From: Oldehippie1947@aol.com
Date: Wed Oct 16 2002 - 02:08:29 BST
I love this topic. Maybe because finally I believe I can make a significant
contribution. So thanks for suggesting it.
One of the characteristics of the Roman Empire that is so like America today,
(especially in the western European form of Christianity) was the use of
marginalizing people who were different, to coerce conformity to the system
and static quality. That is my first attempt at MoQish so I hope I got it
right, but I have no doubt I will be corrected if wrong, however, I'll tell
you beforehand that that is one of the reasons I enjoy this site. So Jesus
lived under that same oppression we live with. He was teaching dynamic
quality telling society how to remove that yoke of oppression. And it is the
same method we must use if we are ever to lift our own oppression.
H e was big on do not judge one another because it is the act of judging the
value of another human being that creates this violence, the violence of
coerced conformity. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with
conformity if you freely choose it, but coercion is a form of violence. Which
is why we live with unhealthy levels of stress, Stress is just another word
we use to disguise the true nature of it, which is that it is a form of
violence and I'll tell you why. If you are marginalized by a powerful enough
segment of the population you will be denied equal access to the social and
economic benefits that society has to offer. In other words you become a part
of the poor and homeless population. An important part of Gandhi's teaching
was, "Poverty is the worst form of violence." If you are poor in America you
will lack addaquit nutrition, access to equal healthcare, and less time,
energy and optimism to maintain healthy lifestyles, not to mention the
emotional impact of living 24/7 with the level of violence from poverty they
do.
If you have a problem believing judging the value of another human being,
(note that I said human being not specific behaviors that are an infringement
to others whether that infringement be rude behavior or killing millions of
Jews.) There is a world of difference between the two. Here is another
perspective. In the People's Almanac, (can find this on the web under
People's Almanac,) The tell about a poll that was taken years ago asking
people to rank their worst fears. The number one item that most people feared
was public speaking. Now, I've been a public speaker for years and the only
thing that I can credit this fear to is the fact that you are being judged by
all those people. The natural normal emotional reaction to violence is fear,
anger and confusion. Judging others is an act of violence. A little truism
IMO, I concocted goes, All violence is related, violence breeds violence and
violence tends to escalate. I'm suggesting here, if you think about it,
America is in a cycle of violence no different than the cycle of violence in
an abusive relationship. However, before you think I'm talking gloom and
doom, It is human nature to alleviate violence. It is human nature, (as
carried out in the collective consciousness), to seek the highest level of
order and synchronicity within the environment in which we are in. It is
violence acting on our most basic human nature that is the driving force to
evolution. Including the evolution of the mind. We are at a marvelous time in
the history of homo sapien. Our mind, (collectively and individually) is
evolving to a new level of thinking and it is what Pirsig identified as being
between the horns in his metaphor of the horn's of the bull representing
scientific thinking vs romantic thinking. And this thinking I call empathic
rationality.
I will probably add to this later but damn if my fingers don't feel like they
are ready to fall off.
Darrell
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