During this upcoming week I am going to India. I'll mostly be there up until this next summer at which time I will return to the USA.

But don't worry. You all won't have to do without me.

(Just a joke, somehow I bet you all could handle it even if you did have to manage without me....)

I'll be online quite often over there and this is one of the sites that I will stay in touch with,

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Spirituality is a term that is currently in too much use considering how poorly it is understood. The term may conjure up images ranging from Yoga postures to meditation to alternative medicines. What does any of that actually have to do with Spirituality?

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I’ve been trying to read up on this situation involving the peaceful integration of groups such as Muslims into western countries. One thing that I have found is that there seems to be a “European model� and an “American model� for approaching this issue.

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Trying to implement any change for the better in this world is like trying to swim in a river against the current.

And that is a situation that can be viewed either from the “glass is half full� or “glass is half empty� perspective.

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The ongoing crises involving Muslim protests over the publication of cartoons of Mohammed has brought some very interesting issues to our attention.

There have been a number of people in western countries who have spoken out in an understanding manner towards the Muslims and condemned the publication of the cartoons of Mohammed. But, in general, western countries have expressed sentiments in favor of freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. And it was under those guiding principles that the cartoons of Mohammed were originally published in a Danish newspaper.

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On February 10th I wrote about this ongoing issue regarding the cartoons of Mohammad that were originally published in Denmark and I mentioned that ten people had been killed as a result of the controversy.

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Life is short and we let our moods ruin most of it.

Our mind is always trying to trip us up with doubts and regrets and depressing thoughts: worries about the future, desire for what we don't have, dislike for what we do have, etc.

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There have been ten people killed because of the publication of some cartoons. How ridiculous is that?

I refer, of course, to the furor that has resulted because the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.

Here is a link to those 12 cartoon images:

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/sarticle.php?id=12146

Why would such cartoons lead to a controversy? There are several reasons: Islamic tradition, in general, forbids any depictions of the prophet Mohammed; these cartoons are satirical in nature and Muslims have found that to be dis-respectful towards their religion; as everyone knows, relations between the western world and the Islamic world were already strained.

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When I was a teenager in high school in New Jersey, about 20 years ago, the world, more or less, seemed “white.� That is, other than a few African American classmates, everyone else that I knew and saw was white.

Obviously, that situation has changed drastically. Latino and Asian immigrants have been flooding into the USA. There are towns in New Jersey that have been almost taken over by Indians from the sub-continent of India. I worked at a high school in the San Francisco Bay area one year ago and I was astonished to see such a large numbers of Chinese students. Even some members of the janitorial staff in that high school had taken it upon themselves to start learning Mandarin! I recently lived for a time in South San Francisco and, due to a large number of businesses there operated by people still fluent only in Spanish, it was the first time in my life that I realized that I couldn’t fully get by in a city in the USA without being bi-lingual.

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I wrote once before about some religious concepts that I do not understand. I’m now doing that again. An idea that seems fairly central to Christianity is that Christ died for our sins. First of all, what do the Christians mean by the word “sin�? Secondly, why would the death of Christ be associated with that term?

An action can only be considered as “sinful� from a particular frame of reference. Deciding on what that frame of reference is leads to, of course, a great deal of controversy. Many of the world’s religions take the approach of declaring their holy book, scripture, to be that frame of reference. That book spells out what is good and what is a sin; therefore, to be good follow the precepts laid down therein for goodness. The question may naturally arise in some people: why should the book of this or that particular religion be considered as having the final word on such a question as what is good and what is sinful? The adherents to the different faiths may reply that their book is definitive as it came from God. And the proof of that statement is………? I think such statements rest entirely on faith. And that points out that the foundation is very weak for the concept that most people may have of what is good and what is sinful. That foundation may rest purely on such subjective factors as a person’s religious inclinations and faith.

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What is a “son of god?�

I don’t understand what that phrase is supposed to mean. Are there Christians out there who can offer an explanation? I believe that Christ is considered by the Christian religion, whatever the denomination, to be the “son of god.� How, exactly, does that differentiate Christ from the rest of us? If one believes in a god, would not one then believe that we are all his children? All men, therefore, would be the “son of god,� would they not?

My mother’s side of my family is Jewish. My father was raised as a catholic but converted to atheism. Neither my Jewish mother nor my catholic father saw much sense in their respective religions and they never practiced them. Throughout my own life I was left to more or less read up on and investigate various religions and I have examined all major religions to some extent. They all have at least some interesting or insightful aspects. But many of them have left me perplexed due to statements and practices that I cannot decipher. Referring to Christ as the “son of god� is one such belief that I make no sense out of.

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This is an election year. As everyone knows, the Democrats have had a rough time over the last few years coming up with a coherent message. And even if they had found a coherent message, who would have delivered it?

The Republicans had, I feel, an easier time with those issues in the last presidential election. President Bush successfully framed the election as a question on national security. At this time of war, he tried to convince us, he’s the one we want in the White House. And, although it’s hard to judge since we don’t know how things would have worked out with a different president, there may have been some merit to his argument. In terms of presenting their message the republicans were able to score another home run as Bush was able to run circles around Kerry in terms of presenting ideas in a clear, and charismatic, manner.

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On this last Monday night, January 16th, The Gloden Globe award ceremony was held. I wasn’t too much surprised by the movies and actors that won awards at that ceremony. Most of those films and actors that were up for awards were deserving of those awards, I felt. And the nominees in the various categories constituted some of the best-reviewed material of 2005.

Some Conservative and/or Christian Groups, however, are up in arms. Such groups have, apparently, been angered by the fact that allot of the Golden Globe award winning movies portrayed, in some form or another, homosexual themes. “Brokeback Mountain,� as everyone knows by now, centers on the homosexual affair between two cowboys. It won four Golden Globe awards: Best Picture (Drama), Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Original Song. “Capote,� about a period of time in the life of the homosexual author Truman Capote, also won a Golden Globe Award. Phillip Seymour Hoffman won the Best Actor (Drama) award in the title role of that film. Felicity Huffman won the Best Actress (Drama) award for her portrayal in "Transamerica" of a transsexual on a road trip with “her� illegitimate gay prostitute son.

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I came across a news report by the British newspaper called the Register about an Austrian village called Fucking. Despite some rather obvious public relations problems with the English speaking world, an even more serious problem faced by Fucking is that its road signs keep getting stolen. No doubt, many tourists must consider those road signs quite a keepsake. Wikipedia reports that the road sign bearing the name of Fucking is the “most commonly stolen street sign in Austria�

For a good look at that street sign, check out this link to a Wikipedia entry on this topic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fucking,_Austria

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The VHS/DVD rental chain Blockbuster is going to go out of business. Recently I was visiting with my family over the holidays and we went to a local Blockbuster store to rent some DVDs. Two things struck me on that visit to Blockbuster. The first thing that struck me was that the store was empty. And it was close to Christmas time! I had been to places like Best Buy and Barnes and Noble that same week and there hadn’t been space to move around in the store! The second thing that struck me on that visit to Blockbuster was the cost involved with renting just two or three DVDs; it came to almost $15. Isn’t it possible, I was thinking, just to buy a DVD for that price?

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