Fear

I’ve been feeling increasing fear when hearing and reading reports of escalating terrorism in the Middle East. It seems so far away, and yet it is clearly a part of our global dilemma. The radical elements of Islam, such as Isis and al-Qa’ida, seem to be gaining momentum. Their successful use of social media to seduce sympathizers to join their cause, is continually adding growing numbers of discontented people to their crusade for creating an Islamic State, a theocracy, which has no tolerance of anyone unless they pledge their allegiance.

I’m reminded of the Crusades, when Christians did the same thing. Crusading armies slaughtered the infidels. Pope Urban II promised forgiveness of all sins to whosoever took up the cross and joined in the war. Either pledge loyalty to Jesus or die.

I’ve come to a point where I blame religion. It has become a breeding ground for extremism. Based on self-righteous claims of truth, the “crusades” continue their efforts to establish a single faith . . . a single philosophy, a single point of view, which allows no deviation. Its greatest errors are driven by ruthless, blind devotion, and fear is its strongest weapon. The savagery of beheading another human being is beyond my comprehension, and yet, in this “holy war” it is seen as an act of devotion to Allah.

A recent airing of 60 Minutes on CBS began the hour-long program with an “on the ground” look at how Iraq’s Christians are being persecuted by Isis. It’s hard to watch. Innocent people are forced to flee or die. Ancient temples and artifacts are being systematically destroyed under the guise of ridding the land of idolatry. Towns and cities are abandoned with only shambles and dust remaining. It’s madness, perpetuated by soul-less men who hide their faces behind a shield of black cloth.

Ironically, 60 Minutes ended its hour-long program with a segment featuring Neil deGrasse Tyson, a prominent Astrophysicist, proclaiming a cosmic perspective, which could end these legions of armies waging war on other people with the simple phrase, “Stop, look at the universe!” Indeed! Look at our universe! Our small “Blue Marble,” this Planet Earth, floating in a sea of infinity, is our treasured home. How can we be so blind to its beauty? How can we be so narrow-minded to believe nothing is more important than a single point of view? How can we possibly allow the barbaric destruction of life in order to proclaim a singular, simple-minded belief that it’s God’s will?

Yes, I’m feeling increasing fear, but I’m also clinging to hope that good still has the power to overcome evil. However, for this to happen, the quiet masses of good people must become vocal. The radical elements of religion must be shamed, challenged, and overcome. Fear must be dispelled by love. Decent people must reclaim their personal power and bless the world with spiritual light strong enough to overcome the darkness. I’m fully aware it’s easier to say than do, but unless we do it, civilization will continue crumbling and fear will continue rising.

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Everybody’s Gotta Have Somebody To Look Down On

 

Kris Kristofferson, I think is one of the best story tellers of our time: his pallet is music and the colors he chooses are his descriptive lyrics. Almost every one of his songs is a story about life: sometimes tragic and sometimes joyful, all deal with human relationships. One of his songs is about how we see ourselves and how we see others we don’t like or don’t understand. The title of this post is a part of a song he wrote about our human condition. The song title is “Jesus was a Capricorn.” The first few lines read:

Jesus was a Capricorn—he ate organic food—he believed in love and peace—-he never wore no shoes—-long hair, beard and sandals—-and a bunch of funky friends—–reckon we’d just nail him up if he came down again.

Then the chorus: “ Cause everybody’s gotta have somebody to look down on. Prove they can be better than at any time they choose.”

Other lyrics: “Eggheads fussin’, rednecks cussin’ hippies for their hair. Others laugh at straights who laugh at freaks who laugh at squares.

Some folks hate the whites who hate the blacks who hate the clan. Most of us hate anything we don’t understand.”

I think the reason for this human condition is that if we can put someone down it kind of makes us feel a little superior. Most of the time those we put down are people with whom we have a disagreement. Democrats and republicans, liberal and conservative, Protestants and Catholics and atheists, gay and straight, blacks, and whites or Muslims are simple illustrations of the above.   And Kristofferson reminds us most of us hate anything we don’t understand.

During WW2 we were a united country because we had a common foe, the same was true when we felt threatened by the Soviet Union. But when we don’t have a threat or a villain from the outside we somehow have to find one somewhere and so we begin to find fault with each other. “Cause everybody’s got to have somebody to look down on:” and “most of us hate anything we don’t understand.” Somehow our ego gets hooked in the process: it is ultimately important TO BE RIGHT!

The threat from the outside, ISIS, is still not strong enough to unite us and so we are constantly picking on each other and our political system is in shambles because each party seems to be out to get their own way or destroy the other regardless of what it might be doing to the general health of our nation.

Tolerance seems to be the key that unlocks the door so that we can begin to understand each other. It is important to listen to each other, to try to understand one another so that we don’t see anyone who disagrees with us as an enemy and therefore has to be proven wrong. To accomplish this is a gigantic task because our ego gets hooked and most of us might not know what to do if we don’t have someone to look down on: who makes us feel a little superior.

SOMEHOW I think we must find a source within ourselves so that we don’t feel so threatened by someone with whom we disagree. It is okay to disagree it is not okay to diminish or put down the person with whom we have the disagreement. SOMEHOW we have to realize they are not bad people because we do not see eye to eye. SOMEHOW we have to learn it’s not okay to belittle another person to others. SOMEHOW we must learn we cannot judge another person’s whole life over one incident or disagreement. SOMEHOW we must find the inward strength to be compassionate and understanding.

So what is this “SOMEHOW” thing? Well I think it has to do with seeing ourselves together with others in this thing called life. It means none of us are perfect nor can we fulfill everyone’s expectations. We are in this thing together and can help each other along the way. No matter how long we live we are still novices at this thing call life and we learn as we go and we can help each other along the way and if we really strive to do this, we won’t need someone to look down on to make us feel better about ourselves.

Jesus put it like this: “love one other as I have loved you.”

You probably knew I would throw in something like this.     

                                                                       

                                                                          

 

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New Children’s Story

(A post from Mocha) The Magic Maze is book five in my Andy & Logan Adventures series. While visiting their grandparents in Seattle, Andy and Logan enjoy an adventure exploring a corn maze in the shape of Washington State. It’s all well and good until some rather bazaar and unusual things begin happening. They wonder if they’ll ever find their way out of the maze.

Stories in this series are only in an e-book format, appropriate for children in the 7 – 10 age range, or 4th – 6th grade level. They are short stories full of fantasy and adventure.

Use the following link to view the book in the Amazon Kindle Store.

http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Maze-Andy-Logan-Adventures-ebook/dp/B00V7BB2AS/

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An Emotional Tumble

  (This post is by “Mocha” and intended to raise awareness.)

A few days ago a computer “hacker” invaded our privacy and caused an emotional tumble. Previously, I had heard stories of others, who suffered a similar fate, but had no idea how stressful such an experience can be. We’ve had to rebuild our sense of security and recreate our privacy.

As I post this short article, all is well. We’ve done what we needed to do and are beginning to rest our troubled minds. It raises the very sensitive issue of trust.

Our interface with the rest of the world is basically trusting. Personally, I rely on honesty and integrity as a given, but now this trust has been broken. I feel skeptical and even suspicious of Internet communications, which may seem innocent and unassuming. I’m intending to use much more common sense than before and to be more cautious. Hopefully, this will steady the course and calm the turbulence.

For my part, I will be even more thoughtful about my allegiance to “The Four Agreements” skillfully given by Don Miguel Ruiz in his book by that title. I will attempt to be impeccable with my word, try not to take things personally, avoid making assumptions, and always do my best. However, I shall also attempt to be wise in my judgments and avoid making “knee jerk” decisions.

It’s this latter commitment, which hinges on trust. Being overly trusting is also being overly vulnerable. Wisdom is clearly seeing possibilities on both sides of the behavior spectrum. Thankfully, the majority of our interactions exemplify trusting behavior and an intent to be helpful. However, there will always be occasions when this intent is a deception. That was the case for us when this incident occurred, and we were wounded. Balance is weighing both sides and being aware how easily the scales can tip unfairly.

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