Thou hath perhaps elided the central imaginary core -

Our very-own sock puppet hath made the Faustian Trade\ufffd:
In exchange for soft cooings We Shall Anoint thee with Certainty, Grasshopper.. Our Chickie has abandoned the arduous path of the seeking of Reason about the contradictions within persons and humanity. Has settled instead, for the simplistic: that mere 'logic' via which he indulges the daily perversion of manipulating a bunch of Yes/No concepts for fun, profit and a life of digital-think, the most shallow of all puzzle-games. (Why, mainly - that's about bizness or war. Is there any difference, except in degree?)

Verily I say unto thee, I Have Seen the Signs! before.. in my Gramma's rheumy eyes, while indulging in hate-speak about them nigras and especially about: *Them

* Them Commies == Them what don't see the world through My shit-coloured glasses and Jesus is on my side and and Not Theirs! and and So There..! and and

Freedom! Truth! Liberty! *Us*
-They- Suck.
EZ as pie.

Convictions? (aren't those about just desserts after crime?) Heavier:
Possession of The Truth is the pure endorphin-spewing brain-distillate of bein Sure yer an inside-partner with God, workin on an LBO of Evil Empires everywhere - no scuzzy human rulez need apply; just Swing that Scimitar and Enjoy! Why.. You Gots God-Given Morality! as amnesty from your crimes!

How fortunate are we, to have such a speciment to study in vitro ! :-\ufffd


(Alas too, and about the Joys of Swinging Scimitars; some have 'read' the Gita, empathised with Arjuna - as Siva [in human guise] counsels him to massacre relatives, women & children - as are only parts of the maya, too. Thus we see the dangers of such allegory being 'read' by the simplistic literal digital mind!)

Once more into the breach, dear friends - the Possessed are ever amidst us and are the lawful prey of the Dispossessed. It's The Law in the World of Duality!

Go off on a tangent.

The Patriarch who owned the military academy I resided in (and a string of other inconsequential places - though 'ours' was fully accredited for shipments to West Point yada & yada and the scholastics prove to have been 'Good') was an Evangelical type.

Would periodically show up for 'chapel' [march in. march out.] with his fav Accordion Player Guy! [nope, not making this up]. and {cackle}. Fortunately my roomies, before I got the rank to be left alone (!) were at worst, non-theologically oriented and at best.. budding anti-theologicians.

Anyway and overall - it was a Gas. And there was a lot of freedom, if you learned how to seize it. A few years ago I had the distinct pleasure of finding my old chem/physics teacher and comparing notes. The trust he had offered, in giving me the key to the chem shack (that, and music!) certainly saved me from committing homicide or other distractions. Ah.. Providence.

And our Engl. prof had us read A Doll's House -with comprehension-. I was ready for de-chatteling of females, long before I had the words. So I bear no ill-will towards what might be too easily caricatured as 'provincial'; I got to see the beneficent side of Corp Religion through later-on accidental acquaintance with a (Episcopal?) priest - surely among the wisest of folks yet met.

(I played some Purcell in his small SF church, occasionally. Trumpet is enhanced when an *organ* accompanies; the long reverb-time also stirs Psyche. Recommended therapy, but: practice practice. And find an accompanist who can transpose.. a high-D can kill ya)

So I gather we both have encountered the usual mix of sublime/ridiculous, enough to eschew any of the pop-labels, even if it's fun to skewer the sanctimonious At All Times [?]


Ashton