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I have not written in a while. I have not been able to form the words to express my utter deflation and despair at the state of our nation and our world. But I am writing now because I need to write today. I am feeling more hopeless and helpless than I have in a long time about my country and the world. I have no idea where this is going and I am going to give it to you uncensored and as it comes out. I do know this: Jesus weeps today. And so do Reverend King and Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa and all the Buddhas and Rumi and St. Francis of Assisi and Ceredwyn and so many others. And they weep because they feel like failures today; because they taught us peace and they toiled and struggled and tortured themselves with self-doubt and sacrificed and bled so that we might learn that loving each other, living in harmony and respect, and sharing the amazing bounty of the earth is the way of peace and blessing. Today in America, the materially wealthiest society in all the history of humanity, we allow our brothers and sisters and babies to suffer horribly and even die for lack of money to buy healthy food, proper shelter, medicines and health treatments needed to live a decent, dignified life. Why? Because as a society we have decided it is better for some to suffer and die needlessly than to require others to share some of their excess wealth. Read that again and try to hold back your own tears. Ridiculous excesses of money over human lives. Our priorities. Jesus and King and Robert Kennedy weep today. Great American flying death ships rain explosive fire on densely packed residential neighborhoods in ancient holy lands, killing and maiming any human who happens to be close enough. Women, babies, men. Yes, even men who take up arms against us are children of the Goddess deserving of our love and compassion. But let’s pretend otherwise and just let it sit like this: we have decided to support certain crushing, burning, killing and maiming of wholly innocent babies, women and non-hostile men, young and old, done nonchalantly and without expression of remorse or grief because they got in the way of our pursuit of pride, honor, plunder and power. The United States Air Force Academy is well understood to have become a largely and overtly Christian institution. Its pilots kill many more innocents to get a few unilaterally designated enemies. Jesus said, "kill your enemies and take as many innocents as you need to make sure you kill ’em real good", right? Fire bombing for the Prince of Peace. Jesus weeps today. We bombed another ancient land, and then abandoned it, forcing it to sell the precursor crop of one of the most harmful drugs ever known to man to generate the money to feed its people. Americans suffer and die from the very heroine our reckless belligerence delivered to our own streets I read in the New York Times today that prices of rice and other staple foods in Asia have risen so high as to literally threaten people’s ability to put food on their families (couldn’t resist), and may lead to mass uprisings. MSNBC told me staple foods in the United States have risen dramatically, also putting the poorer among us in danger of malnutrition in the land of plenty. Of course, famine persists in Africa, Latin American and other poor parts of the world. Then I also read that one reason food prices are so high is because commodities traders are running up futures prices, including the price of oil which has contributed to higher costs for food, to make a quick buck. Here it is again. We have made the following decision: prices for the things we need to survive should be set by people selling pieces of paper back and forth to make as much money as possible before the survival essentials ever make it to the market for us to buy. Money for the few over food for the many. All the mothers and fathers of peace and love weep today. But it is even worse than that. In a world with rising food prices and rising hunger and food scarcity, and with dangerously dwindling supplies of clean, drinkable water, we are literally burning food and the water needed to grow it. Yep. We are taking corn, sugar cane and other crops out of mouths and turning them into fuel to run our cars. Like I said, burning food so we can continue to drive the Hummer over to the 7-11 to buy the pint of ice cream driven across the country in a big truck burning, in part, food. (I owe the ice cream run to a great social justice economist I heard on Alternative Radio a few years ago, but I can’t remember his name). Feed the hungry, if they can pay your price. Jesus weeps. A brilliant, highly capable, well educated and tightly focused woman is running against a brilliant, well educated, highly capable and inspirational mixed black and white man for the Democratic nomination for President. A ground-breaking and exciting development that would leave us not only with a huge advancement beyond our nice talk of racial and gender evolution, but also with a heck of a talented, effective and eloquent President.
http://madnessofdivinity.blogspot.com Bruce is 46 year-old father of one, stepfather of three and grandfather of two, who left a lucrative law practice at a large national law firm to work, advocate and write for social justice and equality and find a way to incorporate a spiritual life into the material world. He now struggles along to make a decent living while holding true to his deepest principles in Portland Oregon.
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