Religious People Must Rally to Restore Sanity

I'd be willing to bet more people have been killed under religion than any other single cause of human mortality.



It's sad that religion, which is the one thing that ought to unite humans is the chief divisor of society. The Latin word, "religare," means "to bind." That might serve to explain the ills wrought by religion. Religion often creates bondage - to dogma, rules and suchlike - as opposed to liberating the practitioner. Religious bigotry created segregation and apartheid, in the latter's case, the Dutch Reformed Church's own twisted theology claimed an African was only "five-eighths human," thus paving the way for justification of whatever would be done to them.



Maybe Dostoevsky was right in postulating that with the deity dead, all was justifiable. This is a pity. Let religion and education unite, not separate. This I'm afraid though is a bridge too far. You and I though can be the difference we want to see in the world (Mohandas K. Gandhi). It starts with each of us.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

The Force That Fights Deep-Pocketed Polluters and Wins

Power to the people should always precede all else. Heroes like Adams, a man I've never heard off, are the vanishing breed of idealists all societies need. Lonely callings like these need disciplined, intelligent and vastly informed practitioners and activists, with a burning vision that guides them.



Disappointing but unsurprised to learn about politics getting cozy with money to defeat bills of environmental concern like in California. In my own nation we have an instance where a tobacco company allegedly flew legislators to a luxury hotel and footed their bills. Result? Defeat of an anti-tobacco bill, and heavy watering down of its original contents.



Kudos to John Adams. Aluta continua!
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Why We Shouldn't Blame the Bullies for the Recent String of LGBT Suicides

I like the general thrust of the article but feel bullies must be blamed. All of us are culpable of something, even if it's the very adult tendency to plant such subtle thoughts in the younger generations minds.



Kids, as someone observed, are poor listeners, but extremely astute copiers. Much of their failings are traceable to actions committed or not. There are many a time when the adults who should know better are directly guilty. We say bad words in kids' presence, we stereotype people, use crude jokes that give them negative education about others, etc. There are however times we step back and do nothing. Just as bad as scenario one.



Apportioning blame is akin to pointing fingers. That is only step one. The next level is to apply the Golden Rule, and as Mahatma Gandhi observed, "be the difference you seek to see in the world."
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

I, Sanchez

The chief problem with handling such a story is that "accidents of birth" (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr), race, religion (not purely one), culture and so on often cloud stories. The world needs more hip-shooters to call things as they are. An organization could well be staffed by seniors fitting a certain profile, but sometimes someone is needed to identify the Emperor as naked. Could be what Sanchez meant to say. I would much rather hear such honesty than be lied to by hypocrites.



We're in a temporal dispensation where truth is rationed out like other resources, and the honest are punished for speaking truths out loud.



The little I know could be summed up by these words said by Rick Sanchez (about Jon Stewart on 01 October 2010): "...I’ll take the word bigot back; I’ll say prejudicial (sic) — uninformed...CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart."



I still feel there's too much sensitivity on matters of race. How about acknowledging that they do exist - we all knew that already - and embracing the next (and harder) step, learning from anyone who appears different. All have something to say, and it cannot be dismissed merely because of differences in melanin (skin pigmentation), or regions where we all hail.



In future, sack the Rick Sanchez's for professional misconduct or incompetence, not speaking out truths.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

US Bases Abroad Trigger Suicide Terrorism: Are There Other Options?

There are two principle things the US needs to critically revisit. One, the world has changed drastically since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and two, cultures are vastly different, with the Occidental (western) way of thought vastly differing from the Middle Eastern orientation.



Each of these is unique, not inferior or superior, and unless the local worldview's fully understood, such challenges as protests and feelings of occupation will justifiably persist. I am not once arguing that targeting bases for bombings is justified, but neither is occupation of a free and proud people.



To lose that tag of perceived arrogance, and that's what it is, perceived, the US should work more on partnerships and ensure win-win situations for all involved. Listening to local sentiments is the surest way to earn respect, with minimal imposition of American foreign policy. We all need all the allies we can muster, as they are the ones who come to our aid when we're down.



In this globalization environment, no one person or nation has solutions to all that afflicts people. Each offers something different, all of which together can be harnessed. The easiest step for the US to take would be withdrawal.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Mormon Prophecy Behind Glenn Beck's Message

I'd be more worried about the fact that older Mormon prophecy, before the American Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, was pro-slavery and thus anti-abolitionism. In fact, the darker skinned negro was said to have been descended from the biblical nephilim (offspring of angels and human females, and fathers of giants like Goliath).



If it's from such history that this megalomaniac is borrowing his lessons from, there is all-round danger from more than just the White House and political goings on. Why can't Beck be stopped once and for all, the tenets of American democracy notwithstanding? Is there justification for continued character assassination and paranoid-driven and unfounded conspiracy theories? He's an insult to American thinking; a blot on the whole concept of Americanness, premised on liberty, freedom and universal brotherhood.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Restoring the Balance

[Entirely from the viewpoint of an outsider to American politics] is it a Dem thing to lean more on Wall Street's help in the country's economic affairs? I see the article linking Carter, Clinton and now Obama to such a trend.



That said, I like this statement, "The old economic models are broken, and a little entrepreneurial populism is exactly what is needed now..." What I see as comprising the National Economic Council is lack of mavericks on board. There are lots of established politicians, especially Obama's kitchen cabinet, but less of mavericks like Lee Iacocca.



Iacocca managed to turn around a relatively small economy (in comparison to US's), Chrysler, and he no doubt used radical methods not necessarily taught in MBA classes. Aren't those the kind of ideas an economy like that of the US needs to jumpstart?



Does this Council feature non-Dems on board? This is not the time for partisan politics as economic meltdown is a reality for all Americans, not just from one political leaning.



What might be needed here is a radical group of true thinkers, unafraid to try. The world does need a fresh infusion of ideas in all spheres, politics, education, social relations, etc.



To quote Art Williams: "Before you are the best, you've got to be good. Before you're good you've got to be bad. But before you're bad you've got to try." Why not?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost