The Painful Truth Blog

by Allen C. Dexter

Time for something lighter.
I hope everyone enjoys reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The human race stands in a position of dominance on planet earth. We are clearly the most highly evolved species.

Our brains and minds are the most highly developed in the entire biological sphere we inhabit. We alone have the capacity for advanced speech. No other creature has the manual dexterity, due largely to our opposable thumbs, to invent and manufacture quite like we can. No other being besides us has the capacity to reach for the stars or even realize that there is a vast universe out there to explore. It’s only recently that even we realized that.

We’re obviously superior in many important ways.

That fact leads many of us to assume that everything, including other creatures, is here to exploit and use as we damn well see fit. Like the attitude ancient royalty and pre-civil war slaveholders had toward “lesser” humans, we tend to regard all other creatures as simply there for our exploitation. We are prone to think they don’t have the same quality and depth of feelings and emotions we do.

This is a very flawed attitude.

I’ve always been somewhat cognizant of the fact that other inhabitants of this world do have feelings and emotions, but I still thought they were vastly inferior to what I as a human would feel.

All of that changed in the last few years as three small dogs entered into my world. We are the doting owners of a female Pomchi and two male Pomeranians. I have been fascinated to see how much like human children those pooches are. I am convinced that all they would need is a hyoid bone and a human-like larynx and they would carry on kindergarten level conversations with us. They certainly know a great deal of what we are saying and we are learning to interpret what their barks, growls and looks mean. Watch this video to see what I mean: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/11/dog-breaks-vocabulary-rec_n_804728.html.

The little Pomchi and one of the Pomeranians absolutely love peanuts. I keep a large sack of roasted peanuts beside my recliner. As I’m watching the TV, the little Pomchi will park herself in front of my recliner and gaze steadily at me. If I don’t notice, there is soon a little bark telling me to adjust the portable steps for her and then she watches for me to put my hand down into the sack. Up she comes and parks herself with an expectant look like a child waiting for candy. My heart just melts at such moments. She can also hear me open a carton of ice cream from the master bedroom, and if on the bed, bark to be put down for her share.

Daisy, the Pomchi, especially loves to have her tummy rubbed and petted. She usually sleeps between us and will often roll over and impatiently convulse her little body to let us know she wants her tummy rub. When she is sitting on my lap and being petted by my right hand, she will daintily reach out her paw to my left hand in what I call her “tummy dummy” reminder.

Years ago, a friend who had a large property in the Altadena, CA foothills with horses and a couple cows commented how he always resented putting gas in his car, but he never resented feeding his animals. It’s much the same with our dogs. We just don’t resent sharing anything with them when we see the joy it gives them. They are so much like little human children.

And, they want to please us, just like normal children do. If we have to scold them for something, their little crests fall and they look oh so miserable. We are careful to shower them with love and praise as soon as possible afterward.

None of them have ever been struck. As a result, they have no fear or hostility toward any human. Yes, they will bark at all visitors, but its all a territorial “pack” thing. Their tails are wagging and they are ready to love and be loved. Nipping a visitor never enters their minds.

When they have been left alone for a while and we come back, it’s like children welcoming daddy and mommy back. We have to let them in the car or they could get run over. Trouble stands up like a little man and does a dance we call the “lambada.” His brother is starting to do the same. Daisy is more sedate. She just waddles up in all her plumpness, tail wagging, and waits to be greeted and petted. Then, they anxiously wait to see if we brought them something.

Dogs fit in so well with humans because they are in many ways very similar to humans.

They form packs (families). They are hierarchical with top males and females. They mark their territories – much like Mexican gang bangers “tag” theirs. If we had evolved a keener sense of smell, one can only wonder what we might see taggers doing. Would save them a lot of money for spray paint. Getting acquainted by intimately sniffing each other would also add an interesting dimension to life!

Besides, there are known benefits to having a pet. This recent article points out six of them: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joan-liebmannsmith-phd/6-health-benefits-of-owni_b_795430.html#s209450.

Dogs also learn quickly from experience. One morning, our oldest Pomeranian, who was a pup near a year old at the time, came yelping and howling from under our bed. Like all pups, he liked to chew just about anything and that, along with other mischief, earned him the name “Trouble.” The compulsion included electrical cords. I soon found that he had chewed through one of the control cords to our sleep number air bed – and gotten a painful shock for his “trouble.” He has never touched an electrical cord since!

We hope his two-year younger brother, Jubilation or “Jubi,” learns a similar lesson without dire consequences. Like children, you just can’t guard them from all hazards. They have to learn some things the hard way and one can only hope without too many serious repercussions. The main cord he has damaged so far was the charger cord for my wife’s cell Phone. Those small cords carry very few amps or voltage so he didn’t learn from it.

We aren’t sure whether they’ve learned the lesson about skunks yet. A skunk family chose our alley for a temporary “stomping ground” last summer. Of course, the Invaders had to be challenged. Yep, we had some “de-skunking” to do. Luckily, not a direct, close-up hit. As an old North Dakota ranch kid, I know how devastating that can be. It makes for instant “canus non grata.”

Neither of us are cat fans, but the stories people tell us about their cats make it plain that they have their own unique personalities and feelings. I’m certain, if we had a cat, and we won’t because of a severe cat allergy on my part, that I would find many things to love about the animal and could relate equally interesting facts.

Other creatures are a lot more intelligent and emotionally aware than we would perhaps suppose. Their feelings run deep and they suffer from pain, deprivation and loss very much like we humans do. Anyone who takes on a pet needs to realize that and treat that animal as a feeling, sentient being every bit as worthy of our concerned respect as any other member of the family. If you’re unable or unwilling to provide that loving respect and care, it’s best to forget taking on the responsibility.

Many denizens of the animal kingdom demonstrate great awareness. Elephants have great mental capacity and their care for each other is in many ways human-like. Watch them playing with snow at a German zoo: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/28/elephants-play-in-snow_n_801933.html#s216103. Dolphins can be trained to do a great variety of complicated things, as can whales. Both are extremely intelligent. Even the lowly octopus has a very highly developed brain. The longer we study, the more we learn and the more our commonality of shared abilities and traits with other creatures becomes apparent.

I was amazed by the story of Washoe, a female chimpanzee who had been taught to communicate in computer sign language. She learned to name things, and when asked what a watermelon was, she gave it the name, “fruit drink.” If that isn’t a synonym for “watermelon,” what would you call it? That was human-like reasoning!

We recently watched The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill as the first film we pulled up on instant Netflix. It was amazing and brought tears to our eyes several times.

Exactly what life, mind, brain, spirit, soul, etc. all may mean, it is clear to me that all higher creatures, although still greatly inferior to us in many respects, share a great deal of our mental and emotional characteristics. We have a responsibility to respect them and care about how we treat them.

We don’t need to go to the extreme of becoming vegetarians, never using their capacities for our service, etc. Many animals add a great deal to human existence, and if they are treated with humane care and respect, their lives are also enhanced. A triple crown race horse, for example, usually leads the life of an aristocrat – great accommodations, constant attention, the best of food and medical care, and lots and lots of sex with the best and most beautiful fillies in the equine kingdom. A Solomon couldn’t have it better!

Ask any blind man what he thinks of his guide dog. I have a blind friend who once had one and wishes he still did.

I’m not a fanatic. You won’t find me picketing or sabotaging research labs that utilize animals in experiments. I do hope they are treated humanely and I would push for that. I don’t go around looking for fur coats to throw paint on. I eat steak and most other meats with no pangs of conscience. All I have to do is open my mouth and look in a mirror to see that I resemble a wolf much more than a sheep dentally. My whole digestive system is that of an omnivore. I wear and use leather.

What I’m saying is that we have a responsibility to treat all species with respect and an awareness of their sentience and intrinsic worthiness. We are part of the animal kingdom and share a distant kinship with all of them. As humans, we are all cousins somewhere in the past. We are also some kind of relative to all other creatures, no matter how many millions of degrees removed.

We need to quit feeling so superior and haughty.

by Allen C. Dexter

I am appalled!

I am flabbergasted!

A new poll is out, showing that close to half the population (40%) of the supposedly most advanced nation on earth believes in creationism! Not just general creationism with “God” as first cause to set evolution in motion, but totally stupid “God did it in the last few thousand years” creationism.

The question as to how dumb the American people can be was answered by the last (2010) election and this poll!

In the recent election, the American electorate gave overwhelming support to some of the most ignorant and totally dumb people like at no other time in our nation’s history. I just can’t believe that a total “dumb ass” incompetent like Sarah Palin can be a serious contender as a presidential nominee in less than two years.

It has been stated by several historians that nations get the leaders they deserve. If we’re really that dumb, then we have what we deserve in power right now and our position as the top nation of the world will soon be over.

I mean it! I totally believe that the USA is most likely doomed! Just like ancient Rome!

We have the same situation of treasure draining wars and occupations coupled with a predominantly super rich ruling class that basically buys elections. Serving the needs of the nation comes in a far second to promoting themselves and the interests of their millionaire and billionaire cronies.

Our “leaders” don’t have the understanding, moral principles or the gumption to take the steps necessary to turn things around. True education and true science continue to get “short shrift” and are often ridiculed by little minds with set-in-concrete pro-superstition attitudes in high places.

We have become an anti-science, pro-mythology bunch of under-educated, rap-spouting, superstition-championing idiots! We’re careening down a precipitous blind curve oblivious to what’s happening with our eyes glued to a “plastic Jesus” on the dashboard!

An additional 38% of Americans think that evolution was guided by their God. That is a little less insane but still shows an appalling lack of reasoning power or education in some basic facts of history, geology, paleontology, etc.

It also shows a total lack of any study of comparative religion. All these people know is what they have been fed and carelessly accepted without ever delving into facts like our founding fathers did.

I tremble for the fate of my descendants when I see the state of education in this country. I realize, as did James Madison when he wrote, “The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty,” that we are in dire straits when school boards dictate what can be in textbooks based on a religious bias and ban the dissemination of the knowledge of great men like Thomas Jefferson.

All people have to do is read Thomas Paine’s Age of reason or go online to look up the quotes of men like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, regarding religion to see that this nation wasn’t founded by men who could be present-day adherents to the “Tea Party” or the ultra-conservative Republican right. Here are two sites to check out: http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/washington.htm and http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/jefferson.htm.

Benjamin Franklin is well known for his pithy sayings in Poor Richard’s Almanac. They have become so ubiquitous that many people believe a lot of them come from the Bible. Being a born diplomat, he was much less vocal about his feelings on religion. He was a staunch Deist. Read his very pointed comments that have been preserved at this website: http://articles.exchristian.net/2002/03/ben-franklin-quotes.php.f

Anyone can easily google any number of our founding fathers to see what they really felt on this and other vitally important topics.

Paine’s book is available right here on The Painful Truth website.

People have been lulled to sleep and told the same old nonsense over and over to the point that they just accept it. Hitler realized that if you tell people lies often enough and loudly enough, they will start to believe. It’s a feel-good thing. They can’t be bothered to question and they certainly don’t want to risk going to “hell” by asking some simple questions or reading something “satanic” like an uncensored textbook that teaches that horrible “evulooshin.” Rhymes with “Rooshin,” ya know.

All they think they need or want is their plastic Jesus. He’s gonna come and save them for sure. Viva la Rapture! Funny. I’ve been backward and forward through that Bible, and I have yet to read anything in there that uses that word in any such context.

Weren’t there a few million Jews in Aushwitz and Bergen-Belsen, etc. with similar expectations? Where was that “interventionist” god all the countless thousands of times innocent people have been brutalized and slaughtered time and again throughout history? Often in worship of another concept of that supposedly same god! There were a lot of devout Christians in the Waffen SS. The monsters who flew planes into the twin towers were very passionate worshipers of Allah.

I fear it is too late. Everywhere I look, I see decline. I see my nation basically bankrupt but unwilling to stop the party for the rich and powerful, and many states and local jurisdictions are about to fold under unmanageable budgets. Our greatness has been squandered and sabotaged from within and the “barbarians” without are getting stronger, richer, better educated and more determined.

And, they own us!

The time to call a halt was decades ago. But, we were mesmerized into thinking that we would always be at the top of the heap, so we could party on like drunken sailors. I remember the cliches well: “Use other people’s money,” “Trickle Down,” “Greed is good,” “Tap your equity,” etc., etc., ad nauseum.

We thought we were really clever. Turns out, we were and are abysmally stupid.

By Al Dexter.

When I was a child, my parents had a saying that still occupies a prominent place in my mind. It concerned people who were over impressed with themselves and thought they and theirs were somehow of superior quality. They would disgustedly say, “They think their shit doesn’t stink.”

There are lots of people with that attitude; ranging from individuals and families, locales and nations, political parties and organizations, religions and races, etc. I especially recoil when I hear the Jews referred to, by others and especially by themselves, as “the chosen people.”

Give me a break!

Chosen by whom? A marginal Canaanite tribal God that morphed into what we find worshiped today over centuries of clever development and synchronization with a whole host of preexisting deities and religious systems.

That self-worshiping, pompous, haughty pronouncement is an insult to every other tribe, nation, family, etc. on the face of the earth. It demonstrates a major problem afflicting all the nations and groups who trace their origins to any mythological or genetic connection with a guy named “Abraham.” His racial and theological descendants are classic examples of those who are absolutely convinced that “theirs” in actual fact does not stink.

This was all brought to mind very forcefully when I read an insightful article by Rajiv Malhotra. You can find the article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rajiv-malhotra/hypocrisy-of-tolerance_b_792239.html.

Rajiv opens his article with the following statement: “It is fashionable in interfaith discussions to advocate ‘tolerance’ for other faiths. But we would find it patronizing, even downright insulting, to be ‘tolerated’ at someone’s dinner table. No spouse would appreciate being told that his or her presence at home was being ‘tolerated.’ No self-respecting worker accepts mere tolerance from colleagues. We tolerate those we consider inferior. In religious circles, tolerance, at best, is what the pious extend toward people they regard as heathens, idol worshipers or infidels. It is time we did away with tolerance and replaced it with ‘mutual respect.’”

Here is the “rub.” No Abrahamic religion considers any other religion to be on an equal par with what they consider the only legitimate religion – THEIRS. All others are heretical nonsense and must be overcome and/or stamped out. That can even include the other Abrahamic faiths.

To Judaism, Christianity or Mohammedanism, acceptance of the legitimacy of any other religion is blasphemy. When they “tolerate” they usually consider it a great leniency to even allow existence to any other religion or any criticism of their religion. To acknowledge any other religious system as equally valid paths to God is the height of blasphemy in their eyes. Some individuals in all those religions are tolerant toward those of other faiths, but the majority of the leaders and the “movers and shakers” within those religions are not. Forget respect.

The Latin origin of “tolerance­” refers to enduring and does not convey mutual affirmatio­n or support. The term suggests an imbalance of power, with one of the parties in the position of giving or withholdin­g permission for the other to exist. The Latin word for respect presuppos­es we are all equally worthy of honor. There is no room for arrogance and exclusivit­y in mutual respect.

The US constitution presupposes we are all equally worthy of honor, no matter what our religious beliefs may be or whether we believe at all. Yet, even US Presidents who are sworn to uphold the constitution have stated that an atheist cannot be a loyal American citizen because this is “one nation under God.” (The god of Christianity, of course.) Our armed forces often deliberately discriminate against non-believing members and try to force them into attending religious gatherings. Those without “faith” have serious career problems.

“One nation under God” is an unconstitutional, prejudiced assertion based on that statement being erroneously and presumptuously added to the Pledge of Allegiance in the 1950s when we were engaged in a cold war with the “godless” Soviet Union. It wasn’t in there when I received my early education in the 1940s and early 50s.

Struggles with alien systems constitute a great danger to our freedoms. James Madison realized this. He wrote: “If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.” He also stated, “No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.” President Eisenhauer realized that danger when he warned against the military-industrial complex.

Our nation and its constitution were set up by great men like Thomas Paine who resisted the outrageous and intolerant exclusivist claims of all religions, and he was basically acquainted with only the Abrahamic ones. His Age of Reason is available on this site and I recommend a careful, thoughtful reading of it to everyone.

There was a time when intolerance and lack of mutual respect only led to localized bloodbaths that didn’t threaten humanity as a whole. All that has changed with the advent of the atomic age and the prospect of global cataclysmic warfare prosecuted from land, sea, air and space. In their zeal to stamp out the “infidels,” the Abrahamic faiths are in great danger of destroying the entire earth and everything on it, including themselves.

I was never too worried about an atomic holocaust being started by the Soviet Union. They didn’t suffer from a religiously based insanity. They were quite rational and realistic as a whole and knew that a basically sterilized planet would be of very little use to them, even if they were among the unlucky few who survived.

That kind of rationalistic thinking just doesn’t exist in the minds of radical Islamists. They would confidently and lustfully look forward to their 72 virgins as they slowly died of radiation poisoning or froze to death in the nuclear winter.

What do female Muslims look forward to? Maybe they don’t count for any more in the Muslim afterlife than they do in this one. Where do Muslims think their god gets all those virgins? Is there a virgin bank in paradise with vaults full of virgins in suspended animation? Or, is there a celestial operating room with overworked doctors restoring hymens for virgin recycling? I’ve even heard women comment that they were no bargain as virgins. You’ll have to excuse me. Religious stupidity just tends to get me going.

As I pointed out in my article, Born Into “Suckerhood,” most of our beliefs and values are instilled in us by our parents and the society around us at a very early age. Tolerance, and certainly mutual respect, is not a prominent part of those teachings because we are also taught that we should not tolerate evil and any teachings contrary to what we were taught are deemed evil. Contrary opinions and practices can only be tolerated grudgingly and self-righteously.

The more authoritarian and repressive the society and the more incessantly these approaches are drummed into us, the more prejudiced and unyielding we become. Anything contrary is deemed an evil and, if possible, has to be stamped out. In the adherents mind, anything that doesn’t agree with their beliefs and approaches becomes heretical, smelly “shit” that stinks to high heaven. Their beliefs, of course, smell like wonderful perfume.

Would someone please open a window and/or turn on the fan?

My month is almost up, and I have thoroughly enjoyed my stint as guest editor. I want to thank all those who have commented and congratulate them on, as a whole, very substantive and well thought out comments. I hope you will have good points to add to this offering. Here it is:

IMAGE FIRST

by Allen C. Dexter

Just as my last article on hypocrisy appeared, the news coverage suddenly exploded about the new sex scandals bedeviling the Catholic Church – scandals which have since landed firmly in the lap of the Pope himself.

Worldwide wasn’t the only entity immersed in hypocrisy. All religions, along with political parties, seem to be especially prone to the evil of hypocrisy.

Why is that so?

I’m sure we could dredge up a lot of contributing factors. However, I believe it all boils down primarily to the old adage that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Anyone who finds him or herself in a position of great power feels they have to do anything necessary to keep their followers and the public from noticing that they, like the famous emperor, might be lacking some necessary moral, doctrinal or intellectual raiment. They stand in danger of their followers and the world at large realizing that they aren’t as perfect, wise and infallible as they claim to be.

When the claim is made that you and your organization is the only real representative of Christ, like the WWCG and the Catholic Church have maintained, the perceived need to deceive the faithful and the world at large becomes ever more urgent. When religion seizes control of political parties, the same phenomenon comes into play.

Thus, as soon as something unsavory rears its ugly head, damage control begins and “spin” sets in. If it can be completely covered up and kept from the public, so much the better. Otherwise, denial, obfuscation and questioning the honesty and integrity of the accuser is usually the next courses of action.

Of course, the possibility that the poor people might get offended, turn bitter and lose their salvation has to be emphasized. That gives a righteous and loving motive to the whole thing.

Any of us who spent any time at WWCG headquarters or were closely associated in any way with the ministry have witnessed this image building and deliberate fabrication in action. When we wrote letters to members and listeners and when we visited church members and potential members in the field, the image and welfare of the “work” was always foremost in our minds.

One graphic example of this occurred while I was assisting the pastor of the New York City church between late 1960 and the beginning of 1962.

There was one particular member, an African American young man, who didn’t seem able to hold a job and support himself. He ended up homeless in the middle of a New York winter and caught pneumonia from the exposure. He ended up in the hospital, the very hospital where his sister was a nurse. I think she is the one who alerted the church to his condition and situation.

He refused antibiotics that he really needed to treat his condition and his sister appealed to the pastor to try to change his mind. This put him in a bit of a quandary, to say the least. He knew the adverse publicity and possible harm that could come on the church, but he had to uphold Herbert’s radical doctrine.

His solution was to manipulate the man into saying he would not take the medication even if his minister told him to do so. He then told his sister that her brother had just told him he wouldn’t take the medication even if he told him to. He thought it a rather clever way of taking the church off the hook. I often wonder if he still has that opinion. He seems to have disappeared into the ether, and I doubt he is or has been with any of the splinters.

No matter what excuse or justification may be employed, the fact of the matter is that religious organizations and political parties are first of all interested in their image. That image is the basis of their power and influence. Without that image, they fear they will lose their supporters and, ultimately, their lofty positions, power and income. Few have the moral courage to stand up and speak honestly and forthrightly under those circumstances.

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