Louisiana's Crazy Ten Commandments Law & More Ethical Lapses in the U.S. Supreme Court
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Our need to love pets says a lot more about human needs than it does about animals.
Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is dangerously wrong: They justify their law with a made-up quote by James Madison and fabricated U.S. history. And they want to dictate what happens in schools?
Senate Democrats find many ethical lapses by Supreme Court justices: Public trust in SCOTUS is at a record low. Here’s why.
Kareem’s Video Break: The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in China is a wonderland of ice and snow sculptures.
1 million U.S. adults will develop dementia each year by 2060, study says: We need to develop meaningful support systems for individuals and their families.
What Were They Thinking: MTG Fails Science Class: The continuing mystery of how someone so astoundingly ignorant keeps getting elected.
What I’m Watching on TV: The new show Interior Chinatown and the old show Justified are exceptional shows you’ll be glad you watched.
Kareem’s Sports Moments: Roger Federer teaches us a valuable sports lesson.
Johnny Mathis Sings “Misty”: His voice is as ethereal as the mist.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.
Carl Jung (1875-1961), Swiss psychiatrist
I was sitting quietly in the corner of a restaurant reading Laozi’s Dao De Jing all about emptying myself of desire when the restaurant’s sound system, which had been playing ‘60s surf music until now, suddenly launched into Johnny Mathias singing “Misty” (listen to today’s Jukebox Playlist). I stopped emptying myself of desire in order to fill up with the pleasure of Johnny’s soulful song and I started chuckling at the contradiction.
That reminded me of a Buddhist book I read years ago where the American author was visiting with a well-respected Buddhist master in China. They met at the bird sanctuary the master ran where he had spent his life preserving the lives of birds, including healing any who were sick or injured that were brought to him. The master invited the author to dinner at a local restaurant that night. When it came time to order, the master ordered quail. Startled, the author said, “Master, you spend your whole life protecting birds and now you’re eating one.” The master smiled and said, “Yes, it’s a contradiction, isn’t it?”
I had laughed when I’d read that, the same as I laughed that day in the restaurant.
Sure, we all have competing natures within us. The id and the superego. The angel and devil. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The mistake is to believe that we can ever eliminate the dark passenger (as Dexter calls it)—or that we should. The original Star Trek once stole a story idea from Joseph Conrad’s classic short story, “The Secret Sharer,” where Capt. Kirk is divided into two people. One is nice but meek; the other is cruel and selfish. In the end, the ship faces destruction and neither Kirk knows what to do. Then they are rejoined and Kirk—with the good Kirk’s compassion intact but enhanced by the strength and determination of the bad Kirk—can make the decision that saves the ship.
Acknowledging the contradictions within us doesn’t mean giving ourselves license to act without restraint. It’s just an awareness that even following the most righteous path doesn’t mean our actions don’t have negative consequences on others, no matter how carefully we step. On the same day, I carefully captured a spider in the bathroom and released it back outside and also killed ants invading my cupboard. It’s a contradiction. I’m okay with that.