#tfcgauntlet

One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself. (directive form, also known as "The Golden Rule")

One should NOT treat others in ways that one would not like to be treated. (cautionary form, also known as "The Silver Rule")

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.-Thomas Jefferson

"to protect themselves against tyranny in government" ... think about that for a minute. Not to protect against other nations ... but to protect from our very own government.

And No, I am not a very big advocate of guns at all ... they make it easier for good people to do stupid things, and bad people to do even worse things. If it was not guns, it would surely be sticks an stones an anything else.

It is the "killing" part I am against.

And No, I will never force my vegetarian views on any one. I will state them once. 1. Killing any life form, I believe, is wrong. 2. The steroids and hormones in all meat products are killing you all from the inside out. Take a look at current medical data. 3. The whole meat industry is one of the major factors in global warming and air quality pollution and a whole host of other global suffering for bottom line profits issues. Look at the current scientific data. Like I said though ... this is my choice and opinions. But even my children eat meats, because that is their choice.

But killing each other ... I see absolutely no acceptable reason or excuse for killing each other. I believe the "lions share" of all violations of human rights and every form of justified bigotry, all stem from the exceptions for killing each other.

From a Christian perspective ... The exception to one commandant "though shall not kill." EXCEPT DURING WAR AND FOR OTHER JUSTIFIED REASONS. This one exception clause, negates the other 9 instantly, which for the most part, dictate how we should act and treat each other. Seriously ... do wars stop on Sundays? Does confiscating the property of someone you killed become okay, because it is a war. and he was dead an so it is not stealing. Seriously ... where in the whole "love thing," and "not judging thing," and "compassion thing" ... does killing each other exactly fit in?

In all my observations of people, and their intellectualizing ... I have found a single thread ... a thread shared by almost every human that ever lived. That thread, or common denominator, is the same for almost everyone. The lack of affection and love from a father, in ones day to day life, a hug, a kiss, a "hey your awesome and I love you," kind of love. Mothers gave love and affection. Fathers taught how to be strong and tough. I get it, I really do. Someone had to fight, and to fight you had to be tough, but would a hug have made any boy less tough? Btw, there were some seriously bad ass girls in those days too. and they were completely discounted and caste aside.

I see why there have been so many gods. The fact that most of the god's were male, is no surprise, since men always controlled the flow of information. So we have pissed, rough & tough male god's, the don't fuck with me, or else kinda god's, the bow down to me and I will reward you kinda god's, mostly though, the reward is always just beyond reach. It all makes perfect sense why ... It is, and always was, the human desire to have their fathers love. All the god's are, and always were, some outward manifestations and verbalization, of hurting children, that just wanted their fathers to love them, and not treat them like dirt, until they proved worthy of a "manly" handshake.

There is nothing that breaks my beating heart more, then to feel so much needed and desired love, being withheld from so many, and that is has been for so long.

Fathers, I beg of you please, look to all your children equally, hug them, love them, let them always know you are there for them. And as you look to the children across your battlefields, know them, as you would hope everyone would know your child.

May all your days be filled with smiles, hugs, love and happiness.

The First Choice blog is a mirror to my observations of "life." You will see so much of what is beautiful in life. I love all sorts of beautiful things, "Stuff I love," both natural and person-made. You will also see what is ugly and thought provoking. The parts most people choose to ignore. In my observations of life, Both "good" and "bad," for all life, are related to a single choice. The choice to either accept or reject justifiable killing. The human "model" for when, where, what and who it is okay to kill, is an ever evolving model of some seriously elaborate smoke and mirrors, contradictions, complications, never ending, always revolving door of "details" and just pure unadulterated BS. No one escapes the responsibility. It always "catches up," some call that karma, or justice.

Here is the bottom line folks ...

Like it or not. I did not start this blog to Upset or Offend anyone, but at the same time, I think it is becoming more then obvious that there are more then a few things I believe, that most assuredly are going to make more then just a few people very uncomfortable. Such is life. Killing, causes suffering, plain and simple. You want heaven, enlightenment, nirvana, bliss, contentment, what ever it is that compels you ... the message is always the same, Killing causes suffering. I exist to be a "cause," that eases and ends suffering. I wish everyone could see the world through my eyes. Actually, any one can, It is easy, but hard. The answer is everywhere. It has been explained in a thousand tongues, for millennia. It has been explained, nicely, simple, as a riddle to be unraveled, it has actually even been said more then once in very distinct and universally understandable ways. It has to do with the relationship between "neighbors," our true "family" of interconnected beings.  

So, if you choose to have room in your heart, to accept some form of killing, then you also choose to allow room for suffering in your heart. If you choose to allow killing your neighbors, then you are also choosing to live in a world of suffering.

The choice is your choice, always has been, always will be. I do not entrust this choice to anyone but myself.

chlomeygosh said: I like the reclarification. I might say that it is ultimately Jesus’ commandment to love your neighbor as yourself that isnt being met/understood, which ripples to the others. The illusion of separateness seems to be the root of most if not all evils

2 inseparable sides to the same coin ... If you ignore either side, you negate the other. If you live according to one, you automatically live by the other. Yes, the illusion ( and lie ) of separateness "opens the door."

Loving your neighbor, is the same as not harming your neighbor, which by it's very nature is reflexively equal to, wanting your neighbor to love you, and not harm you.

In my previous post ... Thou shalt not kill.

I did leave things very wide open and unlimited.

I left it wide open because this is how see things, without limitation.

What I have observed, is a common thread, that is interwoven into the very fabric of present day society. It is a thread, that spiderwebs out into everything that makes life suck, this key thread is, "justified killing." I still have not been convinced, that there is a single justification for the taking of life.

I can and will, discuss the killing of not human life as well, but for starting purposes, I will focus on the killing other humans, because every day i am feeling innocent people dying and suffering needlessly, all over the world.

If, which most of modern societies laws are based on some derivation of the 10 commandments, then having exceptions for, Thou shalt not kill, easily makes the negation of the other 9 also justifiable. Just like Americas old wild west, "lawless." History has taught us this lesson over and over again. Thousands of years of religious wars and conquests, all of which do include special dispensation for raping, pillaging, plundering, sacking, torturing, brutalizing, lying, cheating, not completely meeting Sabbath day observations, and any other bloody thing needed to, "get the job done." This is, the first exception to the commandment, thou shalt not kill, War. And in "modern war," raping, pillaging, plundering, sacking, torturing, brutalizing, lying, cheating, not completely meeting Sabbath day observations, any bloody thing else to "get the job done," is still justifiable, even if you do need to lie and cover up allot of it for "the good of everyone concerned." Sadly today's "modern wars," come in many shapes, forms and sizes, "the war on terrorism," "the war on drugs," "the war on homosexuality," "the war on free speech," pretty much anymore, the war on anything that defies the "elite" on the highest level of priority and importance. As soon as they slap the "war label" on it, there becomes all sorts of justifications that are permissible. Just ask any lawyer.

The main "religious players" on the world map today, are the Jewish, Christian and Muslim. Does anyone realize how long nations built on one of these 3 religions alone, have been fighting wars over Jerusalem. For the Jewish, more then 2000 years. For the Christians, less then 2000 years. For the Muslims, less then 1500 years, but, the predecessors to the Muslims go much further back. The war over Jerusalem, is still being fought today.

Who are the major players ( countries ) in the world today? What do these "players" base their laws on? For the major part, the 10 commandments. For example, in the United States and Great Britain, there is a heavy Christian leaning in most legal and war matters. And yes, I know the Muslims have a slightly different way of looking at those same 10 issues, but the 10 are covered, and the exceptions documented. And trust me, or search for yourself, they all have a whole libraries full of the exceptions and justifications for killing. Yes, I know that other societies have other rules they live by. But I am not looking at those for the moment, I do not see any of them directly threatening the all life on this earth, yet.

After the first exception, war, we begin to fan out into the plethura of "justifiable killing." Basically, depending on who you are, if you break any of the other 9 commandments, there can be a justification to kill.

In the "justifiable killing' category, we begin the process of "prioritizing," human beings and all other life forms. Understand this ... At the top, are the elite. They represent the highest level of importance, and consider themselves untouchable. There is almost never any justification for killing an elite person. In most of the world, the elite are white males, but with enough money, it is possible to "buy" a place as a "sub elite member."

After the elite, with each various degree of person-hood the justifications get more plentiful and easier to justify. The next noticeable level of separation is between male and female. *** Sexism *** It is more easily justifiable, to kill a woman in a majority of the world, today, not just historically. And if you can kill a female, then you can also easily find justification to mistreat, misuse and abuse them. There are libraries full of books describing in graphic detail how and why woman are less important then men, how men are allowed to treat woman, how woman have to treat men and all the reasons why a woman can be killed or beaten. "Hey, I beat her, I didn't kill her, she deserved it."

Now we have separated out the elite, dealt with woman, what's next? *** Racism *** Race, Colour, Ethnicity This turns into a real mess, so let's make it simple, IF, you are not white you are less important and therefor even less justification is needed to kill a not white person. I am sorry if i make this point way to simple, I mean no offense what so ever to anyone. I think the point is understood though.

With this overly simplified description of my observations, I believe it easy to see how easily everything can be traced, or threaded to, those first exceptions to the commandment "thou shalt not kill." From the worst of war atrocities, to the never ending list of day to day abuses that most people "act" like it is all okay, after all, it is so written in scripture, or they are to scared to death to complain about how badly life sucks.