The Meddlesome Priest :

“The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: ‘T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown: His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God’s When mercy seasons justice.” --- Portia's Speech from  The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I, William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616 Suppose you wanted to stop war for just one year, say in the year 2020. You figure people might like peace for a  year so much they’ll want to make it permanent.  You figure, ‘what the hell…it’s worth a shot right? What do you think it would take to ...

Integrity: the center of personal character, doing the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons Integrity is our only real possession. Only we know, for sure, if we really possess it. It costs nothing save the constant effort to secure it. It is little noticed except by the scorn of skeptics. Not made of atoms or molecules it defies science yet it is our eternal legacy. Sought by paupers and kings it tarnishes easily and can be easily lost forever. Whereas it fits every soul that tries it on, its conditions are specific and absolute. Neither learned nor taught, integrity defines the center of our being as either fact or a vacancy. While wisdom entails knowing the right thing to do, integrity is doing it at the right time and for the right reasons.  Since it can neither be copied nor commanded it eludes thieves and tyrants. It’s most remarkable aspect is its legacy to give a life meaning for successive generations. A conversation with a former student ...

Theophobia : psychological fear of   G(g)ods   or   religion inciting irrational revulsion, rage, and even hatred against   them. Theophobes despise religious texts, artifacts, houses of worship. They are intolerant of people who believe in deities their symbols and images. Theophobes fantasize that any deity is an arbitrary, totalitarian, dictator, a menacing bogeyman floating in the sky ready to punish them. People with a long family history of religious faith or indoctrination are more likely to suffer from debilitating, delusional, and neurotic theophobia. As a card-carrying member of the liberal-progressive-Bolshevik-socialist-theophobe-Democrats (LPBSTD), I've decided to overcome my psychological illness known as theophobia. Doing so will preserve my mental health in two divisive debates today; homosexual divorce, and Climate Change. As a bonus, rejecting the popular trend called theophobia will raise my overall consciousness. Here’s how. I’ve...

Thanks to last Friday’s ‘five-legged dog’ SCOTUS decision any state permit to carry concealed weapons is now legal in all 50 states. When SCOTUS creates something out of nothing, unintended consequences usually follow. This recent decision, a love poem about lovers, written by Supreme Intergalactic Emperor, Anthony Kennedy, is no exception. Someone in Abraham Lincoln's weekly card game once blurted out "If you call a dog's tail a leg, then doesn't a dog have five legs?" To which Lincoln replied "No, calling a tail a leg don't make it a leg." According to SCOTUS Justice Anthony Kennedy, dogs now have five legs. Here are the reasons that this five-legged-dog is unconstitutional on its face and its unforeseen benefit for gun owners. (Theophobes may continue reading here as God and religion are not part of my argumentation.) 1.              First-year law students always ask, What does the constitution mea...