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I Am Sick Of People Saying “I’m Not Allowed To Say Merry Chritsmas”!!

RJ Walters

The War on Christmas has been going on for a decade or so now, and though it may not rage with quite the fury it once did, it still serves everyone’s interests. The conservative Christians who gear up for the war every year get to feed their sense of persecution and the belief that their lives are a righteous struggle against the large and sinister forces working to destroy them. Conservative media get something to shake their fists at them for a couple of months. And the rest of us get to feel superior and mock them for being so … Continue reading I Am Sick Of People Saying “I’m Not Allowed To Say Merry Chritsmas”!!

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Taking Personal Responsibility…

RJ Walters

In my mind taking personal responsibility is a big part of the bedrock of what makes the U.S. a success story among the nations of the world. We encourage, some would even demand, that each of us take personal responsibility for our well being and especially for our future needs. The graphic to the right pretty well sums up the benefits and obstacles associated with personal responsibility. It starts with self control and eventually peaks with wisdom. Self control means that we make the choices necessary to provide the desired outcomes. All of us need to take personal responsibility for … Continue reading Taking Personal Responsibility…

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Inequality as a Religious Test

RJ Walters

But if you believe that every human being is made in the image of God — imago dei; if you believe that every individual person represented in economic statistics is a child of God; if you believe that in nearly all religious traditions, loving your neighbor as you love yourself follows directly after loving God; and if you believe, regardless of your conception of God, that human beings are all brothers and sisters tied together, then income inequality is a spiritual issue, a moral issue, and a religious test of our belief. Source: Inequality as a Religious Test | Sojourners … Continue reading Inequality as a Religious Test

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There Is Nothing Wrong With Myth….

RJ Walters

There is nothing wrong with myth, as it is an ingrained part of a cultural and religious traditions. Here is a little about mythology from Wikipedia: As a collection of such stories, mythology is a vital feature of every culture. Various origins for myths have been proposed, ranging from personification of nature, personification of natural phenomena to truthful or hyperbolic accounts of historical events, to explanations of existing ritual. …  A culture’s collective mythology helps convey belonging, shared and religious experience, behavioral models, and moral and practical lessons. Lets look at a couple of ways that myth is created: There … Continue reading There Is Nothing Wrong With Myth….

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About Those Refugees…

RJ Walters

I don’t know which GOP rally the picture to the right was from but I know it was from one of them. This guy is seen to represent the supposed base of the GOP. (Why do all those guys holding signs like this one look the same?) They seem to be deathly afraid of someone, anyone, getting something they don’t deserve.  In that regard they just seem to hate the refugees almost as much as ISIS. When I say “supposed base” it is not without an underlying feeling. Outside of Fox News I don’t see much of the phobia happening. … Continue reading About Those Refugees…

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Streaks Of Inspiration…

RJ Walters

I embrace change, it is what keeps life interesting and challenging for me.  To that end I am adding yet another subcategory to RJsCorner. It is called “Streaks Of Inspiration” and is found under the”About Life” category header above. I am approaching almost 3,000 posts here. Most are about my observations of daily life around this planet earth. But then there are some where an idea hit me almost like a streak of lighting. It suddenly appeared in my consciousness, often when I am in the show and allow myself to fully contemplate life. :) Many of the posts that … Continue reading Streaks Of Inspiration…

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About Religion…

RJ Walters

Religion today seems more about interfaith competition than “love your neighbor”. It seems to be “love your neighbor as long as he is a Lutheran/Baptist/etc.   Spiritual but not Religious The above words (I failed to capture the source) and the graphic are perhaps the primary reasons I now claim to be “spiritual but not religious”. I just see too much politics and interfaith competition to make me want to stay part of any particular religious organization of today.  Each religion and each religious denomination seems to be at battle with everyone else for the mantle of God’s people. I … Continue reading About Religion…

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Deserving Its Own Real Estate…

RJ Walters

I don’t know how many of you are like me but I just don’t buy into the latest gourmet trends of chefs stacking all my food on top of each other on my plate. It tends to taint the meal before I even start eating.  I end up spend minutes getting the mashed potatoes out of my asparagus and the entrée cleaned off before I can get my initial taste.  It just starts the meal out on the wrong foot for me.  To try to eliminate that added task I have made up the following card that I will insist … Continue reading Deserving Its Own Real Estate…

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Pragmatism & Drugs in Prisons…

RJ Walters

I know the title above might be confusing to you right now but let me explain. If only we would follow the principle of  Occum’s razor and understand that most often the simplest answer is the best answer. But instead we make things more complicated than they need to be.  We just can’t seem to help ourselves. This phenomenon came to the forefront for me while watching a prison documentary on TV lately. OK, first I guess I have to admit that sometimes I just get bored with the normal stuff on TV and turn into these types of shows … Continue reading Pragmatism & Drugs in Prisons…

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Here We Go Again… Even Eighty Years Later…

RJ Walters

Here we go again!  America is running true to form, fixing some other country’s business for ’em just as we always do. We mean well, but will wind up in the wrong as usual…   Will Rogers June 22, 1931 I seem to have been ignoring one of my heroes of late. It seems that my op-ed posts are taking over RJsCorner. I gotta do something about that. After all life isn’t always about what is happening in the world. In fact it is even pretty far down in a sane person’s priority list. But who ever accused me of being … Continue reading Here We Go Again… Even Eighty Years Later…

Life On the Margins4 Comments

Religion Makes Children More Selfish…

RJ Walters

History backs-up the scientific evidence that secular people are more moral, as reviewed by Israeli psychologist Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi. Most white supporters of the US Civil Rights Movement were non-religious, for example, while the apartheid regime in South Africa was led by devout Christians and opposed by atheists. But the view that non-religious individuals are morally dubious is deeply embedded in American society. Atheists and agnostics are considered less trustworthy, even immoral, which explains why people who don’t believe in God are unlikely to be elected to high political office, such as President of the United States…. ”It’s sometimes claimed that … Continue reading Religion Makes Children More Selfish…

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Mount Trashmore… A Consumer Driven Society..

RJ Walters

One of the things that we first-world countries have basically wrong in my opinion is that we must be a consumer driven society. Everyone buying and consuming more and more each year is the bedrock of our economic system, especially here in the U.S. Over my seven decades on this earth I have accumulated literally tons of stuff that I really didn’t need or actually, didn’t really want.  I bought it because it was the “in” thing to do. I bought it because the marketeers convinced me that I had to have it.  Yeah, I am human too and fall … Continue reading Mount Trashmore… A Consumer Driven Society..

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I’m Being Picked On….

RJ Walters

Carson insists no other candidate has received the level of scrutiny that he has. Asked on NBC whether he is getting more than President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton, Carson replied: “Not like this. Not even close.”Scrutiny of his past is par for any major candidate for president, not only Carson. Obama’s citizenship was questioned and he later released a birth certificate showing that he was born in Hawaii. Clinton’s marital dalliances were probed during his 1992 campaign. The Miami Herald staked out then-Sen. Gary Hart’s townhouse in 1987 and caught him in an extramarital affair. Hillary Clinton, … Continue reading I’m Being Picked On….