Pat Condell, the social network site MLIA (My Life is Average) and the
Saudi intellectual Abdallah bin Bakhit –
the 3 truth-tellers that zapped me in 1 week
As someone interested for half a century in truth and reality it is unusual to discover three disparate gateways to these great human concerns in one month.
The first I have previously mentioned – Pat Condell. That was the truth, reality and art that I found in the work of an atheist. Beware it is strong – and you have to listen hard beyond the ‘abuse’ and anger to certain spiritual truths that are/should be preeminent in many religions – the Golden Rule, Justice, not imposing your world-view on others, hating the act (where appropriate) and not the actor etc
Pat Condell’s talks are here as MP3s and he also has a channel on YouTube. That was surprising because that half century has led me to a broadly mystical view of reality and human reality – as say in Ken Wilber and Eckhart Tolle.
How is it that I appreciate Pat Condell so much – as someone who gathers light and inspiration from (parts of) all religions – including Islam? Briefly, because it would be quite a long appreciation, he is energetically opposing the corruption I see in virtually all religions and, given his belief system, he is a quality of truth-teller almost entirely absent from those who inhabit religious communities. Not only that he also (seems to) possess, in good measure, the values, qualities and attributes that so many people of religion claim to have – but don’t. ‘Seems to’ because even truth-telling atheists have to walk the talk – but I suppose persistence in the face of dozens of death-threats means he most definitely is walking the talk.
The second addition to truth-telling in and around the human condition came from the MLIA – My Life is Average site. Now it would be easy to dismiss this because it is whimsical, trivial and of no great importance but I think it has struck, uniquely, a chord that belonged only to self-deprecating comedians – and its brevity, as with Twitter, is essential. Here are four examples at random;
Today, while voting on submissions, I stumbled across a story beginning with a “today” that was not capitalized. Offended, I clicked “no”. MLIA.
Today, Billy Mays yelled at me through the TV and told me to buy Oxyclean. I yelled back at him that I wasn’t going to. MLIA.
Today, I told my friends I needed to show them a hillarious Youtube video. I played it for them and when nobody started laughing I said, “Oh this is the wrong one.” Then I pretended like I couldn’t find the right one. MLIA
Today, I made a triple-chocolate sundae and I felt fat. So I topped it off with sugar-free hot fudge and I felt like I was making healthy choices. MLIA
How can I possibly mention in the same breath great human beings and this site of small happenings in the lives and consciences of the people on MLIA – many of them are youngsters?
Again I must be brief. Our moral lives are in the decisions we make. Most are minor ones, most are known only to ourselves. Many are to defend our self-image, or the self we would aspire to – if only we were a bit more courageous. But what of the bishops and popes and mullahs who are full of cant and deceit and pomposity, and worse still, lacking in compassion and fellow-feeling and a sense of justice?
Now in this time when many are rightly concerned about the rise and spread of extremist Islam I next want to re-tell a story about Muhammad.
One day a parent came to Muhammad to ask Him to verbally chastise their child who was prone to eat too many dates. To the surprise of the parent, given the task was small and the child was there, Muhhammad told the parent to return the next day. On the next day the child was told not too eat too many dates. When asked why a return that day was necessary Muhammad said that it was because on the previous day he had eaten (rather too many) dates!
The story may not be ‘true’ – but the truth of the story is true – and it would be true if it were in the tradition of Hausa people or Inuit or Jewish people.
Now I remain someone whose belief system is broadly-speaking that of a mystical humanist or humanist mystic or universalist. However I was never zapped by three such disparate ‘tellers of truth’ in quite the same way as in this most recent week – Pat Condell, the contributors to MLIA and the third of these disparate additions to truth-telling in my life the Saudi intellectual Abdallah bin Bakhit.
From Abdallah bin Bakhit I learned the true value of secularism for religious communities – as well as what it takes to be courageous in a state of maximum suppression. If you haven’t watched his video yet it’s here;
PS If you want to see the kind of courage it takes to be a balanced intellectual like Abdallah bin Bakhit in Saudi Arabia check this out – Kill the Owners of Satellite TV Channels, As the Law Prescribes
Posted via web from sunwalking’s posterous
Soul Needs - One Garden 