Author: Leif O

Secular Interference

The validity of religion depends on how you practice it. I have no problems at all with my Hindu neighbors or my Muslim students. We may not share views on everything, but we respect each other’s belief systems. The main problem is when people treat religion as secular law, i.e., something that everyone is obliged to follow.

Western secular law was a product of Enlightenment to separate the two entities into a private and public sphere. I, for one, think we should do our utmost to keep it that way.

That being said, it does not mean that you, I, or any other person, are silenced; we just have to treat each other respectfully. You have a right not to believe, and I have a right to think. Conflicts occur when secular law interferes with religious commandments. Marriage is the most apparent problem. It is a sacred made secular and nonreligious

Culnature

Culnature is a mix of all that is best in Unixploria. It is a mix of culture and nature.

The intellectual and emotional essence of the natural world is based on human perception and needs culture to be understood. Nature is sacred to a Unixplorian (almost resembling pantheism) because it gives us air to breed, water to drink, foods to eat and supply us with the material resources we need to create cultural artifacts. Nature is also a result of earlier generations who lived in closer harmony with the natural world. Our ancestors are part of the ecological system as much as we are today.

Love the Sinner?

The Kingdom of Unixploria is a nation built on Christian values, culture, and heritage.

However, like most Western countries, our legislation is not based solely on the Scriptures. The Christian covenant stresses certain behaviors as sinful, but the Scriptures also say that love is the highest commandment. My example is hard for some to grasp. How can you love someone yet at the same time condemn their behavior?

Much like a parent rebukes a bad behavior of their child, we as Christians must look at sin in the same fashion. A reprimand from a parent doesn’t equal a lack of love. It’s quite the opposite. Love is what makes us good parents. The core of the faith can be summed up in “Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin.”

The Church of Unixploria certainly won’t sit idle while being attacked but never argue over religious matters with heretics. The dividing line seems to be about whether there is such a thing as truth. If you believe there is an eternal truth in our disoriented postmodern era, you will be able to separate truths from lies.

Do We Discriminate?

No, we only promote our own agenda, and do not discriminate others. We see no reason to offend or discriminate those who don’t share our views and way of life.

We used to oppose macro national politics but have concluded that we cannot win battles by putting our energy into things we don’t like. Instead, we try to put all our efforts into things we’re passionate about. Our views may sound offensive to our foes, but that is purely unintentional.

Think Green!

About a year ago we decided to take the first steps toward becoming a more environmentally friendly nation. This is what we have accomplished so far:

1. All cars driven and sold in Unixploria must be hybrids or solely run on electricity.

2. We conserve water by minimizing the time spent in showers. We also collect rainwater to water garden plants.

3. We have reduced our long-distance travels, and all official trips are made by bicycles, hybrid/electric cars, trains or boats. Traveling by plane is still not prohibited but highly taxed and regulated.

4. To reduce pollution from transports, we try to only import goods from nations in our region. Unixploria is not yet entirely self-sufficient, but we aim to be.

5. Recycling is mandatory for all Unixplorians.

6. We are currently working on ways to determine how digital waste can be minimized. Waste from digital gadgets like cell phones and computers are – along with traveling by plane – the worst choices we can make when it comes to ecological sustainability.

7. Pesticides are illegal to buy and use. All foods produced on Unixplorian soil are organic.

8. Plastic bags and containers are still not prohibited, but we have taken the first steps to minimize the use of them. Revised legislation is due later this year.

Nostalgia

There is no such thing as a perfect country or a perfect place. I was born in a country. That country is no more. My mom was born in another country. That country is no more.

So I founded my own country, longing for a place to call home. Guess what? Home never changed into something unfamiliar. Home is where I am. It is the result of all my imagined dreams where heroes are still heroes, and a kiss has no Judas to stain a perfect picture of love.

I live a content life but still long for other sights and other times. Nostalgia is a beautiful thing. Every wish is granted, every sight, scent, and color is vivid and real, perhaps more so than the strange world, I keep hearing about on media.

We all long for emotions, countries, ideas, and places rooted in our nostalgic visions: England during the late 1800s, da Vinci’s Florence or Sweden during the Viking era. Those places and times appeal to me, but they are no longer, and perhaps never were. People must have had the same nostalgia back then, longing for places long gone.

They are still alive, though. They live in me, creating a defined yet spaceless frame for me to evaluate my own life. My ancestors speak to me, explaining what course to take.

I live in the best of times, I live in the best country, and I live in physical surroundings in which I feel more alive than anyone can imagine. I live an abundant life in a realm that is clearly defined and full of life but still is no more.

I live in Unixploria, my ancestral kingdom where the echoes from millennia of nostalgia known as the days of yore, speak to me and are telling me to be patient. The best is yet to come, they say, and I believe them. I’ve never stopped believing.

May peace dwell upon your humble abode, and may the dreams from your past catch up with you wherever you are.

Phone Home

If we could be a tad more civilized, and far less aggressive, then maybe ET really could phone home from our planet.

To take that leap into vast space we must first seek to tear down our boarders. It’s going to happen, but not likely while I’m alive. Just look how globalized we’ve become the last 50 years! Nothing can prevent a united world. There will undoubtedly be wickedness and bloodshed to accompany us on our journey to human brotherhood — lives taken by men and women who have their hearts filled with hatred originating in fear.

Wolf Cross

I got a Wolf Cross from Åsa for Christmas. I’m both humbled and proud to have it hanging around my neck. The Wolf Cross is supposed to be the oldest Christian cross found on Nordic soil. My cross is a replica of the first Wolf Cross excavated on Iceland in 1910. The original crosses date back to approx 900 AD.

Some believe it to be a transfer from the old way to the new. Keeping the shape of a necessary pagan Thor’s hammer, but adding a distinct Christian design. Even though the cross itself resembles the hammer of Thor, it can be interpreted as the cross St. Peter. An unusual cross to be worn as a necklace today because of the postmodern connotations.

Others, myself included, think this is the first sign of Christianity becoming the predominant religion of the Nordic tribes, i.e., Norsemen left their old faith and adopted a new.

No matter how you look at it, it’s a reminder of my Christian faith and my cultural origins. I’m proud of both.

The Truth

Doyle’s famous consulting detective once said that “when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

This is how I view religion in general, and Christianity in particular. There’s just no way we could’ve evolved guided by a mere fluke. God has supervised and created us through it all. Please don’t ask me to explain it all, because I can’t. No more than science can explain what triggers the universe and the laws of physics. The boiling point where physics and metaphysics interact is exciting. It is where science and religion meet, and they’re both lost for words.

I’m Back!

Just a quick note to let you all know that I’m alive and happy. I’ve had time to read and ponder on the more profound things in life during my absence from social media. I’ve grown and reconsidered many of my standpoints, and come to realize that experience is far more overwhelming when you live it instead of just watching others live theirs.

No digital space can ever replace real life; loving, crying, laughing, reminiscing and contemplating the nooks and crannies of your soul must be done in real life.

I will, however, continue to be inspired by the digital sphere, but I will concentrate my efforts on reading and researching my penchants. From now on I will publish content on a new website, as well as expanding my thoughts in print format. My other digital projects will receive minimal attention. More information will be published here for those of you who want to know more about my plans.

I will be on Facebook occasionally, and I will read your comments and posts whenever I feel I have the time. I will PM my postal address to those of you who want to correspond with me using paper and pen. For all others, I will continue to read my Messenger posts now and then, so drop a line if you’d like to get in touch.

I want to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas, and at the same time remind you to remember the reason for the season. May God bless you all as we enter the Fourth of Advent.