GAMBLING

I have a pet peeve. I see the whole gaming industry as destructive to our culture. I see a government we elected to lead, turn their backs on protecting the people, and instead milking the poor and middle class by giving them something they want. In return, the government receives tax dollars that rightly should have been used for food, medical needs, and retirement savings.

Several years ago Bill Bennett admitted a gambling problem. His defense was that he never gambled with “milk” money. It was always money he could afford to lose.

I would like to tell Mr. Bennett, “Even if you win just once, thousands of others lose, and they are losing ‘milk’ money. You are taking advantage of the people you pledged to serve when you were the Secretary of Education.”

We read heartbreaking stories on a regular basis of those who have been caught in the clutches of a gambling addiction. The gambling road is a wide path of tantalizing destruction.

Bill Bennett was saying, “I can handle it.” I would like to hear him tell that to the addict who has lost their savings, their credit, their home, and sometimes even their family.

Where does my responsibility to my community begin and end? “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Biblical answer is yes!

DEEP THOUGHTS

Distance is an interesting concept. We “go the distance.” We have a distant look in our eye. We gaze upon a distant star. I wonder if any astronomers have named their baby Distance. Perhaps they would be more likely to name their children after one of the more popular stars, such as Polaris, or Alpha Centari. They would be called Pol and Alfie.

We look at a map and find the distance between two cities. We do our homework and plot the distance between two points of the xy-plane. If something is attainable, we say it is within striking distance. The distance between two points on the earth can change, depending on if you stay on the surface, or dig your way there.

Long distance phone calls have given way to long distance education over the internet. The distance between the earth and the sun is one astronomical unit. Distance seems to be a vague concept that is defined by more precise words, such as inches or miles.

The distance light travels in the time it takes the earth to go once around the sun is called a light-year. In one second that is 186,282 miles. I think I’ll just stay home if I have to take my car.

If you measure the length of your living room, you would probably say 16 ft, 5 inches. However, if I tell you to measure it halfway and only measure ½ the remaining distance each time you measure, you would get old and die before reaching the wall. Try it sometime. I’ll come to your funeral, but don’t ask me to sing.

Distance can be relative. If I am an insect, California is far away. If I am a migrating bird, it’s only a few days. I picked my daughter up at the airport earlier this year. She had been in Uganda a few hours earlier. I consider that to be a great distance, but only because I think how long it would take to drive.

If there was a floating bridge to Hawaii, would you drive? How often would you have to stop and get gas? What if the engineers built the bridge, but forgot to put in any gas stations or rest areas? Would you wear a diaper and carry your own fuel and water?
Would you wear a life jacket while driving, just in case you encountered a bad storm?

These are deep thoughts.

HONOR AND SHAME

Honor and Shame
By Roland Muller

Have you ever been mystified by stories from strange cultures? With our recent exposure to Islam since 2001, it seems that the United States has been on a fast track to attempt to understand the Middle Eastern mindset.

This book puts it in perspective. The author explains that all cultures look at life from some combination of three paradigms. They are: 1. honor and shame; 2. fear and power; and 3. innocence and guilt. He refers to them correspondingly, as shame-based, fear-based, and guilt-based.

Western Civilization is predominately a guilt-based culture. Our roots in Roman law helped us develop a democracy known as the republic. Much of our legal system today is based on the Roman code of law. The rule of law was supreme, and individual rights were granted by the government. Even the emperor had to obey the law. The emphasis is on telling the truth and obeying the law.

Fear-based cultures tend to be in Africa and South America. We’ve all seen Hollywood movies with the witch doctor doing a rain dance. The witch doctor or priest controlled the village with fear. These cultures are sometimes called animistic, because everything has a spiritual meaning. Rules, procedures, and rituals are established to appease the spirits. Throw a virgin in the volcano once a year and the gods will be appeased.

Shame-based cultures are predominately in the Middle East, although there is evidence of it throughout the world. Every part of Muslim culture is based on honor and shame, including which chair you sit in, who enters a doorway first, and even the way you walk and represent yourself. The emphasis is on the honor of the tribe or family much more than the honor of the individual. Individual actions are controlled by the expectations of the group, and no one wants to bring shame upon the group. A girl is raped, and her family kills her. The family had been shamed, and killing her restores the family honor.

There are some interesting implications when cultures collide. First of all, there will be misunderstandings. Tourists from the United States have a worldwide reputation for being loud, demanding, and rude. Is it because we suddenly act differently when we go on a trip? No, I think it is because we are loud, demanding, and rude with each other. We value truth more than preserving the honor of the other person.

The author mentions an experience in a public swimming pool. The lifeguard blew the whistle, and the Westerners stopped to see who was guilty. The Arab children kept swimming. When we run a red light, we feel guilty. The Muslim doesn’t necessarily feel any guilt. Did you ever wonder why other countries drive so crazy on the road? They don’t have the same roots of obeying the law in their culture.

In discussing this with a Chinese graduate student at PSU, he agreed that honor is much more important in China than in the U.S. When he calls his mother, he tells her everything is fine, even though it really isn’t. It is much more important to preserve the honor of the family than to tell the truth and possibly bring shame to his parents.

In reporting on the war with Iraq several years ago, Newsweek magazine told of successful tactics being used by American soldiers. They would put speakers on the front of a vehicle and broadcast insults. The enemy soldiers would respond by jumping out of their hiding places and attacking the better armed Americans. The article had the tone of disbelief. In reality, this is only understood in the context of a shame-based culture. Defending the honor of their mother was worth possible death in battle.

Cultures change, and our own history has the account of the dual between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. It resulted in Congress outlawing dueling as a means to settle disputes. Today it sounds silly, but 200 years ago it was a big deal.

In the Bible, Adam and Eve experienced shame, fear, and guilt. Jesus lived in a shame-based culture, and the Bible actually speaks more about freedom from shame and fear than freedom from guilt. If you talk to a Muslim about personal guilt, they may have trouble understanding the concept.

When interacting with other cultures, I need to be aware of the “window” they are looking through. As a Westerner, I also need to know that guilt is not the only motivation to do the right thing. Shame and fear may play a much bigger role in the lives of others than I expect.

HUMOR

What is there about humor that is so funny? What makes us laugh? Is it the unexpected twist at the end of a joke? A good science fiction story always has an unexpected outcome, and I don’t laugh when I read science fiction. Is there something we like about being broadsided? If I’m walking down a dark alley, I don’t want to be hit alongside the head with a two-by-four. And yet, I do enjoy the end of a good joke or story, especially if the twist is unexpected.

At what point does it translate to real life? What if my life took a twist? What would happen if I woke up some morning in Calcutta to find that I am a cigar merchant, married to a Russian who doesn’t speak English, and the last thirty years were only a wonderful dream?

Wait, I’m confused. I thought I lived in Oregon. What am I doing here in Calcutta? Are these my children? Why is my wife’s name Olga? Why are these cigars in my briefcase? Oh, I remember, I sell these things from my sidewalk kiosk.

It would be a twist, but certainly not enjoyable. I definitely would not laugh. Of course, if I did live in India I would not speak English, so in that respect it might be ok.

There is something in the human psyche that thrives on the unexpected. Some of us like it more than others. I tend to not like it. I enjoy each day the same; wearing decent clothes to the office; getting coffee on the way; sitting at the same desk, and so on. I like the predictability.

However, Lin is not that way. She likes change, and thrives on the unusual, as long as it is not disaster related. She would be thrilled to have an unexpected trip forced on her schedule.

Me: “I’m sorry honey, but instead of going to work today, I’m taking you on a road trip to Tibet where we can learn how to milk yaks.
Lin: “I’m so happy that you took the initiative to think of something different and out of the ordinary. What other adventures can we experience on this joyous day?”

However, let’s get back to the “twist,” that broadside at the end of a joke that triggers belly laughs, or perhaps a feeling that you have been bamboozled. If you watch comedians, you soon learn that they are Masters in the art of knowing that perfect length of time to wait between the story and the punch line. They know just how to drop it on the audience for maximum impact. I think we can learn from them.

I have also noticed that it is not just the punch line. It is also the buildup. My late Uncle Howard had the ability to string out a story and have the listeners literally on the edge of their seats for what must have been ten or fifteen minutes. My most vivid memory is how stupid I felt when he finally broadsided us with the ending twist. I got so I knew when that final blow was coming, because there was a certain way he licked his lips before the punch line. I can still see those thin lips; chapped, with a tongue that caressed slowly across his mouth like a python kissing a mouse before devouring it. He made me feel like that mouse.

Did you ever notice how small children like scary stories? A scary story is like the punch line that never stops. The scarier the better and the good ones make you wet your pants and have nightmares. Heaven knows why the kids like it. We did not have that tradition when our children were small. We read good stories and played nice games. Except, of course the kid’s favorite game, where they would get on the bed with the monster (Lin) under the bed. The monster would try to grab them. I have never heard such screaming in my life. I think our adult children must still have dreams about that. That tells me that in our brains there is a fine line between being scared out of our wits and hearing a good joke. Maybe our brain gets the two mixed up sometimes, kind of like pain and pleasure. So I ask you, within the bounds of common decency, what is your greatest pain (pleasure) memory?

RATIONALIZATION

The power of the mind to rationalize behavior is amazing. When psychologists looked at the German guards who were mistreating Jews during the holocaust, they were amazed to discover that these men went home at night to a family and were loving parents to their children and good husbands to their wives. Yet, during the day they were participating in the beating and torture of prisoners.

Studies found that they were able to compartmentalize their behavior because they did not believe the prisoners were fully human. Their concept of Jews as being a lower class of human being and not deserving the same respect as themselves allowed them to live dual lives. This is an extreme example, of course, but I have to ask myself, “Am I rationalizing my behavior in the same way?” Is there any group of people that I look at as less valued than my own group? If so, then I am opening myself up to the possibility that I am compartmentalizing my life in the same way as the German guards.

Some of the groups I struggle to see as fully deserving are the homeless, those who are disabled, skinheads, and even Democrats (just kidding). But it doesn’t stop there. Do I compartmentalize the small things? Perhaps I am telling myself that “just once” won’t hurt anything. It could be cheating on taxes. After all, the government won’t miss it. It could be shoplifting. The store has all the money it needs. Besides, I deserve it.

Perhaps the answer is to stop rationalizing behavior altogether. Call a spade a spade. Call a human a human. I think Jesus was the best example of someone who valued every human life and contemplated the effects of every decision. I found an example of rationalization in the book I reviewed earlier. Here is the quote:

A few night later, another one of the mujahidin told a story that had taken place as the Soviets were retreating from Afghanistan. Just before dawn, he had snuck up on one of the Najibullah’s garrisons and launched a grenade through a window. But just as the grenade left his hand, he heard a voice from inside call out “Allahu akbar!” It was time for the sunrise salat.
Seconds later, the grenade exploded, killing everyone inside. At first, the man said, he was worried. He was troubled by the fact that he had killed Muslims during prayer. So troubled, in fact, that he sought out a highly respected scholar of the Kur’an. The scholar reassured him. “Brother,” he said, “you are fighting under the flag of Islam. They are fighting under the flag of infidels. In the end, God will decide.”

I don’t go to a mujahidin, because I am not a Muslim. However, do I seek out philosophies that justify my lifestyle choices? Do I choose my religion to justify my lifestyle, or do I conform my lifestyle to the Truth?

WRITING SKILLS

Have you ever thought what the world would be like without adjectives? Good adjectives thrust graphic visual pictures accompanied by raw emotion into your mind. When the intended result is obtained, the reader is left wasted and raw, or perhaps elated, or maybe hungry. The writer, meanwhile, is watching with the barest hint of a smirk creeping across his face, content in the knowledge that once again the power of the written word has reached across time and space to pierce and influence malleable hearts and minds.

Sometimes an adjective will not suffice, and so the writer inserts a word picture. I have read books that make me physically sick because of the overuse of word pictures. They can be a substitute for good writing.
And then, of course, there is just bad writing. Here is an example I found:

“I never would have guessed that Grandma would have brought a severed head back from the 7-11, which was reasonable, because she never did.”

Two of my favorite authors are C.S. Lewis, an imaginative writer, and Thomas Sowell, an economics scholar. Of course Sowell doesn’t use many adjectives, because academic writing doesn’t require it. It would be strange to talk about a “liver-lipped theory of economics.”

More on authors later. Who are your favorites, and why?

BOOK REVIEW

Inside the Jihad
My Life with Al Qaeda

What kind of Muslim can end up as a spy for both France and Britain? Omar Nasiri (not his real name, of course) was born in Morocco and raised in Belgium. His exposure to Western civilization and its freedoms gave him a unique perspective and the ability to step out of his Islamic pattern of thinking. He was an outsider in Belgium, and when he finally returned in his teen years to Morocco, he was not accepted by his peers there either, and so was basically an outcast in both societies. Being a spy fitted his personality, because from what I can tell in reading this book, he was a borderline sociopath. He loved his mother, but that’s about it. It was primarily greed that led him down the spy path, along with his loathing of the violence preached by the jihadists. He completed military training in an Afghan terrorist camp. I was fascinated by all the lies he had to tell to protect his cover, and then had to keep it all straight. Most of the time his lying did not involve any advance planning. It is difficult to put this book down. I recommend it for when you are called to jury duty, or some similar situation.

HOW DOES A WIFE CONVINCE HER HUSBAND TO LIKE PINEAPPLE?

This question has recently been asked of me, and I have given it a lot of thought. Others questions would have been more simple, like “How do I find a new job?” or “What is the answer to life’s deepest mystery?” The obvious answers are, “Get off your duff” and “42.” However, when it comes to changing a person’s culinary preferences, it is much more complicated.
Since it is a difficult question, it needs a mathematical answer. We begin by identifying several factors. O= outcome, which is for the husband to enjoy pineapple. D= desire, for the wife’s desire to see the goal happen. E= effort, for the effort the wife exerts in attempting to achieve the goal. M= motivation, for the actual tools used to motivate the husband. In addition, we also need to factor in 300, which represents the speed of light; 300,000,000 meters per second. With this information, we can logically write our equation as follows:

O= EM divided by D times 300

All that remains is to identify and implement each unit in the equation. For example, we already know O, and we know D. They are both measured in units of passion, and therefore cancel each other out if they are of equal intensity. 300,000,000 is the universal constant. E is simply the effort to accomplish the task. It is measured in joules. That leaves M, which can take many forms. It might be a new corvette. It might be something as simple as a favorite meal offered as a trade. It might even be something in the martial relationship. Whatever it is, M is the key which solves the equation. Now here is a valuable tip:
If M is persuasive enough, the husband could end up crawling on his belly across the floor exclaiming his love of not only eating pineapple, but also a desire of being immersed in a swimming pool containing giant pineapple rings.

One last comment: Other life issues can be inserted into this formula. Have fun!

A VISIT TO THE DENTIST

I had a revelation today while sitting at the dentist’s office. I was staring up at the ceiling with my eyes half closed. Soft music wafted out of the speaker directly above me. The technician was gently and carefully scraping along my gum line. I could hear the soothing sound of a high speed drill coming from the next room. I was having difficulty not falling asleep. And then it came to me! Why not make a CD with soft music accompanied by the occasional whir of a dental drill? You could even throw in a well-timed moan once in a while! My mind started to spin with the marketing possibilities. I could contact psychologists and get mailing lists of patients with dentist phobias! They could listen to my CD while going to sleep at night and at the same time would be making true progress in their battle to conquer a fear that had plagued them since childhood. (Not to mention the cavities begging to be filled in thousands of phobic mouths.) Everyone knows, of course, that if you have a fear of going to the dentist, you are only scratching the surface of what is really wrong with you. Most people who fear the dentist are also constantly looking over their shoulder. After all, if the dental profession cannot be trusted, no one can. For example, what does the pharmacist do behind that counter? Did you ever wonder why they won’t let you watch? Don’t ask. Tim Conway started it all with his dental skit. That skit did for dentistry what Bambi did for hunting. Anyway, what a marketing opportunity it could be. If you agree, send me $20. I only need a thousand people to join.

SMALL DECISIONS

Lately I've been thinking about the cascading effect of small decisions. This month's edition of Discovery magazine has an interesting article. In 1783 a volcano in Iceland erupted, killing 9,000 on the island. But that wasn't all. The resulting cooling that year in the Northern hemisphere affected crops and weather patterns. In Japan alone, one million died from famine. The Nile valley lost one sixth of its population. There had not been a colder Summer for 500 years.
Small decisions are like that. Daydreaming at a stop sign might have either positive or negative consequences, depending on the situation. An unkind word can prevent the start of a life-long friendship. A pattern of repetitive behavior, such as saving just a little money, can result in wealth. There is a lesson here. I may think that what I choose to do today doesn't matter. The reality is that a small decision can have a lifetime of consequences. I have a responsibility before God to make wise choices.

WHITTAKER CHAMBERS

Spring is a good time for a good book. I recommend Witness by Whittaker Chambers. This book gives you a glimpse of the intellectual climate in the U.S. prior to WWII. Good intellectuals of that day took a serious look at Communism, and many embraced it. Chambers embraced it, and this book traces his eventual repudiation of it; his years as a Time Magazine editor, and his participation in the then famous Hiss-Chambers Case which electrified the nation. There are many individuals of the past I would like to sit down with and have a long talk. Chambers is one of those.