JULY 11, 2022 – (Cont.) “In the time of Columbus and for many generations that followed, the vast majority of folks in Europe lived in squalor, privation, and oppression, at least by modern standards. In contrast, the New World offered all sorts of possibilities for escape from the strictures and shackles of primogeniture, a class-ridden …

JULY 10, 2022 – (Cont.) “I thought about rejiggering the pitcher of lemonade—more ice cubes and freshly-squeezed lemon juice—but the thought quickly vanished. I was on a roll and wanted to continue my monologue about American democracy.” “You see, we’re not Denmark, Finland, or New Zealand,” I said. “Who are they?” “Countries—like America—except they’re not …

JULY 7, 2022 – (Cont.) “You earthlings seem to have a lot of issues to be worked out,” said the alien. “It gets back to the nature of our species as homo paradoxicus, I said, referring back to an observation I’d shared with the alien near the outset of our conversation. “You mean the nature …

JULY 5, 2022 – (Cont.) “Against global standards of the day, our Constitution, adopted by all 13 Colonies in 1791 C.E., was an enlightened piece of political and governmental engineering. Few other countries back then had devised such a progressive framework of self-rule. “As is the case when more than one human occupies a room, …

JULY 5, 2022 – (Cont.) The alien displayed a new maneuver. It hovered an inch above the glass tabletop, spun around, filaments flashing red and orange, then resumed its stationary position on the glass. I read this as a distress signal and decided to respond with a more reassuring perspective than what I’d conveyed thus …

JULY 4, 2022 – (Cont.) “The religious zealotry that infused the 13 British colonies and the country that later formed was the reaction to religious power structures back in Europe. You start with the grip that Catholicism had on Europe after the fall of Rome, then examine guys like Zwingli, Calvin, and Luther, and plunge …

JULY 3, 2022 – (Cont.) “English cane growers in the Caribbean,” I said, “shipped molasses back to England, where it was made into rum. Traders then transported the rum to West Africa, where they used it in nefarious ways to kidnap people, throw them into unspeakable conditions aboard ships, sail them across the ocean to …

JULY 2, 2022 – (Cont.) “The development of political structure across the 13 British colonies was accompanied by three forces that unfolded at an accelerated pace from establishment of the first successful English settlement—Jamestown in 1607 CE—and the Declaration of Independence by those 13 colonies 169 years later.” I drew another cookie from the plate …

JULY 1, 2022 – (Cont.) “In larger groups—a city, a state, a country, a public corporation or institution—you’ll not find pure democracy, but rather varying forms of representative democracy. At the national level, this is called a republic. But don’t be fooled. There’s a very weird, very cruel, very dictatorial, authoritarian country on the other …

JUNE 30, 2022 – (Cont.) “Dark ages fell over all land on earth?” asked the alien. “Well, Dark Ages is a term that’s used to describe the condition of Europe in the centuries following the collapse of the Roman Empire in the west. Much progress ceased and worse, was lost altogether—progress in the form of …

JUNE 29, 2022 – (Cont.) “Gradually, we developed more intelligible sounds until we had a full set of words, syntax, and grammar. Eventually, as early humans migrated out of Africa and populated all land masses—except Antarctica—people put different spins on words until wholly separate languages developed. Ancient Greek was among them, and that influenced the …

JUNE 28, 2022 – “Another crazy . . . strike that,” I said. “Another fascinating aspect of the human condition is how we govern ourselves—or to cover the various means that we’ve thus far devised, how we are governed. “I understand you’re different from ants,” said the alien. “Yes, though there’s a lot to be …

JUNE 27, 2022 – (Cont.) A feeling that was at once alluring and discomfiting rose among my thoughts. Was I, a non-believer—advancing an argument of sorts for some kind of belief? But what was the premise of the argument? The irrepressible power of acculturation? The mere march of time and with it, the closing proximity …

JUNE 26, 2022 – (Cont.) “As I’ve said—I’m here to learn,” said the alien. “Good! I’m not the best instructor you could’ve cornered, but I’m willing to try. However, before I fully wrap my head around the concept of leading you on a distant field trip, I have a bit more to say about the …

JUNE 25, 2022 – (Cont.) “From these principles flow countless acts of mercy and charitable initiatives that genuinely improve the human condition. As critical as I might be of religion for all of the evil done in its name, I’m not prepared to condemn religion wholesale. “Plus some of humankind’s most beautiful art, music, architecture, …

JUNE 24, 2022 – (Cont.) “Want me to continue?” I asked, fearful that I’d exceeded the alien’s intake capacity. “Yes. I’m here to learn.” “Christianity wasn’t—isn’t—alone in experiencing innumerable internal rifts, splits, and schisms. Islam has been fraught with the same, leading to bloody, titanic conflicts between Shiites and Sunnis, and among a host of …

JUNE 22, 2022 – (Cont.) “You’re reading my mind!” I said, revealing my fear and anxiety. Why were we even having a conversation if the alien could read my mind? Some kind of sinister trick was going on. My tongue froze, as my mind spun. I’d stepped into a cosmic trap and dragged all of …

JUNE 21, 2022 – (Cont.) “Yes, what we lack in scientific knowledge—though we’re making big strides in that arena—we compensate with our imaginations and sometimes our hallucinations. To cover all possibilities, religious people tell us that ‘God works in strange ways.’ Indeed he does. Or should I say, indeed he used to. Nowadays, as we …

JUNE 20, 2022 – (Cont.) “Despite the rancor and discord that also defines us, we’ve always figured out ways to organize ourselves for all sorts of needs and whims, from growing food to building cities to warring as one nation against another. Religion’s no exception. Within each version a priestly class arose to organize the …

JUNE 19, 2020 – Cont.) “Your question about human prayer,” I said, “also inquires about religion, a subject I’ve already touched upon, one that largely defines humanity, however many people have opted-out of organized religion.” “Organized?” “Sorry, that’s a technical term describing religion that coalesces around a vast network of priests, pastors, rabbis, imams, or …

JUNE 18, 2022 – The alien’s filaments were no longer flashing red. They were a blindingly bright, steady red, as the alien’s sound mechanism issued an ear-splitting, “Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!” not unlike an earth-based, commercial building fire alarm.  Had I just endangered our whole species? In an ironic twist had I overwhelmed the alien with …

JUNE 17, 2022 – (Cont.) “You’re correct to a degree,” I said. “And many pollution issues have been addressed successfully for the very reason you cited—an immediate problem with a relatively short-term remedy. However,” I said, “all this pollution has a cumulative effect that is much longer term, and that’s where human myopia comes into …