Tag: Philosophy

Thoughts on the word Race

The concept of dividing humanity into distinct “races” based on skin color or other physical traits is a social construct without scientific basis. There is only one human race from a biological perspective.

Skin Color Variation is Adaptive, Not Racial

The main reason humans exhibit different skin pigmentation is an evolutionary adaptation to different levels of ultraviolet radiation exposure across geographic regions. Darker skin tones evolved in equatorial regions to provide protection against intense UV rays, while lighter skin tones evolved in higher latitudes to allow more UV absorption for vitamin D production.

“Race” is a Social and Political Construct

The idea of categorizing people into “races” like black, white, etc. arose from unscientific beliefs about biological differences between populations. In reality, genetic variation within any socially-defined “race” is greater than the variation between races. Race is not a valid biological taxonomy, but rather a social and political construct rooted in colonialism, slavery, and racism.

Perpetuating Racial Categories is Problematic

Continuing to refer to “races” based on skin color or ancestry reinforces the flawed assumption that these superficial traits determine meaningful genetic differences between groups. It perpetuates the very ideology of racism that led to the unethical categorization of humans in the first place. A more accurate and ethical approach is to acknowledge the single human race and describe observable physical traits like skin pigmentation as examples of human diversity and adaptation.

In summary, while skin color variation exists due to adaptive evolutionary pressures, the socio-political construct of distinct “races” lacks scientific validity. Referring to races perpetuates an ideology rooted in racism rather than reflecting our common humanity.

Extraordinary and Unprecedented Times

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During extraordinary and unprecedented times, we must set the precedent for extraordinary action.

Take personal responsibility of your needs and your “neighbors needs”. Act, don’t react. Don’t be hasty. Approach this world with clear thought, wisdom, maturity and with the ability to view ideas with a broad perspective. Be the solution at the smallest level yet be open minded to solutions at the highest level.

Times like these call for unity. It’s up to you as an individual to make that unity possible. Be our countries individual transformation agents. We need individuals to take that responsibility. We are all brothers and sisters bound by destiny. As citizens, it’s our personal duty to shape a positive common good. Let’s shape our countries destiny and once again be a proud nation of liberty and freedom.

Thoughts of the day.

~Will Wilcox

WWJD- What Would Jesus Do?

Note:  I’m no angel.  Not even close.  I’m not perfect, not even close.  This is not directed at anyone in particular.  Here’s some afternoon thoughts for you and they are my own reflections.

Lots of interesting events are taking place around the globe today.  I look to humanity and in my daily life for optimism.  I heard an interesting experience just a few days ago about a good person.  A person at a café (short condensed version) who upon request, cooked a meal for a homeless man at no charge.  Such a simple act of kindness that impacted a meek, poor life, inspired and gave hope to another (the witness) and upon sharing the story gave people smiles across Facebook.

Regardless of your political, ideological, philosophical, or religious views let’s ask some questions.  Think deeply about this.  Let’s have a discussion.  WWJD?

I don’t even care if you believe in Jesus nor am I here to announce or discuss what I believe.  For those that follow Jesus what exactly would He do?

Would He come upon a cloud of vengeance and burn the world up in flames?  Simple as that?  Done with you people?  Would He pose the white man against the black man and vice versus?  Would He punish one or the other for crimes against each other or crimes against themselves regardless of how any of us see these crimes.  How would He view the politics of today and ask you to vote?  How would He ask you to view your neighbor, and how would He ask you to lift your neighbor up?  If He said follow me and lift your neighbor up would you put down your life and actually listen?  Would you recognize Jesus?  How would He ask you to see the immigration crisis?  How would He ask you to solve it?  Didn’t Moses have an immigration crisis?  How would Jesus ask you to view prostitutes or how would He have you solve the problems of human trafficking?  Didn’t Jesus hang with a prostitute?  Would Jesus have you throw money at all these problems or would He have you take your own precious time and resources to solve these problems.  How would He have you view your own pessimisms, doubts, prejudices and biases?  How would He view YOUR prejudices and biases?  Would He have you running around spreading the “Good News” or would He have you running around spreading the “Bad News” that we see every single day?  How would He have you react to the beggar on the street while you live in a society of consumerism?  How would He react to those that subscribe to the so called “Prosperity Gospel”?  Would He pose women against men in the political arena?  Would He claim a complete failure of our institutions and destroy them all?  Would He ask you to help fix the institutions and would you listen if He asked?  Would Jesus tell you that you can best protect your faith by practicing your faith and by being an example of your faith or by truly defending your faith by the sword as if you were a crusader?  How would He react to your participation in American consumerism and would you let consumerism go if He told you to follow me?  Literally to follow me?  Are you in fact really following him?  Would He draw the battle lines of liberalism and conservatism?  How would He navigate those lines?  How would He view your judgements when you’re not supposed to judge?  Would He see you as a hater of the people of this world of different religions, faiths, colors, creeds and so-called races?  Would he see you as a lover of the “things” of this world?  Would he see you as a person that loves his neighbor and someone that would do for his neighbor?  Would He see you as prejudice?

Would you know Jesus if He stood in front of you?  Would you deny him as He was denied in the Bible?  Is your Jesus the Redeemer or the Destroyer?

What would Jesus really do?  Or what would your Jesus do?  Think about it.

Just some afternoon thoughts.  Note, I’m no judge and no angel.  Just a dude.  Thinking…..

Plato- The 4 Virtues

Plato identified 4 virtues in his work “The Republic”.  The book is a must read.  One of the most thought provoking books I’ve ever read.  In fact I will probably write a few blog posts just on The Republic.

Do you suppose if people made a deliberate focus on the 4 virtues that Plato identified in his work “The Republic” That the world would be a better place? I sometimes struggle with what appears to be the evil of man. I know by no means I’m perfect. I have certainly made my mistakes and have definitely made my ethical, religious and moral sins but after reading The Republic as well as many other works I ponder the simplicity of these 4 virtues and perhaps our lack of focus on them.

Prudence, Justice, Temperance and Courage.

Prudence is a person’s ability to judge his own actions as appropriate or inappropriate. Justice is the ability to act with fairness and without bias toward others. Temperance is the ability to act with moderation and self-control. Courage refers to emotional strength and a person’s ability to confront his fears. These virtues were later adopted by St. Augustine as the four cardinal virtues of Christianity.

What are your thoughts? Do we, as a global society, have a complete lack of focus on some of the most simple and foundational virtues?

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is such a tricky subject and by far I am no expert. To me, forgiveness is freedom. Freedom from the angst and pain that is inflicted on you by another individual. There are many instances where I have forgiven people for doing wrong, however they continue to make poor decisions or exemplify their own insecurities or character weaknesses. Yes, I judge people, yet I have my own insecurities and character weaknesses. It is one of the great fallibilities of humanity and one of the greatest ironies of our own imperfections. We judge other people’s faults, yet we are consistently broken and faulty.

An interesting situation that I have come upon is I harmed a close friend who I would consider a brother. I harmed my brother over trivial matters, disagreements and in today’s world, politics. We all know todays politics are polarizing however these types of disagreements should never end friendships. In addition, I made some judgements about his character that were out of line. To make things even worse, this friend came to visit me in the hospital during a significant injury yet when he was severely injured I was not able to visit him for one reason or another. The reason I was not able to visit was probably because of my own injury, I don’t recall.

After some deep thought and recognizing my trespass I decided to write my friend a letter. In my letter I outlined my mistakes and asked him for forgiveness. In fact, I pleaded for his forgiveness. After some time, I never heard a response. After a polarizing event at his place of employment I briefly reached out via a text message to ensure he was ok. He informed he was ok and said that he was planning to write me back, however he never wrote me back.

This is where forgiveness gets tricky. I pleaded for his forgiveness in a letter and never received a response. Now I must do the forgiving and frankly I don’t know the next step is in this process. Do I call, do I write, do I just forgive and forget anonymously or perhaps send my friend a letter of forgiveness in another letter? For me, this is no power of wills. Who is going to reach out first? I don’t get involved with stubborn behavior. Imagine if one of us died? How would the other feel if we went to the others funeral. It would be unimaginable. I look forward to some commentary below.

Take good care…..

In Harmony We Trust

Try to take a view of the world as though all things are in harmony.  Through this lens, there is good and there is evil.  There are objects that are beautiful and there are objects that are ugly.  There are ideas and influences that are negative and there are ideas and influences that are positive.  Within this view, all things work in harmony.

Another way to approach this concept is, it is useless to resent the opposite of what your view is as you have little control of the opposite or opposing views or feelings as well as the objects that you find ugly.  Control what is in your control and practice your own free will in thought as well as in action.  No one,  not even the bad can force you to act against your own free will.

Enjoy and take good care…..

Anxiety

Sometimes simple concepts or wise sayings are also the most powerful and thought provoking. Chew on this for a while:

Mathew 6:34 says- Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble or its own.

Although this is only a part of Matthew 6 with many different versions or translations, to me this passage is beyond thought provoking.  This simple passage can be leveraged so you can not only get through today, but also help you to be mindful of not letting the burdens of tomorrow overwhelm you.

For some reason this particular passage and concept spoke to me when I woke up this morning.  One of the more interesting things to consider about the parables of Jesus is, they are often easier to talk or preach about than they are to implement in your daily living.  That is the beauty of a parable.

Take good care…..