastern practices work in limiting emotions and removing emotional buttons. Western philosophy does the exact opposite, just burdens one with a never ending, growing burden of guilt born of original and "natural" sin. All Abrahamic religions fail in managing emotions, but instead create a preponderance of new irrational buttons where none would otherwise exist. This is why I have been and always will be an anti-theist as well as an atheist: religion is evil because symbolism is evil by breeding buttons of group control.
No one can disrespect anyone unless someone lets them. You are responsible for your emotional being or you will be out of control.
Have no respect for disrespect. Have no respect for any symbolism:
Demand Irreni World Scale!
Anti-theism is feminism!
Think disruption!
Empathy for all!
Moral relativity: think it, breath it!
Prove it or lose it!
Conversations equal consensus!
Welcome to the 21st century!
Scale your empathy, scale the world!
Find your tribe!
Be sexy people!
The future is coming!
Innovate at a rapid pace!
Slow speed ahead!
Well come! and well met!
Irreni World Scale is about solutions, not political punditry. This solution presented is how to think about the current national turmoil about NFL players taking the knee during the playing of the national anthem.
No one can disrespect anyone unless someone lets them.
That's worth repeating:
No one can disrespect anyone unless someone lets them.
What is the correct morality with respect to this national outrage? What is good?
The Good:
No one can disrespect anyone unless someone lets them.The Evil:
Anything else.When I was but a wee young lad I read a couple of books that brought this point home to me. One is a book by Piers Anthony, "Xanth",
Worthless people's opinions are worthless.
-Piers Anthony, "Xanth"
Another book with a positive spin on the same message is, "Dorsai!", by Gordon Dickinson.
I respect those people's opinion whose opinion I respect.
-Gordon Dickinson, "Dorsai!'
The good versus evil line is clear: allowing someone to control you simply by disrespecting you is evil. Let's call this pushing buttons. That's evil. When you allow someone to push your button and perhaps spark a subsequent action based upon that button pushing then you are being evil by allowing others to control you with your permission.
That's it. Personal responsibility means you are not given a free pass to get angry, get pissed and condemn others because of perceived disrespect. That's on you, you are evil. Period. People condemning others for flag burning or taking a knee during the nation anthem are evil. They are evil because they are the ones not in control of their emotions.
Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
-Steven Weinberg
Weinberg's observation can be observed with today's killing of people who draw cartoons of Muhammed. Some Muslims feel they are given a license to kill due to some perceived disrespect. Killing people for drawing cartoons of Muhammed is evil. The person doing the killing is doing evil.
The American flag and the national anthem are America's version of the Muslim world's cartoon drawing of Muhammed. Nationalism and religion are alike in this regard.
The moral good is that no one can be disrespected unless they let someone. If anyone let's someone disrespect them then the evil begins with them. They are handing over control of themselves to someone else. That's evil. If you allow yourself to feel disrespect by someone that's on you.
As for myself, no one can disrespect me except those people whose opinion I respect. The circle is very small and certainly does not include strangers.
Sticks and stones may break my bones but names (disrespect) will never hurt me.But how much can we really control our emotions, you might wonder? For example, shame is a powerful form of human control. One of my favorite quotes from Christopher Hitchens came from when he was asked why he so vociferously shamed the religious when his expressed agenda was not to ban religion? His answer?
-Childhood proverb
I refuse to unilaterally disarm.Emotions are a powerful tool for controlling people, for controlling all of us. However, ultimately, we define civilized society today by holding a person solely responsible for their actions independent of outside emotional forces influencing ones emotional state. For example, an enraged husband who kills his wife's lover when he finds them in bed together is the only one charged with murder; not the wife and lover who created the emotions that lead to the action.
-Christopher Hitchens
And so it is with disrespect or shame. You are responsible. So if someone feels disrespect due to an NFL player taking a knee during the playing on the national anthem then the evil person is the same evil person in the husband killing the lover scenario or the Muslim killing the person drawing cartoons of Muhammed. It is the person who cannot control their emotions.
On the flip side, speaking personally I can attest to the power of not having buttons, i.e. having a thick skin. Anyone with a plan will run into competitors and enemies looking for the easy out so as to derail us by pushing our emotional buttons. By not allowing yourself to have buttons you are impervious to emotional cheap shots. Yes you will feel emotions, but you control if outwardly acknowledge them. If you feel uncontrollable outrage from disrespect you are being controlled.
No one can disrespect anyone unless someone lets them. Allowing someone to disrespect you is on you. Allowing someone to control you by disrespecting you is on you and you are the evil one if you let it happen.
This is why religion and nationalism are so thoroughly and totally evil as a concepts: symbolism disrespect is used to emotionally control the masses.
Down with symbolism. Do not acknowledge symbolism. Nothing good has ever been attributed to symbolism, but all kinds of evil has, primarily by condemning, dehumanizing and ultimately killing.
Christopher Hitchens had an unmet challenge that he was running up to the time of his death:
Name me one good act a religious person can do that an atheist cannot.
-Christopher Hitchens
Here's the symbolism version:
Name me one good act a symbolism person can do that an atheist cannot.
-Symbolism challenge.
Religion buys you nothing. Nationalism buys you nothing. Symbolism buys you nothing. Feeling disrespect by strangers buys you nothing.
As Christopher Hitchens famously proclaimed, "Name me one good act a religious person is capable of that an atheist is not. You cannot think of any. Now name me an evil act only a religious person is capable of and you can immediately name a few."
Blaming others for you emotional reactions is irresponsible and immoral. If a sexy woman is walking down the street and a man harasses the women or touches the woman then the evil, immoral actor is the man, not the women for what she wears. It is the same here. Blaming others for your emotional reaction about the national anthem is irresponsible and immoral. You chose to feel any disrespect for yourself or others and then you condemn someone or otherwise act on the feeling you are the evil one. Respect those people's opinions whose opinions you respect. Worthless people's opinions are worthless. Sticks and stones may break my bones but symbols will never hurt me.
Are you going to feel something if some random person calls you a name? Maybe. Do men feel urges when they are in the presence of an attractive women? Maybe. In any case we are civilized people. And by that I mean we are responsible for how we ultimately act on our emotions and are responsible for showing and controlling our emotions.
And we can train ourselves to limit unsolicited emotional reactions via emotional exercises. In fact, this is one reason I have far more respect for Eastern philosophy than Western philosophy: Eastern philosophy works. Meditation, visualization and other Eastern practices work in limiting emotions and removing emotional buttons. Western philosophy does the exact opposite, just burdens one with a never ending, growing burden of guilt born of original and "natural" sin. All Abrahamic religions fail in managing emotions, but instead create a preponderance of new irrational buttons where none would otherwise exist. This is why I have been and always will be an anti-theist as well as an atheist: religion is evil because symbolism is evil by breeding buttons of group control.
No one can disrespect anyone unless someone lets them. You are responsible for your emotional being or you will be out of control.
Have no respect for disrespect. Have no respect for any symbolism:
- Holy
- Profane
- Sacred
- Blasphemy
- Nationalism
- Flags being a symbol of respect and not just identity.
- National Anthems
- Pledges of allegiance.
Demand Irreni World Scale!
Anti-theism is feminism!
Think disruption!
Empathy for all!
Moral relativity: think it, breath it!
Prove it or lose it!
Conversations equal consensus!
Welcome to the 21st century!
Scale your empathy, scale the world!
Find your tribe!
Be sexy people!
The future is coming!
Innovate at a rapid pace!
Slow speed ahead!
Well come! and well met!
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