Saving Humanity: Post Two

The use of atomic weapons, however dire, is the least of our worries. I shall give you a list of things that we are doing to the earth and then tell you what I think we need to do about it. This list is not complete. There is much that I could add, but each item is important by and of itself.

1. Overfishing the ocean;

2. Polluting the land, sea, and air with toxic chemicals;

3. Destroying the biota in order to establish places to live and work;

4. Putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere;

5. Filling our space with useless junk; and

6. Allowing the population of human beings to exceed the ability of the earth to provide for them without eliminating other species and their habitat.

These problems are caused by the fact that the voices of those who see them, write about them, and caution us to avoid them, are largely ignored. We move like juveniles into a world we neither respect nor understand. We make toys to play with, and we find means to employ our minds, all of which distract us from doing the things we need to do.

This is a failure on all levels. It is a failure of government; a failure of business and manufacturing; a failure of our food industry; a failure of our health industry; a failure of our institutions of learning; and a failure of our churches and organized religion. Most of all it is a failure of ourselves to adequately educate ourselves in the nature of reality.

In short, we are all at fault; every nation, every people, every race.

The day will come when the earth will lose the ability to sustain us. Already parts of the planet have become wastelands. There is an area of the Pacific Ocean that is full of the debris cast up by our societies. This kind of thing can only get worse.

What is the solution?

WE MUST ALL WAKE UP! SOONER RATHER THAN LATER! NOW!

Saving Humanity: Post One

What will it take to save humanity? My next few posts will be dedicated to this subject. I will take various challenges and comment on them. In Post One we will discuss the nuclear challenge. First let's be realistic. There is no way to prevent the bomb in some form from falling into the wrong hands. It already has. The question of its use is not whether but when. I never thought that I would agree with Fidel Castro on anything, but his recent warning of nuclear war should be heeded. Iran will get the bomb, because the world powers are not willing to stiffen up their combined stance and prevent it from happening. They sort of know its a problem, but cannot agree on how far they need to go to stop it. Israel already has the bomb, and will not sit back and let things mature to the point where their country is seriously in danger of a nuclear strike. Castro is right about that. Castro also points out that North Korea is a problem. He believes that the most likely event will be a preventative strike by the United States. If South Korea and Japan are seriously endangered, he might be right. Add to this the potential of Al Queda getting some form of the bomb and using it either in the U.S. or Europe. Not a pretty picture. What can we do about it? There is no substitute on the horizon other than the U.S., Europe, Russia, and China finding a way to amp up their anti-proliferation policies and make them enforceable. If they don't, Castro may be remembered as the first world leader to sound the alarm. Once the bombs start going off, it will be difficult to find a way to stop them from continuing until our world reaches a point where continued blasting will be prohibitive. A point where human beings may well be cast back into the stone age. If that happens, the current leadership of the major powers will carry the most blame. They are the only ones who can do something about it, and failure is not an option.

Secrets of the Desert

The huge desert that covers the lower United States and Upper Mexico is full of the bodies of young men and women who have tried and failed to enter the United States illegally. It's easy to say that they shouldn't have been out there, and hence, they have only themselves to blame. It is less easy to justify such a comment. Anyone who studies history knows that large rich countries attract immigration even if they don't want it. I don't plan to go into all of the many stories about such movement, except one. In the last years of the Roman Empire, the Goths came to the eastern frontier seeking shelter from the Huns who were pursuing them. The local authorities allowed them to enter if they would fight in the Roman Army. The Goths did in fact fight as requested and did a great service to the empire as a result. Despite this service the Romans failed to reward the Goths with permanent residence. As a result the Goths revolted and their campaign took them as far as the City of Rome itself, which they sacked. Ultimately, the Goths ended up with Spain and parts of North Africa which they held until the Mohammedans came along. Our current argument about illegal immigration is a political matter and is not germane to this blog. However, how we treat people and what we do with them as human beings is important. Had the Romans embraced the Goths they might well have salvaged their empire for several centuries more. Their actions were short sighted and the wounds were self inflicted. People are people regardless of where they were born and why they act as they do. Ignore their humanity at your peril. Immigration is not simply a political issue, it is also a moral issue. The desire of a poor man who was born in a poor country to want to better himself may be inconvenient to those who already have prosperity, but it is not unforeseeable. When he ends up dead in the desert, his death is not insignificant nor un-avoidable. God's eyes see much further than our eyes. Let's look at the immigration problem through God's eyes. No more bodies in the desert. There are enough of them there already.

Organized Religion

I have no problem with organized religion as an "idea." My problem rests in the application of organized religion. My experience has been that when you get a group of people together the tendency is for the least acceptable ideas to bob to the top. This is especially true now that the forces of social rather than spiritual concepts have infiltrated the Christian Church and made it into a political rather than a religious entity. To be a Christian today is to find yourself ranged against many social causes that you don't like. I could name them, but it is not necessary. You know them all very well without my stating them. Ann Rice did a better job than I could do in setting them out. To be spiritual does not require membership in a church. To understand God, it is necessary to use metaphor since God is beyond our understanding any other way. The Bible is not the final word of God. If it were so, trillions of human beings who are not Christian would be automatically doomed by its repressive dogma. I cannot and will not accept that God thinks in that fashion. This doesn't mean that the Bible has no value. It is probably one of the most important books in history. It is simply not the beginning and the end of all knowledge. God is inclusive, not the angry, hostile, being who wants to send most human beings to a lake of fire. His mantra is the Golden Rule, and the sooner we learn to apply it fully, the sooner our lives will improve and life will become far less stressful. The burden is on each of us individually to do so. We are our brother and sister's keeper. The Golden Rule is not optional. It is the law of the universe. Go to church if you must, but do not fall into the trap of letting the closed minds rule your thoughts. You are better than that.

Bad Acts

The discussion of human faults is one of the most lucrative subjects that you can engage in. Books, TV shows, newspaper articles, magazines, and internet gossip are all full of stories of people who have done something criminal or socially unacceptable. We have the false belief that God reads all of these articles, etc. and is directly involved in the punishment of bad behavior. Not so! The rules of the road are automatic. When you hurt somebody, small or large in extent, you will ultimately receive the same treatment back. This is called Karma. God is more interested in how you overcome the tendency to commit such acts. What God seeks in human affairs is balance. The Golden Rule is the ultimate rule in regard to balance. It is not optional. Karma sees to that. What does this mean to us? Everything! When you get angry at your neighbor over his misconduct, it is necessary to forgive him before you attempt to judge him. The Native Americans had no prisons. The same crimes were committed, but they lacked the means to punish people as we have now. This does not mean that their system was better than ours. They could be and were extremely cruel in some of their punishments. However, they could not afford to get rid of some of the most effective members of the tribe, so they had an elaborate system by which misdeeds could be acted upon, and in such a way that nobody was left out. Our prisons are currently full of inmates who are simply sitting there getting worse, and who are lost to our society. Is this the best system? Surely, we need to isolate the sick and the venal who cannot live in society without hurting and killing people, especially our children. These are a small percentage of our prison population. Many of the remaining could be handled effectively by other means. Perhaps we should check out the curing ceremonies of the Navajo. Also we might try doing better with the Golden Rule. Draconian punishment may make you feel better temporarily, but over the long haul, society is worse off for the most part.

Does all of the above make me one of those liberal do-gooders who everybody hates? Yes, and I'm proud to be one. Come on in, the water is fine.

Rules of the Road

Most of us like to think that God is looking over our shoulder. I do not believe that this is a fact. God knows us well enough, and does not need to examine us constantly. He has established rules of the road, and when we violate these rules, he leaves it to us to make it right with a Karmic debt; a balancing of the universe if you will. Many people think in terms of crime and punishment. This is not the case. Karma has to do with the application of the Golden Rule; if we do it to somebody else, we will get it back in return. God doesn't set up a shop to put people into the application of Karma. We do it to ourselves without his help. Right now, people are angry over the sins of the governing class, whoever they might be. When the Republicans are in, the Democrats are mad; and vice versa. Before it was the fault of George Bush, now it is the fault of Obama. The internet is full of anti-Obama screeds, just as it was full of the sins of George Bush. If either side wants to know who to blame for all of the ills of society, I suggest that you stop making rash charges against the other party, and look in the mirror. Staring back at you will be the real varmit. As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and it is us." Think of how wonderful this country would be if people of all political persuasions would just shut up and listen to what the other guy has to say. Imagine if you will that Congress passes laws that are thrashed out by both sides and the give and take results in some pretty good legislation. Legislation that both sides are responsible for. Karma needs a little rest in these strange times. Perhaps it is time that we take care of Karma before it takes care of us.

Ozymandias

For those of you who have read the poem by Shelley, you will know that the great Ozymandias is a King of Kings who ruled his domain in ancient times with an iron fist. He left stone monuments of his rule which only mocked him in their desolation and ruin. Why is this important? Every age has its great men and women. We all like to talk about our legacy. But what is our legacy? If Ozymandias with all of his power was unable to leave a suitable monument in stone, what chance has any of us to equal his feat? To understand God it is necessary to capture the meaning behind this poem. In the universe nothing survives. Nothing. Every single form that we can see, study, and understand will, in time, no longer exist. Perhaps God has a memory. We cannot know the answer to that question. I believe that the implication of this is clear. Live your life as if it matters. Let God decide what memory will follow.