This is what I wrote seven years ago when I set up my blog. Have I been true to my word? What have I achieved? What haven’t I done well??
About Opher’s World
I live to make the world a better place. Why don’t you join me? Creativity gives purpose to life. This blog celebrates creativity. I welcome you. Please have a look at my books, art, poems and art.
This is an idealist’s shriek at the absurd, the horrendous and the obscene in the huge optimism that we can make it better.
This is a blog in pursuit of the marvellous.
I ask you to devour all that is wonderful –
and detest all that is cruel, vicious and mean.
You will find lots of life, sex and ideas in this blog – (Ideas such as – there is no god, no purpose, no great scheme, no after-life) – but I do not set out to be offensive, merely to argue my passionately held point of view.
This blog is a celebration of Life – not Death.
What is obscene is not sex.
Obscenity is:
– The destruction of the environment
– War
– The indoctrination of children
– Overpopulation
– Cynical exploitation
– Cruelty to animals and people
– Grotesque disparity of wealth
– Deforestation
– Fanaticism in politics and religion
– Pollution
These are the things I stand against.
These are the obscenities.
This blog celebrates Love, Humour, Kindness and Awe.
It is a howl of creativity – A feast of ideas – A source of controversy.
A thing of beauty – A delight of wonder – A splurge of passion.
I preach Tolerance – Empathy – Equality – Freedom – Respect –
Responsibility and Passionate Argument.
I will post some of my photos from round the world, examples of my poetry, extracts from my books, my views, ideas and dreams. I will tell you what I stand for and against and argue my case.
It would be great it you told me your views. Perhaps we could have a good argument about it!! There’s nothing better than a good passionate exchange of deeply held views.
This will be the marmite of blogs!
Seven years, Opher! That’s quite a stretch. Have you worked out, roughly, how many words you have written on this blog in that time?
I took this opportunity to work out my own list of “obscenities.” It’s a lot longer than yours! I think I have caught most of yours in one way or another, though obviously I have different views on “the environment” from you. Here’s my provisional list:
1) Fanaticism in politics or religion
2) Disregard for the moral equality of all human beings
3) Disregard for the ideal of justice for every individual
4) Interfering in, disrupting or lowering the quality of others’ lives without good and provable reason
5) Promoting, supporting, making or enforcing harmful or unjust laws
6) Intentionally harming people who do not harm you or others
7) War, aggressive violence, pre-meditated homicide
8) Lies, spin, hype, promulgating falsehoods, spreading unfounded or exaggerated scares
9) Dishonesty, deceit, cheating, bullshit, insincerity, unscrupulousness
10) Arrogance, claiming superiority over others, authoritarianism
11) Hypocrisy; failing to practise what you preach
12) Lack of empathy; failing to recognize that every person is different and an individual
13) Violating human rights such as property, privacy and the right to make individual choices
14) Violating human freedoms such as freedom of association, movement, opinion, religion, expression, communication, peaceful assembly and protest against injustice
15) Violating procedural rights such as the presumption of innocence, due process, a fair and impartial hearing, and no punishment without guilt being proven beyond reasonable doubt
16) Untrustworthiness, empty promises
17) Recklessness towards others
18) Failing to accept responsibility and accountability for the consequences of actions on others; lack of remorse
19) Taking wealth away from people without delivering equivalent value to them in return
20) Putting obstacles in the way of the free market economy, or of people’s access to it
21) Unjust and unearned enrichment
22) Cronyism, unjust favouritism
23) The indoctrination of children
24) Seeking to indoctrinate people with falsehoods or emotional manipulation
25) Cynical exploitation of people
26) Cruelty to people
27) Unnecessary cruelty to animals
What do you think?
That’s a great list Neil – I agree with nearly all of it!! Why unnecessary cruelty to animals? Surely all cruelty??
Opher, you eat animals, don’t you? My point was that, while sometimes it is necessary to treat animals worse than we treat humans (you and I are both meat-eaters, yet neither of us are cannibals!), it is inelegant to cause any more suffering to them than absolutely necessary.
But I’m glad you like the list; I plan to re-publish it elsewhere in due course. BTW, I have added “bad faith” against number 9, and I’ve added “willed” before “actions” in number 18.
I do eat meat – but I don’t sanction cruelty. I do believe animals can be treated kindly and killed humanely.
Yep – good list.
I’ve posted my list at the liberty website: https://libertarianism.uk/2022/04/25/the-28-deadly-sins/. (I added another one!) I also encapsulated there, in one sentence, my reasons for differing from you on environmentalism.