This morning as I drink my wonderfully thick and dark coffee the thought of who or what am I is the one that I hope to find an answer to at the bottom of that cup.
Two reasons for this.
Today is Yom Kippur – happy Yom Kippur everyone! -
I am not exactly Jewish and so this holiday is marked more as a day with the kids because their school is closed for the holiday. Technically, I could celebrate the holiday as there is enough Jewish ancestry to make me official but I grew up episcopalian and have converted to catholicism so that is my religion of choice. I do like the concept of Yom Kippur though. Also, I just reconnected with a friend from high school through facebook who is jewish and so it has made me think more and more about our faiths and who we are.
Secondly, my kids have been asking me if I am Republican or Democrat. They really want to know because their elementary school teachers and middle school teachers tell them that they should be involved and should know what is going on in the upcoming election. My daughter wisely told a fellow student that she is not even eligable to vote so she really wasn’t planning on spending a lot of time worrying about this election. I have encouraged them to squeak out as many days of kid-dom as they can. Kids are asked to grow up so much faster these days and there will be plenty of time for them to grow up and worry about elections in a few short years from now.
I have been registered with a particular party for decades but like my christian/jewish heritage there are things that I like about both parties. I’m not exactly a Libertarian because I do think there is a place for some government – it just seems to have gotten out of control this year. The gross snatching of power right from under our eyes is astonishing – and the arrogance that has gone along with it as though they know so much better than we do how we should run our lives is amazing. But is there really anything we can do about this?
I found my answer at wikiversity. Apparently, I am a compatabilist. When Free Will and Determinism are wholly compatible. I definitely believe in God and I believe that God gave us all Free Will. I believe in the natural consequences of our actions and that we are responsible for choices that we make – at the same time I do believe that everything happens for a reason. What comes around goes around – karma – the whole bit. It’s a bit of a mish mosh. But apparently the word for that is compatibilism ( I don’t remember ever hearing that term before even though I studied humanities all through school – maybe I was just snoozing that day).
So, for me I will keep my coffee dark and continue to live as a compatabilist. That’s just who I am.
