{"id":60888,"date":"2025-01-28T08:29:34","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T14:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/?p=60888"},"modified":"2025-01-28T08:33:05","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T14:33:05","slug":"stupidity-is-dangerous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/?p=60888","title":{"rendered":"Stupidity is dangerous."},"content":{"rendered":"

Yule and the 1% crescent of the Quarter Century Moon<\/p>\n

Tuesday gratefuls: Sue Bradshaw. Kai. Cheryl. Blood draws. PSA. Wellness checkup. Hip and back pain. Charlie H. Ancient Brothers. Awe. Yirah. Love. First love. Sweetness in relationships. Mussar. Dogs. Their beauty and their majesty. Deer, a curious species. Wolves. Mountain Lions. Black Bears. Grizzlies. Wolverines. Elk. Moose. Chesed and gevurah. Timothy O’Leary. Dermatologist.<\/p>\n

Sparks of Joy and Awe: Driving down Black Forest\/Brook Forest Drive with Snow on the Lodgepoles<\/p>\n

Kavannah 2025: Creativity<\/p>\n

Kavannah this week: Rachamim, Compassion<\/p>\n

Practice for Rachamim: Listen for the melody of the other<\/p>\n

One brief shining: Dr. O’leary had his little magnifying glass out as he looked through tortoise shell glasses at my skin while I sat on the exam table naked except for my underwear (really, Depends) and he would say, normal, normal, normal, then grab his green nitrogen bottle and say, I’m treating this precancerous spot on your ear, 1,2,3; that stung well after I left his office. A sweet man<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dermatology yesterday. Today Wellness check. Blood work. Visit with Sue Bradshaw. PSA drawn today. Conversation with her about hip\/back pain, shortness of breath, and stamina. Medical tourism.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How can I, we, pursue our lives over the next few years with love, justice, and compassion? I’m thinking right now of cousin Donald’s executive order targeting transgender persons in the military. It’s quoted in today’s Washington Post:<\/p>\n

\n

“…It also takes aim at transgender people in personal terms, accusing them of living in conflict \u201cwith a soldier\u2019s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one\u2019s personal life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA man\u2019s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member,\u201d it adds.” WP, 1\/28\/25<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I’m feeling the cold finger of Christian fundamentalism as I read these lines. Difference is badness. Difference is wrong. Difference must be sought out, guarded against. These attitudes remind me of Lutheran pastor Martin Niem\u00f6ller’s famous confession:<\/p>\n

First\u00a0they came for the socialists<\/a>, and I did not speak out\u2014
\nBecause I was not a socialist.<\/p>\n

Then\u00a0they came for the trade unionists<\/a>, and I did not speak out\u2014
\nBecause I was not a trade unionist.<\/p>\n

Then\u00a0they came for the Jews<\/a>, and I did not speak out\u2014
\nBecause I was not a Jew.<\/p>\n

Then they came for me\u2014and there was no one left to speak for me.<\/p>\n

These lines must be engraved in our hearts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Trump and his Clown Posse have already come for diversity and equity initiatives and today transgender military personnel. We cannot, I will not, let this go unchallenged. Each time a different group needs the mercy that Bishop Budde pleaded for we have to say, yes. We stand with her. With all those vulnerable to the powerful and cruel.<\/p>\n

We do not stand with the Billionaire’s Cabal that stood beside Trump at his inauguration. We do not stand with the red hats with black hearts. No to the Oligarchy and its defenders.<\/p>\n

Here’s a quote from another famous Nazi era Lutheran clergy, Dietrich Bonhoeffer:<\/p>\n

\u201cStupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one\u2019s prejudgment simply need not be believed \u2013 in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical \u2013 and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.\u201d
\n\u2015\u00a0Dietrich Bonhoeffer,\u00a0<\/span>Letters and Papers from Prison<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yule and the 1% crescent of the Quarter Century Moon Tuesday gratefuls: Sue Bradshaw. Kai. Cheryl. Blood draws. PSA. Wellness checkup. Hip and back pain. Charlie H. Ancient Brothers. Awe. Yirah. Love. First love. Sweetness in relationships. Mussar. Dogs. Their beauty and their majesty. Deer, a curious species. Wolves. Mountain Lions. Black Bears. Grizzlies. Wolverines. … Continue reading Stupidity is dangerous.<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,1885,266],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-us-history","category-world-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60888"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60891,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60888\/revisions\/60891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}