you see...you make a very good point, but once again you go to the opposite extreme. if you use the word once or twice around your friends it doesn't make you a serial killer. at the same time, having the decency to not say some things around certain people, or at certain times is just plain common sense. you may get mad at your mother and call her some things where she can't hear you, or in your mind, but you would never (i would hope) disrespect her enough to call her those things to her face. you may say some things in the bedroom to your significant other that needs not be repeated amongst polite or mixed company. there is still a such thing as refraining or abstaining from the appearance of evil (I Thessalonians 5:22). now...i'm a bit confused. isn't the root of this whole issue tolerance? racism is a lack of tolerance, yes? then...why would you get on another man for choosing not to use a word with obvious derogatory meaning? further, he ended by saying that if you weren't going to stop using that word just don't use it around him. he didn't condemn anyone to Hellfire and brimstone because of the aforementioned usage. therefore, it would seem that your condemnation of his personal choice and exhortation to all and sundry to join him is intolerance. intolerance not only of his own choice, but of a choice with sound reasoning supporting it. i would think that you, of all people, would acknowledge the power of words. how many people have you written a diss to or a heated response to based off of a few words? even you and i had words at one point. remove beam in your own eye before you would point out the mote in another's, my friend. if a person, having been hit by a car, is wary of crossing the street that is called...what? wisdom? caution? over-caution? paranoia? at what point is it called ignorance? ignorance would be a lack of knowledge when, in this case, it is exactly the -opposite-. it is the knowledge and, indeed, past experiences that have fueled the choice. it is not ignorance, but a choice. just as you have made your choice. and you don't have to believe in something for it to believe in you. there is life and death in the power of the tongue (Prov. 18:21). the biggest wars may have used an action as their catalyst, but they always started out with words. words caused even God Himself to sit up and take notice (Babel, Genesis 11. esp verse 6 ). you, my friend, are a poet. what is your power if not the very words that you tout as having no power? unfortunately, your paradigm is anathema to your innate theme and purpose. that being the power of words and using them to get your point across, convey or sway emotions and logic in favor of your view, or merely to make people think. regardless, especially in this electronic medium, your only weapon, defense, and ally -is- words. so...how do words lack power? selah. though you have made a very good point, fear of a thing is very rarely helpful to solving a problem, your conclusion is confusing when viewed at a deeper level and taken in an all-encompassing context, and your logic is slightly flawed at best. expand your horizons and view and you'll see that words do, indeed, have power. though, you are right, -we- choose their power and purpose. some things, though, are just not worth saving. i'm sorry, but that's true. this very well may be one of them. *strength in unity* peace.
um...not to detract, but i have -no- idea what military you served in. maybe the Army, cause it's more tolerant. people in the Marine Corps have -definitely- used that word. and i know more than a few Army who use that term amongst themselves. maybe i'm just misunderstanding, though. on another note...i'm trynna work on my usage of that word. i know the generation past you can't use that word at all. my father still won't let me use it around him. i know what you mean and see where you're coming from. there definitely does need to be change, and the change starts at home, not with some politician. it starts with self instead of always waitin for someone else, in t hat sense i more than whole-heartedly agree. keep the faith. *strength in unity* peace
Commented on the poem "" on 09/04/08 at 01:25 PM
positive ion should be "proton", i believe. i forgot at first.
Commented on the poem "" on 09/04/08 at 01:24 PM
this, especially coming from you, is beautiful. see...i like this more because it's the real you. like...you've used less thought to distance yourself from the write versus convey what it actually means to you, in this write. it just...oozes your mind set. plus, it pretty much mirrors how i feel, too. :P on a nice rainy day you can usually find me, at least, with a window open, if not under some over-hanging with my chair tilted back to the wall with a good book in my hands and some mellow music (Anthony Hamilton or Corinne Bailey Rae does nicely). best part of rain to me is the way that it cleans everything and makes it smell so fresh while sounding and feeling so soothing. i like a light sprinkle if i'm goin out, decently heavy rain if i'm not, and a downpour if i'm upset. you know...the good smell actually comes from the lightning. it literally rips through the air (thunder being the sound of the atmosphere rushing to fill the empty space; proving, once again, that nature abhors a vacuum. it's almost like an implosion, in a sense)...it rips through the air and leaves behind electrons (ions with a negative charge) which then bond with the positive ions already existing in the air. fortunately for us, that happens to be dust and (as far as i know) any scent that doesn't smell like ionization. the resulting bond is heavier than air and falls to the earth, promptly being washed away by the rain [ it's a one-two punch ;) ] and replaced by the clean(er) smell of ionized air and rain. the best air machines out leave behind an ionized smell. now...i'm so much of a geek, but my dad sold air machines for a while, and my whole family apparently likes to know everything about anything that they touch, so that's how i know this. plus i have an interesting story about how ionization helped me not get in trouble when i had been smoking (weed), but that's for another time :P normally i wouldn't tell anyone that, but you have in your blog that you like certain sciences and i figured you might like that. hope i didn't kill the magic for you :P i could use a nice rain about right now...bloody desert! :(
this reminds me of my favorite poet. Emily Dickinson. i'm not exactly sure how, but it does. i think in the way that you experienced the event yet you seem on the outside looking in trying to see the picture that everyone else sees. the articulated silence? i love that. it seems a lost art now, though. all of the good appreciative silences seem to be already taken. or gay :P anyway...this was very well written. especially to be so succinct and yet still elicit so many thoughts. ten stars
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Commented on the poem "Ending "N" In Vain(A Response To Fort)" on 09/05/08 at 01:46 PM
