paramnesia
thought one: social capitalizers, part ii
5. Help fix someone's flat tire. At least check on somebody who's stranded. Offer to let them use your phone. Also: carry around jumper cables and offer them when necessary.
11. Give people rides. Especially women and children. Come on; that's a no-brainer.
12. Become an organ donor or blood marrow donor. Ooh, my family doesn't like this one. Respect family, but if they don't care, donate away.
13. Get to know your children's teachers. Or neighborhood kids (and their parents, but kids are easier). Offer them cookies. Give them something interesting to play with that doesn't have a ™ after it.
14. Start a monthly [coffee] group. It said "tea," but coffee's better for relationships.
15. Take a class at a community college. Probably THE easiest way to connect.
16. Get to know the clerks and salespeople at your local stores. Go to the same check-out person.
17. Give your park a weatherproof chess/checkers board. That's just cute.
18. Call your friends just to check on them.
"Was there something in particular you needed?" -el Turi
19. Give to your local food bank.
20. Talk civily to the people who come to your door. Ask questions. "What do you mean by.... salvation/ hell/ Jesus/ God..." "How do you know what you believe is true?" "Where do you get your information from?" "How did you come to that conclusion?" "What happens if you're wrong?" "Have you ever considered...."
ummm... virtue lessons?
(self- explanatory)
to be fair: under a bridge, not on a front yard
"danger."
what do you notice about the flags in this picture...? (subtlety says a lot.)
but do notice position. texans are not rebels any more.
hmmmm.
looks like the fellas been up to some social capitalizing
... or what?
view from outside a masonic lodge; sunset
neither me nor mine (but my kin she is!)
'cause we're a barbaric breed
5. Help fix someone's flat tire. At least check on somebody who's stranded. Offer to let them use your phone. Also: carry around jumper cables and offer them when necessary.
11. Give people rides. Especially women and children. Come on; that's a no-brainer.
12. Become an organ donor or blood marrow donor. Ooh, my family doesn't like this one. Respect family, but if they don't care, donate away.
13. Get to know your children's teachers. Or neighborhood kids (and their parents, but kids are easier). Offer them cookies. Give them something interesting to play with that doesn't have a ™ after it.
14. Start a monthly [coffee] group. It said "tea," but coffee's better for relationships.
15. Take a class at a community college. Probably THE easiest way to connect.
16. Get to know the clerks and salespeople at your local stores. Go to the same check-out person.
17. Give your park a weatherproof chess/checkers board. That's just cute.
18. Call your friends just to check on them.
"Was there something in particular you needed?" -el Turi
19. Give to your local food bank.
20. Talk civily to the people who come to your door. Ask questions. "What do you mean by.... salvation/ hell/ Jesus/ God..." "How do you know what you believe is true?" "Where do you get your information from?" "How did you come to that conclusion?" "What happens if you're wrong?" "Have you ever considered...."
ummm... virtue lessons?
(self- explanatory)
to be fair: under a bridge, not on a front yard
"danger."
what do you notice about the flags in this picture...? (subtlety says a lot.)
but do notice position. texans are not rebels any more.
just doubly patriotic.
hmmmm.
looks like the fellas been up to some social capitalizing
... or what?
view from outside a masonic lodge; sunset
neither me nor mine (but my kin she is!)
'cause we're a barbaric breed
(ibid)
(ibid)
...but we like pretty things!
ah, my $185 visit to the Compound(names withheld to protect identity.)
posted by berekkah at 1/26/2009 04:35:00 p.m.
6 Comments:
social capitalizers:
21. Join or start a shooting club. Shooters are very sociable folk.
Guns aren't a sign of barbarism but a protection against it. Guns are a great equalizer. Granny need not quail in the darkness while some thug stalks about. A gun-weilding granny is greater than any intruder or even multiple intruders.
Guns prevent the strong from lording over the weak. That is why the State is always seeking to disarm the populace.
*
Down patriotism. Up localism. Bill Kauffman is right.
21- ha. funny that Gary suggested the same thing. my, how the mighty have... come to love the 2nd amendment.
"guns are a great equalizer." i guess i see the logic. if two individuals can both kill each other, theoretically they'd respect each other more... Granny can wield her gun to great dramatic effect, i just wonder if Granny should think her property worth actually killing over. and that is another issue.
"Guns prevent the strong from lording over the weak."
... provided the strong and the weak have the same strength of gun. i doubt somebody's Avtomat Kalashnikova 1947 (or whatever good hoodlums run around with these days) will be very disuaded by a cute little pistol. Guns are like muscles, just easier to kill with.
Bill Kauffman is... interesting. "right" is such a sweeping term...
I love life. The 2A is a means by which I may preserve the lives of the good against the threats of the those who would do them harm.
Knowing my enemy and I can kill each other is not simply a theoretical restraint. See USSR vs. USA.
How would Granny go about determining the intentions of an intruder? Should she invite him to sit down for tea to discuss the matter? If someone has broken in, should we make sure they only want to steal from us, rather than doing us physical harm? The way it goes down in the real world doesn't provide the luxury of discerning the motives of others.
Besides all that, property is worth killing over. Look to principle, rather than price tag.
The same strength is not necessary. Bullies, thugs, thieves, and the like are often cowards. The possibility that a potential victim might be armed has proven to be a strong dissuader.
The AK47 vs. cute pistol point holds no water. It is the unknown probability that good people could be armed and willing to resist or intervene that prevents many crimes.
i didn't mean "theoretical" as in "unconvincing"... i meant it makes sense, but i don't want to commit.
yes, guns as psychological deterrence between individuals makes sense. point conceeded.
as far as national armament, that's a way bigger discussion. then it DOES matter strength of weaponry.
i disagree: property is not worth killing over.
but, gee, am i going to be thinking on all this for a while...
Great post!!!
I particularly like point #18 about calling your friends! ;)
Love ya
As a prelude to any of your potential investigations into the 2nd Amendment, personal defense, etc, let me say a few autobiographical words.
I arrived at my current opinions through queries into the ethics of self-defense and the history of the use of guns for that purpose, especially in the US. I tried to question my own attitudes, as well as those that seem to prevail among people who do not have much experience with guns. There was a time when I didn't want anything to do with them and thought people who did so were a bit strange. Even now, I am by no means a "gun nut" or even really a firearms enthusiast.
There is a lot out there to discourage a thinking person from consider the legitimacy of having firearms for personal self-defense. As in any group, there are many in the "gun culture" who say really ignorant things. Sometimes there is an aggressiveness or defensiveness amongst gun people that is off-putting. The same is true of any group that feels constant disapproval and condemnation and observes efforts to take away or hinder rights they deem important.
All that to say, I believe there are very intelligent, Christian reasons to defend the right to defend oneself with firearms. Violence is a horrible thing and a last resort. Unfortunately, it is often necessary to preserve life and liberty on a personal level.
Publicar un comentario
<< Home