They Executed People... and Ross Was Furious...

I had referred to Diogenes before... But Maybe it was not clear... 
So in his confusion my friend wrote for explanation...

Hello... wrote my young friend and postulated his frustration... I have a question for you though about the blog, what exactly do you mean by a Diogenes Moment?  I went and googled him but still couldn't quite gather what you meant by Diogenes moment. Do they have something to do with cynicism or what exactly did you mean by that reference?

There is nothing exact in life... Everything is a yearning, a dialectic climb for the higher and better, and eventually all and everything is an approximation... a quest for the perfect... So I cannot express "exactly" what I meant the other day when I re-introduced Diogenes... Here is my attempt...

***

Philosopher Who Carried a Lantern During the Day...

A citizen approached to him and asked; "But you owe me an explanation Diogenes! Why do you need a lamp during the day?" "Because, I'm looking for a man! But not any man! The one who puts above himself the others!", was his answer... "and I have not found any... as yet," he added... *** Reminds me of the rich young man asking Jesus how he can earn eternal life... First Jesus advises the man to obey the Commandments...

The rich young man responds that he already observes them. Then Jesus adds that he has to go and sell his riches and give them to the poor and follow him... Commenting that it is easier for a camel to go through the Needles Eye, than a rich man earning eternal life and going to Heaven... Diogenes lived in a barrel and survived on the subsistence necessities... What will the accumulated riches buy... after all?

So in the blog... at the end when I attach a scene or two... or an anecdote, refer to an incident... then I am looking for men... I am searching for men... and maybe the blog is my lantern...
Maybe I will not be disappointed... Maybe I will find a man eventually... some day... one day...
Ross was happy to join my search... We roamed the streets of the city together... and in our disappointments  we resorted for longer and longer "happy hours"... But now Ross as joined eternity and I am far... very far away... in an alien galaxy... and in need of people to search with me...
Now that Ross has gone... maybe, my young friend, you'll join my endeavor... Maybe together our project will succeed... Ross insisted that I have to be open to the community... He opened his heart and his mind and his pocket to the community... But we were not successful... I am not, as yet, successful... But I will never give up... I will never succumb... I will keep on looking for a man... for a man human sensibilities, with humane sense... and divine reasoning... A man who is able to do the "math without numbers..." 
I am sure Ross will still help me in my search... and if we cannot find... we will make one... That's what Ross and I attempted in our teaching years... Maybe a student or two will eventually come to the front... and "do the math..."
Maybe... Just maybe...
Meanwhile I will attach Diogenes Moments... to the blog...

Check these out...
Neymar under investigation for tax ivasion...

Prosecutors in Brazil recommend that football-soccer star Neymar be charged over four counts of fraud in relation to a tax case before his move to Barcelona. This guy has millions upon millions... Why he will evade paying taxes is beyond me... Question: If you have 850 million... what will an extra million or two add to your stature...? Why will he evade the taxes...?

I have no answer for it... 
Maybe, my young friend, you can help me... 
This is a Diogenes Moment... take the lantern and look closely to all the Neymars in the world... 

***

One morning Ross came to my classroom... He insisted that I have to visit him during my spare period... 

He was pale, serious, but disoriented... 

I visited him... "They executed a person this morning...," were his words... thrown like a spit to my face... I was shocked... Ross was never in that kind of a mood... He was almost accusing me for what had happened...

But Ross was my friend and I had to take it from him... He ranted; he was most of the time incoherent...; cited the Bible and brought out examples from all that he had learned through the years from the books... from his experiences...

I listened... I had learned that in moments like these a friend has just to lend his ear... and listen... and listen I did... 

Ross was disoriented for two, at times three days..., whenever a person was executed in a U.S. jail... He did not chat much... He did not laugh... at times he skipped eating too... But eventually he snapped out of his anger... and returned to his usual self...

In those days he repeated to whomever... to all... "God said: 'thou shall not kill...' and did not leave any room for qualifiers... He did not say: 'thou shall not kill, but..."

Those days I just listened to him... and of course I agreed with him...

Today...February 2, 2016... 

Georgia executed its oldest death row inmate early Wednesday morning, moving ahead with the scheduled lethal injection after courts and a state pardon board rejected his requests for stays. 

Brandon Astor Jones, 72, was first sentenced to death in 1979 for the death of Roger Tackett, who managed a convenience store.

 

And God said: "Thou shall not kill..." 

I am sure Allah agrees with God... and the Islamic Jihadists are wrong too...

When... they kill for living... Killing is a way of life for them... Maybe even they are addicted to killing...

Taliban Gun Down 10-Year Old Militia Hero in Afghanistan

Wasil Ahmad was 10 years old. He was gunned down just a few months after leaving militia life and enrolling in school as a fourth grader. Talaban and Islamic fighters have a great dislike for education... Since education is liberating and humanizing... 

And...

God said: "Thou Shall NOT Kill..." I am sure Allah agrees with God... !

 Child soldier Wasil Ahmad being declared a hero last year for leading a militia’s defense against a Taliban siege. The Taliban announced on Monday that they had killed Wasil.  They kill at will... They have sentenced an entire generation to death...    

Ross remained angry for days when they executed an inmate in the U.S. and Ross was furious when the Iraqi war was initiated... when the Taliban murdered people in Afghanistan... When Islamic Jihadists murdered people...  
And, Ross was right...

... And my dear young friend... All these are Diogenes Moments... When man think that they have the right to kill for WHATEVER reason...