To live is to change,
and to perfect life is to have changed often.
-John Henry Newman

Old beliefs do not lead you to new cheese.
—Spencer Johnson, Who Moved My Cheese

Letting Go Of the Past

I've been looking over the e-mail.

Although it's mostly complimentary—thanks!—there are letters taking me to task...

...for upsetting traditional views and values.

As I read some of these an image comes to mind of people trying to move into the future...

...with their attention focused squarely on their rear view mirrors.

People with major investments in traditional views...

...from the time when right and wrong were seemingly black and white...

...and simple.

But there is a problem.

In the past few decades life, society and educated understandings have changed in some pretty major ways.

But, a lot of these people don't want to change...

...they even think that new ideas and ways of doing things as boardering on evil.

I guess it takes the burden off of them to have to adjust.

For may people, changing their views on some fundamental attitudes would mean admitting they have been wrong!

Not easy when...

...they have "stood the high ground"

...made major sacrifices...

...bucked the trends...

...regularly gone on record with their beliefs.

...and, the real clincher...

...they denied themselves pleasures that others enjoyed...

...and to now admit they were wrong would render that sacrifice meaningless.

Is it not much easier for them to live with all of that if they simply maintain they were right all along and the other guys will pay for all their "fun" by going to hell?

And, isn't it amazing how many people get substantial satisfaction from believing that!

The high ground defense applies doubly to institutions....

...some of the same ones that, despite all evidence to the contrary, refused to acknowledge that the world was

1. more or less round, and not flat, and

2. not at the center of the universe.

It took a few decades, but these institutions finally came around....

...except, perhaps, for The Flat Earth Society, which, we must assume, has kept its feet firmly planted on level ground all this time.

You would think an old curmudgeon like me would glorify the good old days...

...see them through rose-colored glasses...

...as a time when we didn't have all of today's problems.

Fact is, the good old days weren't so good...

...especially if you lived through them all in the newspaper business where we kept track of such things on a daily basis.

Those who say we need to cling to past values and ways of doing things...

...apparently haven't noticed that after decades, if not centuries...

...they haven't been working too well.

Although we claim to be guided by Judeo-Christian values...

...we continue to devote billions to developing better ways of killing each other...

...while not being all that troubled by the fact that in the process the rich are getting richer...*

...and, according to widely-available statistics...

...the needs of the poor, disenfranchised, and needy are greater than ever.

Not quite consistent with the Judeo-Christian philosophy...

...which is much talked about by our leaders...

...but doesn't get in the way of the decisions they want to make....

...to keep what they have....

...and get even more...

...consistent with yesterday's values...

...which haven't worked...

...and still aren't working.

At some point we may just have to face this fact...

...and break from our anchronistic, ineffective philosophies...

..let go of past views and admit that....

...yesterday's answers are just that...

...yesterday's answers.

Editor's notes and updates:

*According to 2004 statistics, the United States spends 30 times more on its military than it does on development assistance in the world. The low-income world—those who live and die on less than $2 per day—now constitutes 40 percent of the world's population.

These are also the areas of the world where most American troops have fought and died in recent decades. Contrary to our claimed Judeo-Christian beliefs, we have been clearly been beating our plowshares into swords.

According to Fog, although Christianity's concepts are to be lauded, the central tenet of Christianity—taking care of the poor and needy among us—is now being sidestepped by its most vocal leaders who are condoning and encouraging force over faith, and today we see much more compassion for the world's poor being demonstrated by some industrialized countries where Christianity is not even a dominant religion.

In late 2004, three days before Christmas, it was announced that the Bush administration would be cutting back on its previous agreement to send millions in food to needy countries. The escalating cost of the Iraq war was widely cited as a reason. 

According to The New York Times, "The cutbacks, estimated by some charities at up to $100 million, come at a time when the number of hungry in the world is rising for the first time in years and all food programs are being stretched.

"As a result, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services and other charities have suspended or eliminated programs that were intended to help the poor feed themselves through improvements in farming, education and health."

As 2004 ended, the Bush administration continued to receive overwhelming support from conservative Christian groups in the United States.

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