Wednesday, January 6, 2016

The Opposite of Good is Fearful



Is there something illogical about this quote or am I just being negative?

“You cannot hang out with negative people and expect to live a positive life.” 
 Joel Osteen 

     I Googled the author because positive sounding statements that intone blame and expectation are curious. I’m out of touch with the mainstream so not knowing the name of the most popular Christian televangelist preacher in America was no surprise.  

     While this man welcomes all people in his church he maintains that homosexuality is a sin and can be cured. Holy freaking cow. He also preaches prosperity gospel, a belief that material gain is a reward for pious Christians. God as an ATM machine exclusively for one religion? Really?

     Contradictory messages from preachers who compartmentalize people scare me. Fear numbs the mind, cancels motivation and promotes scary beliefs. It’s no coincidence that some of the most popular people in America speak to our fears. A life focused on kindness and compassion is naturally less fearful, but more difficult to accomplish because we’re more likely to stick with negative beliefs. It is a proven fact that positive thinking requires more mental energy. Being fearful may have saved us when we lived in the jungle with carnivorous animals, but it’s not working in society.  
     Sure negative is bad and positive good, but we all have crap days in our quest to be amazing. Although l have found that turning the TV off is way easier than finding something good on it.    

Friends, 40 x 60" acrylic on canvas, on loan to the Ho'olehua Airport, Molokai, Hawaii, Catherine Buchanan
 

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