I have been declared Emperor of the World. Let us not waste time explaining why or how; let’s all simply accept the fact that we are better off, as a result; hence, my next decree:

Emperor’s Decree No. 449328: A guy winds up being lucky enough to have power right after Hurricane Sandy hits New York City and he drapes an extension cord over the fence and tapes a sign next to it that reads: WE HAVE POWER. FEEL FREE TO CHARGE YOUR CELL PHONE. Seconds later, a picture of this is all over the Imperial Internet on happy, smiley, I’m-so-happy-about-life-I-poop-a-little-every-three-minutes sites and people post it on Facebook and they tweet it with comments like: “See! There is hope for mankind.” Was it nice of this guy to do this? Perhaps. But it looks more (to this Munificent Dictator) like an act common human decency. The Emperor finds it a little sad that our standards have dropped so much that what might once have been seen as an act of simple obligation to one’s fellow humans is now regarded as a sign of hope for the entire human species. Give the person credit for some electric-cord altruism? Sure. Mark it as a sign of hope for the future? Not. Subjects of the Empire need to do a little better than that — and they do. Let’s praise truly selfless deeds because they are exceptional and let’s not get all tingly-pants because of a neat little viral photo of some nonchalantly-kind gesture. If a firefighter making a one-way trip into a burning high-rise shows the best part of humanity, then Emperor refuses to beatify a guy for dangling a cord and going in to have a sandwich and watch Dr. Phil.

The Punishment: Over-praisers of the commonly-kind gesture will be starved for a week-and-a-half and, then, when fed, will be beaten with an electric cord (that is, if they are not effusive enough in their thanks for the food).

Now, go forth and obey.

The Emperor will grace the world with a new decree each Tuesday morning. 

Tags: religion & philosophy, The Emperor decrees by Chris Matarazzo
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Have you ever tried to track down something you saw on TV as a kid, just to see if it was even real? Many of us are occasionally haunted by snippets of movies and shows we vaguely remember watching when we were children. We may wonder if these memories ever really happened, or if they were dreams. Especially when the memories seem incredibly bizarre! Having grown up in the 70s, I caught a lot of psychedelic stuff on TV as a kid that I’ve become obsessed with tracking down as an adult. Why? Discovering forgotten moments from our youth is the closest thing we have to time travel. We get to relive an experience we had and to see what actually happened. Sometimes, we may even be shocked to find that the story from way back then provides an answer to our lives now. [Read more →]

Tags: religion & philosophy, television by Marc Oromaner
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Have you been feeling a bit dizzy lately? Does time feel like it’s been flying by faster than ever? Experiencing ringing in your ears? Seeing flashes of light or fleeting glimpses of things that aren’t there? If you’re not head-over heels in love, pregnant, or smokin’ da ganja, you may be going through what’s known as ascension symptoms. What are they, why are they happening, what do they mean, and will they ever go away? If you’d like answers to questions like these, the latest installment of Layman just might be the prescription you’ve been looking for. [Read more →]

Tags: religion & philosophy by Marc Oromaner
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“Vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas.” That, of course, is the opening sentence of the book of Ecclesiastes, as translated into Latin by St. Jerome. “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,” as the King James Version has it.

The book takes it name from its speaker. “Eccleasiastes” is a Greek rendering of the Hebrew “Qoholeth,” variously thought to mean Preacher or Teacher, though it could also be understood as Member of the Assembly.

He identifies himself in the opening sentence as son of David, king in Jerusalem, and tradition has held that the author was Solomon. Be that as it may, he is someone who has seen enough of life to no longer be taken in by it. [Read more →]

Tags: religion & philosophy, that's what he said, by Frank Wilson by Frank Wilson
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With the rise of comedians like Louis C.K. and Bill Hicks, the complexity level of comedy has increased. Comedy is no longer three idiots poking each another in the eye or lighting their flatulence on fire . It’s no longer even just an irreverent and humorous dismantling. As religious explanations fall further and further behind the evolutions of society, comedians have stepped in to fill the gap. Comedians are the new preachers, comedy clubs are their churches, and the audience members that understand it are the frustrated moral progressives. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, religion & philosophy by Tyler Samien
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The first time I was given advice about the importance of forgiveness was at the most unlikely of places: an advertising school I was attending in Atlanta. The school had brought in speaker Joey Reiman—a very successful advertising executive who ran his own agency. Almost immediately, I could tell this man had a lot of wisdom, but it was towards the end of his presentation when something he said really resonated with me. [Read more →]

Tags: movies, religion & philosophy by Marc Oromaner
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Tags: black helicopter watch, religion & philosophy by Mike Farrell
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Disney taught us that, “when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.” Unfortunately, if your dream is to have both of your parents live to see you succeed, you’re sheer out of luck. In fact, of Disney’s forty full-length animated features from 1937 until 2000, I know of only one where the protagonist’s parents remain alive for the entire film.* Then there’s the fact that just about every super-powered hero is an orphan. If this isn’t bad enough, one or both of the hero’s adoptive parents often dies too! Superman lost his adoptive dad, Spider-Man lost his uncle, and Luke Skywalker lost both his aunt and uncle. With the Amazing Spider-Man movie set for release this summer, and that movie actually exploring the mysterious back-story about Peter Parker’s real parents, I thought it would be a good time to delve into the topic of why so many of our heroes—both super and animated—are orphans, and what the message means for all of us. [Read more →]

Tags: movies, religion & philosophy by Marc Oromaner
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There comes a point in every individual’s lifetime when he or she must face the inevitable question: should I read a 307 page mystical- psychedelic Chilean-French science fiction tarot epic that was originally published in the same format as a Tintin book?

The answer is to be found between pages 188-201 of Alejandro Jodorowsky and Jean “Moebius” Giraud’s The Incal. During this sequence the protagonist John DiFool participates in the sacred five thousand year games of the Bergs, a race of beaked aliens awaiting regeneration:

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Tags: art & entertainment, books & writing, religion & philosophy by Daniel Kalder
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Anyone who travels within spiritual circles has probably heard about “vibrations.” The context is usually that someone with a higher vibration is somehow more spiritual or that the goal of the individual is to raise his or her vibration. But what does this really mean? Is it all just spiritual mumbo jumbo or is there actually a science behind vibrations? As you probably figured out from the title of this article, I believe that there is absolutely a science to this spiritual concept. And I believe I can prove it. [Read more →]

Tags: religion & philosophy, science by Marc Oromaner
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When it comes to the Vatican’s crackdown on women religious, I believe it’s time to declare that for the purpose of this struggle:we are all nuns…if you can spell Catholic, you are probably asking: how dare they go after 57,000 dedicated women whose median age is well over 70 and who work tirelessly for a more just world? How dare the very men who preside over a Church in utter disgrace due to sexual misconduct and cover-ups by bishops try to distract from their own problems by creating new ones for women religious?–     Mary E. Hunt, Theologian, Catholic Activist and Academic

I don’t really have a dog in this hunt anymore;  as an anti-theist who has reached the conclusion that the only way there could be a god would be if God was a very arbitrary and angry teenage girl named Tiffany who was primarily interested in Justin Bieber and whether or not her jeans make her ass look fat, I’m not a logical choice to defend the various orders of Nuns from the Holy See. [Read more →]

Tags: religion & philosophy by Mike Farrell
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From a post and link on a friend’s Facebook page, I have just now learned of the passing of one of the more remarkable individuals I have ever met … one who was once without hope, but went on to find hope and share it with countless others … one who described himself as a ‘nobody,’ yet was anything but.

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Tags: religion & philosophy by Jeff McDonald
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Big day, tomorrow … and not just for all Christians, but for all peoples … that’s what I believe.

“We are the Easter people,” Pastor Jim Miles of First Prez-Fort Stockton reminds us ….. and that is what we affirm tomorrow, the day for which we have prepared over the past six weeks, the day for which we live at all times. A promise was made on a joyful, star-lit night, in a stable in Bethlehem … but that promise was kept on a bloody, storm-darkened day, on a hill outside of Jerusalem.

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Tags: religion & philosophy by Jeff McDonald
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If you’ve ever wondered why we are here, this article is for you. If you’ve never wondered, some part of you has been wondering without your knowledge or else you wouldn’t be reading this now. There’s been a lot written about what life is and what we’re doing here. Some of it is very technical and philosophical. Some of it is very metaphorical and poetic. And then there is the actual answer, which we may never know. However, one truth I’ve noticed about this world is that cycles exist within cycles within cycles. Electrons swirling around a neutron are similar to our planets swirling around the sun. The shape of a leaf is indicative of the shape of the tree it came from. History repeats itself. Myths evolve over time but their basic elements all remain the same. Putting these truths together I was able to trace back to the origins of the first story and, to my shock and awe, uncovered an answer to a question I’ve been wondering for a very long time: why did the universe evolve to become so seemingly complicated? The answer, ironically enough, is incredibly simple. [Read more →]

Tags: religion & philosophy by Marc Oromaner
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Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself.–Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosopher and Chief Instructor, Cambridge International Clown College and Brewery

Very bright young woman who used to work for me posted a note to Facebook saying, “Remind me again why I keep trying to be someone that isn’t me…” I think that’s the universal human condition in a lot of ways, but that’s a large part of the problem.

When I seek enlightenment, I turn to Bob Dylan or Hank Williams. I misquote both at times, but get the idea back. My comment to my friend was “Be yourself but decide how much of yourself you want to be.” I base that on the idea of strategic openness. I try to be the guy with no hidden agendas in my dealings with the world, but that doesn’t mean I want everyone to see everything about me at everytime. Quite the contrary…I say what I think but try to say it when it can be heard. I’m not Barrack Obama with a bully pulpit, and I’m not Bob Dylan with a mystic connection to the world. Dylan is notorious, of course, for saying what he thinks but not in a way that reveals him. There are far poorer role models. Anyway, I referred her to this peformance of one of his most optimistic songs (NOT) from Subterranean Homesick Blues — the Dylanesque version of It’s a Wonderful World.

Dylan being optimistic

There are a lot of Hank Williams songs that fit this problem. You can listen to his stuff and what you hear is total exposure of self, and yet there’s just that bit of shadow over in the corner. Watch the center, but your eye keeps being drawn to the darkness. If you listen to something like I Can’t Help It If I’m Still in Love with You or There’ll be no teardrops tonight, you can feel the problems of concealing things that should be shown, and opening up the things that are best left in shadow. Well, he figured it all out pretty well…

watch?v=19vApPwWqh8&feature=related

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Tags: religion & philosophy by Mike Farrell
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Tags: politics & government, religion & philosophy by Alexander Thorburn Hoffman
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Where have you gone, Carlos Estevez?

A nation turns its lowly eyes to you.

Woo woo woo.

What’s that you say, Carlos Estevez?

Tigerblood will burn away your soul,

lol lol lol!

lol lol lol!

This is an area of Charlie’s expertise. Winning. What does a vulgarian like Sheen mean when he talks about Winning? Only the most crass satisfaction of his most immediate and unexamined desires, as we know. Winning has nearly killed him but only nearly so. Mr Sheen, carry on, as the stubborn reprobate whoremonger has nothing on the nation at large nor the holders and seekers of our highest offices. Recall that Nancy Pelosi spoke for every Democrat in the country and many non-Democrats when she suggested that those irksome Constitutional requirements of this or that were to be overcome with polevaults or HALO drops; whatever it takes. The only important thing? Winning. And win they did. The contest was also the prize. Obamacare we call it though Obama and his hordes do not care for that name. Whether it is the man or the act that is slandered never is explained but they won. Through the most delicate acts of chicanery and treachery, they won. Despite the single voice of objection, they won. And we won. We Americans won an advance into the modern world, as it was said. Did you not know how America lagged behind the balance of humanity? It is true. Until this usurpation and corruption America was a global and historical disgrace; a moral slug-a-bed compared to prodigies in fairness and prosperity like Cuba. Like China. If the goal of the American Care Act, the true legal name of Obamacare, was to bring us closer to these states in our medicine and finances then truly it is a stunning victory.  [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, religion & philosophy by Ken Watson
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I don’t know if many Americans these days are familiar with Charles Péguy. He was one of those strange figures that seemed more common around the turn of the last century, a time of considerable intellectual and social turmoil. Looking back, the ideas being debated at the time — anarchism, neo-scholasticism, spiritualism, among many others — seem less interesting than how idiosyncratically they were regarded by those debating them. [Read more →]

Tags: religion & philosophy, that's what he said, by Frank Wilson by Frank Wilson
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In a New York Press article from August of 2011, film producer and director Tommy Pallotta, said, “I am a fan of audience participation, but I also think audiences like to be told a story. There’s this thing video game designers call a ‘golden path’—there’s a definite way that the majority of people are going to experience the game, and the designers plot that. A lot of the interactivity in a video game is really just the illusion of interactivity. It’s about engaging the audience and giving at least the feeling of volition. But as the artist you have the sense that you are, in some way, controlling it, blending the craft of storytelling with the illusion of agency.” In other words, in a game you think you are controlling the action, but really it’s already been pre-programmed. Kind of like what we think of as destiny. In fact, maybe that’s exactly what destiny is: the path we are meant to take in order to have the most fulfilling experience. [Read more →]

Tags: movies, religion & philosophy by Marc Oromaner
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I don’t know if anyone today remembers Walter M. Miller Jr.’s post-apocalyptic novel A Canticle for Leibowitz. It won the Hugo Award for best science fiction novel in 1961.

I was introduced to it the year before by my college freshman Latin teacher. I haven’t looked at it for more than half a century.

Recently, though, while searching for something to post on my blog as a “thought for the day,” I came upon a quote from it: “You don’t have a soul, Doctor. You are a soul. You have a body, temporarily.”

Now, one of the things I’ve found about riffing off quotes, as I do in this column, is that a quote that intrigues you will often just stop you dead in your tracks. [Read more →]

Tags: religion & philosophy, that's what he said, by Frank Wilson by Frank Wilson
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