Burial Society and Perspective…

Following up on yesterday’s post on the burial society, I wrote that one of the things I appreciate about it is:

the serious dose of perspective that it provides you on the ultimate end of your (all of our) lives.

The interesting part about that is the question that it raises for me.

Should you “go all out and, as Thoreau said, ‘dare to live the life you’ve imagined’” or (and they may not be mutually exclusive), do you just slow down and act with even greater humility for the life you have and the responsibilities/obligations you have to others?

The Burial Society

One of the community tasks in which I am involved is to serve as a member of the Ritual Burial Society, aka the Chevra Kadisha.

The ritual process of preparing the deceased for burial is fascinating in and of itself, but I find two elements of it gratifying in particular.

First, the serious dose of perspective that it provides you on the ultimate end of your (all of our) lives.

Second, the comfort in knowing that, down the road, someone will treat your remains with the same respect you show them.

Being the Gossip Target…

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There’s a concept in Judaism known as “Lashon Hara” which literally means the “evil/bad tongue.”

It refers to gossip.

And, it is considered one of the worst things in which you can engage…or encourage.

There’s a woman I know who is particularly adept at this, unfortunately.

And, I will admit, in the past, I was guilty of indulging her and even encouraging her.

Like everyone, I have my less than savory sides to my personality.

Recently, I discovered that I was the object of her “Lashon Hara.”

I felt bad and hurt. Not only because I realized the damage that was going to occur (or has already) to my reputation within her circles, but now because I realize how others have been affected by it as well.

Better late than never to learn this lesson.

And, sometimes, you have to learn the hard way.

How to get people to give more money….

I know I keep blogging about this, but I told you, it was a great book.

My kids go to a parochial school and let’s just say, tuition isn’t super cheap.

We’re often approached by the school fundraiser/development team for additional contributions.

I’ve wondered about how this works, thinking most people already feel like they are paying a lot.

Well, in Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters, the authors offer a plausible answer based on evolutionary psychology.

“by contributing toward the welfare of other members of such an "extended family' or tribe, so to speak, you are essentially providing benefits for your genetic offspring, both distant and near.”

Not sure if the development team reads this blog or not, but it seems like the pitch can be extended from “help others” to “help your kids and their offspring” which could be even stronger.

The Ground Zero Mosque Debate and Islamophobia…

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A friend has been asking me to blog about this for a while and I’ve resisted.  Probably because I didn’t want to get somebody’s knee-jerk reaction of being called an “Islamophobe” or “bigot”.
His question (or at least how I interpreted it) was “how can anyone oppose the mosque and still believe in freedom of religion?”
I can’t speak for everyone, but I think, Simon, it involves suspending belief in your worldview for a moment and being open to the possibility that your analysis is incorrect.
This is difficult for all of us. Any of us.
If you can do that, however, you look at the opposing worldview to yours which is that Islam may be a religion, but that it may also be a religion wrapped inside a totalitarian ideology.
While there is no doubt that there are moderate Muslim factions that don’t seek to replace the Constitution with Sharia, there is equally no doubt that there are factions which would gladly do that.
To say otherwise, is to be ignorant.
For example, to claim that “Islam is the religion of peace” when in August, 2010, 196 Jihad attacks in 23 countries killed 811 people in the name of Islam (source) denies an uncomfortable, but fundamental truth about a significant faction of Muslims.
Are all Muslims evil? Of course not!
Some, like Dr. Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy are standing up to this strain within their own religion.
And while some Americans are in a tizzy about the fact that “Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes Sweeps Nation Amid “Mosque” Controversy,” the unfortunate reality is that of the 1,606 religiously motivated hate crimes in 2008 (according to the FBI), 65.7% were against Jews, with only 7.7% against Muslims.
No one is going around saying we have a problem with anti-Semitism?
So, then, what is it?
What it is, I think, or at least what I am interpreting (and let’s just leave out the true racists and bigots from this debate, shall we?), so, what I am interpreting is that there are a group of people who view Islam as a totalitarian, expansionist ideology using the cloak of religion to gain protection from the government (and sympathy from open-minded people like you) to advance its agenda.
And, in this case, the hypothesized agenda is to erect a mosque as a symbol of conquest/dominance at the location where the battle took place, which would be a continuation of much of Muslim military history.
And, as I am sure you have read, the original name (Cordoba House) reflected the highpoint of Muslim domination when its influence extended into the middle of Spain.
So, while it may be easy to brand those who oppose the location of the mosque as Islamophobes in an effort to silence them or deride them for their intolerance, IF the opposing view is indeed correct and the objective is the imposition of Sharia all over the world (which may be difficult for you to believe, but is certainly the stated goal of some Muslims), then the negative reaction to the mosque is actually more in line with your tolerant, liberal, open-minded values than you may originally surmise.
Now, let the name-calling and fighting begin….

May you be inscribed…

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in the Book of Life.

Shana Tova and Happy New Year.

Newsflash! Consultants Validate God

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I really enjoy listening to the HBR Ideacast podcast on my iPad (though, frankly, the Knowledge @Wharton series is, imho, of higher quality.)

I’ll just have them playing while I’m doing something like washing dishes, packing for a trip, etc.

The other day, I listened to one called “Making Time Off Predictable—and Required”

After a few minutes, I couldn’t help but start laughing.

The Boston Consulting Group had done a study with a client (and presumably made a lot of money in doing so) to prove the point that when people take regularly scheduled time off, they are better, more productive people.

As the interviewee went on and on, however, it became obvious to those who are familiar with the rules that Sabbath-observing Jews follow that she was basically describing what they/we/I do every single week.

I thought, “this is great. We’ve got one of the world’s largest and most respected consulting firms validating what God told Moses on Mt. Sinai."

The Ground Zero Mosque Debate…

I had never heard of this guy before and quick look at his website shows him to be an atheist, anti-religion, comedian of sort. I’ll admit, his FAQ section is pretty funny.

I hadn’t even heard about the proposed Ground Zero mosque and, while I know it may appear to be “un-PC/bigoted” of me, I think his analysis is fairly accurate.

The Faith Game…

It’s not my objective to convince you to believe in God or not.

Either way, you can enjoy the game.

The premise of the game is “everything that happens, happens for a reason.”

The objective: figure out why.

Avoid Occam’s Razor and think in terms of a movie.

You are an actor and God is the screenwriter/director. Only thing is, in this game, you play the part---and only THEN do you read the script.

What’s more, you don’t necessarily ever know WHY the screenwriter put the script in that order.

Some examples:

• you are listening to the radio (or better Pandora)-if the song that comes on at that moment is like your life soundtrack—why is that the mood music?
• what’s the larger plot of your afternoon that requires you to be stuck in traffic?
• why does the person in front of you take an extra long time checking out?

If you are a person of faith, you have belief that this leads to some larger purpose. If you are not, then “stuff just happens.”

Either way, playing the game for a bit can be entertaining (or at least I think it can be.)

Enjoy.

Marketing ROI for Jehovah’s Witnesses…

The doorbell rings and two gentlemen greet me with a question.

“Do you believe we will eventually live in a world without war?” one of them asks.

(A good teaser, indeed, I am thinking.)

“Eventually?” I say. “Yes.”

“Well, you are pretty optimistic,” the man says.

At this point, I'm thinking ‘you did say ‘eventually’'”

He shows me a booklet called “A world without war.”

“Gentlemen, are you with a church or something?”

“We’re Jehovah’s Witnesses,” he replies.

“Ah, I see.”

I’m wearing a Microsoft shirt and the man asks “are you in IT?”

“I used to work for Microsoft, but now I’m a marketing consultant.”

The tone is VERY friendly, so I say to them, “you know, as a marketing consultant, I feel like I need to give you some advice. You can do with it as you please, but I am compelled to share it."

This is an area that is quite heavily populated by religiously observant Jews. From an ROI perspective, I think you are probably going to have a significantly lower than average success rate.

I love passion and commitment. That sells, so I am all in favor of you going out to sell your beliefs. More power to you. It’s just that I think you may be better off deploying your most valuable resource-your time-elsewhere in order to maximize your results.”

Yes, I said that to them exactly.

“Well, we are willing to talk to anyone."

(Not good marketing allocation, I am thinking. Poor targeting, but I can only do so much.)

"Can we leave this brochure with you?” he asks.

“You can, but odds are I will put it directly into the trash, so I think it would be a poor investment of your sales collateral.”

I don't know what the guy is thinking at this point, but my hunch is that it's not a typical interaction.

“Well, then, I will keep it with us.”

“Yes, I would agree with that conclusion."

We part ways amicably with a smile. Another client served.

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Is Christianity a Fraud? (Movie Review)

That’s the thesis put forth by the producer/director of The God Who Wasn't There.

He is a former fundamentalist Christian who essentially accuses the entire religion of being based on a questionable myth.

If that’s not enough to motivate you to watch it, not sure what else is there.

Felt sort of “Da Vinci Code-ish” at times.

As a non-Christian, I was really wondering how my Christian friends would react/respond to this one.