David Hines
Temperature tantrum
By David Hines
It's axiomatic that hell is hot. But "hot" has numerous meanings. Which would apply?
Hell is, of course, calorically irate. Wouldn't you be with those fuel bills?
Hot means sexy. Hell is lascivious. That's probably what makes it so hot, as in popular.
By contrast, heaven must be cold – analytical, dispassionate. Funny, then, that so much of what is considered to be heaven's agenda is sold with the heated emotional appeal – fear so great as to be called terror; hot and cold running wars not only against nations and people but also against poverty, sin, and psychotropic plants. This without any cold and hard analysis of the costs and efficacy of the attempts.
Heaven seems to be as hot as hell.
For many people, complexity is hell. The complexity and diversity of creation are not to be marveled at; they are to be controlled, constrained, and homogenized. Simplistic is so much easier.
Students learn in various ways; each has his own interests and proclivities. Therefore, institute a standardized test and teach to it. Nip passion for learning in the bud, before it challenges the desired simplicity. Health care needs and budgets vary greatly, so impose a one-size-fits-none system of mandated insurance and call it "care." Peoples and their cultures are diverse. Therefore we must impose similar governmental systems upon them all, and be surprised when they resist. The American people are divided in party, sentiment, and every other way, so justify your every conceit in the name of a monolithic view of "the American people."
To the Buddhist heaven is nirvana, the state of mind when the fires of desire and delusion have been extinguished. This has a distinct advantage over western ideas of heaven on earth: it is achieved through inexpensive meditation rather than expensive legislation and military intervention.
We in the west gotta raise a little hell to bring a little heaven down to earth. That is, good and evil must be commingled. But isn't that the way the world was before all the expenditures for the engineering feat of raising hell? Some contractor has found his personal heaven – fat government contracts for designing what already exists.
The hell of it is, we get the bill. That makes me hot under the collar.
© David Hines
February 11, 2014
It's axiomatic that hell is hot. But "hot" has numerous meanings. Which would apply?
Hell is, of course, calorically irate. Wouldn't you be with those fuel bills?
Hot means sexy. Hell is lascivious. That's probably what makes it so hot, as in popular.
By contrast, heaven must be cold – analytical, dispassionate. Funny, then, that so much of what is considered to be heaven's agenda is sold with the heated emotional appeal – fear so great as to be called terror; hot and cold running wars not only against nations and people but also against poverty, sin, and psychotropic plants. This without any cold and hard analysis of the costs and efficacy of the attempts.
Heaven seems to be as hot as hell.
For many people, complexity is hell. The complexity and diversity of creation are not to be marveled at; they are to be controlled, constrained, and homogenized. Simplistic is so much easier.
Students learn in various ways; each has his own interests and proclivities. Therefore, institute a standardized test and teach to it. Nip passion for learning in the bud, before it challenges the desired simplicity. Health care needs and budgets vary greatly, so impose a one-size-fits-none system of mandated insurance and call it "care." Peoples and their cultures are diverse. Therefore we must impose similar governmental systems upon them all, and be surprised when they resist. The American people are divided in party, sentiment, and every other way, so justify your every conceit in the name of a monolithic view of "the American people."
To the Buddhist heaven is nirvana, the state of mind when the fires of desire and delusion have been extinguished. This has a distinct advantage over western ideas of heaven on earth: it is achieved through inexpensive meditation rather than expensive legislation and military intervention.
We in the west gotta raise a little hell to bring a little heaven down to earth. That is, good and evil must be commingled. But isn't that the way the world was before all the expenditures for the engineering feat of raising hell? Some contractor has found his personal heaven – fat government contracts for designing what already exists.
The hell of it is, we get the bill. That makes me hot under the collar.
© David Hines
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
