Who Would Jesus Bomb

Who would Jesus bomb?

Christmas Day, 2009

Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation Peace Vigil

Percival Landing, Olympia, Washington

War is immoral. All war begins with aggression. Aggression is immoral. Military aggression is widely considered immoral, and there are numerous international legally binding treaties established against war of aggression. It is probably unanimous amongst international political bodies that aggression is immoral and illegal. How could it not be? If stealing is illegal, if rape is illegal, if murder is illegal - then how could the most horrendous violence possible - the violence of a war of aggression - ever be considered legal.

Self-defense is one thing. A reasonable and proportional self-defense against immediate attack. But the wars of the United States of America are a different beast. The wars of the USA are not truly self-defense - nor a legitimate protection of "national interest." What the wars of the USA defend is the selfishness and the greed of the USA. The wars are an effort to further international policies of and practices of oppression and exploitation, under which the USA operates. The wars of the USA do not truly defend the national interest. The wars and international policies of the USA defend the corporate interest - the interest of the most influential and powerful (typically multi-national) giant corporations.

War is immoral. For good reason. War is the worst violence known to humanity. War is waste. It is oblivion. War is destruction defined.

People and nations have a right to defend themselves. But people and nations do not have a right - and in fact they betray the rights of all people - when they commit the crime of a war of aggression.

The wars of the USA are aggressive wars - imperialistic wars - wars designed to further the establishment of dominance - of global hegemony.

I believe that the imperialism of the USA, and the giant corporations that are its keepers, is the worst violence known to modern humanity.

But this perspective - these truths - are very effectively kept away from the American people by a revolving door between cultural affectation, and a media structure that feed off of, and create, each other.

There is a horrible myth in today's America, and to a lesser extent in today's world. It is the myth that America is the greatest nation on Earth - when in reality, the very opposite may be true. It may be more true that America is the worst nation on Earth - that America is the world's greatest perpetrator of violence and oppression - even to the point of wars of aggression, conquest and imperialism.

In America, terrible violence is part of mainstream culture. In America, there is a disparity in wealth between rich and poor that is maintained through systematic oppression.

In America, some people make profit when bombs are dropped. People profit when wars are waged. People profit from all sorts of harmful, destructive and violent economic (and anti-economic) activities!

So, really, I ask you to please answer this question: who would Jesus bomb?

Health Care for ALL

Another concrete step that President Obama and the Executive Administration, and Congress, could take is to provide health care for all.

Health Care for ALL

A Sustainable Prosperity for All People

It is so sad that people put economic self-interest ahead of concern for the well-being of others. It has always been immoral to oppress, to exploit, to harm and injure, to enslave, to in any way put down others - either for economic self-interest or otherwise.

But while it has always been immoral and problematic - these injustices, however intolerable they were at the time, have never been a threat to the survival of human beings on the planet in the same way that they are now.

Ever since the industrial revolution, the impact of human activities on the world has increased at an ever expanding rate. The human population has grown many times over in the past 200 years. The level of human technology has developed at a phenomenal rate. So that now we are at a place in our development where we very seriously face a level of environmental degradation that has the potential to cast our very own species into a very problematic place.

Members of our species are engaged in fighting wars on massive scales, killing each other over control of land and resources.

In the past these wars were certainly destructive. But until the last few decades, these wars and industrial activities have not borne the capacity to put the survival of the human species in their cross-hairs of destruction.

What we have now is not only immoral, but impending economic/ecological disaster on a large scale. The air, water and land upon which we depend are being polluted. The pollution is of a scale that is threatening - it is threatening our survival on a very real level.

So change is no longer only a moral imperative. It's not only a matter of ethical values. It's not only about kindness and reciprocity. It's about economic reality. It's about survival.

It's sad that it has come to this. People are dying. If humans are so smart, why isn't society set up to serve life - and to serve people? Why do we have a society that is designed to serve capital? Why are we slaves to capital. It's bogus. And the only reason it's like this is so that some few can have power over so many.

People, we need to stand up and learn to take back control of our governmental institutions. We need to take our government, our society, our community, our culture, our lives, our loves, and our families back, to take it back from the giant corporations.

It's not just about morality and doing what is right. It's about survival. I want to confront the tyranny in our society. To confront the tyranny that is killing people, killing eco-systems, killing plant and animal species. Lay it out bare.

This society is a killing society, this economy is a killing economy. This culture is laying waste to the resources of this planet. Mineral resources are being consumed at an astronomical rate. Will our gifts to future generations survive a legacy of profligacy and tyranny?



The moral argument is strong. Society should never have gotten to this point - where people lie, and cheat, and steal from each other - where people abuse, and threaten, and beat up on, and kill each other. It shouldn't be this way. But now there is an economic imperative. There is the pressure of survival. There is the reality of pending energy shortages.

Something must be done.

A friend lent me a book I that I am interested in exploring in detail, it's called THE TRANSITION HANDBOOK: From oil dependency to local resilience, by Rob Hopkins, who is the Founder of the Transition movement.

I tend to think that the solution exists on the local level. So I probably already agree with most of what Hopkins has to say on this matter.

Well that's my socio/political/economic rant for the day.

Hold the Torturers Accountable

Hold the Torturers Accountable

Video in which Cheney admits to criminal activity:


Here's another version of the video, direct from FNS:

Money Driven Medicine

I want to point you to this important film. It's called Money Driven Medicine, and it highlights some of the inherent and deep problems that are systemic in the health care industry.

Money Driven Medicine | Bill Moyers Journal PBS

Laura Nader | When the Rule of Law is Illegal

Hold the torturers accountable.

I had a conversation with my friend Sarah today about torture. I enjoyed it and I am glad that we got to talk. We talked about waterboarding. I think a lot of people don't understand exactly what it would be like to be waterboarded. She told me that there has been some good coverage in Time magazine, and also in Vanity Fair, which has taken a strong stand against what the Bush Administration has done. She also mentioned the work of Christopher Hitchens (in Vanity Fair,) who apparently went so far as to have himself actually waterboarded. I haven't gone through and looked at those news pieces, but it's promising that it's out there.

Waterboarding is very serious. If you can imagine being strapped to a board, and lifted up while laying on your back to have your head dunked under water until you can't hold your breath... and then gasping for air, only to have your lungs fill with water. Well, it is truly horrible to think about. No one, guilty or innocent, should be treated in such a barbaric manner.

We need to hold the torturers accountable. For the welfare of future generations; It's imperative.

To the Obama Administration: Please, take a strong stand against torture. Investigate to find out if US operatives are still conducting torture (in any form.) And if there is any torture occurring, then put an end to it immediately.

Also, investigate the Bush Administration, to find out who was torturing, where, when, how, and why. I believe that the people deserve to know the truth. We need a full accounting in order to heal as a nation.

Please watch this excellent interview with Christopher Pyle. It's by Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!. It deals with the problem of military overreach into civil society, and the importance of holding the torturers accountable.
Christopher Pyle, Whistleblower Who Sparked Church Hearings of 1970s, on Military Spying of Olympia Peace Activists

Ethical Investing

I am reading a book right now that has me turned on to the topic of ethical investing, also known as socially responsible investing. The book is titled, The Richest Man in Babylon, and it talks about strategies and techniques for earning money and gaining financial wealth. It's a very interesting read, and it is challenging some of my thoughts about economic domination and exploitation, in a good way. It is clarifying in many ways. I suppose I have probably written about this before. But I am of the belief that financial wealth, even affluence, is probably not necessarily bad in and of itself. The problem comes, when, to garner the wealth and riches, there is some engagement in harmful activities and behaviors.

Of course, we could spend a year talking about what constitutes harmful behavior. And we should. But that's outside of the scope of this weblog entry. For now, let us ponder what it means to be harmful, any experiences in which we feel that we have been harmed - and also any experiences in which we feel it is likely that we may have harmed, or contributed to the harm, of another (whether it be physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual in nature.)

Ethical Investing, the Precautionary Principle, the notion of leaving the planet in better shape for future generations, "Eco-Psychology" (including a study of the psychological impact of ecological degradation), these are some of the hot topics on my mind recently.

Back to Ethical Investment: it seems to me, based on my sense of moral - my ethical values - that investing in weapons, especially weapons of war, is not socially responsible. In fact, I am of the opinion that it is wrong to make money off of the weapons of war. Well, there's a lot more to write about and discuss about this, but I am in a hurry, so I gotta go. Take Care!

Precautionary Principle

According to Wikipedia, there are already some jurisdictions in Europe use the precautionary principle as a matter of policy. It would be great to get the precautionary principle into the legal structure here in the USA. I was alerted to this concept most recently by reading this article, First, Do No Harm, in the January/February 2006 issue of World Watch Magazine.



I found this copy of the magazine at the Free Store, which has all sorts of stuff that people drop off and leave for others to pick up for free.

Here's the Wikipedia precautionary principle article introduction:

The precautionary principle is a moral and political principle which states that if an action or policy might cause severe or irreversible harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue, the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action.[1] The principle implies that there is a responsibility to intervene and protect the public from exposure to harm where scientific investigation discovers a plausible risk in the course of having screened for other suspected causes. The protections that mitigate suspected risks can be relaxed only if further scientific findings emerge that more robustly support an alternative explanation. In some legal systems, as in the law of the European Union, the precautionary principle is also a general and compulsory principle of law.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precautionary_principle
date accessed: July 23, 2009

On the Right Side

"I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."

~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Ambiguous Utopia / Socio-cultural Transformation, Evolution

[update Tuesday 27 July 2010: I just want to chime in here, that while I love much of this song, the lyrics of which really resonate with me, I have lately been questioning the first paragraph more and more. I think it is possible for the mind to control love, in the sense of compassion and empathy with the suffering of others. Anyway, those are my rough thoughts on this. Peace, Berd]

Ambiguous Utopia is a song, the lyrics of which are adapted from a speech by the main character in the novel, The Dispossessed, by the legendary author Ursula K. LeGuin. The melody is by Mark Gunnery, (of, if I remember correctly, Port Townsend, Washington.)

I have been singing with the Olympia Free Choir, and this song was recently introduced to the song list. It's a great one. Come to Free Choir practice! Tuesdays 5-7pm in downtown Olympia, either at the Sylvester Park Gazebo, or northern (all ages venue, 312 East Fourth Avenue.) More information about Free Choir:

http://groups.google.com/group/olympiafreechoir/

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=48861072375

Ambiguous Utopia

ambiguous utopia
the fools

it's our suffering that brings us together
it is not our love, love don't obey the mind
and it turns to hate when you force it
the ties that bind us are beyond our choice

the hand that you reach out is empty
the hand that i give you is empty too
i don't expect a hand to help unless i reach one out to you
all that you have is all that you are
all that you have is all that you give
we don't own anything and we're free

we have no states and no presidents
no bosses bankers landlords or war
no charity no police and no soldiers
and we don't have, very much

we come to the future with empty hands
naked as a child comes to this earth
you can't take what you haven't given
and what you give is yourself

you can't make the revolution
you can't buy the revolution
you can't be the revolution
it's in you or its nowhere

Commentary:

I have been thinking about the concept of revolution. And to be quite frank, there are some aspects of revolution that are really bothersome for me. Inherent in the concept of revolution is a divisive clash between winners and losers. What if it's possible to have a world without losers.

What if, instead of pushing for a destination where there are winners and losers, it is possible to orient our socio-cultural compass(es) toward a world without losers - a world where we are all winners. Just imagine, an inclusive, open, honest, warm, accepting and tolerant society, where everyone can contribute to the best of their abilities, and where everyone can belong.

So, while I support many revolutionary ideas, I like the exercise of comparing socio-cultural evolution : versus socio-cultural revolution! evolution v. revolution

True and foundational transformation is possible: instead of just revolving around the same cycles of patterned abuse and intolerance. True transformation, deep and lasting socio-cultural evolution is possible. Meeting each other as the sufficient and wonderful human beings that we all are, the development of a new kind of respect for all existence is possible. Another world is possible. We are all special, unique, and sufficient. Be Well. Be Peace. Be the Evolution.

The Earth Belongs to Everyone - and to No One

Matthis Chiroux Speaks about War Resistance on FOX News

War is a Racket

War is a Racket

War is a racket. - General Smedley Butler

Call Congress for a de-authorization act on occupation!

General Butler:
...
"In the World War [I] a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows."

"How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle?

"Out of war nations acquire additional territory, if they are victorious. They just take it. This newly acquired territory promptly is exploited by the few – the selfsame few who wrung dollars out of blood in the war. The general public shoulders the bill.

"And what is this bill?

"This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations."
...

Bursting Flower

"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." - Aldo Leopold

Bohemian Grove

While travelling recently in California, I had the opportunity to stop by the Bohemian Grove. It's a place I have long been curious about. It was an uninvited visit, so I wasn't able to enter the private property of the Grove. But just seeing the entrance was quite an experience in itself.

The Bohemian Club hosts an annual summertime encampment at the Grove. It's an event where a couple thousand or so of some of the world's most powerful men gather to supposedly, and among other things, banish their cares about the world. This banishment of care is exemplified in the encampment yearly initiation ceremony, which is descriptively titled the "Cremation of Care." In the ceremony, the effigy of a young child named "Dull Care" is sacrificed and cremated upon an altar.

Here are some photos from the entrance, and more of my thoughts about the "cremation of care."



Caring is a virtue. To care ought NOT to be thought of as onerous or burdensome.

We are all of one human family.

We are, each of us, complete, within and of, our own selves.

That's truth.

There is also truth in power. But it is not a full or complete truth. The full truth, a holistic truth, takes into account the effects of our actions on others. When another, or others, are hurt by my activities (or even perhaps lack thereof,) whether the activities be personal, recreational, professional and/or business, then a balance has been broken - a harmony disrupted. We are all one human family, and no one is left undamaged when we hurt one another. No one is left unscathed. Not the aggressor (or oppressor), nor, certainly, the target (of oppression - or any type of hurt.)

Human beings are to be respected. Not exploited. Not commodified. Not treated as a market for the peddling of wares. Human beings are sacred, and very worthy of being cared for.

Humans are here on Earth to be stewards, gardners, protectors - guiding perhaps, and improving, and beautifying - but not ruling. I believe that humans are not meant to rule over each other, nor to rule over the Earth.

Here's a link to an article by Alex Shoumatoff published in the May 2009 Vanity Fair magazine: www.vanityfair.com/style/features/2009/05/bohemian-grove200905

More information about the Bohemian Grove from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Grove

More photos:


Bohemian Grove "Timber Harvest" Paperwork


Bohemian Grove County Line


Entrance to Bohemian Grove

Culture of Conquest, Culture of Oppression

We live in a culture of oppression. It's all around us. It is something that we can all too easily take for granted - unless we make conscious and concerted effort to make it plain.

It's all around us. Since we were born. This culture has been around for thousands of years. We have the oppressors and the oppressed.

No one is left unscathed or unharmed. No one is left undamaged by this cultural oppression. Neither the oppressed, nor the oppressor.

In some ways the oppressed can be seen as having the luxury of awareness. The ability to see the reality of the situation—this ability is not nearly as available to the oppressor as it is to the oppressed. It's because the oppressor oftentimes must look away, the oppressor must avoid the brutal truth of the situation, the truth that it is they whom are the propagators of such vicious assaults against the oppressed. The oppressed must be maligned, cursed, castigated, made to seem unworthy, weak, insufficient, or somehow the source of the problem. In order to oppress, the oppressor often times must delude themself about the true nature of the situation, and the reason for the oppressive behavior. For example, the oppressed are labeled as terrorists so that the justification of protection or self-defense is used. (This often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.)

Look at the situation in Israel and Palestine.

Many Israelis have brainwashed themselves into believing that they are the ones whom are actually oppressed. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Israelis live in a hyper-vigilant, hyper-sensitive, culture. Jews have been subjected to anti-semitism, and discriminated against, and treated with prejudice and hate for centuries. Yes this is true. Do Jews deserve a refuge state? I think so. —But that does not make it right for Israelis, Jewish or not, to subjugate and to discriminate, to disrespect, and to treat others (primarily speaking of Palestinians here) as if they're inferior.

All human beings deserve to live dignified, happy and prosperous lives. This includes Palestinians and Israelis. This includes all of us. All of us deserve to be treated equally.

The roots of this conflict exist in the systematic oppression of Palestinians that occurred surrounding, and in regard to the formal establishment of the State of Israel.

It is a very common attitude amongst Palestinians that a peaceful coexistence would be possible if only Israel would respect the 1967 borders.

So why won't Israel pull back? Why the ongoing intensive settlement building in traditionally Palestinians Territories? What's the deal? If Israelis truly want peace, then why do they refuse to meet with Palestinians? Why do they insist on labeling their opponents as terrorists, rather than making an effort to acknowledge their common humanity?

The answers exist in the problems associated with a culture of oppression. This is a cultural problem. It's deeply ingrained within our collective and individual psyches. And the hurts caused by this culture cause deep and lasting psychological wounds. The hurts caused by this culture cause disease.

There is so much need for healing. Not only the oppressed, but the oppressors too, are victims of this culture of oppression.

Finally, my suggestion to all of humanity is to work toward the creation of a culture of consent. Abandon this culture of oppression. Do away with it immediately! Leave it behind, and let its desiccated dusts dissolve away, the crystalline structure of social and environmental degradation to be abolished.

Just imagine: a culture of consent and cooperation. Imagine kindness, reciprocity and sharing as some of the guiding principles.

(p.s. This reminds of a topic I want to be sure to pursue, i.e.: What does it mean to be "Pro-Israel?"

So, what does it mean to be "Pro-Israel?"

I argue that to be for militarism and violence towards, and oppression of, Palestinians is in no way truly "Pro-Israel." What would truly be Pro-Israel, and pro-Jewish, would be to call for a breakdown of settlements in the West Bank, and a strong initiative for reconciliation and amends toward Palestinians and all Arabs (and Persians, et al.) To be truly Pro-Israel is to call for a cessation of violent conflict. To be truly Pro-Israel is not to feed the destruction inherent in the military machine. To be truly Pro-Israel we will call to abolish the military-industrial complex.

Israelis and Israel have a right to exist. And so do Palestinians and Palestine. So do Iranians, and Iran. And Iraqis and Iraq. And Americans and America.

All people have a right to exist. All people have a right to organize themselves peacefully and not be subjugated, assaulted and/or oppressed.

We are each sufficient, individually and collectively, in and of our own beings.

So instead of distrust, violence, militarism and war - how about practicing tolerance, truthfulness, peace and compassion, etc...)

(update 3/17/2009: I also want to add a few words about the right of indigenous peoples and traditional cultures to exist without interference and intervention. In the above postscript I wrote that "Americans and America [have a right to exist.]"

While I feel this is true, I also do not want to ignore the horrible history of oppression in America, the decimation of Native Peoples and Cultures, the enslavement of Africans and Asians. This horrible history of oppression is not limited to America, nor even to the West, but has existed in various cultures and societies throughout world history.

So when I write that all people have a right to exist, I mean all people - and all cultures. All people ought to be able to participate in cultures - so long as they are not harmful to others.

The problem we have now is that it is our culture, our people, and our government that are the principle proponents of violence, harm and destruction throughout the world.

Therefore, we are right to resist the destructive tendencies of our gov't.)

Stimulating Economic Change

Instead of using efforts toward economic stimulus to address the symptoms, and to prop up a system which is essentially broken and corrupt —— use economic stimulus to promote fundamental economic change - and economic justice. Move toward a stable, and sustainable steady-state economy. Move toward an economy where everyone has opportunity to live dignified and prosperous lives. Move toward an economy that does no harm - an economy that does not harmfully exploit people or planet...

Yes. It's a radical notion to do no harm. But what's the sense in cutting short our potential. Humans are wonderful and sacred creatures.

We are each complete and sufficient wholly within our own selves...

Let's honor each other and this magical planet. Let's lift each other up. There is another way. Another world is possible. A world of peace, justice, dignity, respect, health, prosperity, sustainability, egalitarianism. We are all one human family.

Yesterday I blogged about the juxtaposition between harmful economic stimulus spending, and harmful human economic activities in general - specifically in regard to the serious problem of ocean acidification. olyblog.net/carbon-emissions-cause-ocean-acidification-unprecedented-time-dinosaurs

Do No Harm

Living in the midst of a culture of conquest it is a tremendous challenge, and tremendously difficult to do no harm. One article I read recently, when discussing US imperialism vis a vis overseas mineral (petroleum) resources, referred to the presence of "blood in our fuel lines" (Alex Ziegler, see below).

If we truly desire to see and live in another kind of world, then it will take a great and sustained struggle. Much work and effort will be required. But it's worth it. And I believe that this is the only righteous path upon which to tread.

In a world where human beings hurt, maim and kill each other - for the purposes of controlling or taking from one another, there is much pain, suffering and misery.

Another world is possible. A world built on compassion, on acceptance and tolerance of personal differences (language, age, gender, ethnicity, race, religion, etc.), on cooperation, and forgiveness.

Imagine doing away with hate, hostility, vengeance and violence. Imagine moving toward a world where community is revered as true wealth in economies that are sustainable and steady state - without the harmful boom and bust of growth based economics.

Envision moving toward anarchical egalitarianism, consensual democracy - holding all the time the ethics of do no harm, and reciprocity.

Harmful economic activities affect us all. Harmful economic activities hurt us all.

I believe that humanity has the potential to create a culture of cooperation, where kindness and compassion are the principles. Imagine a world where people lift each other up - rather than crawl over each other in their effort to climb some insane ladder somehwere. Imagine a world where people are nice to each other - and not mean or degrading.

I know that this is possible. I just know it. How to make it reality and not an ideal... How... Hmmm.... Dreaming.... Dreaming..... Sing a song!