This week, my Guru opined that he was unaware of any dominant society that lasted very long that was not willing to adopt and adapt ideas from many other societies with which they came in contact. Not only did the dominant societies with staying power adapt ideas, they were also officially very welcoming of the people who brought these ideas to the country.  The country made the immigrants feel like the immigrants wanted to adopt the dominant country as their home.  (Of course everything is comparative.  No place is completely one way or the other. Not all people in a country exude the official policy of the country.)

I come to the following ideas in contemplating what my Guru said to me.

The power of intolerant societies does not last long.  If our enemies are doomed by their intolerance, why would we want to join them in their doom by being intolerant back?

The ultimate payback for their unwillingness to be able to accept ideas from everyone is our continued ascendancy because we are willing to consider and adopt ideas from anyone.

In some historic periods Islam was more tolerant than European societies.  The Islamic based countries dominated at that time.  It is not clear what is cause and what is effect, but over time the Islamic societies lost both their dominance and their tolerance.

As we become more fundamentalist and less tolerant we risk following in the path of decline that the Muslim countries have followed in the last few centuries.  Is this something we should be proud of letting the intolerant push us into?

If China, India, and other up and coming societies learn the lessons that this country did in our early days, and if we forget those lessons, it should be pretty obvious who might be the dominant force in the upcoming years.

In case you don’t get my sense of humor, let me explain.  When I thought about writing this piece about what Shankerappa (known to many as Hank) said, I thought the term Guru might be an appropriate term given that Hank comes from India. He told me that several of his friends suggested he give up engineering for the more lucrative field of Guru. I am glad he stuck to engineering as a profession and only chose Guru as an avocation. Otherwise, I might not have met him.

I haven’t the foggiest idea what this means in the traditional sense, but musically, there is no question. What on earth do the words to this piece really mean? Musically, it does evoke an emotional response in me.

I do like the first clip better because k. d. lang has such a great voice that I always enjoy. I do not like the second clip quite as much because the voice of the soloist is not as good in some respects that I cannot describe in words. The accompaniment in both selections is excellent. The one in the second clip might even be a little better than the one in the first clip, again for reasons that I cannot describe in words.

Even though Leonard Cohen may have written this piece, the poetry (or at least the rhyme) comes out better in k. d. lang’s rendition.

If you have a dislike for either or both performers, then please skip over the one or ones you dislike.

I hope my introductory remarks didn’t spoil the music for you. Some of my readers require explicit explanations of all posts.

Maureen Dowd’s August 10th column is Don’t Send In the Clones.

As you leave behind high school to redefine and even reinvent yourself as adult, you need exposure to an array of different ideas, backgrounds and perspectives — not a cordon of clones.

I am not a fan of Maureen Dowd as I used to be, but she can still write an occasional column that reminds me why I used to be a fan.

I think this column is very much in tune with President Obama’s address to which I link in the post Obama: Muslim’s Right To Build A Manhattan Mosque

This is an excellent example of how President Obama carries out his oath of office.

Presidential Oath of Office

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.