Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned
by Alex Hutchins
In college, one of my psychology professors told a story in class about a rat experiment where a rat was placed in a wire cage and intermittent currents were sent to the floor causing the rat to jump up and grab the sides of the cage; then, electric current was sent to the sides of the cage as well, leaving the rat nowhere to go, so the rat just laid on the floor of the cage and gave up. The behavior of the rat has been seen in humans when their situations are perceived by them as so desperate there is no place to turn, so they, like the rat, lie down on the floor and give up.
In many ways, I feel like the rat, especially after reading news headlines from around the world.
· Police kill gunman near Wash. School
· Doomed Satellite Crashes Back to Earth
· Dazed Actress Escorted Off Stage
· UBS Scandal Claims CEO
· Amanda Cox Appeals Conviction
· World Powers Seek to Contain Europe Debt Crisis
· Yemeni Forces Attack Main Opposition Camp
· Angry China Villagers Protest State Land Grab
· Australian Man Charge in Collar Bomb Hoax
· UK Woman Held by Pirates
· Bear Attacks Bow Hunter near Yellowstone Park
· Florida Millionaire Found Guilty of Murdering Wife
And yet, I know there is positive news out there, but no one seems to want to report it anymore. Am I to believe that only negative news sells these days? Is mainstream media sending intermittent electrical charges to our wire cages?
In High School when someone asked me how I was doing, my response was “I’m alive, doing fine, and God loves me.” Today, my response typically is, “I’m above ground.” Am I so naively sensitive to the cruelties of life in America and around the world that I have created my own wire cage for society to intermittently electrically charge?
The skin of life seems to be peeling off of everything like sunburned skin after a few days inside the house, and nobody seems motivated enough to rub on any moisturizing lotion. I remember a few years (actually it was more than a few years since it was in the 70's) ago in a Creative Writing Class attended, we had to write monologues.
Mine started out like this: “I was raised on a silver spoon and a gold plated thermometer up my tail section; my Dad said it was so that I would grow up well-balanced but I always thought it was to keep me on my toes.” I don’t feel either one of those sensations anymore.
Mine started out like this: “I was raised on a silver spoon and a gold plated thermometer up my tail section; my Dad said it was so that I would grow up well-balanced but I always thought it was to keep me on my toes.” I don’t feel either one of those sensations anymore.
We seem to have a new religious trinity, at least in this country, to which we bow our heads of
Greed – Power – Control, revolving around the money deity with drugs being our holy sacrament and no one wants to acknowledge that there is anything wrong with this picture.
And, this reminds me of what my Mom always said: “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.”
And, this reminds me of what my Mom always said: “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.”
5 comments:
Many of us feel like the rat. The new holy trinity you mentioned controls the electrical currents. So how do we the rats shut off the source of power? I would love to do a blog on this (when I find the answer). I do know it will include the fact that there IS a true religious trinity and we have turned our backs on that. We can blame organized relgion for much of this because the self proclaimed "true relgions" were created to turn not heads/hearts/minds but turn profits (so their new trininty has become the members you stated). We were all created in the image of the true trinity of God the Father in our creative potential, God the Son in our word and actions in the good deeds for others, and the Holy Spirit in our ability to Love. We have lost out desire to be creative, we only think of ourselves, and most importantly we have lost our ability to love and respect our fellow human beings and created world around us.
Alex, love your characture (sp)
Dan, as organized religion has exploded globally, love and respect has dwindled. Why do you think that is? It would seem to me, the more people that go to services, the more religioius they would become, thus the more intune to others. Organized religion is a killer, it sucks the very life out of those who attend and "believe" We need to use our heads, dig deep down inside, and figure out for ourselves what is right and what is wrong. Believing in a higher power is pie in the sky as far as I'm concerned. In imaginary power that we have been taught will make all the bad stuff go away, while we sit and wait, and it NEVER happens!
I do not believe in "imaginary" things. Only the truth. We are always seeking the truth, and yet it is hard to even come up with a list of absolute truths. Try it. Start with death (and you can throw in taxes if it makes you feel better). It seems we are all on a journey to find truth. That is my religion and nothing imaginary about it. I believe in creation and out own ability to create, in the importance of our word and actions as those forever are carved in the stone of our past, and believe in the ever presence of love unless we willfully shut it out. Those are real and true.
The jury is out on organized religion and I don't want to get into that discussion. Everyone has to seek the truth as I said above. If you find an organized religion that sheds light on truth then it can be beneficial. As for the promise that all things will be better, they will be and they are depending on your frame of mind and how you look at things and where you are ultimately going.* If you are looking for relief from the suffering of this life, I am afraid that cannot be so easily changed due to our sinful nature. As long as we treat ourselves as gods and the ones in charge we are turning our back on the very nature within us (doing this is known as sin) and that is why we all suffer. None of us sinners (and we all are) have that ability to overcome feeling we somehow are gods with our individual will being superior to the greater will of creation. That is why we need religion (beliefs) to help us along the way, and to learn to overcome this lie that we are in charge. We aren't. Never were and never will be. So who is? I don't know. Your beliefs will lead you to the truth. And your belief may very well be a belief to "not believe" in a higher power. It is all part of the search for truth. And don't be afraid to be called a sinner. Only be leery of the one calling you that who thinks they aren't. Off my soap box now. God (if you beleive in Him or Her) Bless. *HOPE is the desire to have the things as they "should be" not that they are actually going to be exactly as we vision. We must always cling to hope and eventually things WILL be as they should be (perhaps just not to our own will or desires). Amen.
I will comment on organized religion. The problem with them are their members. Just like the bumper sticker once seen in Florida "JESUS, PROTECT ME FROM YOUR FOLLOWERS".
Each memember of any organized religion places their focus on the religion itself, when all their actions say "Look at me, I am Jewish, or I am Baptist, or I am Catholic, or I am Muslim, or I am an atheist." (yes atheism is a religion - a belief)
They all ignore the central message of each of their beliefs which is usually love, forgivenss, and understanding we are all one and in the same boat of imperfection.
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