tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286338112011-11-15T19:31:06.405-06:00In This MomentAn Uncommon Blog of Hope and PoliticsDiane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.comBlogger18591100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-72820537769599874672011-09-01T09:34:00.000-05:002011-09-01T09:35:15.641-05:00PTSD and moral injuryMy story about moral injury is finally out in <a title="link to Miller McCune magazine" href="http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture/beyond-ptsd-soldiers-have-injured-souls-34293/" target="_blank">Miller-McCune magazine.</a> This is one of several articles to come out of my work on<a href="http://www.insearchofgoodness.com"> the Goodness Projec</a>t. <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-7282053776959987467?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-74695804347927921062011-07-28T11:12:00.000-05:002011-07-28T11:13:17.662-05:00Trust and the Golden Rule<div class="entry-content"> <p>I did a fantastic job following the Golden Rule yesterday, largely because the only people I saw were my eightysomething mother and the twentysomething barista at the coffee bar. And, yes, I was able to be nice to both of them. Somehow, I don’t think it’s going to be this easy the rest of the year.</p> <p>Also, thanks to everyone for the great conversation about the meaning of the Golden Rule. (Commentators noted: If the Golden Rule means doing unto others as you want to be done unto, then don’t we run the risk of ignoring other people’s wishes? How the heck do you know if what you want is what someone else wants? We have to take care of ourselves first before we can be there for other people. Stress can undermine our effort to be good, and yes, we need to reframe our irritations and angers into positive statements to avoid strangling each other. )</p> <p>But the topic for today is trust — that is, trust and the Golden Rule. How can I treat others as nicely as I want to be treated if I fear that they are going to stab me in the neck — either literally or metaphorically — while I’m standing around being pleasant to them?</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/07/28/trust-and-the-golden-rule/#more-3402" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-7469580434792792106?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-56630915556897090632011-07-27T09:58:00.000-05:002011-07-27T09:59:13.140-05:00Day 1 of being goodUh oh. What have I gotten myself into? How does a soul <em>be</em> good? The best I can think of right now is to start simple.<div><br /></div><div><a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/day-1-of-being-good/">Continued --></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-5663091555689709063?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-60423005419412791372011-07-26T11:19:00.000-05:002011-07-26T11:20:06.557-05:00Seeking goodness in a new way<p>I spent 365 days attempting to answer the question: What is goodness? Since I completed that quest on June 1, I’ve been bumbling around trying to figure out what to do next. My year-long journey was wonderful. Challenging, fun, intellectually exciting, and in the end, it did enable me to form<a title="link to First Theory of Goodness" href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/06/01/my-first-theory-of-goodnes/" target="_blank"> my first theory of goodness.</a> Looking back, I think it’s rather grandiose to call that a theory; it’s actually more of a hunch of mine — that goodness is a skill. But I did do what I set out to do, and for that, I am pleased.</p> <p>But my teeth itch. Something’s not quite right here.</p><p><a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/seeking-goodness-in-a-new-way/#more-3387" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-6042300541941279137?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-11171817050017751842011-07-26T11:17:00.000-05:002011-07-26T11:18:43.939-05:00Shameless self promotionThe <a href="http://www.progressive.org/node/165914">August issue of The Progressive Magazine </a>is out now, and it includes my essay, “Was My Father Evil?” My essay is not available online, so go forth and purchase an old-fashioned hard copy of the thing. Tell them Diane sent you. Meanwhile, their website does have an interesting excerpt from <a href="http://www.progressive.org/barsamian0811.html">an interview with writer and war correspondent Chris Hedges.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-1117181705001775184?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-45425943481790608602011-07-13T10:24:00.000-05:002011-07-13T10:25:16.280-05:00Are we good, or just lucky?I’ve spent the past year seeking to understand the true heart of good human beings. I’ve asked everybody I could to answer the question: What is goodness? Imagine my surprise when I interviewed <a href="http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.2913825/apps/nl/content2.asp?content_id=%7BE9E1451F-45BD-4CAE-BC81-1DBB22F276D0%7D">MacArthur Fellow Jonathan Shay </a>last week and discovered that goodness may have an aspect I never considered before. A good person, in fact, may be nothing more than a lucky person.<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/are-we-good-or-just-lucky/#more-3351" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-4542594348179060860?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-24414340917946259172011-06-15T12:25:00.002-05:002011-06-15T12:25:52.041-05:00Falling off the empathy cliff into evil<div class="entry-content"> <p>Simon Baron-Cohen argues that evil should be defined as the absence of empathy. In his new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465023533/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=inseaofgoo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=0465023533">The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty</a><img style="border:none!important;margin:0!important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=0465023533&camp=217145&creative=399373" alt="" border="0" height="1" width="1" />, the University of Cambridge professor of developmental psychology proposes replacing the “unscientific term ‘evil’ with the scientific term ‘empathy.” <a title="link to New York Times review" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/14/science/14scibks.html?_r=1&ref=science&pagewanted=print">New York Times reviewer Katherine Bouton </a>explains:</p> <blockquote><p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/falling-off-the-empathy-cliff-into-evil/#more-3346" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></blockquote></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-2441434091794625917?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-2638009742343345262011-06-15T12:23:00.003-05:002011-06-15T12:24:27.734-05:00The anti-Sam Harris points to a real moral operating system<div class="entry-content"> <p><a title="link to Damon Horowitz bio" href="http://www.ted.com/speakers/damon_horowitz.html">Google Engineering Director Damon Horowitz </a>tackles the idea of using numbers and science to make ethical decisions and comes up with a delightfully different answer than Sam Harris did in The Moral Landscape. Watching Horowitz’ TED talk, I’m energized and hopeful, which is a far different reaction than the one I had when reading <a title="link to review of The Moral Landscape" href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/sam-harris-and-the-incredible-shrinking-idea/">Harris’ book. </a></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/the-anti-sam-harris-points-us-to-a-real-moral-operating-system/#more-3338" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-263800974234334526?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-34614296064866765212011-06-15T12:22:00.001-05:002011-06-15T12:22:46.240-05:00Cool Stuff AheadSo, just when I decide to take a breather from all this goodness work, I stumble into some fascinating items online that must be shared. Stay tuned!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-3461429606486676521?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-59133322676648372362011-06-13T12:39:00.001-05:002011-06-13T12:39:40.176-05:00What's next?<div class="entry-content"> <p>The task I set for myself more than a year ago has been completed. I haven’t found the meaning of life, or even goodness, but I did do what I said I would do: After 365 days of research I came up with an answer to the question: What is goodness. Hooray me! But I don’t feel like I can let this goodness thing go. Not yet.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/06/02/whats-next/#more-3240" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-5913332267664837236?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-62757553130049916862011-06-13T12:35:00.000-05:002011-06-13T12:36:45.824-05:00The Progressive & The Goodness ProjectI’m pleased to report that <a title="link to The Progressive magazine" href="http://www.progressive.org/" target="_blank">The Progressive</a> will be publishing an updated version of my essay,<a title="link to father essay" href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/was-my-father-evil/" target="_blank"> “Was My Father Evil?”</a> The essay is set to run in the August issue.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-6275755313004991686?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-84610886796249400472011-06-13T12:34:00.001-05:002011-06-13T12:34:58.977-05:00My first theory of goodness<div class="entry-content"> <p>My year is up. No more dodging the issue. It’s time for me to answer my own question: What is goodness? To do that, however, I have to first talk about God, moral codes and baseball.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/06/01/my-first-theory-of-goodnes/#more-3231" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-8461088679624940047?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-8785501605444200872011-06-13T12:33:00.002-05:002011-06-13T12:34:28.293-05:00Should goodness ever be defined, or what have I done?<div class="entry-content"> <p>No more dodging the issue for me. Tomorrow is the 365th day of my quest, which means I have to finally give you my definition of goodness. Before I went to WisCon last week, I drafted that post, loaded it onto the blog, and boarded the plane to Madison feeling darn-right smug. I thought I’d come up with a fetching and irrefutable answer.But then I got to WisCon, and started trying out my spiffy new definition on other people. Oh dear. </p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/should-goodness-ever-be-defined-or-what-have-i-done/#more-3290" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-878550160544420087?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-62000936436717805242011-06-13T12:33:00.001-05:002011-06-13T12:33:29.431-05:00How I've been changed<div class="entry-content"> <p>Nearly 365 days. Almost 525,948 minutes. That’s how long I’ve been thinking about the question of goodness. Not every minute, of course. There’s been sleeping, laughter, work and movies. But I’ve never been so focused on a single question for so long in my life. Even coming out as a lesbian didn’t take this long. As the year has progressed I’ve realized that the journey has touched me in unexpected ways. Here are just a few.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/05/26/how-ive-been-changed/#more-3193" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-6200093643671780524?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-5987731173075428972011-06-13T12:30:00.001-05:002011-06-13T12:32:41.831-05:00HousekeepingFor some reason, I wasn't able to transfer copy from my Goodness Project blog to this blog while I was away the last few weeks. Everything else worked great from a mobile platform, but I couldn't get the transfers to work, so finally, after a short delay here are opening blurbs and links to more than a week's worth of The Goodness Project.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-598773117307542897?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-54324080956982854822011-05-25T08:13:00.001-05:002011-05-25T08:14:30.124-05:00What's God got to do with goodness?<div class="entry-content"> <p>The question of moral goodness can’t be considered without looking at religion. After all, religious leaders have been declaring themselves to be the true arbiters of goodness for thousands of years. But does God really have anything to do with human goodness?</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/whats-god-got-to-do-with-goodness/#more-3181" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-5432408095698285482?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-55481869614799907282011-05-24T08:59:00.001-05:002011-05-24T08:59:43.002-05:00Was my father evil?<div class="entry-content"> <p>I’ve written about how my politics, my work as a journalist, and my life as a lesbian led me to the quest for goodness, but I’ve never explored the deeper reason I’m doing this. My journey didn’t begin a year ago. It started one day more than 20 years ago when I was sitting in a psychotherapist’s office in Kansas City, Mo. It had been a harrowing session, one of a series of appointments where I recounted the physical and emotional abuse my father inflicted on me.</p> <p>The session is nearly over. I feel feverish, head hurting from crying so hard. I pull myself into a sitting position on the therapist’s couch, look at her after an hour of avoiding her eyes, and ask: “Was my father evil?”</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/05/24/was-my-father-evil/#more-3164" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-5548186961479990728?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-46180995315994923932011-05-23T10:13:00.001-05:002011-05-23T10:13:38.875-05:00Ruth Grant asks "What does a good life look like?"<div class="entry-content"> <p>The first of my two interviews with Duke political scientist and philosopher Ruth Grant occurred on Jan. 12, 2011. There was too much material from even that one interview to squeeze into <a title="link to Ruth Grant article" href="http://magazine.uchicago.edu/1106/arts_sciences/elusive-virtue.shtml" target="_blank">my magazine article</a> about her work, so here’s a transcript for your reading pleasure.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/ruth-grant-asks-what-does-a-good-life-look-like/#more-3142" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-4618099531599492393?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-81361393824084162202011-05-19T18:35:00.002-05:002011-05-19T18:37:59.542-05:00Cramming goodness into a boxMy story on Duke Professor Ruth Grant is now online at the University of Chicago Magazine.<a title="link to Ruth Grant article" href="http://magazine.uchicago.edu/1106/arts_sciences/elusive-virtue.shtml" target="_blank"> </a><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/cramming-goodness-into-a-box/">--> Continue reading</a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-8136139382408416220?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-75658918322462868422011-05-16T11:34:00.001-05:002011-05-16T11:35:21.352-05:00Are you a good person?Two psychologists say that nobody is, and by the way, that's the wrong question.<div><br /></div><div><a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/todays-read-tells-us-that-nobodys-good-or-bad">--> continue reading</a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-7565891832246286842?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-11170656230125090252011-05-12T11:13:00.000-05:002011-05-13T15:32:03.487-05:0019 days left & more on Bradshaw<p>I’m down to 19 days on this quest. Tick. Tick. Tick. There’s not enough time. I’m panicking, but I’m also relishing the deadline because I can’t avoid or ignore the Goodness Project now. I have to make this work.</p> <p>Today, I’m also chafing under the burden of <a title="link to Diane's review" href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/book-review-john-bradshaw-and-the-path-to-goodness/">the too-careful review of John Bradshaw’s Reclaiming Virtue</a> that I posted yesterday. </p><p><a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/19-days-left-and-more-on-bradshaw/">continue reading ---></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-1117065623012509025?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-34669061760732131852011-05-11T11:48:00.000-05:002011-05-13T15:31:58.267-05:00John Bradshaw and the path to goodness<div class="entry-content"> <p>John Bradshaw’s book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004MPRWSC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=inseaofgoo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=B004MPRWSC">Reclaiming Virtue: How We Can Develop the Moral Intelligence to Do the Right Thing at the Right Time for the Right Reason</a><img style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0pt ! important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=B004MPRWSC&camp=217145&creative=399349" alt="" border="0" height="1" width="1" /> is delightful, eye-opening, and infuriating. In the months — and I do mean many months — I’ve dragged myself through its pages, I’ve alternated between shouting for joy and throwing the book against the wall in frustration. For all its faults, however, Reclaiming Virtue provides the clearest vision of goodness I’ve read to date.</p> <p>Best known for his PBS-TV shows on family dynamics in the 1980s and 1990s, <a title="link to John Bradshaw bio" href="http://www.johnbradshaw.com/">Bradshaw </a>has worked as a psychologist, teacher and addiction counselor. His books include the bestselling <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553353896/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=inseaofgoo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0553353896">Homecoming: Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner Child</a><img style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0pt ! important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=0553353896&camp=217145&creative=399349" alt="" border="0" height="1" width="1" />, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0757303234/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=inseaofgoo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0757303234">Healing the Shame that Binds You (Recovery Classics)</a><img style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0pt ! important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=0757303234&camp=217145&creative=399349" alt="" border="0" height="1" width="1" />, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553373056/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=inseaofgoo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0553373056">Creating Love: A New Way of Understanding Our Most Important Relationships</a><img style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0pt ! important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=0553373056&camp=217145&creative=399349" alt="" border="0" height="1" width="1" />.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/book-review-john-bradshaw-and-the-path-to-goodness/#more-3109" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-3466906176073213185?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-32995373693730350502011-05-09T12:01:00.001-05:002011-05-09T12:01:35.735-05:0023 Days & counting on the search for goodnessThis part of my journey is quickly coming to an end. Only 23 days left until I have to come up with my own answer to the question: What is goodness? I actually think I have an answer. It may not be THE answer, or even an answer that I will be able to endorse for the rest of my life, but it is something. Unfortunately, I’m starting a little slow this morning. I just got home after spending 90 minutes in the dentist’s chair, and the Novocaine is beginning to wear off. (Ouch!) More soon.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-3299537369373035050?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-12355732849070152452011-05-09T11:59:00.000-05:002011-05-09T12:00:21.804-05:00Compassion and Gender<a title="link to study" href="http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture-society/women%E2%80%99s-brains-are-wired-for-compassion-30951/" target="_blank">A new brain imaging study</a> shows that women may be hard-wired to respond to images more compassionately than men. If compassion is a key component of moral goodness, then does this finding imply that women are more capable of goodness than men? What do you think?<p></p> <p>Miller-McCune reports:</p> <blockquote><p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/compassion-and-gender-differences/#more-3102" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-1235573284907015245?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-32042123121637330972011-05-02T10:09:00.001-05:002011-05-02T10:09:48.053-05:00Dancing on Osama's grave, ctd.<div class="entry-content"> <p>My good friend Susan Cooper sends these thoughts along:</p> <blockquote><p>Wondering what, where, how this event will be part of your examination of “Good.” Another friend of mine on here likened the death of Bin Laden to the death of Hitler. Perhaps not a bad analogy …</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/dancing-on-osamas-grave-ctd/#more-3088" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></blockquote></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-3204212312163733097?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-60287754251549464892011-05-02T10:01:00.002-05:002011-05-02T10:02:20.332-05:00Dancing on Osama's graveI believe in the Golden Rule and doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. I abhor the death penalty, which I think does more harm than good. Last night when I heard the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed by U.S. troops, I pumped my fist and shouted, “Yes!”<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/dancing-on-osamas-grave/#more-3079" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-6028775425154946489?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-4638260103483635992011-04-28T10:31:00.000-05:002011-04-28T10:32:00.696-05:00Pushing Evangelicals to matureWith his new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006204964X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=inseaofgoo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=006204964X">Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived</a><img style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0pt ! important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=006204964X&camp=217145&creative=399349" alt="" border="0" height="1" width="1" />, evangelical pastor Rob Bell has apparently infuriated his religious colleagues by proposing the heretical idea that God saves everyone — not just those who sign onto their particular view of Christianity. I haven’t read the book, but based on quotes I’ve seen around the web and Duke Divinity Assistant Professor Lauren Winner’s<a title="link to essay" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/books/review/an-evangelical-pastor-opens-the-gates-of-heaven.html?_r=1&emc=eta1#" target="_blank"> great essay in the New York Times</a>, Bell is working hard to push evangelicals into maturing emotionally. (There is something infantile about kicking one’s feet and screaming: “My way is the only way, and everybody else is doomed to burn in hell!” But I digress.)<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/pushing-evangelicals-to-mature/#more-3047" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-463826010348363599?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-73565292318974895732011-04-26T08:20:00.000-05:002011-04-26T08:21:08.830-05:00The Ethics of taking risk out of war<div class="entry-content"> <p>War is an inherently unethical pursuit. Even a “just” war involves death on a massive scale. Even if you believe that some people should be killed, the too politely named “collateral damage” kills innocents. But at least in war each side puts its youth at risk. Anyone on a battlefield can die at any minute. The hope has always been that this crushing reality will make political leaders pause for at least a moment before sending their troops out to kill other people.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/the-ethics-of-taking-risk-out/#more-3028" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-7356529231897489573?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-90672520784644486252011-04-25T06:41:00.000-05:002011-04-25T09:42:11.776-05:00Day 328 of the search for goodnessThirty-seven days. That’s the time I have left in this quest. Eleven months ago I thought a year was more than enough time to figure out my own answer to the question: What is goodness? Hah! Was I a fool or what? <p>But I’m not being completely honest. I do have an answer in mind. In fact, I’m already composing the post for Day 365, and the answer I’m going to announce isn’t what I expected when I launched this quest on June 1, 2010. (That’s a bit of a shock, but I digress.)</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/04/25/daily-log-day-328/#more-3010" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-9067252078464448625?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-72184895373558760582011-04-22T09:46:00.001-05:002011-04-22T09:47:32.199-05:00Projecting ourselves onto othersMiller-McCune’s <a title="link to Miller McCune" href="http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture-society/belief-in-conspiracies-linked-to-machiavellian-mindset-30295/">story about conspiracy theorists</a> got me thinking about projection. That’s the psychological mechanism wherein we each think the other guy is us. We believe that he/she has the same motives, same ideas, same approaches that we do. In other words, we project ourselves onto other people. <p>As a human being, I engage in projection just like we all do. It’s something I try to guard against because it doesn’t provide me with an accurate view of reality, and I believe that being in touch with the real world is necessary for me to practice goodness.</p> <p>As a lesbian, I’m also the subject of tons of projection, specifically projection involving the fear that I’m part of a vast conspiracy to destroy other people, which brings me back to the magazine story. The Miller-McCune story cites studies hinting that conspiracy theorists may believe that everyone is out to get them because they themselves are out to get others, or more accurately: They believe in conspiracies because they’d be perfectly happy to engage in a conspiracy themselves. This has frightening implications for LGBT people and for the practice of goodness.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/projecting-ourselves-onto-others/#more-3002" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-7218489537355876058?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-37311161820358042032011-04-21T09:53:00.000-05:002011-04-21T09:54:42.428-05:00Is goodness possible without empathy?<a title="Sam Richards bio" href="http://www.ted.com/speakers/sam_richards.html" target="_blank">Penn State Sociologist Sam Richards</a> just took attendees at a TED conference on an experiment in empathy. Richards argues that sociology is impossible without empathy, but I think his radical experiment also shows something else: Goodness, at least in the form of the Golden Rule, isn’t possible without empathy. We may be able to fake it for a bit and force ourselves to treat someone else the way we’d like to be treated, but how long can any of us bludgeon ourselves into doing right when we don’t feel any empathy for the other person? <p>I thought I was an empathy expert, but Richards’ experiment took me places I had never gone before. Beside from shaping my thoughts about goodness in general, Richards’ experiment also left me pondering the goodness of American foreign policy. What would it look like if all of our politicians and every voter could think like Richards thinks?</p> <p>Go ahead. I dare you to engage in Richards’ experiment.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/is-goodness-possible-without-empathy/#more-2993" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-3731116182035804203?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-80384584375035258012011-03-24T09:22:00.003-05:002011-03-24T09:24:04.207-05:00Elizabeth Taylor as goodness personified<a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/elizabeth-taylor-as-goodness-personified/">I surprise myself.</a> We should all do so well as Elizabeth Taylor did.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-8038458437503525801?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-62705173187817585872011-03-18T06:00:00.000-05:002011-03-18T06:00:06.376-05:00The ethics of politicsOne of my favorite Zen teachers, Judy Roitman, has written <a title="link to Judy Roitman column" href="http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/mar/14/everyday-life-ethics-politics/">a column about ethics in politics.</a> It’s well worth reading. <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/03/18/the-ethics-of-politics/">Read More. </a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-6270517318781758587?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-13173056049026223132011-03-17T10:00:00.001-05:002011-03-17T10:00:51.486-05:00Catch up with the conversationThanks to all for your great comments in my posts about Gov. Scott Walker and the events in Wisconsin. I’ve finally had a chance to add my voice to the conversation again, so stop by and look at:<div class="entry-content"> <p><a title="link to Scott Walker post" href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/gov-scott-walker-and-goodness/">Gov. Scott Walker and Goodness</a></p> <p><a title="link to Wisconsin and goodness post" href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/wisconsin-and-goodness/">Wisconsin and Goodness</a></p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-1317305604902622313?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-47173627387431146292011-03-17T09:34:00.001-05:002011-03-17T09:34:55.274-05:00Listen up!I’ll be talking about The Goodness Project and Kansas City area lesbian history on <a title="link to Tenth Voice" href="http://www.kkfi.org/program.php?id=64" target="_blank">KKFI’s Tenth Voice</a> this Saturday. The show starts at 1 pm, and you can listen to it on 90.1 FM or<a title="link to KKFI " href="http://www.kkfi.org/index.php" target="_blank"> online. </a>Stop by. Give a listen. Let me know if you think I sound sane.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-4717362738743114629?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-52265820914384210272011-03-10T09:39:00.001-06:002011-03-10T09:39:49.289-06:00Gov. Scott Walker & goodnessA comment on the <a title="Facebook link" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/In-Search-of-Goodness/133863899988178?ref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook In Search of Goodness</a> page has prompted me to consider whether or not Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is a moral man. I’m swamped today with other work, so I’m interested in your take on these two questions. The answers are not only of interest to my little quest, but they may hold the key to unpacking the struggle between left and right.<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/gov-scott-walker-and-goodness/#more-2957" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-5226582091438421027?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-57062515123723527722011-03-10T08:21:00.000-06:002011-03-10T08:22:17.826-06:00Wisconsin & goodnessWhat <a title="link to NPR story" href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/03/10/134415101/shock-vote-wisconsin-senate-approves-controversial-anti-union-bill" target="_blank">the GOP just did in Wisconsin</a> is a travesty, and it’s frightening. I suspect that Wisconsin’s Republican governor and legislative leaders think of themselves as being good. I’ve covered legislatures, and I doubt that few lawmakers would take such an unpopular stand with protesters at their doors without thinking they were doing the right thing. For the sake the argument, let’s also say that the Wisconsin GOP hasn’t been purchased by a few rich corporations that want to smash unions — a “fact” that may or may not be real. If they’re not playing politics, if they haven’t been bought off, then this is a case where two completely opposed views of goodness are clashing. And that leaves me with the question of how to view these events through the lens of morality.<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/wisconsin-and-goodness/#more-2936" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-5706251512372352772?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-25467589925004381192011-03-10T08:19:00.002-06:002011-03-10T08:21:23.761-06:00The return on investment of doing the right thingWhen you take the big leap to go into business for yourself as I did four years ago, you hear a lot about ROI– return on investment. <a title="Wikipedia link" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_on_investment" target="_blank">Wikipedia defines</a> this most capitalist of terms as “the ratio of money gained or lost (whether realized or unrealized) on an investment relative to the amount of money invested.”<p></p> <p>That’s all very reasonable and rational, but I seriously wonder if we’ve hurt our culture — and a heck of a lot of people — by only defining ROI in terms of money. I just got a copy of Ruth Grant’s new book<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226306836/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=inseaofgoo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0226306836"> In Search of Goodness</a><img style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0pt ! important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=0226306836" alt="" border="0" height="1" width="1" />, and I was struck by her discussion of the uneasiness that pervades our culture these days:</p> <blockquote><p>There is the general sense that, in the drive for success and personal fulfillment, modern Western culture has paid too little attention to cultivating, educating, or cherishing goodness. Some take the financial crisis as evidence of that failure.</p></blockquote> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/the-return-on-investment-of-doing-the-right-thing/#more-2914" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-2546758992500438119?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-44778617238375994822011-03-09T18:01:00.000-06:002011-03-09T18:02:55.046-06:00Civil conversationsI launched The Goodness Project because I wanted to understand how I could become good, but I also had a much broader goal in mind: Exploring whether/how goodness can help us create a better world. It has taken me nine months to realize what I actually mean by attaching the concept of goodness to politics and policy, and here it is: Goodness = the ability the do something for someone other than yourself.<p></p> <p>Defining goodness in this way has huge implications for society. These implications came to mind as I read <a title="Krista Tippet on civil conversations" href="http://blog.onbeing.org/post/3562307656/listening-past-the-shrillness-of-our-own-voices-and" target="_blank">Krista Tippett’s post about civil conversations</a>.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/civil-conversations/#more-2892" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-4477861723837599482?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-82851348204929890202011-03-09T18:00:00.000-06:002011-03-09T18:01:08.900-06:00Puerto Rico & still scramblingHello! I’m still here, and still scrambling to get a handle on my new schedule. Hence the light posting this week. But honestly, more is coming. I’ve got a post on the ever-popular topic of Return on Investment coming up tomorrow. (Really. You’ll love it. Trust me.) <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/03/09/puerto-rico-and-still-scrambling/">Read more. </a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-8285134820492989020?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-87228867813731857842011-03-02T10:30:00.001-06:002011-03-02T10:30:55.571-06:00Civility instead of bulletsThe University of Arizona has responded to the <a title="Wikipedia article on Tucson shooting" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tucson_shooting" target="_blank">Tucson shooting</a> by launching a high-profile <a title="civil discourse institute" href="http://nicd.arizona.edu/" target="_blank">National Institute for Civil Discourse</a>, with former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush as honorary chairs. At first the idea of responding to bullets with an institute sounds a tad crazy, but I suspect that this kind of response is the only way to create lasting change.<p></p> <p>The University, by the way, <a href="http://nicd.arizona.edu/node/5" target="_blank">isn’t claiming</a> that our un-civil discourse caused the shooting.</p> <blockquote><p>(T)he shootings created a space for people to focus on civility, and the Institute is building on that positive outcome of a tragic event.</p></blockquote> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/responding-to-bullets-with-a-civility-institute/#more-2885" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-8722886781373185784?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-10112926113738374042011-03-01T10:16:00.003-06:002011-03-01T10:17:09.268-06:00Coming attractionsHere's a list of some of what's coming <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/coming-attractions-2/">on The Goodness Project. </a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-1011292611373837404?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-6272866211861881362011-03-01T10:01:00.001-06:002011-03-01T10:01:44.915-06:00The fine art of scramblingApologies for being largely AWOL during the month of February. That wasn’t my intention, but rather unexpectedly I got a job. I started work in the midst of a real, live blizzard on Feb. 1, and haven’t stopped scrambling since. My hope is that this new position, along with other contract work, will give me the financial security I need to complete The Goodness Project. At the moment, though, I’m still figuring out how to handle my new work schedule.<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/the-fine-art-of-scrambling/#more-2878" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-627286621186188136?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-67767337767545183232011-02-15T10:25:00.002-06:002011-02-15T10:26:17.915-06:00Compassion as technologyNPR's Krista Tipplett reinvents the concept of "compassion" during a TED Talk. <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/compassion-as-technology/">See more.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-6776733776754518323?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-45127485882017618602011-02-08T07:56:00.000-06:002011-02-08T07:57:31.734-06:00Thank You, Colleen Riley!The Goodness Project continues to receive <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/supporters/" target="_blank">donations from the most amazing people.</a> Today I’m so pleased to give a very public THANK YOU to Colleen Riley, who has provided both monetary and profound spiritual support. I am deeply grateful, Colleen! <p>Every gift of money is the gift of time, and ever dollar donated helps me come closer to purchasing the video equipment I need to add multimedia documentation to the quest for goodness. I am so blessed to your support, Colleen. THANK YOU.</p> <p>*****</p> <p>LIKE ME. I really need you to “like” my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/#%21/pages/In-Search-of-Goodness/133863899988178" target="_blank">In Search of Goodness page</a> on Facebook. Every “like” helps prove to publishers that there really is an audience for a book about goodness. </p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-4512748588201761860?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-13990049272368803742011-02-07T09:03:00.000-06:002011-02-07T09:04:15.674-06:00Practicing forgivenessTake your deepest, most profound belief. Take the moral code you hold most dear. Now smash that down onto cement and watch the shattered pieces skitter across the pavement. Because of your actions, children break and fall to the ground. Grandmothers die. Men bleed and scream. There is no one else to blame, you carry the entire burden, or at least that’s what you think. You did this. YOU. As completely as a human being can believe, you know that you’ve sinned. On the most basic of levels, you know you are no longer good.<p></p> <p>Now live with yourself.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/practicing-forgiveness/#more-2849" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-1399004927236880374?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-90037301755399450822011-02-03T11:26:00.001-06:002011-02-03T11:26:45.969-06:00Owning Our Dark SideSometimes I think I sound like a wimp in <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/jfk-tucson-and-fear/">political arguments</a>. I’m forever talking about the mistakes and frailties of my own side, instead of slamming full speed into the weakness of my political opponents. Conducting an all-out assault on conservatives’ ideas and moral character would certainly feel sweet. Such a nasty-laden attack might even be effective, and yet most of the time I can’t bring myself to berserk the opposition. I’m finally beginning to figure out why.<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/owning-our-dark-side/#more-2842" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-9003730175539945082?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-45557569833188549832011-01-27T10:57:00.002-06:002011-01-27T10:58:03.006-06:00In search of an altruism geneUniversity of Bonn researchers find evidence of an altruism gene. <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/in-search-of-the-altruism-gene/">Read more. </a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-4555756983318854983?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-76689513444329737442011-01-27T09:11:00.001-06:002011-01-27T09:12:40.244-06:00The trajectory of moral progressThe thought for the day is from Duke Professor Ruth Grant: <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/trajectory-of-moral-progres/">Read More. </a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-7668951344432973744?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-40953638223515114652011-01-25T08:53:00.001-06:002011-01-25T08:53:41.327-06:00JFK, Tucson & fearIn the wake of the Tucson shootings and liberal concerns about political rhetoric, our honorable opposition on the right has taken to yelling, “FOUL!” Right-wing commentators claim that progressives’ concerns about rhetoric aren’t real concerns; they’re politics. This scream has been so powerful it has sucked the air out of the post-Tucson debate.<p></p> <p>The problem is that conservatives are missing the point. Their protest is based on a false premise, at least it’s false if I’m the liberal under discussion. My alarm about the words, images and narratives of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Tea Party leaders is not a ploy to win elections or to triumph in policy debates. My concern comes from my own raw fear.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/jfk-tucson-and-fear/#more-2802" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-4095363822351511465?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-30047985837637092692011-01-24T07:39:00.001-06:002011-01-24T07:39:58.436-06:00No man's landKeith adds an intriguing comment to an old post about Sam Harris:<p></p> <blockquote><p>The specific answer as to why people get angry about such issues is, I think, that the topic of morality seems to sit in a no man’s land between personal taste and hard facts. <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/sam-harris-science-and-a-universal-morality/" target="_blank">Read more.</a></p></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-3004798583763709269?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-76965125831583595562011-01-20T15:20:00.001-06:002011-01-20T15:21:28.435-06:00Pain eases guilt?One group of researchers thinks it does.<a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/pain-may-ease-guilt/"> More here. </a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-7696512583158359556?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-1948065921631547942011-01-19T12:29:00.000-06:002011-01-19T12:30:19.233-06:00Days 184 - 222: The LogI haven’t fallen off the edge of the Earth, although it might look like it. I’ve been contemplating and working since I posted that I was <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/taking-time-to-think/" target="_blank">Taking Time To Think</a> about Tucson. Thus, my time has been made up of one part making money on unrelated assignments and one part mediating on the shooting and its aftermath.<p></p> <p>I admit to being rather flummoxed by Tucson, especially by the resulting debate about the responsibility pundits and politicians and their rhetoric may or may not bear for the violence. I’ve already written one complete post, which still doesn’t seem quite right, and thus, hasn’t been published. Everything I produce feels decidedly, well, not good, and I don’t mean the quality of the writing. The impact of saying what I want to say would probably be most decidedly un-good, so I’m staying silent, at least for the moment.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/days-184-222-the-log/#more-2769" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-194806592163154794?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-68058399412027880072011-01-10T11:04:00.000-06:002011-01-10T11:05:19.912-06:00Taking time to thinkMy immediate reaction to the Tucson shootings was to post the instant I heard, except that the only thing I wanted to do was to howl with fury and point fingers. I was spitting fire, and I could think of no way to write even a single sentence without stepping far, far off the goodness path. So, I posted nothing. And waited for wisdom.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/taking-time-to-think/#more-2752" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-6805839941202788007?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-85110178682336189462011-01-06T07:24:00.001-06:002011-01-06T07:25:50.372-06:00Quote of the dayThe problem with <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/quote-of-the-day/">goodness, as a moral absolute...</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-8511017868233618946?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-87697895474809892212011-01-05T11:01:00.001-06:002011-01-05T11:01:59.936-06:00Metaphor as RealityHmmm. Don’t know what I think about this, but I guess anything that helps us be better people can’t be bad. New research shows that thinking elevating thoughts or moving up — even through an act as mundane as riding the up escalator — can prompt people to act “pro-socially.”<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/01/05/metaphor-as-reality/#more-2738" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-8769789547480989221?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-20767442360677463452011-01-04T06:45:00.001-06:002011-01-04T06:45:38.259-06:00Pema Chodron explains basic goodness<a href="http://www.shambhala.org/teachers/pema-chodron.php" target="_blank">Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron</a> discusses goodness and the trap of getting caught up in ourselves. She says we get so twisted around that we “can’t see others because of our own pain.”<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/pema-chodron-explains-basic-goodness/#more-2723" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-2076744236067746345?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-37018429181480905612010-12-31T12:38:00.000-06:002010-12-31T12:39:45.599-06:00Rules & incentives strangle society<a href="http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bschwar1/" target="_blank">Barry Schwartz</a>, Swarthmore College psychology and economics professor, tells us how rules and incentives undermine society and make us feel like we’ve got to shower the grime of immorality off our skins at the end of every day. “Rules and incentives are no substitute for wisdom,” he says in a TED talk. At another point, he notes: “We need virtue, we need character, we need people who want to do the right thing.”<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/rules-and-incentives/#more-2711" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-3701842918148090561?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-33640033689125594492010-12-31T09:20:00.000-06:002010-12-31T09:21:45.582-06:00Breathing into the new year, ctd.Continuing in the effort to center for the new year, let me ask you this question: How many birds are there at Squaw Creek? The answer: <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/breathing-into-the-new-year-ctd-2/">Bunches and bunches and bunches.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-3364003368912559449?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-24093422398038477692010-12-30T09:32:00.003-06:002010-12-30T09:34:51.390-06:00Breathing into the new year, ctd.Another photo to remind us to breathe into the new year and let go of our obsession with ourselves. From the Squaw Creek Refuge near Mound City, Missouri, a view of the muskrat mounds. I had no idea they were so large.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HppGmewqICI/TRymQnTWWCI/AAAAAAAABLQ/LD_sYbLR7Po/s1600/mounds%2B-%2BDSCN0982.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 176px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HppGmewqICI/TRymQnTWWCI/AAAAAAAABLQ/LD_sYbLR7Po/s400/mounds%2B-%2BDSCN0982.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556498844626606114" border="0" /></a><br />Notice the tiny dots above the horizon. Those “dots” are individual ducks and geese who literally darken the sky as they circle over the refuge. After the jump, notice how bald eagles have a thing for muskrat mounds. <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/12/30/breathing-into-the-new-year-ctd/#more-2687" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-2409342239803847769?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-34263520618810757712010-12-29T10:46:00.002-06:002010-12-29T10:47:07.923-06:00A heron and breathing into the new yearWhat is goodness? On some days, it's the sight of <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/12/29/a-heron-and-breathing-into-the-new-year/">a heron in the wild.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-3426352061881075771?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-48695919042139675562010-12-28T11:56:00.000-06:002010-12-28T11:57:26.744-06:00The Goodness of centeringWhat goes into becoming good? Is it being born with the right heart? The right thoughts? The right parents? Or is goodness a quality that we constantly struggle to find?<p></p> <p>Today I called Blue Cross & Blue Shield about renewing my health insurance. I couldn’t talk to the person I needed immediately, and I found myself yelling at the receptionist. I shouted because I was frustrated and scared. Of all crazy things, I felt fragile. (Corporation vs. one person. Huge vs. tiny = squashed individual, or at least that’s what I feared.)</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/12/28/goodness-of-centering/#more-2650" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-4869591904213967556?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-91909520038337792512010-12-23T12:11:00.001-06:002010-12-23T12:12:40.979-06:00Brene Brown answers my questions<a href="http://www.ted.com/speakers/brene_brown.html" target="_blank">Storyteller and social work researcher Brene Brown </a>answers my questions in my search for goodness, or at least most of them. I have asked: What is goodness? What enables human beings to be good? What trips us up? What do we each need to do to become good? Brown says her six years of research shows that the answers are as simple — and hard — as each of us finding the courage to be authentic, vulnerable and love ourselves with our whole hearts. Oh, and she’s laugh-out-loud funny as she discusses her research findings. Listen for the bit about the muffin. You have to watch this TED Talk.<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/brene-brown-answers/#more-2643" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-9190952003833779251?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-29832004474853235462010-12-21T10:18:00.001-06:002010-12-21T10:18:52.173-06:00Christians May Irk, but Christmas Doesn'tI am well-known for my <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/wherein-i-confess-my-christianity-problem/" target="_blank">disagreements with Christianity and certain Christians</a>. Christmas, though, just melts my heart. There’s the fact that presents are involved, and I do love presents. But there’s something else about Christmas that snared me when I was so young I couldn’t tell a Christian from a Jew from a Hindu.<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/christians-may-irk-but-christmas-doesnt/#more-2594" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-2983200447485323546?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-74225443908564049732010-12-18T14:35:00.001-06:002010-12-18T14:35:51.947-06:00Goodness & CourageThe Senate just voted 65-31 to repeal the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ban on lesbians and gays serving openly in the military. I’m speechless. My face is wet with all the losses we’ve suffered. And I’m remembering those I know who sacrificed. In Silence. Whose families suffered. In Silence. Whose families struggled because they had none of the support other families receive from the military. Whose life partners walked in terror that they would be the last to know of the wounding or death of the person they loved most in the world.<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/12/18/goodness-and-courage/#more-2612" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-7422544390856404973?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-14814832446856496822010-12-16T07:21:00.001-06:002010-12-16T07:23:15.590-06:00Goodness personified by a Brahmin in India“Food is one part; love is another,” says<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narayanan_Krishnan" target="_blank"> Narayanan Krishnan</a> of his work with the poor. He’s one of <a href="http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/archive10/index.html" target="_blank">CNN’s 2010 heroes</a>. All of them look like goodness personified to me.<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/goodness-personified-brahmin-india/#more-2575" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-1481483244685649682?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-20458202074483487552010-12-15T09:43:00.003-06:002010-12-15T11:41:57.624-06:00KC Secret Santa personifies goodnessWhat better time of year is there to update my list of those who personify goodness than in the holiday season? Updatee No. 1 is the unknown soul who is wandering around Kansas City these days, giving out $100 bills. This Secret Santa has taken over for Larry Stewart, who anonymously doled out more than $1 million annually to strangers. Stewart died in 2007.<p></p> <p><a href="http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/dec/15/secret-santa-spreads-joy-disbelief-kc/" target="_blank">AP wrote:</a></p> <blockquote><p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/kansas-citys-secret-santa-personifies-goodness/#more-2570" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-2045820207448348755?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-67153768249860980692010-12-08T10:37:00.000-06:002010-12-08T10:38:33.006-06:00The meditation & pray-a-thon ctd.An interesting thing happened in meditation this morning. As often occurs, a thought leaped into my brain and made me look: I don’t have to struggle, I thought. For the rest of this meditation, I can just be. No worries. No wrestling over how to pay the bills. No nothing. Let go.<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/the-meditation-and-pray-a-thon-ctd/#more-2540" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-6715376824986098069?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-60562502885791205192010-12-07T10:59:00.000-06:002010-12-07T11:00:12.210-06:00Help me sell a book on goodnessIn June I began my quest to understand morality and how it guides and hobbles us. Now I need your help. I need to raise interest in a book on goodness, and I can’t do that if I can’t convince editors that people care.<p></p> <p>Please visit the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/In-Search-of-Goodness/133863899988178?v=app_2373072738&ref=ts#%21/pages/In-Search-of-Goodness/133863899988178?v=wall" target="_blank">In Search of Goodness Facebook page</a>, and click Like.</p> <p>Help me reach my first goal of collecting 1,000 Likes.</p> <p>Share the In Search of Goodness page with your friends. And if you’re in the mood, stick around. Post your ideas, images or videos. <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/In-Search-of-Goodness/133863899988178?v=app_2373072738&ref=ts" target="_blank">Join the discussion.</a> I’ve already posted one question: Is goodness still important? What do you think? What other questions do you want to discuss?</p> <p>I am in your debt. A thousand thanks.</p> <p>Diane</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-6056250288579120519?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-22058918715034833822010-12-06T08:45:00.001-06:002010-12-06T08:48:09.745-06:00Prayer for the unbelieverI don’t believe in a God who sits up in heaven, or anywhere else. I don’t believe in a God who answers prayers. I don’t believe in a God who needs to be praised, placated, or appealed to. At this point in my life, I also don’t see God as a him, a her or even an it. If divinity does exist, then there’s no solidity to it, no there there, no entity dwelling within, as least as far as I can tell. And yet I pray.<p></p> <p>Imagine my surprise.</p> <p>I pray because I feel better when I do. My mind is clearer. My intentions more certain. I even <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/08/16/practicing-goodnes-ctd/" target="_blank">launched a pray-a-thon</a> in August and decided to pray daily in the hope that such a practice would help me find goodness. I’ve kept my word. I’m still praying. But I’ve continued to struggle because I don’t really understand prayer. What is prayer if not the act of talking to a God? How can I talk to God if I don’t believe in God?</p> <p>Enter <a href="http://www.katebraestrup.com/index.html" target="_blank">Maine Chaplain Kate Braestrup</a> and her marvelous new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439184267?ie=UTF8&tag=inseaofgoo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1439184267">Beginner’s Grace: Bringing Prayer to Life</a><img style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0pt ! important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=inseaofgoo-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1439184267" alt="" border="0" height="1" width="1" />. I’ve just started reading it, and already I’m beginning to understand why the heck I’ve been doing what I’m doing.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/prayer-for-the-unbeliever/#more-2488" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> <span class="cat-links"> <span class="entry-utility-prep entry-utility-prep-cat-links"></span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-2205891871503483382?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-53786848836620312602010-12-01T07:32:00.000-06:002010-12-01T07:33:38.036-06:00Days 101 - 183: The LogColor me shocked. Today marks the six-month anniversary of this quest. One hundred and eighty-three days of talking to people, blogging, wandering around in circles in confusion, and reading, reading, reading everything I could find on goodness and morality.<p></p> <p>I embarked on June 1 with the goal of answering the question: What is goodness? I didn’t think about it at the time, but that’s a cop-out. It’s an intellectual objective. Neatly bloodless. A safe little goal that requires me to risk nothing more than a few hours of my time each day.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/days-101-%e2%80%93-183-the-log/#more-2464" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-5378684883662031260?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-53123196596977544052010-11-30T09:11:00.000-06:002010-11-30T09:12:06.396-06:00Interesting Read: Science Explores GivingUSA Today has a good overview of new research into <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/mind-soul/doing-good/2010-11-29-sharing-what-makes-us-give_N.htm" target="_blank">the origins of generosity. </a>The answer may be in our parenting, our mother-child bonds or our hormones.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-5312319659697754405?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-52415671844575630722010-11-29T10:59:00.001-06:002010-11-29T10:59:52.786-06:00God & wealth<a href="http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/3762/the_economy_is_sacred%2C_stupid/" target="_blank">Gary Laderman rants today about religion</a>, Republicans, the Tea Party, the cult of capitalism, and in the process raises some interesting questions for me in my quest for goodness:<p></p> <blockquote><p>A few questions may help make the case about the intimate, if unexpressed, links between money and religion: Is the pursuit of wealth an ultimate value? Is self-worth tied to the accumulation of material goods? How do moral virtues connect to marketplace success? Is money a means to transcend everyday suffering and despair? Would you die to save capitalism?</p></blockquote> <p>I agree with Laderman that capitalism and the pursuit of wealth has turned into a cult — one that is sometimes (often?) promoted by people who claim to only be concerned with faith. (Oh, the irony.) I’ve been mulling over Laderman’s questions this morning. Here are my first answers. What do you think? Am I on base, off target, insane?</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/29/god-and-wealth/#more-2445" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-5241567184457563072?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-55829395197268099282010-11-23T10:47:00.000-06:002010-11-23T10:48:07.047-06:00My reverse bucket listA bucket list is supposed to be the <a href="http://bucketlist.org/" target="_blank">checklist of things</a> you “swear you’re going to do before you die.” The concept was made into a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bucket_List" target="_blank">2007 movie</a>. There’s even <a href="http://bucketlist.org/" target="_blank">a bucket list social network</a> designed to help you keep track of your to-dos and kick-start your efforts. But the other day a friend told me she had begun keeping what she’s calling a reverse bucket list. It’s a list of all the things she’s thrilled to have already done. I love the idea, and so I am hereby borrowing it. (Thanks Mary Anne!) In honor of Thanksgiving, I’m starting my own reverse bucket list.<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/my-reverse-bucket-list/#more-2408" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-5582939519726809928?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-73578349613937401632010-11-23T10:46:00.000-06:002010-11-23T10:47:12.025-06:00Goodness personifiedTwenty-five years ago today, my son was born. That’s goodness. I am so blessed.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-7357834961393740163?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-13901105301096431282010-11-19T11:15:00.001-06:002010-11-19T11:15:58.497-06:00The Tea Party, karma and tortureYesterday we heard from Virginia Psychology Professor Jonathan Haidt about <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/tea-partiers-arent-crazy/" target="_blank">how tea partiers aren’t crazy</a>; they just believe in karma. Today comes word of research showing that those who support torture don’t care as much about gaining information as they do about getting retribution. From Miller-McCune:<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/19/tea-party-karma-and-torture/#more-2400" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-1390110530109643128?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-74960865724267753092010-11-18T08:20:00.000-06:002010-11-18T08:21:17.768-06:00Tea Partiers aren't crazyAs writer Nancy Jane Moore and I continue to tussle over the fine art of debating people who look to us to be<a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/rachel-maddow-and-jon-stewart-talk-civility-and-politics/#comments" target="_blank"> whacked-out politically crazy</a>, Virginia Psychology Professor Jonathan Haidt argues that we’re missing the point. Tea Partiers are not insane, he says; they simply view the world through a vastly different moral lens than we do.<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/tea-partiers-arent-crazy/#more-2378" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-7496086572426775309?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-53300154980387386842010-11-16T08:27:00.002-06:002010-11-16T08:27:40.777-06:00Yet another fellow traveler: John BradshawOn the recommendation of a friend, I just started reading <a href="http://www.johnbradshaw.com/" target="_blank">John Bradshaw’s</a> book, Reclaiming Virtue, and may I say that it’s such a relief after wading through the casual cruelty and skim-the-surface rigidity of<a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/sam-harris-and-the-incredible-shrinking-idea/" target="_blank"> Sam Harris’ The Moral Landscape. </a><p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/john-bradshaw/#more-2347" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-5330015498038738684?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-42733480650396274002010-11-15T08:09:00.000-06:002010-11-15T08:10:30.021-06:00The most fellow of fellow travelersOne of the things that has frustrated the heck out of me has been my inability to find anyone else who’s walking the goodness trail. I can find lots of people slogging through the muddy woods to find happiness or understand evil, but goodness seems to be a topic smeared with skunk. Today I’m pleased to report that I’ve just discovered <a href="http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2009/02/goodness.html" target="_blank">Dr. Ruth Grant of Duke University</a> who’s also wading knee-deep through the ethical and psychological confusion of goodness. (Hello, Dr. Grant!)<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/the-most-fellow-of-fellow-travelers/#more-2327" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-4273348065039627400?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-36687439189536953532010-11-12T15:45:00.000-06:002010-11-12T15:46:06.656-06:00More talk, less consensusHere’s an interesting follow-up to <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/rachel-maddow-and-jon-stewart-talk-civility-and-politics/" target="_blank">Jon Stewart’s critique of our political speech</a>. <a href="http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/to-reach-consensus-lets-talk-less-25256/" target="_blank">Miller-McCune reports on a new study </a>showing evidence that the more we talk about political issues the more polarized we become.<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/more-talk-less-consensus/#more-2368" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-3668743918953695353?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-5046070998033986182010-11-12T10:40:00.001-06:002010-11-12T10:41:44.024-06:00Rachel Maddow & Jon Stewart talk civility & politicsThe Goodness Project has always been one part personal quest and one part political journey. The issue of politics reared its ugly snout because of my experiences as a political reporter, a staff member on a couple of campaigns and a citizen. These days I feel like I’m being buffeted by wave after wave of political fury, and I worry about my personal future and about what’s next for our country. (After the screaming, violence?) My good friend Nancy Jane Moore and I constantly argue on this blog about the problem of finding common cause with people who seem bent on demonizing and lying about us. All of this is why I found Rachel Maddow’s conversation last night with Jon Stewart<a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/rachel-maddow-interviews-jon-stewart-video/" target="_blank"> </a>to be so fascinating.<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/rachel-maddow-and-jon-stewart-talk-civility-and-politics/#more-2320" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-504607099803398618?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-67174534619029742182010-11-06T17:11:00.001-05:002010-11-06T17:13:08.257-05:00A writer tackles the big questionCharles Warren visits the Goodness Project and tackles THE central question. He writes:<div class="entry-content"> <blockquote><p>What is goodness? This is a great question because it stimulates us, or at least me, to think about how I have lived my life and, perhaps more inportantly, how I want to live the rest of my life. <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/the-question/" target="_blank">Read more. </a></p></blockquote> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-6717453461902974218?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-59532690963899104502010-11-05T10:34:00.001-05:002010-11-05T10:34:39.732-05:00The many forms of goodnessToday I’m practicing one of the many forms of goodness: I’m taking care of myself. Finally there’s a little time for that, although I have to admit to feeling uneasy.<p></p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/05/the-many-forms-of-goodness/#more-2286" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-5953269096389910450?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-52173031594314304762010-11-03T11:48:00.001-05:002010-11-03T11:48:43.928-05:00This morning I'm concentrating on beauty... and not the Big Bad Midterm. <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/beautiful-isnt-it/">See more. </a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-5217303159431430476?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-22811585506071632822010-11-02T16:23:00.001-05:002010-11-02T16:24:31.205-05:00It's Now Official: Worst. Election. Ever.Political scientists report that this is now officially the nastiest election in recent history. Why am I not surprised? <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/hows-that-trust-thing-going/">Why am I seriously unhappy?</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-2281158550607163282?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-69974891026908983592010-11-02T08:11:00.000-05:002010-11-02T08:12:39.153-05:00The 2010 election & trustI woke up with two things to say to you on this Election Day: (1) Vote! (2) What in holy heck are we doing to ourselves?<p></p> <p>It’s not the results of this midterm that worry me so much, although I’m not thrilled with the polls and may hate the outcome of the election. What’s really of concern for me and for the Goodness Project is the screaming meemie fear level of this campaign season.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/the-2010-election-and-trust/#more-2240" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-6997489102690898359?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-9664351695568895182010-11-01T18:53:00.003-05:002010-11-03T10:21:59.784-05:00Something Different: A Little FunSo, Wonder Woman and Senator whats-his-face who eventually became the emperor in Star Wars and a bunch of Lord of the Rings action figures walk into a bar... OK, so it's not a bar; it's YouTube, and it's a writer explaining the premise of her new novel and Medieval Christian metaphysics all at the same time.<br /><br />No. Really. I'm not kidding. <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/something-different-a-little-fun/">See here. </a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-966435169556889518?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-89283449356101467512010-10-28T12:10:00.000-05:002010-10-28T12:11:08.674-05:00Goodness by any other name<div class="entry-content"> <p>Any search for goodness is probably doomed to wander through the wilds of religion at some point. Variations on political themes will undoubtedly slither through the under brush. Philosophies, moral codes, science and clashing systems of ethics can be expected to pounce more than once on the unsuspecting seeker. All those things have happened to me since I launched this quest on June 1.</p> <p>Most days this feels like chaos and blood sport. I’m beginning to wonder, though, if there’s something wonderful about the fact that I first conceived of my destination as being the disarmingly vague concept of “goodness.” I could have been decided to search for God, one true morality, or the right kind of code for living.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/goodness-by-any-other-name/#more-2212" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-8928344935610146751?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-15894775729521882552010-10-26T11:34:00.000-05:002010-10-26T11:35:03.796-05:00Sometimes I even bore myself<div class="entry-content"> <p>I’m in awe of my friend Jennifer Lawler, who writes so movingly about <a href="http://jenniferlawler.com/wordpress/?page_id=761" target="_blank">raising Jessica. </a>I wish I had half of Jennifer’s talent. But this morning in meditation I finally stopped picking at myself for spending the last few days snarled up in a writer’s block. I realized that I wasn’t wrestling with my skill or talent because my struggle is about something far different: It’s about silencing.</p> <p>Last week I was present at events that go to the heart of my quest for goodness. These were momentous, life changing events. (I kid you not.) If we lived in a perfect world, I would have written about those events already. But I can’t. I don’t mean that I can’t because I’m unable, I mean I can’t because to do so would be to put another person at risk.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/sometimes-i-even-bore-myself/#more-2186" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-1589477572952188255?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-86080155325252855982010-10-21T07:30:00.002-05:002010-10-21T07:31:45.699-05:00Sam Harris & the incredible, shrinking ideaI’m going to do something I rarely do. I’m going to recommend that you NOT buy a book. That’s because there is no there there, no beef on the bun of Sam Harris’ already bestselling <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/books/bestseller/besthardnonfiction.html?_r=1&ref=bestseller" target="_blank">The Moral Landscape.</a><p></p> <p>Harris throws 191 pages of text and 84 pages of footnotes and references at a handful of thin ideas. He leaves so many pesky questions unanswered and glosses over so much that you don’t have to read the book to get his point. Watch <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/sam_harris_science_can_show_what_s_right.html" target="_blank">Harris’ TED talk</a> or read <a href="http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/the-moral-landscape-q-a-with-sam-harris/" target="_blank">the Q and A </a>or <a href="http://www.project-reason.org/newsfeed/item/moral_confusion_in_the_name_of_science3/" target="_blank">Harris’ defense of his ideas</a> on his website and save the $26.99 for another book.</p> <p>Here are Harris’ ideas in a nutshell:</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/sam-harris-and-the-incredible-shrinking-idea/#more-2154" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-8608015532525285598?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-24788222055222395682010-10-18T11:36:00.000-05:002010-10-18T11:37:49.606-05:00The stickiness of God<div class="entry-content"> <p>Happy Monday to you. In today’s Must Read, <a href="http://www.emory.edu/LIVING_LINKS/dewaal.html" target="_blank">Emory University Professor Frans De Waal</a> writes in<a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/morals-without-god/?ref=opinion" target="_blank"> The New York Times</a> that human morality wasn’t born in religion. But that doesn’t mean we’ll ever be free of God.</p> <blockquote><p>(F)emale chimpanzees have been seen to drag reluctant males towards each other to make up after a fight, removing weapons from their hands, and high-ranking males regularly act as impartial arbiters to settle disputes in the community. I take these hints of <em>community concern</em> as yet another sign that the building blocks of morality are older than humanity, and that we do not need God to explain how we got where we are today. On the other hand, what would happen if we were able to excise religion from society?</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/10/18/stickiness_of_god/#more-2136" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></blockquote> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-2478822205522239568?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-56277990495138494202010-10-14T08:01:00.001-05:002010-10-14T08:01:57.153-05:00The will of God<div class="entry-content"> <p>This will teach me to tune into PBS. Tuesday night I was watching Abraham Lincoln grapple with the religious implications of the Civil War when my brain spit out a disconcerting thought: In searching for goodness, am I really seeking to discern the will of God?</p> <p>As I watched <a href="http://www.pbs.org/godinamerica" target="_blank">God in America</a>, the thought was an obvious one because the show portrayed Lincoln’s agony as turning on issues of good and evil, right and wrong. To find answers, Lincoln realized he had to “discern the will of God.”</p> <p>Oh dear, is that my intent?</p> <p>The answer is both yes and now. How frustrating is that!?</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/10/14/the-will-of-god-2/#more-2129" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-5627799049513849420?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-1662795606595012912010-10-12T08:19:00.000-05:002010-10-12T08:20:13.012-05:00On the passing of Philippa Foot<div class="entry-content"> <p>I’m just a babe when it comes to the formal study of morality, so it was with joy and sadness that I learned today of the work of Philippa Foot. The British philosopher helped establish virtue ethics, of which I’ve recently become intrigued. She also introduced the Trolley Problem, which is a cornerstone of moral psychology and philosophy these days and was much discussed in t<a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/not-my-science-of-morality/" target="_blank">he Edge Foundation summit</a> on moral psychology.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/on-the-passing-of-philippa-foot/#more-2108" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-166279560659501291?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-82813155093641796642010-10-11T07:34:00.003-05:002010-10-11T07:36:00.701-05:00The goodness of integrityToday is <a href="http://www.hrc.org/ncod/" target="_blank">National Coming Out Day</a>, so it seems appropriate to note that there is nothing more important to the search for goodness than integrity. The dictionary on my iMac defines “integrity” as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.” The only way I can be morally upright is to be honest about myself: I am a lesbian, and I am proud of it. <p>When a culture punishes millions of its own people for doing nothing more awful than daring to love, that culture is suffering from an illness far greater than cancer. And the cure isn’t chemo; it’s honesty. So today I join my sisters and brothers around the nation to once again come out and shout my joy at having the capacity to love.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/the-goodness-of-integrity/#more-2072" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-8281315509364179664?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-61718070275376255502010-10-08T08:50:00.002-05:002010-10-08T08:51:39.661-05:00The Dalai Lama, responsibility and us<div class="entry-content"> <p>To cleanse the palate from my previous post, here’s the Dalai Lama:</p> <blockquote><p>I believe that to meet the challenges of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not just for one self, one’s own family or one’s nation, but for the benefit of all humankind. Universal responsibility is the key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace.</p></blockquote> <p>This sense of responsibility is one reason why I’m on a quest to know goodness. I shamelessly want to be part of the conversation/solution to humankind’s failure of empathy, understanding, compassion and action.</p> <p>The quote was posted on the Dali Lama’s Facebook page this morning.</p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-6171807027537625550?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-6755557989638211942010-10-08T08:50:00.001-05:002010-10-08T08:50:45.335-05:00Fred Phelps and Hell on Earth<div class="entry-content"> <p>I know this is a blog about goodness, but I believe we have to look at evil to understand good, particularly when that evil is couched in terms of righteousness. The Rev. Fred Phelps commits evil every day, and he does it in the name of good and God. This post looks into the heart of that evil, and links to a description of the details of life in the Hell on Earth that Phelps has created for his family. This is one of the reasons why I feel compassion for his children and grandchildren. For years now, I’ve thought that the only thing worse than being picketed by Fred Phelps and his family would be to be one of them.</p> <p><a href="http://natephelps.com/10801.html" target="_blank">His son Nate Phelps describes life in the Phelps home:</a></p> <blockquote><p>This violence was a fact of life in our home, and is interwoven from my earliest memories as a child.</p></blockquote> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/fred-phelps-and-hell-on-earth/#more-2058" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-675555798963821194?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-41917131009361792592010-10-07T09:08:00.003-05:002010-10-07T09:09:19.875-05:00Sam Harris and the truck-sized hole in the book<div class="entry-content"> <p>Flaming arrows are heading Sam Harris’ way because of his new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439171211?ie=UTF8&tag=inseaofgoo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1439171211">The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values</a>. The problem, <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/tfk/2010/10/we_told_you_so.php" target="_blank">says my old blogging friend Josh Rosenau</a>, is the truck-sized hole in the middle of Harris’ argument. Times reviewer <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/books/review/Appiah-t.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&pagewanted=all" target="_blank">Kwame Anthony Appiah adds: </a></p> <blockquote><p>(H)ow do we know that the morally right act is, as Harris posits, the one that does the most to increase well-being, defined in terms of our conscious states of mind? Has science really revealed that? If it hasn’t, then the premise of Harris’s all-we-need-is-science argument must have nonscientific origins.</p></blockquote> <p><a href="http://scienceblogs.com/tfk/2010/10/we_told_you_so.php" target="_self"> </a><a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/10/07/sam-harris-and-the-truck-sized-hole-in-the-book/#more-2050" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-4191713100936179259?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-18750191598853334592010-10-06T11:02:00.001-05:002010-10-06T11:02:33.780-05:00Fred Phelps and goodness<div class="entry-content"> <div class="snap_preview"><p>The Rev. Fred Phelps claims to speak for God, and today the Westboro Baptist Church preacher gets to make his case to <a href="http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2010/oct/06/us-supreme-court-hear-phelps-funeral-protest-case/" target="_blank">the U.S. Supreme Court</a>. A friend noted this morning that all the media attention is probably a dream come true for Phelps.</p> <p>I suspect she’s right, but I’ve watched Phelps and the Westboro Church for 25 years now. I live quite close to them in Kansas. Whatever joy today brings, I think their dreams and their lives must be hell on earth. Let me explain.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/fred-phelps-and-goodness/#more-2016" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p> </div> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-1875019159885333459?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-23731920106212838912010-10-05T17:58:00.000-05:002010-10-05T17:59:05.254-05:00A new Moral Landscape from Sam Harris<div class="entry-content"> <div class="snap_preview"><p>Sam Harris’ new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439171211?ie=UTF8&tag=inseaofgoo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1439171211">The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values</a>, is out today. I’m anxious to read it, but Harris’ tendency to squeeze the complexity out of life may render his musings unpalatable.</p> <p>Witness these thoughts from a recent <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-harris/can-there-be-a-science-of_b_748627.html" target="_blank">Huffington Post commentary</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>This rupture in our thinking has different consequences at each end of the political spectrum: Religious conservatives tend to believe that there are right answers to questions of meaning and morality, but only because the God of Abraham deems it so. They concede that ordinary facts can be discovered through rational inquiry, but they think that values must come from a voice in a whirlwind. Scriptural literalism, intolerance of diversity, mistrust of science, disregard for the real causes of human and animal suffering — too often, this is how the division between facts and values expresses itself on the religious right.</p> <p> <a href="http://insearchofgoodness.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/a-new-moral-landscape-from-sam-harris/#more-2000" class="more-link">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a></p></blockquote> </div> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-2373192010621283891?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-48387377072247664152010-09-29T09:39:00.000-05:002010-09-29T09:40:28.434-05:00Quote-a-thon: John WesleyFrom the founder of Methodism, John Wesley: “Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, with the zeal you can, as long as ever you can.”<p></p> <p>Once again, this quote is via <a href="http://thinkexist.com/quotations/goodness/" target="_blank">thinkexist.com. </a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/28633811-4838737707224766415?l=hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.com0