Whatever you tax, you discourage... so why do we tax payroll?

The more you tax cigarettes...
The less people smoke.

The higher the toll on the tollway...
The more people look for detours.

So when we tax payroll...
We are discouraging jobs and pay.

We discourage the wrongs things.
We're taxing the wrong thing when we tax payroll.

Growth is Good

When we grow things
Good things happen.

When trees grow
They harvest carbon dioxide.

They also soak up the sun,
Storing the energy in the wood.

So the more things we grow...
The more we clean up our air.

We should grow more things.

Getting Better All The Time... by Piddling Around

There is no shortage of trouble for humanity...

There is much that causes despair.

For many of us, we are rich.

The seemingly intractable problems of the oppressed are not ours.

The task of caring for our Earth...

And the BILLIONS of God-forsaken unfortunates...

It just seems Sisyphean... 

An impossible task... 

But my despair is only temporary... 

Because I have hope.

Because some really big ideas

Will be batted around and will take hold.

And our world will be revolutionized...

By well-directed growth.

Then truth and freedom will prosper.

And greater peace will be found.

We will still have problems...

But homelessness and hunger won't be the scourge of humanity.

The vision of the Uncertain Prophet...

Is 'Directed Growth'

Where we grow a new free world

And solve our most pressing problems.

All of the zealots 

can be granted domains.

Utopias can be pursued.

Anyone can freely migrate.

Murder is unnecessary.

Our climate is controlled.

The prophecy is uncertain.

All it needs is some piddling.

So today I piddle.

And I share some of the vision.

Maybe future readers will piddle, too.

And the vision will be shared and it will spark the revolution.

Life can be beautiful.

The Ground Zero Mosque and a call for Grace

The Christian thing to do is to show grace toward the mosque... and Islam.  Not all Muslims are jihadis; not all Christians were crusaders.


The American thing to do is to show them religious freedom.  Newt Gingrich is willing to sacrifice our religious liberty... our American freedom... because another country is religiously intolerant?  We should not sin because another country sins.


The intelligent thing to do is to communicate and listen.  I have heard Islamic voices calling for peace.  We should listen.


Here is a vote for peace and freedom...


God wants us to be free... it is the path to peace.


your friend,


the Uncertain Prophet


(Thanks to Dr. Smith for this link: http://www.ethicsdaily.com/news.php?viewStory=16536)

A Word to All My Children...

I have decided to become a writer.
I will write fiction... in hopes that it becomes truth.


I have been reading about writing.
The current chapter title: Character is destiny.


The hard-working student?  Gets better grades.
The thief?  Eventually goes to jail.
The paranoid? People do begin to talk...


The book I'm reading is about how to write fiction.
But life is not fiction.


But if fiction is to mirror reality...
Character is destiny.


You have a choice about how to write your character.
You choose it every day.


Do you work toward goals?
How do you advance your story?


What does your character do?
For my character?  I've chosen to write.


We all have a choice.
How to live... how to act.


You get to choose how you will act.
Together our choices... will write the future.


I will tell you my goals and how I will act.
If you wish, tell me your goals... and how you will act.


I want you to feel empowered.
I want you to be proactive.


I you believe in yourself and believe in your strength,
you can make great things happen.


Love,  Dad

The Compromise... A social safety net of scratchy cotton rope

We are a really rich society, but how we care for our poor could possibly bankrupt us.


We can spend our riches better.  We need a safety net, but it shouldn't be comfortable.


So instead of private apartments, welfare recipients could avail themselves of the New Community Shelter (NCS).  Free public housing would be public... not private.


In the NCS, one has access to free shared "youth hostel" style shelter.  In addition, free scrubs and free rations are available.  Adults capable of working will be paid five dollars per hour for twenty to forty hours per week.  


The net effect of the guarantee: an industrious individual could retire debt or save up to $800 / month.


An industrious person could climb out of the safety net and have a private life.

A Combination of Faith and Reason

I want to speak so that many will hear.  I want to speak so that believers will hear.  I want to speak so that skeptics will hear.


I want to speak with a combination of faith and reason.


I want to speak with faith, because belief is empowering.


I want to speak with reason, because we need reason to find our way forward.


God is not opposed to our progress.  God wants us to seek truth.  It will set us free.


God wants us to be free.

Sometimes I am Afraid

Sometimes I am afraid to call myself a prophet.  I am afraid people will say I am a kook.  Because of my fear, I will say I am uncertain.  So, I am an uncertain prophet.


I would like for the secular skeptics to listen to me for a bit.  God, whether real or imagined, is a powerful force in our lives.  The power of God is a huge motivator for many.


We need to invoke the power of God to set us free.  We need the power of the multitudes to make the prophecy happen.  We need to save our Earth from a coming flood.  We need the power of believers to move mountains.


We can dredge our rivers and waterways, and spread it out over the ocean and create floating marshes, farms and forests.  We can calm the oceans inside a ring of floating marshes.  We can be safe on the ocean.


But we can't do it, unless people believe.  We can't do it without the power of the divine.  If people believe it is God's will, we can get this done.


Life can be beautiful.


God wants us to be free.

The Covenant of the Arks

The second most important thing I need to say before I die: We need to heed the Covenant of the Arks.


Long ago, God gave us the Ark of the Covenant.  He also gave us Noah who built an Ark.


Everyone laughed at Noah's folly.  But Noah loaded all sorts of life onto his ark and managed to avoid some serious climate change issues.


Today, we need a million Noahs.  We need a million Noahs to build a million arks.  We need to embrace God's Covenant of the Arks.


God will allow us to avoid serious climate change issues if we do so.  We can be free of hunger, war and hurricanes.  That is the Covenant of the Arks.


Build them... and we can save the Earth and create Heaven on Earth.


If we build a vast array of arks, holding not just animals, but plants and all sorts of life, we can make Earth a floating garden paradise.


If we promote life on these floating gardens, we will soak up the sun and carbon dioxide.  We will capture and store the energy of the sun.  If we create this vast array of heat sinks, floating in the tropics and sub-tropics, we can manage global weather patterns and avoid hurricanes.


We can grow more than enough food for the masses.  Give us your tired, your poor huddled masses yearning to breathe free and we will put them to work tending our floating farms.


Instead of fighting over limited amounts of old land, we will effectively grow new free land:  Land that will set us free.  There is no more need for war to fight for control over land.  We will have a New Free World.


A New Free World could be ours if we embrace the Covenant of the Arks.  We could soak up the sun and CO2.  We could promote life of all sorts.  We could create a lush garden paradise.  We could set people free.  Free from hunger, war and hurricanes.


Hurricanes are in essence heat dispersal systems.  The  excess heat on the ocean spins out of control.  The vast array of arks will soak up the heat.  And hurricanes will not spin out of control.


This is the Covenant of the Arks.  This is truth that will set us free.  This is God's will.


We need a million Noahs.  Act on faith and belief.  We can move mountains, if you have but the faith of a mustard seed.


Amen.

A New Take on Uncertainty...

It's been said, "seek ye the truth and the truth will make you free."


Some people say that they have found "the truth", but they use "the truth" they have found to control you... me... us.


If their "truth" makes us less free, it isn't the truth.  Because the truth will make us free, not less free.


God wants us to be free. 

I wish to speak the truth gently...

I wish to speak true
I wish to speak gentle


What I wish for me
I wish for you


I wish to remember
my lack of omniscience.


I wish to live
in peace and humility.


I wish not to control.
I wish to influence.


What I wish for me
I wish for you.


Let us pray for peace.
Let us live with respect for others.


The demonization is polarizing.
The demonization is the path to war.


We are not at war.
Let us refrain from demonization.


Even though 
we could get boffo ratings.


Let us live in peace.
Let us speak gently.


Amen

Values I should share...

Since I think shared values 
are the path to peace


I should share the values
that could lead to peace.


I acknowledge my uncertainty.
So you are free to disagree.


Allowing for disagreement
is a core belief.


No one is omniscient.
No one has perfect knowledge of God or Truth.


So everyone is entitled to believe
As they see fit.


You may be an atheist...
agnostic, or true believer


But we must acknowledge
The limits of our understanding.


So we can't assert that we know the Truth...
But we will assert *belief* in some axioms.


Consider the statement:
God will be with us always.


To a true believer 
This is obviously true.


Belief is empowering
And a harbor in times of trouble.


Belief is a comfort
And a source of sustenance.


Because of this
there will always be believers in God.


Could we get an atheist to say it?
God will be with us always.


An atheist would have trouble saying it.
But here, we give the atheist cover.


Since the atheist is free to understand God 
as the creation of men


and since belief is empowering
and sustaining


it is extremely unlikely that belief in God will die
so any atheist could say:


[Since God is a creation of man and is useful at times]
God will be with us always.


Our goal is to find peace
Our goal is to share values.


And we do so with uncertainty
Without a precise definition of God.


So we offer an imprecise definition of God:
God is good.


The true believer can easily affirm this.
The atheist can consider it a pro-active definition.


So here are some shared values...
some axioms... some unprovable "truths".


There is wisdom in uncertainty.
Everyone is free to understand God as they see fit.


God is good.
God wants to be free.


God doesn't want us to kill each other.
God wants us to live and let live.


God wants us to live in peace.
God doesn't want us to control each other.


Evil has been done in God's name.
We wish to use the power of God for good.


God wants us to be free.
Amen.

A Confession and a request for redemption...

I have sinned.
I have anger in my heart.


You might remember the event...
the one that irritated me.


But I overreacted.
The anger in me was expressed.


I reacted inappropriately.
I want to say I'm sorry.


I wish to react better.
I wish to respond to challenges with grace.


I don't always do that.
My reactions are sometimes skewed.


There are times the anger in me
trumps my logic and self-control.


There are times that anger isn't justified
and I still act in anger.


For example...
there are silly things.


Slow moving cars, slow moving people...
they slow me down, but shouldn't get me down.


The anger doesn't allow me to think clearly.
Sometimes I feel anger and a need to express it.


So I don't always react
in a just manner.


So I apologize for my lack of grace
And I request some of yours.


Please forgive me
As I attempt redemption.


Amen

Do the write thing...

There is no doubt
I need to do the write thing.


I need to share values,
to reach out and connect.


I need to write and connect.
I need to learn to love better.


I've been blessed and I feel much obliged.
Let's share values ... and a well ordered world.


What I wish for me
I wish for you.


Let us write...
share... 
and connect.


Amen

The path to peace: shared values

There is a path to peace and prosperity.
It is the path of shared values.


So I will follow the path to peace
So hear I share my values.  ;)


If I understand you share my love of peace
I trust you not to kill me.


If I understand you share my love of freedom
I trust you not to control me.


If your God calls you to love not war
We can live in peace.


If your God wants you to hate or kill
I am afraid we are enemies. 


If we can agree on an ambiguously defined God
And then agree on shared values, we can live in peace.


If you wish to live in a new free world
In a world of peace in prosperity...


Believe in God as you wish
As long as God asks you not to hate or kill.


Belief is empowering.
Let's use the power for good.


Believe with us
That God wants us to be free.


Believe with us
That God wants us to live in peace.


Believe with us
That God wants us to live and let live.


Believe with us
That God doesn't want us to make war.


Believe with us
That God is good.


We don't need to argue
About a detailed definition of God.


If we can agree on shared values
Of a God that is good, that wants love and not war...


We can live in freedom
With peace in prosperity.


The path to peace 
Is through shared values.


So to follow the path
I have shared my values.


Do you wish to pursue the path to peace?
Share the values.  


Share the values.
Find the way the click send.


Share the values
Around the world.


Amen

The Pope and the "growing aversion to the Christian faith"

According to an article on MSNBC.com... (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35062608/ns/world_news/)

The pope was quoted: "'In a world marked by religious indifference and even by a growing aversion toward the Christian faith, a new, intense activity of evangelization is necessary.".

The article also said: [the pope] urged Christians to overcome their differences through dialogue so that they can unite their efforts to influence debates in society on ethical issues like abortion, euthanasia and the limits of science and technology.

The uncertain prophet is glad the pope at least realizes there is an aversion to Christianity.  However, it is really ironic the pope doesn't realize that the effort to "influence debates" is seen more as an attempt to "control behavior".

When the church becomes political and uses the power of the state to legislate and punish what it perceives as unethical behavior, people rebel.

God lets people sin.  The pope should let people sin.  If the religious right was merely trying to influence debates, people might not hate them so.  But the religious right is in a culture war... a war of control.  

It is the attempt to control that creates the aversion.

It is the attempt to control that removes the essence of grace from Christianity.

It is the attempt to control that dis-graces Christianity.  

The religious right think they are doing good when they seek control.

The Islamic jihadis think they are doing good in their pursuit of a global caliphate.

But that is really evil masquerading as good.

It is the attempt to control that is a sin.

 

Let us pray for separation of church and state.

For Christ's sake.

Amen

The Wisdom of Uncertainty... in the pursuit of truth.

It may seem
like a contradiction.


But we want
to know all we can.


But we don't want
to be a know-it-all.


The know-it-all
can irritate.


So instead of being
a know-it-all...


We will choose to be
a "think-it-all"...


I will share with you
What I think is true.


Surely this seems true...
There is wisdom in uncertainty.


With uncertainty we can share
Our thoughts as friends.


You get to believe
As you wish.


My acknowledged uncertainty
Means anything can be discussed.


No dogma disagreement
shall demand death or dismemberment.


We can live in peace
Without killing one another over details.


The devil is in the details.
Debating details leads to death.


Let us find shared values.
That is the path to trust and peace.


Our shared language and values
can resonate in peace and harmony.


Let freedom ring.
Let it resonate.


The wisdom of uncertainty
Is the wisdom of freedom.


So we seek the truth
that will make us free.


We don't have
to find the truth.


We only have
to seek the truth.


For if I am seeking truth
I will listen to you.


You may have knowledge
That will help our search.


If we seek truth
We listen.


If we seek truth
You are free to speak.


If we seek the truth
It will make us free.


Those who assert they know the truth
Often want to curtail freedom.


The freedom comes
from the search.


The freedom comes not
From claiming knowledge.


When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit
It was from the tree of knowledge.


If you act you know with certainty...
Your "knowledge" can be irritating.


Let us be free to speak as friends.
Please embrace the wisdom in uncertainty.


Let us seek the truth
It will make us free.


Let freedom ring.
Amen.