NUMBER 28 Judgmental = Honorable??

It is very difficult to avoid being judgmental primarily because each of us tend to think that we are a little smarter than the average bear. We normally think that in spite of our failures we are pretty wise if we will only take a moment to consider the facts before we act.

I must admit that I find myself being judgmental from time to time, then I find myself taking a few steps back to re-access my attitude. We all are subject to the pleasure principle in that we all gravitate toward those things that please us most, and the things that diminish those pleasures we tend to eradicate them or flee from them.

I often find myself asking if it is possible that I might someday walk in the shoes of the person I just judged. Is it within me to murder, to rob someone or to rape someone? If not, is it because of my superior genes or is it because I was fortunate enough to have been taught better principles from childhood?

I ask whether I might commit these crimes if there were no laws governing the conduct of men. Would my pleasure principle become stronger and stronger to the point that I would do anything within my powers to have those things that I desire?

Am I truly a monster that has been taught from birth and conditioned to respect the rules of society for my own good, that if I cross the lines too many times I will suffer the consequences? After all, my pleasure principle tells me somehow that I must keep my passion for pleasure in check or I will experience much suffering. Is this a sign of my goodness or is it my selfish sense of survival?

Do you ever ask yourself questions such as these trying to analyze your nature and how it relates to your tendency to judge others? Do you feel as though you are superior to those that seem to be social misfits, and that this superior position justifies your right to judge?

Could it be that we should try to see these social misfits as a great universal school for us to observe, and learn what not to do?

Should we have compassion for them when they get caught up in the snares of this world? We all must know that we are governed in varying degrees by this powerful pleasure principle, and we also are aware that many poor souls are lacking the capacity to resist this powerful force of pleasure. I doubt that anyone ever had to ask for this powerful force that resides in all of us.

Sometimes pleasure is so powerful that you can't separate from it, not even with the help of others. I believe that we all are shackled by the chains of some pleasurable thing in this world. Most of us are so very fortunate that our bondage to a pleasure is accepted by society or is not illegal.

I do believe that some of these unfortunate souls cannot be helped by society and therefore must be incarcerated and kept out of society but they should not be mistreated. They are only what they can be, just as you are all that you can be.

We tend to think they could have made better choices but truly I don't think they could.


Finton

NUMBER 26 STEM CELL Research

I am a firm believer in stem cell research. If the laws of nature work I see nothing wrong with developing new methods of fighting disease or treating any health condition that causes mental or physical problems for all forms of life.

If we can learn how to prevent or cure or treat unwanted health problems through stem cell research or any kind of research then I think it unconscionable not to try.

I do not believe that we should allow women to sell their fetuses to medical science as this would encourage women to put their health at risk, nor do I believe that anyone should be allowed to enter into research programs that might prove to be harmful without full disclosure to the risks involved.

I know that science must know reasonably well how procedures will fair with humans before they introduce these procedures into the public domain, and logic tells us that they must test the procedures on humans to arrive at reasonably accurate data to support their projected benefits to society. This necessity to test new procedures on humans is important but the tests should never be performed without the greatest safety factors in place and full disclosure to the test subjects of possible side effects or risks involved.

All new developments have useful benefits to the world but we all must remember that many of these developments can also be used in abusive ways. Our hands are for perfect purpose but they also can be used for evil deeds but this evil aspect does not justify ridding ourselves of our hands. Likewise, when some people abuse stem cell research for unethical purposes we should not rid ourselves of stem cell research and all of its potential and great benefits to society.

I am a pro stem cell research supporter.

Finton

Number 25 Trying to get a handle on LOVE

I have for as long as I can remember been dealing with some kind of love connection, I think.

I remember being head over heels in "love" since I was a little boy. I loved girls and still do, or do I just like girls because they look pretty, or smell good, or do I like the sounds of their voices? What is it that makes us think that we are in love, or that we love something or some person?

Do I really love LOBSTER or do I just like the taste of lobster more than chicken or pork chops? Do I love the smell of roses or is it that I just like the smell of roses more than honeysuckle? Do we really have the foggiest idea as to what love is, or do we really know if love actually exists? Maybe, we have just become accustomed to using the word "LOVE" because someone in our past made up the word and tried to explain what love felt like to him, then we started relating the word to how we felt. The way you feel may be much different from the way I feel when we think that we are in love, so if we both are in love but feel different does this mean that love is manifested in different ways?

Do you think that we might not have a good idea as to what love really means? After all, I love Jaguars, I love a lot of flowers, and I love a lot of people, I love a lot of music, I love a lot of smells, I love a lot of tastes and I love the way a lot of things feel, but maybe I don't really love anything. Perhaps I just relate to some things more favorably that other things. How can I say that I love anything or love anyone?

Can love actually mean many things. Can love be measured in many degrees such as "I love you more", or "I love peaches more than I love apples"? Do we actually just love something or do we not love at all? Can we turn this feeling that we call love on and off like a switch? Can we analyze a person or thing and decide that we love it more, or that we love it less? Can we decide to not love anything at all?

I have often wondered if love is a form of spirit that decides to penetrate a person at times and then at times decides to abandon this person? If this is so, then, I question why would love abandon anyone? I further ask, do I myself have the capacity to decide to fall in love, or am I powerless to this object of love or object of desire? Do all of the objects of desire or objects of love possess power over me? Can I with valid thinking rise to a level of rational thought and decide for myself whether I shall fall in love, or turn and walk away from it?

When a person believes that he or she has fallen in love, is this feeling conditional or unconditional in nature? If this 'object of love' changes his or her personification toward the negative does your feelings of love diminish? If this object of love starts showing a side of themselves that you find difficult to tolerate, and they are not willing to change does your capacity to love become diminish, and if so, does this indicate that your love is conditional? And if your love is shown to be conditional is this feeling of love more likely to be a selfish desire? If it is a selfish desire do you really believe that your feelings are true love, and what is more important, do you feel that this selfish desire is worthy of your object of love?

Perhaps it is more wise that we not try to understand love because I think that it might be as difficult for you to comprehend infinity, or God.

I believe that I am deeply in love with my wife even though there are times I feel like shaking a knot in her rear end, and I know that she has similar thoughts about me. I do know that I am deeply attracted to her in many ways but are my attractions to her a mark of my selfish desires? Did it just so happened that she and I met and both of our selfish desires became a compatible match? Only time will tell if the match will hold up as she and I change as we grow older. I truly hope so.

I think that it is important to try to understand love because I think that the closer you get to understanding it the better your chance is at surviving a love relationship.

I know that my marital history will show that, obviously, I am a slow learner in the area of love, but it will also bare witness that I have continued the search for the answers defining LOVE. I am not a quitter.

I believe that Love, even with little understanding, is the greatest pastime of all.


Finton