How to avert negative futures?

[URA]

We all have the remarkable ability of imagination. We can picture the future, bleak & grim. We can also picture it cheery & beautiful. With varying levels of accuracy, we can say which way it will be, depending on what exactly we're talking about.

Let's take an example: Politics! Is the future of politics more or less aggressive than it is now? Most live in a country so protected from serious violence that verbal arguments count as "aggressive"; many other countries have civil war as an almost routine manner of choosing a new leader. How will the United States political arena be in the future? Will people learn to be more diplomatic, or will the chaos erupt in a second civil war?

What I want to do with this thread is not speculation. Whether or not we know the answers about the future is irrelevant; I want to discuss what we're doing about them. If political discussions should become kinder & more educated, that will only happen if we become kinder & more educated. Perhaps 2024 will hold an even wilder election than this one; who knows? Coupled with our amazing ability to imagine is an even greater ability to act. What are the darker possibilities you all have in mind? And what are you doing about it? These are essential questions; if "What are YOU doing about it?" was asked & answered more often , we'd have a lot less gossip & gripe, with more action that might actually make a difference.


I fear that the day may come within my own lifetime that women will see beauty as a curse. Pornography is increasingly violent, sexual assault seems to be a problem everywhere, and one of the products of an increasingly selfish culture is the view of beautiful people as people who are put on this Earth for my pleasure. Leaking nude pictures of beautiful celebrities, exes, or classmates reflects this mentality, as do the advertisements I sometimes see that say "Hot girls will do anything!" . Will this trend continue to a dangerous level, surrounding beautiful women with relentless lust & even sexual assault? I would be a fool to say I could predict the future, but I understand that averting such a dismal tomorrow is dependent on what I do today.

I have already done something to stave off such a culture with this with a thread I created, giving it a stark name for the sake of clickbait & drawing attention to this very problem; The Anti-Porn: A true appreciation of beauty . I do not believe a rejection of beauty to be a good solution to anything; I want to embrace & sanctify the beauty of women, making it into a reason for admiration, not self-indulgence. What woman (or man, for that matter) wouldn't want to genuinely be thought of as beautiful? Esther, Judith, David, Tobiah's wife, and Old Testament Joseph were all described as beautiful, and they are all some form of "good guy" or "hero" from the Bible. Their beauty seems to be a divine gift!

If culture will shift from a give-me-pleasure view of beauty, to a respectful view, we need to do something about it.

I also believe that solving problems involves hitting it at the source. We can feel good talking about solutions to problems to people who don't have the problems; how often do people complain about someone when they're not around, but as soon as the person who would most benefit from correction shows up, the complainers cower? I can send those Bible verse pictures to good Christians, maybe getting compliments or some kind of appreciation. But these people aren't the ones who hold to more problematic behavior; that's why I went to one of the Internet's notoriously immoral image boards to share a public domain picture of a beautiful woman, with a caption that said : "A beautiful Daughter of God...a sister in humanity." I want to reach out to the people who would most benefit from an enhanced view of the human person, not just the people who already agree with me. While I don't recommend this exact method for many people, I know where my strengths are, and I trust that God can take it from here. I can act on my own, but only God gives success.

Everything I just said was as an example. The greater topic of this thread is broader than my own ideas & actions. So now, I turn this over to all of you: What negative futures are you averting? When imagination & action unite, something truly beautiful can happen. Add cooperation to the mix, getting more people united to a common, noble goal, and you will have spent your life well. We've got one shot at this life, and the world will continue running long after we're gone. A lot of people say there's some sort of eternal retribution for a good or a bad life; who knows for sure, but trying to live for something greater has brought much more accomplishment to my life than the idle pleasures of lust & video games & general selfishness that I used to love (despite the emptiness I felt at the end of the day).

And finally, if any of you give empty criticism to the techniques of anyone who posts here, I offer this as the response:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” --Teddy Roosevelt​

 

[Sketcher]

What I want to do with this thread is not speculation. Whether or not we know the answers about the future is irrelevant; I want to discuss what we're doing about them. If political discussions should become kinder & more educated, that will only happen if we become kinder & more educated. Perhaps 2024 will hold an even wilder election than this one; who knows? Coupled with our amazing ability to imagine is an even greater ability to act. What are the darker possibilities you all have in mind? And what are you doing about it? These are essential questions; if "What are YOU doing about it?" was asked & answered more often , we'd have a lot less gossip & gripe, with more action that might actually make a difference.

I've become kinder and more educated in political discourse, and I hope I'm being a good example. It took years to get there, and with so many people on Facebook exposing themselves to Internet discourse for the first time, it will take years for many of them to get over themselves and mellow out.

Pornography is increasingly violent

I don't see that.

sexual assault seems to be a problem everywhere

I don't think that has changed in recent years.

Leaking nude pictures of beautiful celebrities, exes, or classmates reflects this mentality

There have been legal advances against that sort of thing in recent years.

Will this trend continue to a dangerous level, surrounding beautiful women with relentless lust & even sexual assault?

If you think relentless lust and sexual assault is limited to the beautiful women, you're mistaken. It happens to the ugly ones too, and the quality of the offenders is correspondingly lower.

 

[URA]

I've become kinder and more educated in political discourse, and I hope I'm being a good example. It took years to get there, and with so many people on Facebook exposing themselves to Internet discourse for the first time, it will take years for many of them to get over themselves and mellow out.

Excellent! I'm not on the political parts of these forums enough to say how well I think you're doing, but simply posting this paragraph speaks highly of your attempts.

I don't see that.


I don't think that has changed in recent years.


There have been legal advances against that sort of thing in recent years.


If you think relentless lust and sexual assault is limited to the beautiful women, you're mistaken. It happens to the ugly ones too, and the quality of the offenders is correspondingly lower.

I would rather not focus on the specific examples I gave, but it would be unfair to post things like this on a forum & reject any attempt at discussion. As such, I will keep this simple & point you to my research: Pornography & sexual assault While it's not a complete answer to everything you brought up, this will help narrow down the discussion, should you wish to pursue it.

 

[Robban]

We all have the remarkable ability of imagination. We can picture the future, bleak & grim. We can also picture it cheery & beautiful. With varying levels of accuracy, we can say which way it will be, depending on what exactly we're talking about.

Let's take an example: Politics! Is the future of politics more or less aggressive than it is now? Most live in a country so protected from serious violence that verbal arguments count as "aggressive"; many other countries have civil war as an almost routine manner of choosing a new leader. How will the United States political arena be in the future? Will people learn to be more diplomatic, or will the chaos erupt in a second civil war?

What I want to do with this thread is not speculation. Whether or not we know the answers about the future is irrelevant; I want to discuss what we're doing about them. If political discussions should become kinder & more educated, that will only happen if we become kinder & more educated. Perhaps 2024 will hold an even wilder election than this one; who knows? Coupled with our amazing ability to imagine is an even greater ability to act. What are the darker possibilities you all have in mind? And what are you doing about it? These are essential questions; if "What are YOU doing about it?" was asked & answered more often , we'd have a lot less gossip & gripe, with more action that might actually make a difference.


I fear that the day may come within my own lifetime that women will see beauty as a curse. Pornography is increasingly violent, sexual assault seems to be a problem everywhere, and one of the products of an increasingly selfish culture is the view of beautiful people as people who are put on this Earth for my pleasure. Leaking nude pictures of beautiful celebrities, exes, or classmates reflects this mentality, as do the advertisements I sometimes see that say "Hot girls will do anything!" . Will this trend continue to a dangerous level, surrounding beautiful women with relentless lust & even sexual assault? I would be a fool to say I could predict the future, but I understand that averting such a dismal tomorrow is dependent on what I do today.

I have already done something to stave off such a culture with this with a thread I created, giving it a stark name for the sake of clickbait & drawing attention to this very problem; The Anti-Porn: A true appreciation of beauty . I do not believe a rejection of beauty to be a good solution to anything; I want to embrace & sanctify the beauty of women, making it into a reason for admiration, not self-indulgence. What woman (or man, for that matter) wouldn't want to genuinely be thought of as beautiful? Esther, Judith, David, Tobiah's wife, and Old Testament Joseph were all described as beautiful, and they are all some form of "good guy" or "hero" from the Bible. Their beauty seems to be a divine gift!

If culture will shift from a give-me-pleasure view of beauty, to a respectful view, we need to do something about it.

I also believe that solving problems involves hitting it at the source. We can feel good talking about solutions to problems to people who don't have the problems; how often do people complain about someone when they're not around, but as soon as the person who would most benefit from correction shows up, the complainers cower? I can send those Bible verse pictures to good Christians, maybe getting compliments or some kind of appreciation. But these people aren't the ones who hold to more problematic behavior; that's why I went to one of the Internet's notoriously immoral image boards to share a public domain picture of a beautiful woman, with a caption that said : "A beautiful Daughter of God...a sister in humanity." I want to reach out to the people who would most benefit from an enhanced view of the human person, not just the people who already agree with me. While I don't recommend this exact method for many people, I know where my strengths are, and I trust that God can take it from here. I can act on my own, but only God gives success.

Everything I just said was as an example. The greater topic of this thread is broader than my own ideas & actions. So now, I turn this over to all of you: What negative futures are you averting? When imagination & action unite, something truly beautiful can happen. Add cooperation to the mix, getting more people united to a common, noble goal, and you will have spent your life well. We've got one shot at this life, and the world will continue running long after we're gone. A lot of people say there's some sort of eternal retribution for a good or a bad life; who knows for sure, but trying to live for something greater has brought much more accomplishment to my life than the idle pleasures of lust & video games & general selfishness that I used to love (despite the emptiness I felt at the end of the day).

And finally, if any of you give empty criticism to the techniques of anyone who posts here, I offer this as the response:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” --Teddy Roosevelt​

Stay lokal.
If something can be fixed, fix it.

If something cannot be fixed, it cannot be fixed.

In both cases, no need for worry.

 

[bèlla]

I recall a pastor at a church I attended in the past. He had a passion for urban ministry. The church forged partnerships with underprivileged schools and mentored students. Members volunteered for prayer walking in the most crime ridden areas. Homeless outreach was expansive and special ministries and bible studies were developed for them. They created a free drop-in cafe with free wifi, coffee, and tea. It was a popular meeting spot.

The common denominator in that statement is relativity. He pursued his passion for urban ministry by directing his actions towards causes affecting that group. Including the decision to forgo driving for public transportation. It allowed him to interact with others as he traveled.

The programs he initiated were very successful. He wasn’t all over the place with a hand in this and that. Narrowing his focus allowed him to make a difference.

I don’t have a burden for politics. God didn’t lay it on my heart or direct me to take action. When I look at the bible I see a similar theme. Men (and women) of God are focused on the main thing. Not everything else.

I’d rather have my Ph.D in the area I’m meant to impact than be a generalist. God has a solution for every problem. But I’m not part of the remedy for every ill. I have a specific place assigned as do most. That’s my focus. I leave the rest to Him.

Yours in His Service,

~bella

 

[Robban]

Re porn,
Thinking back, I remember coming to Port Said
in the late fifties.

The usual bumboats came out, an arab approached;

"Psst, dirty postcards Johnny?"

"Get outa here"
haha.

They were black and white pictures of women in Victorian bathing suits.

O'boy,

 

[jayem]

Pornography is more accessible thanks to the internet. True, it’s ugly and demeaning to women and men both. For some people, it can be addicting, and ruinous. But it’s existed forever. As long as children aren’t involved, and no one is physically harmed, I think trying to regulate the private behavior of consenting adults is excessively authoritarian and very likely to fail. We have bigger fish to fry.

The biggest, and most disturbing of which is tribalism. This an enormously negative aspect of modern life. The traditional determinants of tribal identity—race, religion, ethnicity, and socio-economic status—seem to have been replaced by politics. If you’re Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, or whatever, that’s now who you are. Anyone with different political views is your sworn enemy. Tribalistic thinking seriously coarsens and damages society. It elevates antagonism over cooperation. I know that Homo sapiens evolved from hominins living in smallish family groups and tribes. If you were suspicious, wary, and even hostile towards members of other tribes who were competitors for resources, your tribe might have a better chance of surviving and having many offspring. So a tribal instinct was favored by natural selection. But in the modern world, where people of different ideas and backgrounds live in close contact, tribalism is highly maladaptive. Education and acculturation may suppress it. But deep down, tribalism is part of the evolutionary baggage we inherited from our prehistoric ancestors. To eliminate it will probably require further evolution.