When it was clear that John McCain would run against Barack Obama, I thought to myself, “Can’t lose on this one.” Prior to that, I always felt the opposite, that I couldn’t win given the nature of Presidential choices election after election. I’d seen how McCain had done in the Republican Primary here in NH and how he was treated by George W following it. George, following his father’s example with Willy Horton... In my mind, McCain was a real Republican in the tradition of Eisenhower, Ford and even Nixon. Was I ever wrong!
Choosing Sarah Palin for VP was even worse than George H.W.’s choice of Dan Quail. Recently, we have been treated again to the intellectual vacuum that is Sarah Palin. Even when interviewed not by Katie Couric but by Glenn Beck of all fascists! She didn’t know the name of a single founding Father and this, following the realization that she had no idea why there is a North and a South Korea or what the Fed does in the US government!! This is junior high civics class for God’s sake! The fact that the Tea Baggers worship this cutie is even more scary when it becomes as obvious to you as it is to me that these people pose the threat of a peculiar and recent form of American fascism. They are small-minded and cruel. They are ignorant but without humility.
Senator McCain, your inability to “gracefully surrender the things of youth” has caused you to frantically grab onto your hold on power. To do so, you were willing to insult us all, but especially women, in your attempt to equate a cheerleader with Hillary Clinton in your desperate attempt to wrest power from Mr. Obama. As it was said to Dan Quail, “I know John Kennedy and you sir are no John Kennedy,” so it can be said of Sarah Palin: “We know Hillary and ma’am, you are no Hillary”! Sir, you’ve almost placed us in the position of watching as a completely inept person supported by a group of American fascists take over the Presidency of this country should you face cancer or worse for a third time. Shame on you! You owe us a sincere apology Senator McCain.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
No Forgiveness for Buddhists?
(First, a brief aside...)
Keith Olbermann has demeaned himself and his listeners with regard to his childish gloating over the personal failings of Tiger Woods. While he’d never use this word, Olbermann is a prophet when he does his commentaries. Real prophecy is the willingness to speak truth to power and Keith certainly does that -and- with the eloquence associated with great orators such as Obama, Kennedy, Churchill, Lincoln and others. However, he demeans himself and deeply discourages me when he ridicules people like Tiger for the weaknesses we all have in common. He makes himself no better than the Religious Right when he does so. Truly, for Christ’s sake, stay on the high road, Keith! We need you.
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A couple of weeks ago on Fox News, Brit Hume commented that Tiger Woods would be forgiven his sexual recklessness if only he would abandon his Buddhist practice and become Christian. What? God doesn’t forgive Buddhists now? You can get a better deal with Christianity? What is this Christianity which isn’t really Christianity? This thing that began with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and others really isn’t Christianity at all but in fact, stands Christianity right on its head. And where are the Catholics? The Orthodox and the Episcopalians and the Protestants? Are you too lazy to speak out? Too lacking in faith to stand up?
This whole obsession with the sexuality of Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods and others, conservatives and progressives alike, is precisely what Jesus of Nazareth said NOT to do. Don’t judge he tell us because the judgment comes back upon you. There’s a reason why the silly tattle-tale Christianity has come about. In the 10th century, the Roman Catholic Rite, largest of twenty or so Catholic rites, became celibate in order to swindle the inheritance of married Catholic priests away from their children. At that time, celibacy was certainly the norm for monastic life but it was not for diocesan priests. Once celibate, the priests took a stand against the life force present in each and every one of us, and the number one threat then for the celibate was not hypocrisy, was not injustice, but was the fear of sex. Thus, sex became the number one sin in Christianity and displaced hypocrisy, judgmentalism, and injustice as well as the lack of compassion and the lack of peacemaking which Jesus stated as the number one sins. Jesus mentioned sex twice. The first time was with regard to divorce law and the second was to comfort the woman caught in adultery. (Where was the man? Last time I looked, it took two!) In doing so, he tells her clearly that he does not condemn her. We are non-Christian when we do what was done to Clinton and Woods who are in fact textbook sex addicts suffering from a disorder. We are non-Christian when we overlook hypocrisy, judgmentalism, injustice, inequality, condemnation, racism and the like. And Buddhism? Gautama Buddha, like all great teachers, had a number of favorite sayings among which was this one: “Pursue your salvation with diligence.” If, as is held by the Gospel of John, Jesus was the Incarnation of the Light which emerged in the Big Bang, then the whole cosmos, Earth, life and culture, all cultures and Scriptural traditions are expressions of that One Light. Whether or not Jesus of Nazareth ever went to India is irrelevant. Buddha was an expression of the Light, the same Light identified by Christians as the ChristLogos. The Third Millennium Christian will follow Christ, whether they do so as Buddhists or Christians or whatever else.
Keith Olbermann has demeaned himself and his listeners with regard to his childish gloating over the personal failings of Tiger Woods. While he’d never use this word, Olbermann is a prophet when he does his commentaries. Real prophecy is the willingness to speak truth to power and Keith certainly does that -and- with the eloquence associated with great orators such as Obama, Kennedy, Churchill, Lincoln and others. However, he demeans himself and deeply discourages me when he ridicules people like Tiger for the weaknesses we all have in common. He makes himself no better than the Religious Right when he does so. Truly, for Christ’s sake, stay on the high road, Keith! We need you.
-----
A couple of weeks ago on Fox News, Brit Hume commented that Tiger Woods would be forgiven his sexual recklessness if only he would abandon his Buddhist practice and become Christian. What? God doesn’t forgive Buddhists now? You can get a better deal with Christianity? What is this Christianity which isn’t really Christianity? This thing that began with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and others really isn’t Christianity at all but in fact, stands Christianity right on its head. And where are the Catholics? The Orthodox and the Episcopalians and the Protestants? Are you too lazy to speak out? Too lacking in faith to stand up?
This whole obsession with the sexuality of Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods and others, conservatives and progressives alike, is precisely what Jesus of Nazareth said NOT to do. Don’t judge he tell us because the judgment comes back upon you. There’s a reason why the silly tattle-tale Christianity has come about. In the 10th century, the Roman Catholic Rite, largest of twenty or so Catholic rites, became celibate in order to swindle the inheritance of married Catholic priests away from their children. At that time, celibacy was certainly the norm for monastic life but it was not for diocesan priests. Once celibate, the priests took a stand against the life force present in each and every one of us, and the number one threat then for the celibate was not hypocrisy, was not injustice, but was the fear of sex. Thus, sex became the number one sin in Christianity and displaced hypocrisy, judgmentalism, and injustice as well as the lack of compassion and the lack of peacemaking which Jesus stated as the number one sins. Jesus mentioned sex twice. The first time was with regard to divorce law and the second was to comfort the woman caught in adultery. (Where was the man? Last time I looked, it took two!) In doing so, he tells her clearly that he does not condemn her. We are non-Christian when we do what was done to Clinton and Woods who are in fact textbook sex addicts suffering from a disorder. We are non-Christian when we overlook hypocrisy, judgmentalism, injustice, inequality, condemnation, racism and the like. And Buddhism? Gautama Buddha, like all great teachers, had a number of favorite sayings among which was this one: “Pursue your salvation with diligence.” If, as is held by the Gospel of John, Jesus was the Incarnation of the Light which emerged in the Big Bang, then the whole cosmos, Earth, life and culture, all cultures and Scriptural traditions are expressions of that One Light. Whether or not Jesus of Nazareth ever went to India is irrelevant. Buddha was an expression of the Light, the same Light identified by Christians as the ChristLogos. The Third Millennium Christian will follow Christ, whether they do so as Buddhists or Christians or whatever else.
A Cultural Therapist
I’ve asked people over and over again and I ask you listeners to do me a favor- when you call in, please do not call me a liberal. I am neither a liberal nor a conservative- the whole left/right, Liberal/Conservative thing is a burnt out absurdity which ultimately describes nothing at least with respect to me. What it does is to offer sanctuaries of vitriol to both “conservatives” and to “liberals”, safe houses of hatred to hurl insults at each other. So what am I? I am a citizen of the United States of America and as such it is my right and my responsibility to listen to all the voices in the political cacophony and try to make good choices with my vote. Again, I am a native born citizen of the United States of America and I pledge my allegiance to Truth.
So again, others have asked… What is this thing you’re doing, your books and talks and radio show and the like? I thought about it deeply and concluded that I’m a CULTURAL THERAPIST. A What? A Cultural Therapist, one who contemplates his or her culture and tries to sponsor the ideals of that culture while trying to heal the denied and repressed issues that distort the truth and destiny of that culture.
So again, others have asked… What is this thing you’re doing, your books and talks and radio show and the like? I thought about it deeply and concluded that I’m a CULTURAL THERAPIST. A What? A Cultural Therapist, one who contemplates his or her culture and tries to sponsor the ideals of that culture while trying to heal the denied and repressed issues that distort the truth and destiny of that culture.
Republican Neti Neti
Republican Neti Neti
There is a profound practice associated with Hinduism called Neti Neti. Roughly translated it means, “not that, not that.” The idea behind it is to reject every definition of oneself until one realizes the state of kenosis or sunyata: being emptied of partial definitions of oneself. Examples in my life would be: I’m a father… neti neti… I’m an author… not that, not that… I’m a radio talk show host… neti neti. The definitions can go on into the hundreds or even thousands of defined roles until, all of them being exhausted, I realize- PING! I’m a dimension of the Divine Mind, a child of God. Without further definitions, the Hindu would just say, “THAT Thou art!” It’s not that the rejected roles were not true… I am a father, an author and a radio talk show host. The point is that the definitions limit my realization of being-ness, divine-ness.
So, every day the Democrats present ideas for this nation. Literally, with one voice, the Republicans scream, “Neti Neti! Not that, not that!” Okay… When do they come to, “that we are”? Does that day ever come -or- do they continue to cling to the collective Republican ego at the expense of the truth of the Constitution of this great nation? Laura Ingraham makes a lucrative career of being not-Obama. Neti Neti… not that. Okay- then who is Laura Ingraham? Who art thou Laura?
There is a profound practice associated with Hinduism called Neti Neti. Roughly translated it means, “not that, not that.” The idea behind it is to reject every definition of oneself until one realizes the state of kenosis or sunyata: being emptied of partial definitions of oneself. Examples in my life would be: I’m a father… neti neti… I’m an author… not that, not that… I’m a radio talk show host… neti neti. The definitions can go on into the hundreds or even thousands of defined roles until, all of them being exhausted, I realize- PING! I’m a dimension of the Divine Mind, a child of God. Without further definitions, the Hindu would just say, “THAT Thou art!” It’s not that the rejected roles were not true… I am a father, an author and a radio talk show host. The point is that the definitions limit my realization of being-ness, divine-ness.
So, every day the Democrats present ideas for this nation. Literally, with one voice, the Republicans scream, “Neti Neti! Not that, not that!” Okay… When do they come to, “that we are”? Does that day ever come -or- do they continue to cling to the collective Republican ego at the expense of the truth of the Constitution of this great nation? Laura Ingraham makes a lucrative career of being not-Obama. Neti Neti… not that. Okay- then who is Laura Ingraham? Who art thou Laura?
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