In one of Bob Dylan's Christian songs, he says to God, "You have explained every mystery, what can I do for you?"
So I say to myself, "What? What mystery did Jesus explain?
The religious answer is "everything."
He explained everything.
Basically the Christian says, "God made everything. He gives you free will.
He has the power to shape and create matter and events, so, whatever you don't understand, Jesus, or God, or Allah are responsible for, or the Devil or guardian angels.
Turning it over to God, or as Carrie Underwood so eloquently and movingly put it, "Jesus take the wheel", is in some respects eqivalent to the Taoist practices of non discriminatory perception.
It can be helpful in the sense of producing serenity
Participating actively in our own destinies is as magnificent and glorious as acting out aspects of someone's interpretation of mythical beings.
Knowledge for the sake of learning is of value.
"The further you go, the less you know" Lao Tzu
The further you go into the high country of the mind, and thought, and logic, and awareness of the magnificence of life, the more you realize what you don't know.
In the meantime, while exploring the wonder of your own life, some things are, (so I maintain, anyway) absolute truths, such as the value of love and selflessness and so on.
While finding or looking for your own individual view of the immensity of all things, you can refrain from doing things to others that you don't want them to do to you, as is said in the Torah.
You can accept that you are a part of everything, as significant as all other parts, but no more so.
When we teach a child that life is really all about a God that demands total submission and these are his rules, we may well be teaching something that has no basis in fact, at all.
Teaching a child about sleeping beauty as a parable, teaching about the triumph of good and beauty, is harmless unless one teaches that the moral of the story is that people that "look like witches" have a prediliction to poison beautiful young women.
It really was not that long ago, in historical terms, that women were indicted as being witches, and hung after a "fair trial", in The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Any of the variations of Yaweh, Yeshua or Allah, have historically lead to bloodshed.
By way of contrast, there have been no Buddhist or Taoist wars.
Children should always be taught that Christianity is not considered factual, and that their behavior should be based on laws and kindness, not a fairytale.
Reporting from Denver - A federal grand jury is investigating Joe Arpaio, the Arizona sheriff known for his aggressive stance on illegal immigration, for possible abuses of power in launching investigations of local officials who disagree with him, authorities said Friday.
Two Maricopa County officials have been subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury to testify about Arpaio's actions against county officials since they moved to cut his budget in late 2008.
Since then Arpaio and County Atty. Andrew Thomas, an ally, have filed criminal charges against two county supervisors, have said dozens of other county workers are under investigation and have filed a federal racketeering lawsuit accusing the entire county political structure of conspiring against them.
The investigation of Arpaio has been rumored for months, but the statements from County Manager David Smith and Deputy County Manager Sandi Wilson confirming the subpoenas, issued Thursday, are the first official confirmation.
The FBI and U.S. attorney's office in Phoenix declined to comment on the investigation. Arpaio's office did not return a call for comment.
In an interview Friday, Wilson, the county's budget chief, said a prosecutor from the U.S. attorney's office met with her and Smith this week. "They told us that they were looking at abuses by Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his office, abuses of power," she said.
Wilson said she was not asked about the sheriff's controversial immigration policies. Arpaio uses his deputies to enforce federal immigration law and is known for sending hundreds of officers into heavily Latino neighborhoods to ask anyone who commits violations as minor as jaywalking about their immigration status.
Among the officials targeted by Arpaio and Thomas has been Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, the lone Democrat on the board, for possible conflict of interest.
Wilson, whom Arpaio has named as part of a possible criminal conspiracy, said it was a relief that the federal government had looked into complaints from a wide array of Arizona officials about the sheriff's behavior.
"My children are adopted from other countries, and I used to feel good about having brought them here, but now I'm not sure," she said. "It doesn't feel like America here in Maricopa County. You have no idea what it's like to know you could be arrested for just doing your job."
n icholas.riccardi@latimes.com
Two Maricopa County officials have been subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury to testify about Arpaio's actions against county officials since they moved to cut his budget in late 2008.
Since then Arpaio and County Atty. Andrew Thomas, an ally, have filed criminal charges against two county supervisors, have said dozens of other county workers are under investigation and have filed a federal racketeering lawsuit accusing the entire county political structure of conspiring against them.
The investigation of Arpaio has been rumored for months, but the statements from County Manager David Smith and Deputy County Manager Sandi Wilson confirming the subpoenas, issued Thursday, are the first official confirmation.
The FBI and U.S. attorney's office in Phoenix declined to comment on the investigation. Arpaio's office did not return a call for comment.
In an interview Friday, Wilson, the county's budget chief, said a prosecutor from the U.S. attorney's office met with her and Smith this week. "They told us that they were looking at abuses by Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his office, abuses of power," she said.
Wilson said she was not asked about the sheriff's controversial immigration policies. Arpaio uses his deputies to enforce federal immigration law and is known for sending hundreds of officers into heavily Latino neighborhoods to ask anyone who commits violations as minor as jaywalking about their immigration status.
Among the officials targeted by Arpaio and Thomas has been Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, the lone Democrat on the board, for possible conflict of interest.
Wilson, whom Arpaio has named as part of a possible criminal conspiracy, said it was a relief that the federal government had looked into complaints from a wide array of Arizona officials about the sheriff's behavior.
"My children are adopted from other countries, and I used to feel good about having brought them here, but now I'm not sure," she said. "It doesn't feel like America here in Maricopa County. You have no idea what it's like to know you could be arrested for just doing your job."
n icholas.riccardi@latimes.com
