AUTHOR
Michael Scandling
Fine-art photographer, writer, counselor-at-large, chef, dog lover, nature lover. Not particularly reverent.
TOLERANCE
The very essence of our spiritual side is the ability to create. It is and always will be completely under our control.
SCIENTOLOGY RELIGION
When I moved from a small town in upstate New York to the San Francisco Bay area at the age of 11, I found myself at the beginning of a cultural revolution. A few miles away, the hippie movement was getting started in the hills above Palo Alto. Although I was oblivious to it in the first couple of years after the move, it became obvious as time went on:
TOLERANCE
Many years ago, at the dawn of the personal computer era, I had a nerdy friend who always seemed to be happy. One day I asked him what his secret was. He said, “Easy. Every morning when I get up, I say to myself, ‘Reset. Start.’” Reset: To return something to its initial state; to set to zero.
TOLERANCE
I posted this photo on my photography blog. I didn’t think it would be very controversial. Boy, was I wrong.
MEDIA & ETHICS
It may be hard to spot the common denominator of all of Ortega’s flops, but I’ll tell you what I see.
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
It is undeniably true that there are terrorists in the world and they are well named: they try to bring about terror, chaos, and fear. They are a tiny minority of the overall population.
TOLERANCE
A shining example just occurred in New Zealand. A week after the insane murder of fifty Muslims and the injury of dozens more—in the name of some twisted “identity”—New Zealanders of all faiths and walks of life mourned the deaths together.
TOLERANCE
If we keep enforcing the “my religion is better than yours” game—if we keep squashing the religious freedom of another by insisting on the exclusivity of our own—we’re not going to make it.
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
1964. For most Americans, vegetables at the dinner table were an afterthought. What vegetables there were, were certainly not fresh. They were frozen or canned. One of the biggest purveyors of such veggies was the Green Giant Company. The company’s symbol and “spokesman” was the Jolly Green Giant.
MEDIA & ETHICS
Left, Right, or Center, the editorial boards all have an agenda. They’re all preaching to their own choir, which also happens to be their financial base.
