Another Case For Evolution

There are times when a writer has a spot of trouble beginning an article.  In this instance, it has nothing to do with writer's block.  Rather, it has to do with the silliness of a subject that needs serious rebuttal.  And, a rebuttal far weightier than I can muster.  But to sooth my fevered brow, into the breach I go!  The subject that is in need of serious rebuttal is known as creationism.  Take note of my lack of capitalization; that's how silly I believe the subject to be.  But then, this is coming from an  infidel.

The short story as told by the creationists:  evolution is a scam perpetrated by modern science.  According to creationist doctrine, god (their version of god) created the Earth and all in it just a mere 6,000 years ago.  Dinosaurs were Adam and Eve's pets and the huge teeth on those beasts were used to crack open melons.  Creationists, while having no use for modern science and its practitioners, have their very own "scientists" who claim that all fossils are forged.  Fossils, according to them, have been forged to dupe the general public into believing that evolution is a fact.  This is all a part of Satan's plan to take people away from god (again, their god) and the bible.  And, if you should visit one of their creation parks (think an extreme, biblical oriented Disney-type land for the mentally challenged) that have popped up, they will be more than happy to show you how modern science has forged fossils in a strenuous effort to make you a "true believer."  Also, they have published several books on this subject (the creationist viewpoint) and a few of these books, unfortunately, found their way into schools.  This happens when creationists are elected to your local school board.  Also, creationism seems to get a lot of media attention and not all of it is negative.  Given all this, one might think that creationism has a large following; some elected officials, more than just elected school board members, are creationists. And, does a question about politicians pushing personal agendas need to be asked?  I digress.  When compared to the Roman Catholic Church, the creationist population is small.  And, the Catholic Church's position on evolution is damned near opposite that of creationism.

 Decades after Darwin published his On the Origins of Species in 1859, the Church played "footsy" with the idea of evolution; various members of the Church clergy penned articles for and against the subject.  But in 1950, the fate of evolution as part of Church doctrine, dogma, and instruction was sealed.

Pope Pius XII issued his papal encyclical, Humani generis.  This encyclical stated that there is no conflict between the Church and evolution provided the person believes that the human soul comes from and is/was created by god and not the material Earth.  Over the next few decades, the Church refined its position on evolution into what is now known as Theistic Evolution:  god kicked off creation, evolution happened, it is ongoing, and god made the human soul.  Pope John Paul II hammered home this point in 1996.  This is all good stuff, but in the tapestry of time, the Church's teaching/revelations about evolution are fairly recent.  There are texts far more ancient than the Church's recent pronouncements that speak of creation and evolution.  These texts are known as the Voluspa and the Rigspula.  

The Voluspa is the Germanic/Norse story of a seeress's prophecy that was requested by the Aesir high god Odin/Wodan.  It deals, in part, with the creation and destruction of the world and a few things in between.  At one point, the story focus's on Odin/Wodan and his two brothers (the three creator gods) as they walk through Midgard (Earth).  They come upon two beings, known as Ask and Embla, who are often referred to as trees.  The pair are described as having not much more than a vegetative existence.  Obviously, Ask and Embla did not look like anything remotely human.  Then, according to the Voluspa, something remarkable happened.  The three gods blessed the duo with soul, the breath of life, and more.  These gifts put this particular species on an evolutionary path to become human.  The gods, for whatever their reason, tweaked evolution.

The Rigspula is, in my opinion, often misunderstood; Dumezil and his caste system of thralls, farmers, and rulers is wrong.  I think this opinion about caste comes up when the story is read and it is assumed that the visits of the god Rig (probably Odin/Wodan) happened one right after the other.

As the story goes, the god visits the first couple, who according to the text, are really ugly.  And, their situation is very primitive.  When night falls, the good is invited to sleep between the man and woman.  The god impregnates the woman and a child is born (the thralls).

Later, the god visits the second couple.  They are much better looking and their situation is much improved over that of the first couple.  The nighttime bed sharing happens again and another child is born (farmers, freemen).

Finally, the god visits the third couple who just happen to be downright handsome and their situation is the best of the three.  Once more, nighttime activity produces a child (rulers, warriors).  Now is a good time to pause and mention a few things.

For folks not familiar with mythology in general, the storyteller uses simple and rather folksy ways to get his message across to his listeners (or readers).  The couples mentioned in the Voluspa and the Rigspula represent the existing humanoid/human population of the particular time.  The god sleeping with the couples and the resulting children are folksy ways of telling us that the god spent time among  people and gave them significant gifts.  Those two god-gifted beings in the Voluspa started the human evolutionary ball rolling.  In my opinion, the Rigspula tells us more of the same.

In the Rigspula, when the god visits the first couple, they are more evolved (but still in a primitive condition of appearance and way of life) then the couple Ask and Embla in the Voluspa.  The visiting god gifts them with an evolutionary booster shot and they (the population) evolve and become the couple of the second visit.

When the god appears for his second visit, he sees that the "couple" is more evolved than the first.  They are more attractive to the eye and their means of providing for themselves is far better than couple number one.  Another booster shot is administered, and couple number two become couple number three.

The god is obviously pleased with human evolution on his third visit.  The people are very handsome and their lives are superior to those "couples" of the past multi-millennia.  The god is so pleased that a third evolutionary shot is given.  That third couple evolved into.....us, modern man.  At this point it is tempting, after considering that humans may have received various evolutionary tweaks from some sort of divinity, to make certain assumptions; I will not.

In my opinion, for a caste system to be the message of the Rigspula, the story would have started with the rulers/warriors first, the farmers/freemen second, and the thralls last, and not as it is written.  In that method, the couples would have devolved, not evolved.  I am convinced that the Rigspula is a mythical story describing human evolution from the beginning up to at least the pre-viking age, with the possibility of some divine intervention.  Also, I am convinced that the Voluspa holds many truths, yet to be discovered.  But this is an opinion, mine.  Sadly, the Voluspa and the Rigspula are incomplete; both are missing whole sections.  Hopefully one day, the missing will be found.  For those who have reached this point, do not be to quick to draw similarities between the Roman Catholic Theistic Evolution and the Voluspa/Rigspula.  The latter are very old, while the ink on the Church document is still wet.  And, it is doubtful that the Church would consider ancient heathen works to form its opinion.  Or maybe not.  But, what about the creationists?

It should be obvious that if the creationists reject rock solid science, they also reject the Roman Catholic Theistic Evolution doctrine.  There are two reasons for this:  the creationists despise anything Roman Catholic (a tool of Satan).  And, the doctrine, in its own way, validates evolution, something they swear is a complete falsehood.  Of course, anything written by a heathen, an infidel, now or two thousand years ago would be rejected without any due consideration with the exception, possibly, for toilet paper.  But really, what is sillier; the possibility that divinity tweaked evolution or that Adam and Eve had dinosaurs as house pets?

                                                   Copyright @2013 Terry Unger     

          

      






            

False Friends

Our modern world has a few pitfalls.  One of them is the addiction to being "connected and on-line."  Another, I believe, is friendship, or what we think real friendship is.  People "like" us, on-line and in real life, and want to be with us.  Why is that?  There are many people who want our attention.  If they want our attention, then probably, they are interested in other things.  Words from my innocent youth still ring true in my ears.

When I was a mere boy of 9 or 10 years, a neighborhood chum's mother told me something that, at the time, I thought to be rather strange.  She told me that I would be very lucky if I had one or two real friends during my lifetime.  She was right; now I understand that wisdom.

A true friend, a real friend, stands by you through thick and thin, joy and adversity, and only wants the same from you.  It would be nice if that was a universally recognized axiom.  However, modern human behavior, the hurrah for me and the hell with you, tells a different story.

Many people but not all (thank the gods) are out for themselves and are not shy about using the concept of friendship to achieve their goals.  Then there are others who sleepwalk through their life and are not aware of their actions.  However, consciously or unconsciously, sleepwalking or not, using friendship to further your own goals is unconscionable.  And then some do not have any goals.

Many people want to live their lives vicariously through others and friendship is the way that they suck the life and more out of people.  When the parties have stopped, the BBQ's end, and you stop sending gifts to their kids on their birthdays, these people forget that you exist.  Oh, and how they are offended!  And yet, there is another reason for these false friends to throttle you.

Your opinions about a thing or two have changed.  This upsets the bloodsuckers because within their vicarious selves, you are connected to something else, something greater than you, in their estimation, that they admire; you are their personal conduit.  Your change offends them; in many ways, you have cut them off from that something else.  When this happens, these false friends, these bloodsuckers, waste no time in publicly and privately condemning you.  These people are and certainly never were your friends.  They should be classified as parasites along for the ride (or barnacles to be scraped off a ship) and when the ride abruptly ends, they are pissed at you, like it's all your fault.  Baloney.  Again, people of this nature are not your friends.  People or this type want to live vicariously off of others because they lack the courage to live their lives on their own merit and  admit who they truly are.    

When people mask their intentions, sleepwalking or not, they certainly do not have your best interests at heart; it's all about them and what they want, consciously or unconsciously.  Here is a litmus test.  When a real life boogeyman  beats down your door, who is there to stand by your side, tuck you in at night, tell you that all things will work out, and that you are a good person?  Guaranteed, you can count them on one hand, minus the thumb and the pinkey finger.   

                                                 Copyright @2013 Terry Unger      
   

 

          

Judgement Day

For those folks of the Judeo-Christian persuasion, judgement day conjurers up thoughts of their eternal fate, the moment when their god will condemn them to hell or eternal bliss.  This is pretty much like a human court system with no hope of appeal.  And the judge in this scenario is more like a 13 year kid on crack.  Now that I have your attention, let's consider how people judge people.

Every argument and failure between two people or two million is judged by those who have chosen what side they want to be on.  This is normal human behavior; anyone who has passed through a withering divorce can tell you the same.  However, they will only see one side of the argument, the story.  Moreover, they do not want to look at the other side.  Not only do these folks want to consider that their side is wrong, they do not want to believe that they have chosen the wrong side of the argument.  When it comes to being confronted by the cheerleaders from the other side, there is, I believe, a simple way of handling yourself and having a good laugh.   

Carry some loose change in your pocket.  Pull out the largest coin and give it to the person who is confronting you and insulting your intelligence.  Ask the buffoon about the total number of the coin's sides.  Then point out that the sides are different but make up the whole coin.  Let your would-be judge keep the coin and walk away.  It will be the best 25 cents you've ever spent.

                                                     Copyright @2013 Terry Unger     

Discovering a New World

Men used to clamber into their ships and set off to discover new worlds.  Once upon a time we sent  men to check out the Moon; a place we knew existed but had not visited, until July 1969.  Now, we just talk about manned expeditions, preferring the unmanned versions.  Whatever happen to a colony, an outpost on the Moon?  But there are other areas of discovery that are just as exciting as they are full of frightening possibilities.

Recently, it was announced that scientists made a hamburger from stem cells.  To make it more palatable, a few ingredients had to be added.  This new achievement was hailed as a possibility to feed millions in the future; in and by itself, maybe not a bad idea.  That said, something stuck in my craw.  Here it is:  science fiction becomes reality.

How far away can we be from manufacturing human beings on an assembly line, like an automobile with all the bells and whistles desired?  I say manufacturing, and not making babies the old fashioned way, through sex.  Maybe the day of a perfectly flawless, manufactured human population, is closer than we think or, want to believe.  Personally, I shudder to think of the consequences of this happening.  We humans are unique in many ways including our flaws.  Repairing a damaged organ with stem cells is one thing but leave the baby making to the old fashion methods.  But for people and groups who still insist that the body is evil, sex is a sin (heaven forbid that people really enjoy it!) and  making babies is dirty, they can take heart in the "manufactured process."  Heavens forbid that happens.

                                               Copyright @2013 Terry Unger    

  

When Your Accuser Is Right

A few days ago a posted to my blog something titled, When Your Accuser Is Wrong.  I poked fun, with good reason, at cyber-friends and how when on-line, many of them grow the cyber equivalent of "beer muscles."  And all so true.  But, we are neither invincible nor infallible; we are human, prone to errors, and one day, surprise surprise, we will die.  We make mistakes, errors in judgement, and flat out screw up.

Often, we make decisions based on all the available information that we can lay our hands on.  But here is the rub:  we ignore all that stuff that contradicts what we want to believe as true, that stuff that we use to base our decisions.  I am guilty of the same.  And to boot, we feel very smug and good about this platitude that we have created and hold dear.  Then, some guy comes out of left field and points out the errors in our decision/truth/platitude.

Of course, we do not like that when it happens; who the hell is this guy, we ask ourselves with righteous indignation.  It can be worse when it comes out of left field cyber-space.  At this point two things, in varying degrees, happen.  We politely ignore the intrusion into our personal bubble and/or we tell the interloper to piss off.  The second, we admit that we may have made a mistake and begin to look for the error; this move takes some humility.  In the ongoing discovery process, we may be faced with accepting some kind of failure:  the failure on our part of ignoring or completely disregarding all that stood in original opposition to our decision/truth.  Now, we stand face to face with our half-baked reasoning.  We can either correct our error and move on, or stick our heads in the sand, insisting that the righteousness  of our decision/truth is more than enough to know; righteousness is, ah, so smug.  In my opinion, this falls within the arena of faith and belief; having the faith to believe in something that cannot be proven.  No matter how many times we play dress-up with this stuff, the decision/truth is incomplete or flat out wrong.  We live in the 21st century, not the 7th or the 8th.  A courageous man will fix his errors.  Unfortunately, many people have a mainspring so tight that not even electric shock therapy can help them.  

                                                      Copyright @2013 Terry Unger                

The Love of a Dog

Everybody loves puppies.  They are soft, cuddly and lots of fun.  But, you cannot put a diaper on a puppy.  Puppies grow into adult dogs and they need our help.

When we take a canine into our home, they became a part of the family; only idiots chain them up outside.  Our dogs are not just pets, but members of our family.  Doggies cannot feed or water themselves without our help (unless or course, we leave something on table's edge).  In many ways, our dogs are like dependent children.  But, what they give us in return is huge.

Let's start off with unconditional love; dogs are great teachers.  That certain wagging of the tail that just says, "I'm so happy to see you !"  The touch of that wet nose and small lick that tells us our canine pal is here for us, and being close by when we are sick.  The barking to let us know danger can be present. And then there is that certain smile from our doggies that says, "Dude, you are so cool!"  We need to remember that even though a dog will not be with you all of your life, he will be with you for all of his. Make it a good life.  

No other animal can give humans this kind of unconditional support.  Hell, some dogs even act like they are human.  That is why Sandra and I are adopting Jack.

Jack is just two years young and was fostered by our daughter and her family for most of those two years. He is a Llewellyn Setter who was born blind in one eye (Jack is not just blind, but is missing his entire right eye).  Now, Jack is a part of the Ungerlands. He will be one spoiled pooch.

                                                   Copyright @2013 Terry Unger  

When Your Accuser Is Wrong

We humans have strange ways of communicating.  And in cyber-space, it appears that these ways have not only increased, but have morphed into the seemingly incredulous.  Some folks, who are silent in the real world, when on-line, gain the cyber equivalent of "beer muscles."  That said, there is one thing that doesn't change; when a person accuses you of something based on hearsay, another's opinion, and half-truths.

This happens to all of us.  In the real world, instead of coming to you and asking, "Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot (WTF), the offended chooses to sever all ties with you.  You are not given the chance to defend yourself, unless you decide to pursue the issue against whatever accusation was laid upon you by a third party (who just may have a personal agenda).  Personally, those who do not come to me and ask what the hell is going on I do not bother to pursue them, let alone the issue.  Eventually, they will discover the truth.  This in the real world.  Plus, what kind of "real friend" can these people be?  Cyber-space has similar characteristics but they are over the top, and almost down-right hilarious; I  do not pursue them.

So, how many of your "friends" on Facebook, Twitter, etc. do you know, in the personal sense.  How many of them have you touched, hugged, or kissed, physically?  With how many of them have you shared a pot of coffee?  And more importantly, how many of them have your shared fears, tears, and beers?  In the case of plain-Jane cyber-friends, the answer is zero.  Your cyber-friends are not much more than images created by the binary number system.  So, what if these people decide to flush you as a "friend?"  Not a problem - they hell with them.  Maybe, just maybe, they do not exist in the real world of flesh, bones, and blood; this is where it counts.

People need to develop real person to person relationships.  The cyber world exists for as long as electricity lasts.  I am not implying that one day the power will end, just that real friendship does not need electricity.  

                                               Copyright @ 2013/2015 Terry Unger