George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin in the Backdrop of Deteriorating Race Relations: Foreign Perspective (Part 1)

Some events, like the self-immolation of Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi in 2011, are catalytic, if unpredictable. The underlying and unnoticed cause of revolutionary sentiment long seethes subterraneously, unnoticed by the cadre of jet-set international news media celebrities, who photo-up at every disaster like politicians. But we know not if, when and from where, a spark will set these combustible social atmospheres. Others are mere sideshows, but expose the current state of affairs within a society and culture to those astute enough to notice. Others are mere sideshows.

The Zimmerman-Martin sideshow is the middle option.

Dwelling in a jurisdiction outside the gates of the American zoo, my perspective could be dismissed as one lacking knowledge and empathy. And on this particular matter, which is more peripheral to my experience than those dwelling in the U.S., this is legitimate comment. My claim to credibility comes from having distance and perhaps therefore greater impartiality and broader perspective.

How Not to Sell Monogamy

In the first chapter of Christopher Hitchens “God Is Not Great”, he recounts a Sunday School marm, if I remember correctly, who irritates his budding intellect with the lamest reasons for seeking God amongst other rational fallacies.

In this spirit, I present Dr. Patrick Fagan’s take, a Family Research Council Senior Fellow, on the best reason for monogamous sexuality.

“Those who are monogamous have the best sex they’ll ever know, because they don’t know anything else.”1

With reasoning like this, I just know that the reassertion of traditional marriage as the social norm is just around the corner!

How about instead, we suggest the following:

There is a autobahn between the human heart and libido. And the most intense sexual experience will be consequence of very tight consensual human connectedness between the two persons, along with a healthy, uninhibited and comprehensive perspective and understanding of Eros, (Eros that extends beyond bodily functions – the physiological as metaphoric of the psychological unity).

Prior sexual experiences of every kind retain baggage that intrudes on present sexual relationships, whether the participants are aware or honest to recognize them.  Narcissism, selfishness, incapacity for love (as seeking the best interests of the other), lack of ethics, lack of recognition, acceptance and embracing of the masculinity/femininity and gender difference of the other, etc; all these act as impediments to the attaining of that deep emotional tie that contributes to and continually nourishes the best sex a person might have.

NOTES

1. Lydia DePillis, Porn is everywhere. But that’s not what’s killing marriage, The Washington Post, July 19, 2013, Accessedhttps://socialreader.com/me/content/LkLbG?chid=130991&_p=trending&utm_source=wp&utm_medium=Widgets&utm_campaign=wpsrTrendingExternal-1-opt on July 20, 2013.

The Age of the Selfie

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.¹

I have long held a theory about Christian Regeneration/Conversion, which basically states that it gives a person the ability too see what is right in front of their noses. Some credit for this conclusion must go to George Orwell who wrote “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”

And thus, when I heard about the lengths by which some persons sought to get on reality television, so that they could escape their anonymity; or Twitter and its use by our current age to publish every mundane motion of their bathroom endeavours to the globe, I knew that the age of narcissism had descended upon us.  

However, it seems that God has sought to rub the obvious in our faces with the Selfie; the taking of an inordinate number of self-portraits from one’s iPAD etc and posting them on the Internet.

THE ULTIMATE FACE OF THE SELFIE

Imagining Being Murdered over the Depreciated Cost of a Stainless Steel Tablespoon

After recuperating in the sanctuary of my sister’s house after years of dwelling with madness, within and without, I have finally found a place to restart my life. The basement apartment is perfect for my purposes. It is buried in a quiet dead-end street. A park and Tim Horton’s is 100 yards away. A shopping mall (and the beer store, if I was heavy into beer) is 200 yards away. Etobicoke Creek trickles by with accompanying trails nearby. And it is near the corner of major suburban bus routes. It has all the basic elements that I need and is cheap enough that I can support myself on basic wages until the other stuff starts producing.

However, as always, there is a fly in the ointment. In this case, it is the other roomer; approx 50 years old and with heavy set and thick foreign accent.

The landlady provides some basic utensils, pots, pans and dishes with the accommodation. And on the first day, I  used what pot and utensils that was there. But apparently, a pot and spoon belongs to the roomer. How was I to know? The roomer got all so hot and bothered about the use of his stainless steel pot. And dish detergent. And wash cloth. But especially, the stainless steel tablespoon. He was going to call the cops the next time his spoon was used.

Consequently, I start worrying about the storage space that I am using in the fridge. Have I gone over my share; despite the fact that the man only stores a couple of items? Knowing that people tend to project their own vices onto others, was his concern for being cheated showing up in the level of my milk?

This is so darn ridiculous. I am not going to go down this road and bring myself to that level. I have had at least 5 vehicles bump into the back of my vehicles over the years. And for peace of mind, I just couldn’t be bothered to collect. I am not going to start now.

The next day, I get a stomping and loud complaining about some apparent mess. Only unless one is like my obsessive “no-dust-can-be-found-on-the-top-of-closet-doors-and-window-sills” mom in my childhood, no person would have noticed any form of mess. Apparently, the chap didn’t like the way the garbage bag and the garbage was arranged into the garbage pail as well.

I just lost it; insulting him several times. It wasn’t so much anger; but contempt. I have all these great and profound thoughts. And I just cannot be bothered having to think about pots, detergent soap, dishcloths and especially stainless steel tablespoons.

The next day, I cooked up some pork tenderloin stew. I left him half with an accompanying note apology. However, the wording might not have been winsome. It said:

I do apologize for calling you an a-hole. I do and can respect property. However, I will not allow myself to be subjected to a concern for property rights that borders on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. If my mindset fretted about every $1 stainless steel spoon being used by anyone else, I should think that I would be spending $90 every week on psychological counseling sessions.

He didn’t eat the pork tenderloin stew.

Today. The roomer bangs on the door and complains that I used up his laundry detergent. I showed him that I had my own. His kafuffle alarms the landlady upstairs. He complains that he pays too much rent. And the laundry detergent is just the last straw. He threatens to leave. The lady threatens to call the police on him for being obnoxiously loud and raging. She also offers him the right to get out of his commitment to stay as a renter.

With the violent temper of this man over detergent soap usage, I am a teeny bit worried about the safety of my life. And I begin to calculate the depreciation cost of one use of a $1 stainless steel tablespoon. If a person uses a stainless steel tablespoon about once a day minimum; and on average, one keeps a stainless steel tablespoon for about five years before losing it; that comes to about .0548¢ per usage. That is unless one is using the declining balance accounting method. Imagine suffering mortality over the price of an accidental misuse of a stainless steel tablespoon!

I thought I had seen enough mad houses! Having expunged the madness within, by the Grace of God and through the enactment of His counsel, I seem to keep meeting up with it externally.

©Copyright Johnny Hutchinson