Nothing Can Stop Self-Love

Hey All - Another Sunday night is upon us.

We're living in extreme times, yet again.  Israel, our only ally in the Middle East, is demonstrating that the best, and sometimes only, defense is a strong offense.  And as the liberal media has always done, it has taken Israel to task for the very thought of defending itself.  

This is not unlike the response school administrators traditionally give to bullying incidents.  The bully rarely, if ever, reveives consequences for their actions, but if a bullying victim retaliates, they are condemned, they are disarmed, they are showered with hearts and flowers and rainbows and told to be good little angels while the bully laughs as their enablement continues.

Applying this way of thinking to a sovereign nation makes no sense to me. As even Secretary Kerry stated today, no country should be expected to just sit there when it is attacked.  

My thought tells me that the world is trying to use Israel's status against it.  Israel is also known as the Holy Land, since it is home to most of the events in the Bible.  It appears that this designation leads to the assumption that Israel must be so charitable and generous as to turn the other cheek whenever threatened.  In a way, they are being mocked for being the Holy Land, and for not being like every other country.

We live in a world where people criticize much more quickly than they compliment.  It would be a much nicer world if the opposite were true, but it isn't. 

The only way to deal with this fact, other than preparing ourselves with our own snappy comebacks, is to truly love ourselves.  To know that our strengths are what put us on the map, and not what leave us exposed.  To know that we must never apologize for who we are.  To know that nobody's opinion of us is more important than that of the one person you see in the mirror.  

If Israel was so touchy, apologetic, and dependent on the world's approval that it stopped its defenses, it would have been conquered and renamed a long time ago.  If every bullying victim obeyed the directives of school administrators, and allowed their bullies to have their way with them, the suicide rate and the mental hospital occupancy would both skyrocket.  If we all did away with our goals, dreams, and identity because someone else just has to run their mouths, there would be no point to life itself.

Beta males are sometimes too willing to appease critics and apologize for being themselves.  Someone recently pointed out to me that the notion of not being ruled by criticism, and refusing to apologize for oneself, is the way of the alpha male, and not the beta male.  This may be true, but I believe that if betas become self-actualized, and make themselves bold and bulletproof, this changes.  I encourage beta males to look to Israel's example.  Nobody wants them to defend themselves, because they are expected to be more righteous than other countries, but they defend themselves no matter what.  Nobody wants beta males to be assertive, brave, or courageous because we are expected to be more compassionate and sensitive than other men.  By the same token, we can make this compassion and sensitivity our strengths by choosing to love ourselves more than we can hate anyone.  When we believe in ourselves that much, and are willing to protect ourselves the way Israel protects its citizens, we win.  And we win by a landslide.

By the same token, I hope Israel wins this conflict by a landslide.  I also hope the moderate Palestinians that do not view Hamas as martyrs or heroes have the courage to speak out and are safe from harm.  I also hope that those of us who crumble at criticism and suffer from exposure are able to set up out very own Iron Domes and shoot thoss rockets out of the sky.  

I EXIST.  I MATTER.  I BELONG.  I DESERVE.

I AM BOLD.  I AM BULLETPROOF.  I AM BETA.

PS - Facebook offers all of us our very own Iron Dome mechanisms.  I've had to use a few of them, and I encourage you to do the same.

Stoppping the Trend

Hey All, about that time again!

In this week's Bible portion, Jacob actually wrestles an angel, and suffers only a hip injury, but reconciles with his long-lost brother, and then stops making deals with overly-shrewd foreign tribes.

Yup, that's right.  He actually wrestles with an angel, and his name is formally changed from Jacob to Israel, in recognition of the fact that he can throw it down with both human and divine beings and live to tell the tale.  Not bad for the younger brother who stole what belonged to his older brother.  

But even more striking than an encounter with someone even more feared than an MMA fighter, was his encounter with an old nemesis.  He all but apologized to Esau, and presented him with a huge amount of livestock to gain his favor.  Esau was more than willing to turn it down, and let bygones be bygones, but Israel insisted that he accept the gift, which he did.

But then when Israel is setting up camp in Schechem, a Canaanite town, the son of a king rapes his daughter.  He and his father BS about it, claiming that he wants to marry her.  Knowing full well what happened, Israel and his 12 sons explain that the Schechemites would all need to be circumcised in order for the wedding to happen.  So after they do, they slaughter them all and rescue their sister.  Israel was not happy with this, thinking he's now got a bad reputation, but his sons tell him that they did it for their sister's honor.

Looks like a major shift, huh?  The trend is now broken!  Now that Jacob came face to face with a divine being, he's changed his tune.  Instead of continuing the deception of the past, he successfully reconciled with his duped brother.  And his sons?  They not only supported each other, but they came in like heroes to rescue their sister and to execute justice against those who raped her and refused to take responsibility for it.  This is the first time in Genesis we see an example of chivalry!  And yeah, they did BS the Schechemites so they wouldn't expect consequences, but if that wasn't justified, I don't know what is!  Although I didn't touch upon it so much in the prior summaries, Abraham and Jacob had prior dealings with shady characters of foreign nations.  But this time the 12 sons of Israel showed them that the dealing was done!

My take is as follows:  Just because someone who came before you "always did it this way," that doesn't mean you're stuck with doing likewise.  If it's not working, and there's a way to do it differently, by all means do it!  Instead of deceiving people and keeping your ill-gotten gains, reconcile with them and offer to make restitution.  Instead of treating women like possessions to bargain over, stand up for them and punish those who dishonor them!

"The system" is not always right just because it's "the system."  Granted, you may not be in the best position to make changes yourself, but you can at least make your case for why it can and should change.  Don't just march in lockstep if it's not right to do so.  Where would we all be if Israel & Sons hadn't made this shift, and started to demonstrate a little bit of decency?  Finally some responsibility and some honor -- borrow some for yourselves, k?

I EXIST.  I MATTER.  I BELONG.  I DESERVE.

The Munich 11

This summer will be 40 years since the 1972 Israeli Olympic Team was massacred at the hands of Palestinian terrorists in Munich.  While the world stood by, seemingly helpless, an entire national team was wiped out for the sake of a misguided message.

Today, the President of the IOC hosted a ceremony at London's Olympic Village, in which a moment of silence was observed in honor of the murdered athletes.  This may or may not have been a concession to public pressure after he refused to allow for such an acknowledgment during the Games' Opening Ceremonies next week.

The fact that this anniversary would not be acknowledged in "prime time" speaks volumes about the world's attitude about Israel.  Apparently, the governing body of this event is cowed at the prospect of "offending" several other countries who continue to have issues with Israel, notwithstanding what those athletes endured.  The fact that it could have been any other country that suffered the same fate at any time is apparently lost on the IOC, because Israel has never really been thought of as any other country.

So if Mr. Rogge won't stand up and do the right thing for all to see and hear, I'll just have to do it instead.

I'll acknowledge the fact that in 1972, 11 young men and women sought to honor their country by developing their bodies to perform great feats of strength and speed, and not to be tossed from an apartment window in order to meet the demands of a group of murderers.

I'll acknowledge the fact that one country has always been forced to militarize its entire citizenry, despite the fact that it is the Holy Land, merely for the sake of its survival.  Its attempt to join the international community as an equal nation was met with disaster, because the world chose not to accept it as an equal nation.

I'll acknowledge the fact that since that time, Israel has returned to the Olympics, brave as always, and that its athletes have earned medals for their performances.

And I will also acknowledge the fact that Israel has more than earned the right to be respected as an equal nation, at the very least at the Olympic Games, and should receive more than mere lip service from a committee that is so easily pressured.

In the interests of disclosure, in case you haven't already learned from my prior postings, I am Jewish, I am Zionist, and I am proud.  It's not my style to blame discrimination, real or perceived, for any disadvantages, or to use it as a crutch or an excuse.  However, if it looks like discrimination, sounds like discrimination, and smells like discrimination, you have to form a conclusion.  I dare the IOC to say that they would refuse a moment of silence if the athletes murdered by terrorists had been Belgian, Bolivian, Okinawan, or any other nationality. 

Feel free to comment, whether you agree or disagree -- provided you choose your words wisely.