From: Joe (jhmau@sbcglobal.net)
Date: Tue Jun 22 2004 - 18:33:57 BST
On 22 June 2004 5:11 AM despairing gav writes:
gav:
all this occurs against a backdrop of general violence
and murder of civilians in iraq: men, women and
children. some US soldiers have deserted and refuse to
kill anymore but they are treated as pariahs. one
deserter was sentenced to a year in jail recently.
okay so where from here? what can we do, individually? renounce our
nationality? is that a tactic worth considering? how
the hell do we stop the escalation of violence from
reaching 'revelations' proportions? it seems to me that only INDIVIDUAL
action can change our course. can we redeem ourselves and our societies?
how? any ideas (eg thoreau's refusal to pay tax to fund the war on mexico)
Hi gav and all,
joe: i was drafted into the army at the end of the Korean war. Out of the
service I was unsuccessful in becoming a Dominican monk after 4 years
trying. St Augustine, influenced by Plotinus, wrote in his Confessions:
"Love God and do what you want!" A mystical approach to action!
In Pirsig I find a mystical approach to DQ. Individual action certainly.
The Passion of the Christ shows one person's action to redeem himself and
our society. Maybe His action didn't take, and a repeat performance is
necessary. Roger La Porte immolated himself in New York. Maybe that didn't
take either. Or maybe the mystical approach will change science, and our
political structure.
Recently, I voted not to recall Gray Davis, the Governor of CA. My vote
didn't count. The vote is not the best way to transfer authority.
Sometimes the best man doesn't win.
The best man is an individual. How do we recognize him? The East has a
different approach than the West as to how to choose the best man. The
torture of Iraqi detainees will try to destroy the best man, so we can teach
them how to vote. It seems kind of ridiculous. Objective-subjective
science is also ridiculous. Don't give up! Art helps.
Joe Maurer
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archives:
Aug '98 - Oct '02 - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
Nov '02 Onward - http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/summary.html
MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Tue Jun 22 2004 - 22:08:12 BST