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by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.
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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

America At the Crossroads, the Pledge and Positive Bemused Skepticism

Monday August 5, 2002

If people don't come to the ballpark, how are you going to stop them? Yogi Berra

America is not doing so well these days, in my wellness mindset-driven opinion. I'm not suggesting it's all doom and gloom -- we still have basic freedoms, forty percent of us are NOT overweight, there are still some people NOT addicted to medications/tobacco/ alcohol/and mind-bending cults, most people have jobs and even a little money left in retirement accounts (though pension shortfalls soared to $111 billion last year, an all-time high), military patrols are NOT out yet and identity cards have NOT been issued. Just the same, the direction of our secular Republic seems uncomfortably southern. I read last week that average CEO pay at the 362 largest companies rose to a level 500 times larger than that of the average manufacturing worker. Either this is insane or I'm losing my mind!

On the other hand, maybe I'm just losing my buoyant optimism -- maybe everything is peachy. What do you think?

Personally, I've had the creeps ever since the "Pledge" business came along and I watched TV images of craven Congress people on the Capitol steps sanctimoniously railing against the 9th Circuit Courts Pledge decision. It escapes me why believers insist upon ceremonial deism. Many seem to forget that "under God" was absent in the Pledge until 1954 when the president and Congress, in the middle of the Cold War, adopted the campaign of the Roman Catholic Knights of Columbus and added "under God." It was a way of sending a message, I suppose ("Take that, Commies!"), but it was filled with mischief for a pluralistic society that historically separated government from religion. I worry a lot more about Billy and the Graham children, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson than I do about the more discredited maniacs like Osama bin Laden and the foreign Evil Doers.

As for the Pledge, I much preferred the 103-year-old tradition (1789-1892) of having no Pledge at all or the 60-year-old tradition of having a Pledge free of god talk. As Judith Hayes pointed out, "There are so many important things happening in this world that the whole Pledge business should have been dispensed with long ago. Pledge belongs on furniture, not in our classrooms. Our classrooms are meant to teach our children how to spell allegiance, not how to pledge it. Gods belong in churches and temples and private homes. Our secular republic was established as such and it's time to accept that and move on." (Source: Judith Hayes.)

We are at a crossroads, I suppose. Woody Allen once famously said as much, noting that "we face a choice between two roads, one leading to ruination and despair, the other to annihilation and hopelessness. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose wisely." Maybe it's not as bad as that. Maybe we can continue to function as a free and attractive society. That, of course, is up to all of us. As part of a wellness lifestyle, let's do all we can to contribute to the betterment of the commons while acting individually to protect our rights, look after our health and secure our own happiness, to the extent possible. One crucial way to meet these challenges is to fine-tune our baloney detectors (thank you, Carl Sagan.) That is where positive bemused skepticism, henceforth abbreviated as +BS, comes into play.

In my view, the vigorous exercise of effective decision-making on a daily basis is as important as regular workouts for the major muscle groups. One of the most useful of these mental workouts is +BS (as noted above, that's "positive bemused skepticism.") This skill of +BS involves a cheerful mindset of stress-free suspended judgment regarding all claims, requests, revelations, invitations and propositions. No need to disagree or deny, but no need to consent, either. The burden of proof or conviction is always with those who put forward a claim. By practicing +BS, you will make better decisions about your health, your freedoms and how best to respond to what's going on around you, that is, the actions of your government.

Bemused skeptics are not cynical or against new ideas -- they want evidence, and you should demand it, too. Bemused skepticism is simply a provisional approach to claims. Apply reason to all ideas and buy no sacred cows.

Tomorrow I'll offer some practical examples of +BS and provide some links for further study and exercises for effective decision-making. Be well, and always look on the bright side of life.

Domain: mental
Subdomain: effective decisions

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