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Right and Wrong -
04-13-2004, 09:54 AM
Dear Friends,
This last year I was able to meet many friends, cyber-friends, in CT.
One of these Dear friends was Stephen Winspear who hails from London.
Stephen is a delightful and charming man, a genuine friend whom I've
been corresponding with for four years now.
Something from our friend, Stephen Winspear, for flavor and mix...
"This is something my g/f, Celine, sent to me last week:
"It is when we realise that EVERYBODY is *as different as* we are that
we finally feel we are in our place, that we feel that we *fit*. Not
when we are trying to be like *others*, nor when we look at ourselves
like someone who is "not normal" or when we think we are "special".
"The main reason why we might think 'they are all the same' is
because the first thing, and often the only thing we see in them is
what we have in common with all of them; or, what we obviously know
of them such as our history, our groups, our nation, our religion,
our culture... Those areas are also usually what we focus on when we
try to "be normal".
"The main reason why we might think we are "not normal" is because we
are all *unique*, not because we are special.
"The main reason why we might think we are *special* is because we
haven't yet realised that EVERYBODY is as unique as we are."
....
And she'll probably have a go at me for sending it, but I figure what
the hell, it's as good a way of coercing her onto these forums as any
others...
BUT, I didn't bring you all here today to show off my girlfriend's
homework... (Though I did think it was a good intro into one of my
regular "State of the Union (between mind, body & Spirit)" rants.
These days, I'm focusing on the concept of "Being Right".
Of course, it's a difficult topic to discuss with anyone else, since
anybody who says I'm not right, when I assert that the *principle*
problem with our Civilisation is the desire to be Right, kind of
rather proves my point... Which isn't my intention at all (to prove
my point), quite the opposite actually.
Rather, I hope that it might be possible to change my own innate
desire for "accuracy", if I keep telling the rest of the World to
stop worrying about "Right" and "Wrong".
Let's start on the Spiritual Plane - it is after all where Everything starts from.
What does God want?
What does God need?
Isn't it a little bit nonsensical to suggest that an omnipotent (all
powerful), omniscient (all knowing) and omnipresent (always hanging
around) deity needs or desires *anything* from anyone or anything
else?
I mean, don't get my wrong, credit where credit is due: God's done a
fine job of creating an experiential framework for us all to exist
in. I'm not really saying that God has got it wrong - God seems
pretty competent, dare I say infallible?
Humanity on the other hand... Well, 'man-ity really, doesn't have
quite the same track record though, does it?
Back in the midst of Time, when we have only a few Holy scriptures to
go on (and the archaeological record of course...), it appears that
God was well into *his* smiting and wrathing. Apparently, it *was*
possible to fall foul of God, upset him in some way, put his nose out
of joint. And woe betide those who didn't do what *he* required them
to do. Apparently, as the story goes, our God was just a little bit
petulant, and if he didn't get his own way, you had to make sure you
had your fire-and-brimstone-proof umbrella, or things would get
pretty uncomfortable, pretty damned quickly. Oh, and you had to make
sure your wife did as God told her as well, that was if you wanted
her to make more of a contribution to evening meals, beyond being
just a condiment.
Anyway, despite History being pretty much accurately (comparatively)
recorded over the last few hundred years, and certainly in the last
century of the photographic record, it appears that we're still
putting a lot of the unpleasant things that happen to us on the
planet, down to Acts of God.
All of which leads us to retain the improbable idea that God actually
requires something from us: that we can do things that would
displease God.
And all of *that* leads us to the foundations of what constitutes
"Right" and "Wrong"; which in turns leads us into the Fear of *not
being Right*.
Tell me I'm wrong. J
But, the infuriating thing about God is, that *he* doesn't feel
inclined to tell us the difference between "Right" and "Wrong".
Somehow, we're supposed to just guess. And Heaven forgive the person
who guesses "wrong"...
All of which leaves the way open for a whole host of *special* people
to give us their interpretation, their assertion and their deeply
held conviction that what they believe to be "Right", *must be so*.
And boy oh boy do they get angry when people disagree with them.
Now I work in Information Technology, and if there *is* one thing that
I *can* be pretty certain of, it is that *I* don't have *all* the
information *yet*. Just when I think I'm on the verge of forming a
comprehensive conclusion that takes into account all factors and
variations, something else pops up on my web-browser or in my inbox
that turns Everything I thought to be the case, upside down. Whilst
that is very entertaining, interesting and tedium relieving, it
doesn't make for a very stable platform to go out and convince the
rest of the people in my Existence that I should be "Emperor of the
Universe" (my one, unfulfilled ambition...).
Which is a nice segue to take me off the Spiritual realm and into the
more Earthly (Earthy?) notion of politics. And religion.
*Everybody* knows that religion doesn't work. *Everybody* knows that
politics doesn't work. *Especially* religious and political people.
Religion doesn't work, because it exists for a single purpose: to
bring about a positive and harmonious co-existence between all of
God's (the Gods') people. Something religion has singularly failed to
do for its entire History. Actually, the purpose of religion, and
politics, and any purposeful organisation, is to make its self
redundant. Religion has worked when nobody requires it any more: when
we are so in touch with our Gods that we no longer need the middle
man. Politics too is intended to bring around some vague notion of a
Utopian society, where Everybody Loves Everybody, and we've no more
need for politicians (sounds like Paradise to me...).
But religion (the politicisation of Spirituality) and politics seem to
be a permanent fixture in our Society. As if, of *all* the problems
that religion and politics can and/or could solve, the one problem
they have *no* intention of solving, is the pervasive and divisive
influence of Religion and Politics in our lives.
There is very little difference between Religion and Politics these
days anyway - they seem to have teamed up to make a last ditch
attempt to secure a hold on our minds and on our lives. We've
Christian fundamentalists in the White House, and rabid Islamists
running around in caves in Central Asia. They do a good job of trying
to convince us that they are on different, opposing sides, but of
course common sense tells us that they must, by definition, be on the
same side.
Bushy boy is a "War" Leader (at least according to GOP campaign
literature), so what use would we have for a War Leader, without a
War? And UBL's position rests entirely upon the fact that Holy
Islamic soil is being desecrated by the troops of the Infidel -
without the U.S. presence in the Middle East, he's just a rich kid
running around trying to play Robin Hood.
And what about the noisiest representatives of Religion? The Hellfire
and Damnation types, who continually berate us to live Life according
to the way that (they think) God wants us to (and which we're
apparently not living up to...)? What would happen to them if all of
a sudden it turned out that we *were* all living to God's wishes?
They'd kind of be a little bit redundant (their position in Society I
mean, not the individual), wouldn't you think?
I'm going to get a little bit controversial here, because I'm going to
use a stated political policy objective here to make a point. I'm
going to allude to the fact that there may be some "wrong-ish"
behaviour going on, and I'm aware that some people reading this may
disagree and think that the correct (right?) policy is being pursued
(despite all evidence to the contrary).
The situation in Iraq isn't good.
Let's imagine the Bushy boys saying: "Alright, we got it wrong. We
underestimated the consequences of our actions, and it appears that
self-determinism is higher up the priority list of the average Iraqi
than U.S.-style-democracy. We're now going to pull out of Iraq and
hand the running of the country over to the United Nations, who will
most likely use Islamic security forces to try to restore order. It
won't get better overnight, and it will take some time to undo the
damage we've done, but it should stop it getting any worse."
Now, what would be the paramount consequence of that, the consequence
that would be uppermost in the minds of the Bush administration?
Easy: they would be out of a job (probably), come November.
Of course, other consequences would be a halt to the spiral of
violence in Iraq; a few more Iraqi civilians would get to celebrate
the next Ramadan; and possibly, just possibly, the Bush
Administration might find new found respect amongst certain peoples
of the planet, for their honesty and candour. There might even be
some people who might say: "Now *that's* how you set an example."
But, of course, the logical conclusion a lot of people might start to
draw is that politicians do more harm than good.
But I could be wrong.
What this Planet really needs right now, what Everyone needs to do -
and by need, I mean, the thing we could do if we don't want to
destroy the planet we're dependent upon for our survival - is to
transcend the idea of "Right" and "Wrong".
See, it's not about the ideas we hold in our heads. It's not about the
differences in the way we view God, nor how we choose to believe He or
She or It wants or needs us to Live in order to share in the Greater
Glory that is Paradise. It's *certainly* not about the "special"
people telling the not-so-special people how they should be living
their lives.
It *is* about admitting to ourselves that we *don't* have all the
information yet. That it would be the end of *all* of our curious and
inquisitive natures if we did. It is about understanding that there is
*always* something else that we haven't been able to consider, either
because the lines of communication, or our own minds have been closed
to the possibility. It is about seeing the beauty in the unknown and
the uncertain that allows for our most wonderful creative ability to
determine what we would like to create for ourselves, by ourselves.
And it is *absolutely* about knowing, believing and *LIVING* the
*Truth* that God, Everything, the Alpha and the Omega, neither needs
nor wants *anything* from us, His and Her own creations.
Which does unfortunately mean that *we* have to decide what we want
for ourselves, but hey, that's what an imagination is for."
Love and Peace,
Stephen
LoveAlways,
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