#903 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Thursday April 18)
Good morning,
A Musing of quotations…
THE ENSLAVEMENT OF THE MIND
Those of us who are Jewish are getting warmed up for seders in their homes next week. Passover, often referred to as “the festival of Freedom,” celebrating the Exodus story and freedom from slavery. In our family, we tell stories and use quotations that highlight the universality of the celebration of freedom. In these times when people seem easily persuadable by the flimsiest of conspiracy theories, when they are accepting of the pronouncements of their political tribes, when they seek people to provide the answers to their problems, and when politicians switch their support of a matter merely because a former president wills them to do so, it seems enslavement of the mind is at least as big a challenge as enslavement of the body. This seems a particularly good time to contemplate another form of slavery— the enslavement of the mind to stubbornness, tribalism, and lassitude.
Here are three thoughts on the enslavement of the mind…
Do we doubt ourselves? Are we are chained to other people’s conception of us? Why do we believe that we need to conform to this world? Can we think for ourselves? How can we be free from their subtle tyranny? Easy. Question everything and find your own answers. Do not rely on what answers given to you by other people. Question it! Question your Faith. Question all your beliefs. Question your loyalties. Find your own answers! Find answers through logic and reasoning, not from following the crowd. Daily, use this method and you will know the truth in your own way. You then will truly be set FREE! --The Sonnenberg 2022 Haggadah
“Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking...” ― Leo Tolstoy
“You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.”― Mahatma Gandhi
SOME QUOTATIONS OF THE WEEK FROM THE NEWS
In the meantime, the daily news provides its own quotations, euphemisms, and craziness. Here are some recent ones:
“This place just keeps going downhill and I don’t need to spend my time here.” –retiring Republican Congressman
“America Needs to Pray Again” –Donald Trump, hawking his special version of the Bible
“The Hush-money Case” –This isn’t a specific quotation, but it is the way in which the vast majority of the press refers to the New York case about Trump paying Stormy Daniels. But of course, this case is not merely about paying hush money. It’s about interference with elections.
Trump in claiming immigrants are “taking all the jobs” has decided that recent immigrants are “prisoners and people from mental institutions, largely.”
And from earlier this year:
Falsely explaining how magnets don’t work when submerged, “All I know about magnets is this, give me a glass of water, let me drop it on the magnets, that’s the end of the magnets.”
“Scientists always tell me, sir, you have the most amazing science. It’s true, I have tremendous science and science loves me. No one know more about tremendous science than me…”
CrossFit Gym on why they have distanced themselves from former CrossFit Gym owner Marjorie Taylor Green: “we strongly oppose the loathsome and dangerous lies.”
Have a great day,
Glenn