I finished reading The Story of B by Daniel Quinn. Then I went for a run. Reading and running is a good combination for thinking.

In "The Story of B" Quinn talks a lot about how the philosophies behind the book are not compatible with Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc. One thing in particular is that he doesn't feel that mankind is in need of being saved. He also talks a lot about how the need to spread our religion / culture (and therefore "salvation") is the root cause of the mono-culture that the world is heading into. Don't think that he means "Americanism" either; East and West are one culture.

The religion that I learned at my father's knee is not incompatible with Quinn's view of Earth's history and future, in my opinion. It is not incompatible with the theory of Evolution either. I didn't learn about the salvationist view of much of Christianity until I was older and was exposed to fundamentalism. A lot of Christians don't buy the idea that mankind is cursed forever by the "Original Sin" of Adam and Eve. I think that humans are inherently beautiful and good.

I think you should admit your vulnerabilities, at least to yourself. It changes the way you view the world. When a horse is grazing, it stops to look around very very often. The other day, I read that some elk species or something were being attacked by wolves because they had stopped looking around while eating. The reason? They were so lean that they couldn't afford to stop eating. It's a bit depressing to think about weighting two vulnerabilities like that, but I suppose it's a fact of life or a fact of nature.

In the last few months, several people have gone out of their way to thank me for conversations I've had with them that they found particularly useful. I'm really glad about that; In my best moments, the thing I most want to be is a wise and giving person. This feedback makes me think that I should keep doing what I have been doing.

I was thinking about the phrase "fighting fire with fire". I don't think I've ever heard anyone point out what a stupid idea that is. I don't know if I've ever heard anyone say the phrase with any seriousness, but come on. If you fight fire with fire, it just spreads.

Yes, oppression is a bigger threat than terrorism.