So Tell Me: Am I the One Who Is Insane?

Here is my logic. If you go to my yahoo 360 website, at
360.yahoo.com... or are reading this from there now, you can see that I several picture albums, including one titled The Masters Domain and Outside the Masters Domain. The titles are to be humorous of course, but what they have are pictures of inside my home and the property I have outside. I provide these because it shows not only how I live, but a lot of what I do, such as raising plants, decorating in the old Oriental style, and painting. Almost everything inside my house, such as my weapons, and Oriental statues, has been painted in great detail, by me. Painting these things is one of my greatest hobbies. The pictures of outside are there to show all the plants I have outside, my yard, and the woods that surround my house. I feed the birds, and I have a chipmunk that lives in the yard also, as well as a squirrel. I have a bird that you may be able to see in the picture of my computer room, just above the weight bench. I call him Mr. Wiggles because of the crazy dance he does when he see’s other birds. It an awesome site to see.  Now I love all these things and all the little creatures that live around me. I read old Oriental books; I have a You Tube site filled with paranormal, as well as funny videos. I listen to talk radio almost constantly and watch television, at most, 6 hours a week because I attend Kaplan University online and I do a lot of work on the computer. I also have a business site that I designed myself and sell software and electronics. Now so far, I guess you are wondering why the title is as it is. Here we go now into the logic that I call my own. I love people and I love God, and I love all that He has created. Having said this; let’s say that someone came into my yard and tried to kill one of my plants or tried to kill one of the birds or animals that live here and feel completely safe here. I feel that I would be completely justified in beating that person to the point where he feared for his life. Now, here is my logic: if someone is willing to hurt or kill an innocent animal that is doing nothing but what it was created by God to do, innocently eating the sunflower seeds in the yard, or is willing to kill a plant that also does what it was created to do, which is to grow and soak up the Sun, and help make my house look great, then that person is less than human. The willingness to do this to an innocent creature tells me that the person who is willing, not only has no respect for life, but no comprehension of the greatness of God’s creation. Everything in nature is sinless except the human race. Only a person has the ability to do what is wrong, knowing that it is wrong. How much more would that very person be willing to do to another human being? People with such willingness can do nothing good for anything or anyone. The only thing that someone like that understands completely is violence. To me, I would simply be speaking to that person in the only language they understand. There is so much in this world that is beautiful, and there are a lot of people in this world who are not only blind to it, but willing to hurt or kill it! To me, this is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated. Now I am also willing to say that I would get a great deal of pleasure in subjecting this individual to a true, rage-filled beating. What people do to each other is bad enough, but to go after that which is innocent and pure is to me, less than human. Now some may call me crazy, but let us take a look at the reality around us shall we?
We have our enemy in the Middle East that pulls the eyes out of the sockets of our troops while they scream, and a Marine who puts panties on a prisoners head gets a dishonorable discharge!! Now to me THAT is insane!

Continuing from the above thread...All the while the enemy makes a demand for a Koran while being held in a prison and this disgusting government tells our troops to give them one. They reward the illegal’s in this country for being illegal, while we go to jail for having too many unpaid parking tickets. The big oil trash, oh, I mean “companies” put us in the poor house by controlling the price of gasoline, while the price of a barrel of oil is 60% the cost of what it was last year when prices were lower, and the government say’s that they are not breaking the law! All the while “we the people” are saying do something, to the deaf and the dumb in the government while they basically tell us all to go to Hell! They take the Ten Commandments down and outlaw prayer in the schools, but they give the Muslims a “prayer room” so that they don’t get offended, and don’t forget the “foot baths” being installed in the airports! We have men making movies of them having “relations” with horses and say the horse is “a willing participant”. Hello, is anyone out there?  Our children are being influenced by the lowest form of life, as they are filmed falling into the street drunk while coming out of a night club, while the music is filled with details of how many ways the so called “artist” can treat a female like garbage, while spewing profanity the entire time.
Now seeing things in this light, tell me, am I the one who is insane? The voices in my head say NO.

I hope this makes sense to you:

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

I don't think you are insane.

In fact, I believe that your sentiments are very common if everyone were to be as open and forthright as you are being...

We all develop emotional attachments to the things around us. My cats are as much a part of the family as if they were children.

Semper

OK, the home and yard thing, that is your personal expression and not insane. Can't say I would decorate my home that way, but, if it makes you happy and comfortable, no harm no foul

Beating someone because they harm your plants, that is over the top and a bit testosterone driven. You would go to jail for that and it would be deserved. They wouldn't call you crazy, but dangerous.

What if your neighbor's dog or cat came over and killed one of the animals in your yard, or dug up your bushes? Would you harm that animal, or the owner?

Since you write as a Christian, do you think that beating a person would be ok with God?

I'm with llpoolej here. One act of violence is no excuse for another one. As a Christian I would've thought you'd remember the 'turn the other cheek' thing.

So, if some yobbo comes in and tears up your plants it's the human thing to want to retaliate (I probably would too, to my regret) but that's not what a Christian is supposed to do. Maybe it's the 'forgive those that hurt you' bit that's insane, at least to everyone else.

We forget we live in a fallen world, where sometimes the 'right thing to do' (at least in the worlds eyes) is to kill the thing that hurts us. With God the 'right thing to do' is not necessarily 'the right thing to do' that the world wants us to do.

Which reminds me, I'm at work so I should get started on my 'to do' list...

[edit on 25/5/07 by jimboman]

[edit on 25/5/07 by jimboman]

You're not insane, Forcemaster and I think you know that. It's the world as it is, that's insane. Living here and NOT going insane is a big ask ... of all of us, apart from those who unfortunately succumbed to selective insanity, many of whom ( for reasons known only to God) appear to hold positions of power and influence.

This is not a nice place. We try to put a positive spin on things by focusing on the glories of man and Nature, but it's difficult to maintain when on one side of the scales are babies'-smiles and rose-buds and on the other are abbatoirs, the depravities of war .... even packs of cannibal monkeys eating another alive on 'Nature' documentaries.

We smile at the cute little old man taking his little doggie for a walk ... never suspecting that sixty years ago, as a young soldier, he raped children and then threw them down a well (true story, seen in a programme featuring elderly Japanese soldiers, living in sublime comfort and peace, even smiling as they reminisced).

This poor planet has been drenched with blood from the outset. But see how deceptive everything is? When seen from space, people rhapsodise about Our Glorious Blue Planet. But if ' seen true ', it would be a ghastly blood red.

You may never kill anyone. Most of us do not. Yet we are witness to cruel death, lifelong.

The sages and most religions advise us that to retaliate is 'wrong'. We are advised that all is God's Will. We are advised to 'detach' and 'sever attachments', if we are to progress, or escape.

'Justice is mine', saith the Lord.

If someone steals our shoes, we're advised to also hand him our cloak.

When we pray, we ask for forgiveness ..... as 'we forgive those who trespass against us'.

Forgiving people is a massive ask, much of the time. Massive. Sometimes, the only way to achieve it is by simply Letting Go. Because some trespasses cannot be reconciled with our sense of justice.

Years ago, confronted with one of those situations, I was fortunate enough to read the perfect advice at the crucial moment. The advice was: Consign it all to God.

It went against the grain, because I'd lived my life pretty much by the philosophy: The Buck Stops Here, aka: I Will Not Walk Away from My Responsibilities: I Will Be Accountable.

The philosphy of Consigning It All to God seemed at first to be one of evading responsibility.

But it's not.

God or whatever name you choose for the Ultimate, Highest Power for Good is responsible ... for us, for this earth and for everything that occurs upon it.

Personally, I feel that a great deal which occurs on this planet is evilly insane. But then, who am I ? Or for that matter ... who are you?

We don't even know WHAT we are ... or if we 'exist' at all, in the way we generally believe ourselves to be.

For all we know, we may be bits or bytes or whatever, in some third-rate cosmic computer-game.

Think of that for a second, please. My kids used to play a game called Ceasar (I think). They created villages and cities, installed viaducts, amassed competing communities and armies. Then, with a tap of the controls, they reduced it all to nothing, via means of floods, famines, wars, etc. And all the little 'people' on the screen were destroyed and 'died' horribly. I asked my kids: ' Don't you feel bad about doing that to them? It's just like real life. That could be you in that town, being cut down by the enemy and after you'd worked so hard to grow your crops. It's cruel. "

But my kids were unperturbed. " Get a grip. It's just a game. They don't exist. They're not real people. I can re-make it all again in five minutes. It's just a game. None of it is real. "

In between painting a few walls this afternoon, I caught part of a documentary about the Fall of East Prussia, in WW2. Men in their 70s and 80s cried as they told how the Red Army dragged the town's women-folk (including their own mothers) out of their homes and raped them on the freezing ground before their children, husbands, fathers and brothers ..... then force-marched the survivors to a ditch, to their death.

Not all those Red Army soldiers died in WW2. Many survived and went on to marry, have children, homes and long lives. Is that just, that they should be able to enjoy comfortable lives and provide their own children with love and security --- when a few years earlier they'd made orphans of hundreds of small children after raping and murdering those children's mothers?

Is God in His Heaven? Does He observe all this? Does He hear the screams of terror, despair and pain?

Sometimes it seems not. Yet we didn't create ourselves, did we? And are we able to say with absolute certainty that rapists and murderers CHOOSE to be as they are? Or were they destined to be as they are? Were their paths predetermined? With regards those we revile -- is it actually a case of: There But For the Grace of God, Go I ? Put simply: if the dice had rolled the other way, is it possible you and I might be the monsters?

Grace is bestowed upon those who forgive, who submit to what is termed God's Will.

Seen in that light, the murderers, thieves, rapists and assorted monsters are making it possible for those who forgive, to 'shine', to gather Grace. In short, the bad guys make the rest of us look good.

And when we manage (and it's not always easy) to 'forgive', we must remember such was only made possible by the sinners, the monsters. Light and shadow. Left hand, right hand. Good and evil. Forgiven and forgivers.

Almost seems like some sort of plan, or game, sometimes.

Some religions advise forgiveness. Others advise us to 'let go of attachments'. All seem to be telling us we should not become enmeshed in worldly things ... that to do so will be to our peril, our spiritual cost.

But we're DOWN HERE. And remaining uninvolved is easier said than done, for some more than others. I used to scream and rant (to the sky, basically): ' Jesus only had to put up with this place for 33 years, but the rest of us aren't able to leave that early ! It's HARD, down here ! '

No-one responded, that I'm aware. But the rants helped me at the time.

At times, in extremity, 'Consigning it all to God' is the only option. The rest of the time, we take our problems and pains on our own shoulders automatically. It's the way most of us are raised to be. And we remember that God Helps He/She Who Helps Him/Herself. We don't want to burden our God. We pitch in and try and try again, as we were taught. We hope and sometimes pray that our God will give us a helping hand.

And we suffer. We suffer knowing other people and animals and the planet are suffering. We can't enjoy our lives, knowing the horrors that are going on. Out of Sight, Out of Mind is no comfort to us, much of the time. Most of us want a 'nice' and kinder world, for all its creatures.

So, we suffer as the price of being 'humans' on this planet. And it doesn't make a lot of sense. If God could create so many wonderful things, why didn't he make this world a better, kinder place?

There are no answers that really satisfy.

We simply have to accept we aren't powerful enough to change it to the way we'd like. We can make our homes nice places to be, but then we feel guilty about creating our nice world-within-a-world, when so many others are suffering 'out there'.

I feel for you, Forcemaster. Most of us have been where you are.

Only advice I can offer, is Consign it All to God. Do what you can to help, then consign it all to God. And hope for the best. Maybe it's all a test? Maybe a joke? Who knows --- maybe it's all illusion ( including our soul-searching) just like the Ceasar computer-game.

Originally posted by llpoolej
the home and yard thing, that is your personal expression and not insane. ...Beating someone because they harm your plants, that is over the top

agreed.

Remember the old saying - if you think you have a problem with alcohol, you probably do? Well .. if you think you are having difficulties and are too attached to things (or too violent about things), you probably are.

Hi everyone. Thank you all so much for what you have written, and to Dock6, I think your way of looking at things are great I didn't really mean the violent part literally, I try to include humor and sometimes I do it in a really weird way. I wouldn't beat them, I may throw them over the hill though But seriously though, I know that when we all see the horror than man creates for each other, it is both hurtful and angering. I think that's how God feels when He sees people with such great ability destroy instead of create. Sometimes I can feel the hurt the world is feeling, other times, I just want to destroy those who cause it all. I think that you all feel that too sometimes, and its people like all of you that makes me realize that people are worth dying for. My personallity sometimes goes from serious to funny rather quickly and sometimes its hard for people to know when I'm joking or being serious, but for me, thats the funny part. if any of you have looked at my 360 page, pay no attention to the picture I posted with this thread but if you do, you will know that I have a strange sense of humor. Well, I have to go now, the guy I pushed over the hill is starting to scream so I have to hit him in the head with the shovel again

Seriously, i don't think there is anything wrong with the way you see the world.IMHO you are not insane, and I personally do appreciate your sense of humour.

Thank you AccessDenied. I have a question for you...If they say I am too tall to be a circus midget, can I sue for discrimination?

NO, not in my opinion..

Just advertise yourself as....

"WORLDS TALLEST MIDGET"

Come one, come all!!

You can even include the....

"STRIPE LESS ZEBRA"


LMAO

Semper

HAHA good one. I agree with Semper, go for it. Although if thats you in your avatar, why not go for the Strong man? I think Chukkles is starting some wacky circus in BTS.

Yes, that is the ForceMaster in the flesh.