New Era on Ben Baughman

We Must Act Now Part 4: Heaven And Hell And Right Now

Wed, 15 Apr 2015 15:53:22 +0000

There’s a great old allegory that crosses the religious and cultural boundaries of the East and West. Some details vary, but the message is identical. There are two rooms, one representing Hell and the other Heaven. Everything in the rooms is identical. There are tables, sumptuously covered with delectable food, with people seated around the tables. Every person has a lengthy spoon (western edition) that enables each one to reach the entire feast spread before them. The spoon is attached in such a way as does not allow people to feed themself. In the room that is Hell, greed keeps them from feeding each other, even though the spoons allow for that, so there is constant lack. In Heaven’s room, the choice has been made to feed each other, so there is no want.

We Must Act Now Part 3: When Demonizing Marks Dialogue

Wed, 08 Apr 2015 15:00:32 +0000

!(images/demonizing-marks-dialogue.jpg)When demonizing marks dialogue, you can know that change is imminent.

We are desperately trying to hold on to outdated and inadequate answers to questions of culture, and as yet don’t see the need for new perspective.

We build straw men of issues that are no longer relevant and shout louder because our sermonizing is falling on ears that have tuned us out as they listen to the strident beats of a future drum.

We Must Act Now, Part 2: It’s Time For Substantive Dialogue!

Wed, 01 Apr 2015 15:00:19 +0000

If we want a world for our kids to enjoy, we must act now!

The velocity of the freight train we are on is too fast to make the curve we are taking to the future. We must jump off before we lose our ability to survive the leap.

( This is the 2nd Part of ‘We Must Act Now’ series. Visit Part 1: Here We Go! )

The love of riches, comfort and power, and the momentary optimistic malaise that lets us think that our current institutions have the ability to come up with solutions, have eroded our ability to substantively think and talk to each other about creating a world that our children can thrive in.

We Must Act Now, Part 1: Here We Go!

Wed, 25 Mar 2015 15:10:48 +0000

Don’t you love the word “modern”? If you see it on a sign for a motel, it means dated.

Fifties or sixties maybe, but not current.

It was the last of the descriptors of the Era of Enlightenment that denoted a period of stability.

We did things a certain way.

“Modern” was short-lived, because it was the cusp of “constant” being an adjective describing “change”.

Institutions loved Enlightenment. They had time to form with premises and logic and conclusions that people could speak about with religious fervor and zeal. They are slow by nature and not given to change. It makes them uncomfortable. They are the brakes that let us slow down and reason. Change that happens too fast is called heresy.