Tuesday Open Thread: the one flow

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Fr. Richard Rohr invites us to ask ourselves what it would be like if we chose to follow Jesus, St. Francis, Gandhi, Dorothy Day, and many others in a lifestyle of simplicity and caring for those in need?

Charles Eisenstein imagines what this could look like ...

I foresee . . . the restoration of humanity to a sacred estate. . . . I foresee the fulfillment, and not the abdication, of the gifts of hand and mind that make us human. . . . We are given not only the world, but the breath of life and our capacity to create—for we are made “in the image” of the Creator itself. . . .

In nature, headlong growth and all-out competition are features of immature ecosystems, followed by complex interdependency, symbiosis, cooperation, and the cycling of resources. The next stage of human economy will parallel what we are beginning to understand about nature. It will call forth the gifts of each of us; it will emphasize cooperation over competition; it will encourage circulation over hoarding; and it will be cyclical, not linear.

Contemplation makes it almost inevitable that your politics is going to change, the way you spend your time is going to be called into question, and any smug or inferior social and economic perspective will be slowly taken away from you. When anyone meditates consistently, the things that we think of as our necessary ego boundaries—giving us a sense of our independence, autonomy, and private self-importance—fall away, little by little, as unnecessary and even unhelpful. This imperial “I,” the self that most people think of as the only self, is not substantial or lasting at all. It is largely a creation of our own minds. Through contemplation, protecting this relative identity, this persona, eventually becomes of less and less concern. “Why would I bother with that?” the True Self asks.

If your prayer goes deep, invading your unconscious, your whole view of the world will change from fear to connection, because you don’t live inside your fragile and encapsulated self anymore. In meditation, you are moving from ego consciousness to soul awareness, from being driven to being drawn.

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In 1925 - John T. Scopes, a science teacher in Tennessee, was charged with violating the state's Butler Act, which made it illegal to teach evolution in Tennessee schools. The trial was based on the charge he did unlawfully and willfully teach in Tennessee schools certain theories that deny the story of the divine creation of man as told in the Bible. He was found guilty on July 21st and received a $100 fine.

In 1962 - Telstar, the world's first communications satellite a privately sponsored space launch was launched into orbit . The Telstar communications satellite relays the first live transatlantic television signal and the worlds telephone call transmitted through space on July 23rd.

In 1985 - The Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior is sunk when French agents plant a bomb on the hull of the boat while docked in Auckland harbor, New Zealand. The Rainbow Warrior had been preparing for a protest voyage to the French nuclear test site in the South Pacific.

In 2019 - A 27 year old man from Spain was the first person to die of a fatal bull attack during the Pamplona running of the bulls in fourteen years.

In 2012 - The Episcopal Church has become the largest denomination in the US to bless same-sex relationships. During the church's general convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, nearly eighty-percent of the House of Deputies voted in favor of a thee year trial run of a same sex service to be called the "Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant," it had also been approved by the House of Bishops.

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mhagle's picture

I prefer the idea that we are going to evolve to a deeper level of unselfishness as well.

One effect of the public blatant nastiness is that there are those who otherwise would have remained asleep are waking up and saying no to it.

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Lookout's picture

...heard by the TN supreme court is quite interesting.

http://www.bradburyac.mistral.co.uk/tennes10.html
....

At this point in the 'decision' it seemed as though the ACLU team might still be able to bring the matter before the United States Supreme Court. But then the axe fell. The members of the Tennessee Supreme court successfully brought the whole affair to a grinding halt with one simple maneuver. It is worth reporting this section of the decision in full:

"This record disclosed that the jury found the defendant below guilty, but did not assess the fine. The trial judge himself undertook to impose the minimum fine of $100 authorized by the Statute. This was error. Under section 14 of article 6 of the Constitution of Tennessee, a fine in excess of $50 must be assessed by a jury. The Statute before us does not permit the imposition of a smaller fine than $100.

"Since a jury alone can impose the penalty this Act requires, and as a matter of course no different penalty can be inflicted, the trial judge exceeded his jurisdiction in levying this fine, and we are without power to correct his error. The judgement must accordingly be reversed. Upchurch v. State, 153 Tenn. 198.

So the case was Laid to Rest - On a Technicality. The Tennessee Supreme Court added this recommendation to their ruling:

"The Court is informed that the plaintiff in error [Scopes] is no longer in the service of the State. We see nothing to be gained by prolonging the life of this bizarre case. On the contrary, we think the peace and dignity of the State, which all criminal prosecutions are brought to redress, will be better conserved by the entry of a nolle prosequi herein. Such a course is suggested to the Attorney-General."

Frank Thompson, the Tennessee Attorney-General did just as the Supreme Court advised, and it is this introduction of a nolle prosequi that seems to confuse many commentators.

Roughly translated, nolle prosequi means "do no pursue," and indicates that the party which enters the nolle prosequi no longer wishes to continue with the proceedings (at this time). In the case of the Scopes Trial, since the entry of nolle prosequi followed the reversal of the result of the original trial, after the nolle prosequi the slate was wiped clean, and the situation was the same as if 'the State' had yet to enter a charge.

But it isn't quite as simple as it sounds. When the Tennessee Supreme Court "reversed" the result of the original trial they didn't find Scopes "not guilty." Their decision only meant that he was no longer "guilty" - which isn't the same thing at all. Likewise, as one legal expert commented:

"The troublesome feature of this power is that the nolle prosequi does not clear the accused of guilt and the accused remains vulnerable to prosecution for the same crime."

In other words, Scopes was not protected by the law against "double jeopardy" (which says that a person cannot be tried twice for the same offence), since from a purely legal perspective the first trial never took place.
No wonder Scopes took the first opportunity to escape from this invidious position by accepting an offer, financed by some of the expert witnesses, to study geology far, far away at - the University of Chicago!

Dayton, the site of the original trial, is an hour or so up the road.
Here's 9 min of the film - Tracy (Darrow) main courtroom argument
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtNdYsoool8

Have a good day all.

Edit to add...
You need to ride that time machine into the future more often...

In 2019 - A 27 year old man from Spain was the first person to die of a fatal bull attack during the Pamplona running of the bulls in fourteen years.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Raggedy Ann's picture

We are currently in the throes of moving from the third to the fifth dimension. The fourth dimension is kicking our collective asses - some trying to stay in the third dimension (Herr Drumpf and all the politicos-both sides), while most are trying to move to the fifth - where we will find the peace and harmony we seek. We'll get there in the 2030's so we have quite a bumpy ride in the meantime.

So, instead of "prayer" or following some human, I prefer to follow the dictates of the universe, for I have found it to be in charge. No matter what I do or desire, the universe will determine the outcome. I have no influence - I am not in charge. So, I give it up to the universe. These are my beliefs. It works for me to continue getting out of bed everyday to live my life.

I choose kindness toward my fellow human 98% of the time. I'm not perfect, you see.

Have a beautiful day, everyone! Pleasantry

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

detroitmechworks's picture

However, I have been giving serious thanks to the muses recently. Smile

Just finished reading Doctor Susan Prince's book on Antisthenes, and I am really impressed by the depth of references that she's dug up. However, the book's a bit dense for anybody who isn't familiar with academic notation, and it was a slog to get through a lot of the medieval and Roman commentaries. Ugh... However, there's a lot of things that seem obvious to me that she tiptoes around and seems to see from a very Academic point of view, when Antisthenes whole life was in nearly direct opposition to the "Academy". I guess that my major issue is that her unfamiliarity with the military culture causes her to overlook a very obvious to my eye hypothesis.

(I mean, he used to call Plato a "Little prick" which just screams veteran pissed off at civilian.)

So, yes, I'm spending my time in contemplation and trying to do my best for my fellow man. I'm not perfect, but then I've just started on a path. Every day it gets easier on every front.

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.