Red States and Blue States: It Was Not Always Thus

I hear a lot of people talking about red states and blue states, often speaking of them as if it’s a set-in-stone phenomenon. Unfortunately, because American History taught in high school often glosses over 20th Century History (especially the political side), many people don’t know what really went on over the last 100 years. Let’s […]

Inherit the Wind Canceled by Zealots: A Win For Freedom in America

Today, Playbill put out an article entitled Local Production of Inherit the Wind Canceled Due to Religious Objections.  The Mankato Free Press wrote about it here, three days earlier.  And it got me thinking. Freedom can be bittersweet in its beauty. A rural Minnesotan town of 13,000, founded by conservative Lutherans 160 years ago and home to […]

Let’s Talk About School Shootings

I was sixteen years old when Harris and Klebold walked into Columbine High School and went on a killing spree. We were in school when it happened – before the media-driven-fear-fest that was 9/11, there was Columbine. Imagine being a teenager watching a school get destroyed…and discovering it’s being done by other students. It was […]

God Is Clark Kent

It is as clear to me as it was to Fred a hundred and fifty years ago: the concept of divinity that the majority of humans share is incorrect and must be adjusted.  He said, “God is dead,” and has caused quite a stir when people have taken that line out of the context of […]

I Should Know My Self By Now

But, don’t get me wrong. I know. At least, I think I know better than most. I’ve spent most of my life in existential exploration and what is true for me now is as true for me as it has ever been: All knowledge is self-knowledge. Anything we think about the world or about anything, […]

Part I – Energy – Written 2002

Spirituality is a topic I’ve dealt with my entire life. I was brought up Methodist and confirmed Episcopalian, but I never really believed any of it; it all seemed too simple. From the time I could have independent perceptions about the world I questioned what was taught in every philosophy or theology I encountered. There […]

Part II – Consciousness – Written 2003

I begin this section almost a year after I wrote PART I. Upon the conclusion of PART I, I hastily wrote both a PART II and a PART III, which were as follows: PART II This will be rather hard to describe… I have discovered that, by writing my system of ideas down as I […]

Taoism and T’ai Chi – Written November 30, 2001

Taoism and T’ai Chi are two of three “lost religions” of China. The other is Confucianism which, though similar to Taoism, is not nearly as related to T’ai Chi. T’ai Chi and Taoism, on the other hand, compliment each other very well. Tao simply means “The Way.” Taoism is a name given to a sequence […]

Existence and Non-existence – Written April 29, 2005

My entire life, ever since I can remember, the idea of existence has driven me; my mother tells me I am the most intense person she has ever met in regards to experience. Indeed, my exploits into greater realms of existence can find me bedding down with angels and demons, experience hell and heaven in […]

Contemporary Taoism and its Gesticulations – Written December 9, 2002

In the early morning of December fifth, 2002, the state of North Carolina had one of the most fantastic ice storms I have ever seen. Much of my life has been spent in northeastern Pennsylvania, where the autumn is cold and the winters could feel arctic. Even in all my days of blizzards and multiple […]