[Magdalen] whose theology is this?

[Jay Weigel]

I love the Baha'i take on educating children.....if you can only educate
one child, you should educate a daughter, because she will be the mother,
God willing, of many sons and daughters and will understand that *all* need
education.

On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 4:25 PM, H Angus <hangus at ctcn.net> wrote:

> Jsmes O., I've heard that one about the starfish and I love it I also love
> the feral cat lady. I've been thinking about how I'd like to do something
> like that with my alley -- many many literal "alley cats," and they keep
> increasing. But I don't have the money to have them spayed and neutered.
> However, maybe I can get with some others and see if anything can be done.
>
> In any case, I see the "attitude" quite a lot, though mainly on the
> internet: if Joe Schmoe says he's helping out at a soup kitchen, or
> mentoring an at-risk student, or donating to a cause, the standard sneers
> start up: "You're so stupid because...(a) "You can't save them all so why
> waste your time," or (b)"They're just after your money, sucker" or (c -- my
> favorite) "You know you're just doing this so you can feel good about
> yourself."
>
> Gotta love it
>
> Heather
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "James Oppenheimer" <oppenheimerjw at gmail.com>
> To: "Magdalen at herberthouse.org" <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 3, 2015 3:46:49 PM
> Subject: Re: [Magdalen] whose theology is this?
>
> Neither Marge nor I was thinking of -- whatever facebook site you are
> trying to talk about.
>
> I know a lady who has been concerned about feral cats near where I worked.
> So she got some traps and started bringing them to the SPCA who neutered
> them, and then she found alternate locations for them.  I helped her for a
> while with this project.  This entire enterprise was one woman and her Fit.
> SPCA loaned her have-a-heart traps.
>
> You see the hopelessness of the situation and you assume it's hopeless!
> Give it up!
>
> I'm reminded of the man who went walking early in the morning on a beach
> and saw a small figure in the distance -- doing what?
> As he got nearer, he could see the other was picking things up and throwing
> them into the sea.
> Arriving at the same point on the beach, he saw a small child, picking up
> starfish and throwing them out into the surf.
> It had been stormy, and starfish littered the shoreline.
> "What are you doing?" the man inquired.
> "Rescuing these starfish," replied the child.  "If they stay where they are
> now, they'll die."
> The man looked up and down the beach, and said, "But there are so many.
> What good does it do to throw a few back?"
> The child just kept throwing the starfish back, one at a time.
> "There must be a million starfish here!" the man exclaimed.  Surely the
> child just wasn't thinking. "Even if you stay here all day -- what possible
> difference can it make?" he was now practically shouting with exasperation.
> The child reached for another starfish, looked at the man for a moment, and
> then threw the starfish far out beyond the surf.
> "I bet it made a difference to that one," the child said.
>
> Now in the world, we have basic assumptions. One seems to be that people
> are basically good or evil.
>
> If you assume that the world is crap and most people are evil, then in this
> story, they knock it off and go have a beer.
>
> If you assume that most people are not THAT bad, and would do good if only
> they thought it through, then the story has another ending:
>
> Looking down that beach, you see two figures walking away, one taller than
> the other, stooping down every second or so and throwing something -- what
> could it be? -- far out into the sea.
>
>
>
> James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
>
> On Tue, Mar 3, 2015 at 2:43 PM, Jim Guthrie <jguthrie at pipeline.com> wrote:
>
> > From: James Oppenheimer-Crawford
> >
> >  You know, Jim, you can be a repository of good information, and I know
> >> that
> >> you find it annoying when folks say things you do not happen to agree
> >> with,
> >> and I am sorry you find that annoying, but when you blow hot air, it's
> >> also
> >> annoying.
> >>
> >
> > One of the great modern petition sites is Facebook (as well as other
> > Social Media). What people don’t know is that these petitions nearly
> always
> > go nowhere. They are used for deep data-mining of the responder and any
> of
> > his/her friends.
> >
> > It's fascinating to see people think that their participating in one of
> > these data-mining ventures seems real pleased when their POV comes true.
> > But it's more like blaming firefighters for fires because they seem
> always
> > to be there when there is one.
> >
> > It's money that wins in today's America.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Jim Guthrie
> >
>
>