An individual has not started living until he or she can rise above the narrow confines of his or her individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”-Martin Luther King, Jr.
During the third week of May, in Washington D.C. over 1,200 patriotic Americans of all faiths and the spiritual but not religious came together for the second conference of The Network of Spiritual Progressives/NSP and to lobby Congress. The activists are challenging the misuse of religion, God and spirit by the Religious Right and the anti-religious and anti-spiritual biases within the Liberal Left.
Authentic spirituality will inevitably lead one to become political. The Network of Spiritual Progressives is a diverse community that is unified by one heart that is broken over the state of the world and our nation. These activists are willing to sacrifice their life, resources and time to the work of confronting the Old Bottom Line in America which is based on greed, materialism, selfishness, power and over consumption.
The New Bottom Line proposes that institutions and social practices should be based on the higher values of love, caring, generosity, and equal human rights. The NSP proposes that the well being of every American depends on the well being of everyone in the world and recognizes our interdependence with all people and Mother Earth.
On May 18th the activists visited their Congressional Representatives to present “A Spiritual Covenant with America.”
The eight point platform addresses individual, social and governmental responsibility for ethical behavior that honors the sacredness of all life. As the debate over immigration was going on in Congress many activists were promoting a rational approach to immigration through a strategy of non-violence and generosity that works to eliminate poverty not with a hand out but with furnishing the means and the support to enable the impoverished to attain a decent life.
The NSP supports a “Global Marshall Plan to use 5% of the GDP of the advanced industrial societies-each year for the next twenty years-to end global poverty, hunger, homelessness, inadequate education, and inadequate health care. This will do more for homeland security and military safety than does sinking trillions of dollars into wars and strategies of world domination that can never work and are immoral…not by dumping money into the hands of corrupt governments, but through cooperation with NGO’s committed to human rights, democracy, environmental sustainability and enhancement and respect for native cultures and traditions.” [Number 7 in The Spiritual Covenant with America]
Many will say the NSP members are all dreamers, but it was dreamers who imagined life without slavery, civil rights, and women’s rights and it was Rilke who first understood: “You must give birth to your dreams: they are the future waiting to be born.”
These ‘out-of-the-box’ thinkers and visionaries will not be satisfied with any short-term political gain. The task of transforming society requires commitment, persistence and a deep inner life. What progressive spiritual activists have in common is a broken heart united over the plight of the poor and oppressed, a commitment to total non-violent resistance no matter what the provocation, and sacrificial lives that offer time and resources to actualize the message Christ spoke of when he proclaimed on the Mount of The Beatitudes, that the reign and the kingdom of God is a kingdom where all beings are equal and valued just as they are.
In a country that possesses 11,000 nuclear weapons with many in excess of 20,000,000 tons of TNT [the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 12,000 tons] yet claims to be based on the Judeo-Christian ethic of thou shalt not kill, is staggering in it’s hypocrisy. The law of Karma is what goes around comes around and the fallout from one of these WMD will find its way back home through water and wind currents and the words of Pogo come to mind: “We have seen the enemy and he is us.”
Mankind is the only species that has the choice of annihilating itself. “Since the end of the Cold War, the world has spent more than $10 trillion on armaments. The Untied States alone spends approximately $100 million every day to keep its nuclear arsenal at the ready.” [Jonathon Granoff, TIKKUN Magazine 9/11/03]
American money proclaims “In God We Trust” but the facts on the ground are that we have become an empire of blasphemers.
Fundamentalist Christians rail against abortion yet are for capital punishment and war. They have narrowed morality down to abortion and same sex marriage and neglect that God is love and where ever there is love: God is there.
If we are serious about a peaceful world we must have a moral agenda that stands firmly against empire building and violence. John Dear, the Jesuit priest who has been arrested 75 times for his peace activism asked Cesar Chavez what he thought was the key to peace, and Chavez exclaimed: “Public Action! Public action! Public action!”
In the ’60′s we understood if one is not a part of the solution, one is part of the problem. Throughout America patriotic spiritual activists of all faith paths and the spiritual but not religious have found common ground and are doing something more than criticizing and whining. Chapters of The Network of Spiritual Progressives are forming from the New York Islands to the Gulf Stream waters for this world belongs to all human beings.
By: Eileen Fleming
Parental Rights – Roles – Responsibilities
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Its Not Easy
No one said it would be easy – the rights, roles and responsibilities of parents have been so disguised and disfigured that they are nothing more than a cloudy haze. Parenthood has been encumbered with so many changes, new laws and rules that it’s hard to perceive what is real and what is not!
As a mother of four and grandmother of seven, my 67 years here on this “ole mother earth” gives me a decided edge on the evolution of parenthood and the affects it has had on our country and on our families.
During a portion of the 60 plus years I’ve been on the inside of parenthood looking out and as my children became parents – my position has been on the outside looking in … My eldest child is a single parent with three children and I’ve experienced firsthand the struggles that single parents must endure.
My youngest child has a traditional marriage; both parents are professionals and work long hours. Their children have non-parental caregivers for a portion of each day.
My middle child opted for an old-fashioned marriage, the mother stayed at home and the father remained in the work force. They are the living proof that an old fashioned marriage can survive in our modern society.
Divorce, shacking up with the opposite sex and addictions aren’t strangers to our family. In fact, we’ve been shaken up and repeatedly tested for weaknesses and yet our family unit remains strong and resilient. My family isn’t unique, no sir, there are millions of other families that have or are being challenged and they too will survive.
Although government and religion is mentioned in this little book – this isn’t a debate about either one. It’s about our children and the pain they’re experiencing due to a major breakdown in the parent/child relationship caused by the “meddlers, peddlers and the gov.
The meddlers are the ones who actually changed the once strong foundation of our Nation; they are the ones who have aggressively removed the rights of parents by attacking all things that are morally and spiritually based.
Prayer has been removed from our schools and as a second thought the Ten Commandments were tossed out of our courts and public places, because it was their right – I don’t think so!
Their strategy for removing parental rights was based on timing and assistance from the peddlers. The peddler’s job(media) was to sell us the propaganda about “self” and the pleasures of life we’d been missing.
(In September of 2008, the news media is still working hard to hand feed us information that has been revised, rearranged and regurgitated in order to evoke a specific response from us.)
This partnership between the "meddlers & peddlers" was a game of chess and after their pawns had a solid position in the Supreme Court and when our government was sitting around with their “pants down” or whatever our leaders have been doing the past several decades – they methodically made their moves.
Excuse my insensitivity, but when our society flaunts a new era about “self” that is harming our children – I get more than a little bit agitated. Children are the future of America; each and every one of them deserve the tools, support and love that America is capable of giving them.
Regardless of one’s religion, Atheist, Mormon, Jew, Christian or other – it’s time to bring morality back to our Nation all for the love of our children. Whether you believe in God or not, surely you will concede that “One Nation Under God” is a basic human right granted to all by our forefathers.
It’s a fundamental right that wasn’t broken and didn’t need fixed: it has been the mainstay and the solid foundation for our country since it was founded. You have the right to believe whatever you wish, but no one has the right to mess around with our Constitution!
Basically, it’s like getting up one morning and saying, “I don’t like the direction the freeway traffic is headed – so I’ll just drive the wrong way regardless of who it may hurt.”
Our country must make decisions that are good for the majority and we shouldn’t have to worry about a few disgruntled bystanders, who spend all of their time chipping away at our countries’ foundation. It’s not about me, it’s not about you – it’s about our children and their children.
Here’s a perfect example of the “meddlers & peddlers” in action. CNN announced to the world that the Republican VP nominee’s daughter is pregnant, wow, so are 750,000 other teens in our US.
Their family isn’t immune to adversity, but I’m betting the father and mother will support and continue loving their young daughter. What this does mean is our news media with some outside help will take this piece of news and beat it to death.
There’s only one message here, “Real people have real problems.” None of us are immune to adversity! Usually, stones can only be thrown so long before they loose their sting!
Hopefully Americans can filter through the media maize make wise decisions this election year. Parents are tired of the same ole, same ole from all politicians – they want the mud slinging to stop.
Idle promises and what ifs no longer satisfy our parents and grandparents; they are starting to take back their “rights, roles and responsibilities.” They want real solutions for real problems and they’re searching for leaders who are capable of leading!
Leaders who can aggressively get us out of debt, revive our economy, provide health insurance for all and the list goes on… So parents, grandparents and concerned citizens, “We can continue blaming, criticizing and pointing our finger or we can stop our “pity party” and get back to the basics of parenthood.
Actually, parents and grandparents are the heroes who can put America back on its once strong foundation, but we need a little bit of help here before the election.
Next, America needs an honest, unbiased news source that will get off the political bandwagon and return to good journalism and editorials. It’s time for someone out in the fantasy world of news to join hands with us and work for a common cause – give us the truth (not a garbled up bunch of crap.)
It’s not the responsibility of the media to make decisions for us, our children or our country. It’s their responsibility to deliver the cold hard facts better know as the real truth!
We’ll do just fine making the right decision and we don’t need them messing with our heads anymore. Next, we only have a few days before the Presidential Election and the candidates should be concentrating(once again) on our broken economy, fuel problems, health, education etc…
We need to know step by step how they will address the major issues that our country faces at this time – promises aren’t going to be a big hit in this upcoming election.
It’s obvious that our candidates in 2008 are playing the old game of “king of the mountain or hill.” The propaganda and candidate bashing doesn’t really help their cause and it’s losing us valuable time and money.
More time is being spent on politicking than on our Nation’s future. It’s time for someone to remove themselves from the vicious political scam and get real! It’s okay to tell us the truth – we’re resilient, hardworking citizens that can support an honest government, but please cut the theatrics.
One more thing must occur before our Nation can get on the road to recovery – parents must retrieve their “God” given rights and become awesome role models for their children.
Fathers and mothers need to become the head of the household again and guide, direct, teach and discipline their children. Getting back to the basics of love will ensure a strong foundation for America and leave a legacy for our children that they can wrap their arms around.
Let’s not allow this Presidential Election to be a fashion show or political popularity fiasco – frankly color, sex or race certainly shouldn’t be deciding factors when we go to the polls and select our countries leaders for the next four years. Haven’t we had enough of the our “Government’s” box office hits that are here today and gone tomorrow? There are 5 other chapters that can be seen onlin for free: http://www.yourannie.com
As Always,
Annie
By: Marcia Wood