A REVOLUTION OF BELIEFS

We are indeed living in interesting times. The years of 2000 – 2008 were years of domination and control here in the U.S. In all my years, I had never experienced the trashing of the U.S. Constitution. Now that we have a new president, there is a new freedom of expression in the news media. This can be good, and it can also bring out the worst in a segment of people.

The inauguration of President Obama was inspiring, and the responses of the public were awesome to view. It was a call for a change for the better. It was an expression of love. Obama has been in office for a little over eight months and now we are a nation at odds within our population.

Many were shocked by the radical strategies the President initiated and fear reared its ugly head. It knocked most of us out of our comfort zones. If one were to reason it as I did, there would be a realization that many of these measures undertaken were necessary to break the hold of corporate world on the people of this country.

It takes a shock to move people out of their beliefs. This happened to me when Nixon's Watergate affair was exposed. I had been a Republican up until that time and this expose cracked my beliefs egg. All of the cherished ideals I had held on to were suddenly stained. It isn't that I was truly naïve. No, I knew Lyndon B. Johnson was a scoundrel from the politics of Texas where I grew up. Nixon's fall from grace was the tip of a buried iceberg and I am thankful that I was able to examine my beliefs and make changes.

What I am observing now after the dust of the inauguration has died down, is the emergence of beliefs and the resentments of the policies of President Obama. The old anger of racism and prejudices has reared its ugly head and is fueled by possibly the Republican Party and/or Corporate World. What better way to chop at the beanstalk of freedom than to fuel the fans of racism, bigotry and prejudices?

An example is the current health care bill that Obama wants for the American people. Who stands to lose if it is passed? I call it the "Big 3" made up of the pharmaceutical companies, health care insurance companies and the American Medical Association. The larger and greedier these Big 3 have gotten, the sicker the population has become. One only has to stand back mentally and observe.

One can also trace the effects of racism in this country back to the days of slavery. It has been ingrained in the psyches of people primarily in the South by religions. Recently there was a news item on ABC News of a pastor in Phoenix, Arizona who vocally calls for the death of Obama. This pastor's website states this and then thee is a place to click on for a prayer that says: Jesus Loves You. Another pastor urges his parishioners to pray for Obama's death. Both of these pastors claim allegiance to the Baptist Church.

I was born in Texas and grew up there amidst the segregation, bigotry and prejudices. I know it well. Fortunately, I left the state when I was 23. This is when my real education began. These diehard racists use the Bible as the word of God. They bypass the teachings of Jesus as if they did not exist. By doing so, they dumb-down the minds of their parishioners.

They do not realize that at the time of Jesus the skin colors were dark. The people interacted with Egypt and at that time, many of the Egyptians were black skinned. One only has to research history. Apparently, what most religions want is to have power over the minds of the people. They emphasize the crucifixion and bypass what the teachings are. They allege that Jesus died on the cross to remove their sins. These beliefs turn people into blatant hypocrites. I understand that Jesus said "woe be unto you hypocrites."

Where is the practice of "It is done unto you as you believe." "Love your neighbor as yourself." "Judge not, lest you be judged seventy times seven?"
Another biblical saying is "As a man/woman thinketh so it is." Somewhere down the line of centuries, most religions have replaced God and Jesus with the Devil or Satan. This instills fear in the minds of those who follow the dictates of a preacher, priest, pope, pastor or minister. When we strip away the bigoted beliefs, we have only fear. Fear spawns hatred. Fear spawns wars. Fear spawns lack. Fear spawns poverty. Fear spawns ignorance.

There must be a change of consciousness in this world for humans to survive. The Earth will survive, as Mother Nature will see to this. We are on the cutting edge and to survive turbulent times we must rise above the issues of war and enslavement. Let this change begin with the women and those men who are open-minded. Change will come with a change of attitudes along with a revision of beliefs. This is the true revolution.

A QUIET REVOLUTION

Reflections:
The week of July 10-14, 2007 I attended the Third International Women’s Peace Conference in Dallas, Texas. It was a gathering of over 1,000 women from 43 different countries and 32 U.S. states. The gathering focused on peace using non-violent and communicative skills. There was no talk of protests, flag-waving, marches or sit-ins. This was a peaceful gathering.

Chaired by the Hon. Leticia Shahani, Ph.D., former Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations and a former senator from the Philippines and Vivian Castleberry, former reporter and editor who founded Peacemakers, Inc. the conference was dynamic. Over 1,000 women from various ethnic and religious groups met together for a common cause to eradicate the atrocities committed against women and children worldwide and also for women’s voices to be heard. I heard horrendous stories of torture, rape, killing and maiming of children from Burma to Africa, the Middle East, and Bosnia. The army of Burma is known as the School of Rape. Most of us in the U.S. cannot comprehend the horrors perpetuated against children and women. It is inhumane. It was a quiet revolution of women meeting to share and learn about the art of using non-violent methods and to connect with other women world-wide.

I learned about the power of technology. We, here in the U.S. take cell phones for granted. In Africa a woman in a small village uses a cell phone to call other villages to find out what the current price for a goat is because she wants to take her got to market and sell it. By using this technology she becomes a wiser business woman. By using the technology of Internet, women can communicate and become educated.

I previously had a jaded view of the United Nations until I hear Gillian Sorensen, former UN Under-Secretary General, UN Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations and currently Senior Adviser of the UN Foundation, a non-profit organization (NGO). Sorensen told us that the UN is not perfect, but we can make it better. I learned that there are many NGOs working with the humanitarian part of the UN and who are making a difference. One such organization is the Rotary Club, which has been working with the UN to eradicate polio world-wide.

There were three Nobel Peace Prize Laureates giving keynote addresses. The first was Betty Williams who was awarded her Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 for contributing to the ending of the conflict in Northern Island. Today, Northern Ireland is vastly different from the time when she saws three small children killed on the streets of Belfast. Williams’ interests today are the children of the world. She has traveled the world to work for the cessation of murder, rape and atrocities committed against children. She is the founder of the World Center of Compassion for Children International, a non-profit organization.

The second Nobel Peace Laureate to speak was Rigoberta Manchu from Guatemala and a member of the Quiche-Maya ethnic group. She was awarded her Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for efforts to end the Guatemalan Civil War that began in 1960. Ms Manchu told us that “We can make a light. We can make a difference in the lives of people.” She is running for the office of President in Guatemala this year. She has traveled the world extensively working for peace and is the author of over 30 children’s’ books.
The third Nobel Peace Laureate was Jody Williams from Vermont. Williams was awarded her Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her organization’s effort to have landmines outlawed through the Ottawa Treaty. The three notable countries who failed to ratify the treaty are the U.S., China and Russia. Williams said that landmines and cluster bombs kill more civilians than those of the military. She has traveled to Dafur and the genocide there is abominable and she called it the Genocide Olympics.

As I listened to these peaceful warriors, I sensed the time is now for all people to look at their values pertaining to life. It is a time to put aside prejudices, discrimination and hatreds. Each of us on this planet is part of the great quilt called God. Each of us with our various colors, creeds and religious beliefs make up the colorful fabric of this quilt. It would be a dreary world if we were all the same. I found this conference, a quiet revolution, a call to look at values and to revere life.