I was certainly given much food for thought with the comments to my article yesterday, Eh? Ran what?
I at least began early on with this: "Warning: If you have blood pressure problems, it might be wise to stop here and go read another article." But I see now that I should have added: "And if you don't have blood pressure problems, this article will probably you a few!"
First, I appreciated the responses and getting to hear people's thoughts, on what seems to me like a sort of blatant contradiction: An alleged Christian society waging war around the planet, creating untold grief, misery and havoc, not to mention abandoning the principles our nation was founded on.
[But even regarding the founding of this nation, I would like to re-echo a comment I added to Eileen Fleming's diary the other day, which I titled, "Fly in the ointment":
I like the Declaration of Human Rights, and referred to it myself not long ago in a positive light, and basically I still like it. But there is a tiny little fly in the ointment that I spotted recently. Here it is:
"Now it's my understanding that in the Bible, both the Old Testament and the New Testament, there is no mention of the Western Hemisphere whatsoever-not the least hint. How could they miss a whole continent? ....
They [white men] said, Let's make us a law here: we'll call it the law of discovery. The first Christian nation that discovers this land will be able to secure it and the other Christian nations will respect that. What does that do to the original people, whose land of course they are talking about? We just weren't included. They established a process that eliminated the aboriginal people from title to their own land. They set the rules at the time and we were not subjects, we were objects, and we have been up to this point.
That's why indigenous people are not included in the Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. We are still objects in the common law."
--Oren Lyons, seventy-six year old wisdom carrier and faithkeeper of the Onondaga Tribe, in an interview with Barry Lopez, Orion Magazine, January/February, 2007.
I quote Oren Lyons because I believe his astute observations go the very roots of many of the problems we face today.]
But I digress. Two comments to my original article came in the form of email direct to me, and I asked permission to post them here, anonymously. Permission was granted, and I now post those comments, interspersed with some of my own dialogue.
"How foolish your writing sounds living in a world of violence. Have you ever wondered how long people like you would live if all the good guys dropped their guns & left you easy prey to the bad guys? I'm not talking just our military personnel. Because even our local police would fall into the uniformed killers you're ranting about.
A good example would be all those people in Africa being raped & murdered by the bad guy element. Yes, it would only be a matter of time before one of them shot you or cut off your head for the power rush scum like that gets from real murder of the innocent.
I often wonder why people like you have the right to enjoy freedom others are willing to die to protect, even though you spit in their face & call them names.
I would recommend your next vacation be spent in a few small villages in Africa where all the random killing takes place daily. I suggest you purchase a good weapon & some ammunition with the thought, I Shall Not Kill. Then when one of those black bucks comes at you with a machete & set to cut your head off. Don't pick up the weapon. Tell him how despicable you think he is to even think about killing a nice guy like yourself. I'm sure he would hang his head in shame & let you live."
Geery lived off the grid for 15 years in an earth-sheltered, solar heated home, while his kids learned in school that solar energy isn't feasible. NAPTA hosts a page on Geery's foibles in education, and explains how he got his butt fired from a tenured teaching position. Here's a short clip of his most recent solar contraption; for more on that project, and Geery's contention that the Wright Brothers took a wrong turn, please visit his airship page (hyperblimp.com). Apparently, Geery is the only one in the world to respond to Osama bin Laden, call bullshit on him and George together, and expose them for the pansy ass rich kids that they are. Unfortunately, bin Laden has been too scared to write back and explain himsself; and George is still working hard to finish his goat book.
which is a letter to all the US fathers about the war and about the military.. Granted, we are not at war with Iran yet but the threat did not go away and all I wrote about is relevant to the letter.
I want to put it here. Whoever would like, please, read. I know what I am saying- I am from the place where people lost millions, tens of millions in the last war and the wound goes through each generation after that. Please, the clock is ticking.
by
Mark Sashine (51 articles, 19 quicklinks, 244 diaries, 3462 comments)
on Tuesday, February 6, 2007 at 11:43:33 AM
Bush is insane but it is a wilful insanity, self-developed and nourished. It is also nourished by others. It comes from the years of extreme psychological weakness and immaturity. I bet he never was told directly that he was a stupid moron by anyone up to this day. We have a lot of people like that. Little moronic children with big guns, big cars, big voices. You are a teacher. One of the greatest books children read is 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. I am sure Bush and Laura read it too. At least they saw a movie. But who ever emphacises how courage manifests itself in that book and how powerful a person was Atticus and how courageus was a black man Robinson and even such person as Mrs. Dubois? That book is tough. It is about death. Tom Robinson died and Mr. Jewell and one person committed a murder. Do we show that? Instead of that syropy stuff we say about it, 'Oh, it was so bad but now we are over it..', do we say to the chidren that they can be either like Atticus Finch or Mr. Jewell and both of them are in everyone of us? Or maybe we are afraid that parents will sue us for 'disturbing a self- esteem'? So we raise millions of them, those who were never challenged psyschologically, those who think that suffering is when they have pimples, those who never were denied their 'little desires', those who are wilfully mad. Look at our product. There it sits in the White House. And now it kills our children.
by
Mark Sashine (51 articles, 19 quicklinks, 244 diaries, 3462 comments)
on Tuesday, February 6, 2007 at 2:07:13 PM
3 comments
How would you rate this?
You must be logged in (if signed up) to do ratings.
It's free to signup! And easy. And takes just a minute or two....
Must Read (
Well Said (
News (
Touching (
Funny (
Supported (
Interesting (
Inspiring (
Valuable (
