Dec 2002 /Jan 2003
Don't
Let The Lights Go Out
Rabbi Michael Lerner
Madison's
Ghost on the Intoxicated Presidency … and its Corporate Support Group
Thom Hartman
The
Global Justice Movement
Starhawk
Frozen
Past and Dancing Present: Our Personal Response to Change
David la Chapelle
The
Consequences of Denial
John Darling
Cashing
in On Cool: How Corporations Exploit Kids and How We Can Stop It
Roar Ramesh Bjonnes
The
Blue Gold Rush
Kayla M. Starr
Feng
Shui: Smoke and Mirrors
Sugeet
Jin
Shin Jyutsu: An Artless Art, Applied With Effortless Effort
Robert Nelson
Foods
that Help Diabetics
Rebecca Wood
A
Healing Principle for Helpers
Peter Moore, MFCC, CGP
Ayurveda
Winter Support
Myrica Morningstar
Circumcision
is a Human Rights Issue
Pamela Jorrick
The
Movie Mystic
Stephen Simon
The
Yearly Round
Richard Moeschl
Cosmic
Calendar
Salina Rain
Deborah
Mokma, Editor
“If I seem to take part in politics, it is only because politics encircles us today like the coil of a snake from which one cannot get out, no matter how much one tries. I wish therefore to wrestle with the snake.” – Mahatma Gandhi
My “default setting” is spending time with family, nature, music—these are the gifts of existence which I value above all else. But my family and the world of nature are being encircled by a reality which is political, and I am compelled to leave the comfort of my home and my garden and delve into a world of hidden agendas and misplaced priorities.
Two of the threads running through this issue of Sentient Times couldn’t be more different. Fascism and Utopia. A right wing authoritarian government partnered with business which abuses the concept of national pride at the expense of a nation’s health and security. The belief that by protecting our diverse ecosystems and communities we can create a world where social justice is possible.
Sometimes when I despair—seeing an apparently never ending supply of stronger nations wreaking havoc on weaker ones; and a minority of rich and powerful families controlling the rest of humanity—I remind myself that there also are more conscious people on the planet today than at any other time in our known history. It should not be easy for the powers that be of this nation to bring suffering upon others in the world in our name.
Planning to invade another country and wage war so this wealthy minority can continue to profit from the continued use of oil—the burning of which is fouling our own nest and threatening our very existence on the planet—is incredibly insane, yet the media does not discuss this glaring irony. Rather than focusing on the lack of substantial reasoning behind the claim that a war against Iraq is necessary the news analysts and pundits focus on the market, and how it may improve once the “uncertainty” of war with Iraq is behind us and investor’s confidence can return. And while the futures of tens of thousands of innocent people in another part of the world are being decided by a small group of severely misguided wealthy Americans, reports of consumer confidence and holiday shopping, and their effects on the market and investor’s shares, take center stage.
But let’s return to Utopia. To another world which is possible—if we think, speak, and see with our hearts. If we choose to speak truth to power. If we demand that our democracy be protected. How can we accomplish this? By continuing to call our congress people and our senators (toll free at 1-800-839-5276), expressing our belief that they should stop the rush to war, that they should pursue all other options. Letting them know that spending between $100 and $200 billion of our tax dollars on an unnecessary war—when there is not a single state in this union with a sufficient budget for education, when more than 40 million people do not have access to adequate healthcare—is obscene. By writing letters to the editors of newspapers and national magazines, and calling television and radio news programs, including those on the public stations, and expressing our dissatisfaction with their self-censored, corporate-influenced coverage which ignores the true costs of waging war for oil. By choosing to live as if all life on the planet matters.
Elected officials do take notice when they see large numbers of letters to the editor voicing opposition, when they receive phone call after phone call questioning policies which do not have the best interests of their constituents, or the planet, at heart. Another world is possible. It requires our hearts, some of our time, and a vision of a caring community sharing the bounties of a healthy planet.
I wish you all
Light in this time of darkness, and the blessings of family and the beauty
of nature for sustenance during these challenging times.
