Our readers sound off on why we shouldn’t trust the ancient Mayans( or their calendar) and a vote is cast in favor downtown pooches—but not their poop.
Don’t Sacrifice Reason
I guess people will latch on to anything to hang their hopes or fears on, especially if it seems strange, ancient or formidable. Remember the Heaven's Gate folks who committed suicide in order to get a ticket to ride the alien spaceship hidden in the Hale-Bopp comet? Really unique reasoning at work there.
Now some people think the world is at (greater than usual) risk because of a calendar? Granted, the Mayan civilization was a stunning development—massively organized, the only written language on the continent, mathematics that included the concept of zero—but why would anyone believe their prophecy, their ability to intuit the ebb and flow of the universe? I don't understand attaching spiritual significance to the Mayan calendar. This was a culture in which sacrifice was a central feature. It seems that pretty much every event required some sort of sacrifice, and all kinds of things were offered to their gods—dogs, birds, jaguars, iguanas, but the hardest to fathom is human sacrifice. There is disagreement among experts as to how much human sacrifice was practiced by the Maya. Apparently not as much as among the Aztec, but when something was really important, a human life was the best way to impress the gods and bring balance to the world.
Why then is this calendar, which primarily guided the priests in scheduling their sacrifice appointment book, why is it given any credibility? Can you cherry-pick beliefs from another culture and adopt them as your own? If you believe in the sacred divination of the Mayan calendar, don't you also have to accept that the universe works in such a way that various gods have different powers and that the way to communicate with them, to appease them, is to kill living things?
I do sometimes ponder our existence, and I can't figure out much about it, but the mystery is deep and beautiful, and I'm pretty damned sure human sacrifice isn't required. I was more fearful that the end of the world was nigh when, as a kid, I had to duck under my desk at elementary school practicing for nuclear armageddon.
As for an astrologer predicting political unrest in 2012—ya think?
Craig Cheatham
Santa Cruz
A Vote for Downtown Dogs
[RE: “Man Bites Dog,” Letters, Jan. 4].html: The SPCA has an adoption center and gift shop at Capitola Mall. The mall gives them the space for free. So yes, there are dogs in Capitola Mall.
Capitola Village also welcomes pooches and their people.
I have been downtown with my dog, and have seen many, many more dogs downtown. I have some great pictures of well-behaved dogs in downtown accompanying their owners while shopping, eating and hanging out.
I don't support dog owners who don't pick up or don't come prepared, but I do support dogs downtown.
Angela Heywood
Correction
In last week’s news story about the Chopra Foundation award (“Limitless Mind,” Currents), we incorrectly described Nancy Ellen Abrams as a professor at UCSC. She is a lecturer. We regret the error.
