Oil, profits, and God’s green earth

I received a mailing from my financial advisor recently, in which he admonished the Obama administration for its lackluster jobs plan, which didn’t include anything which would stimulate or benefit the financial market.  https://www.flexibleplan.com/hotline/hotline.html

As an example, last week I suggested that a new energy program to develop oil and natural gas in this country would be such a program. We sorely need relief from sending all of our treasure to the Middle East and from the artificially high gasoline prices that are the Obama administration’s attempt at forcing conservation on American consumers. High energy prices are themselves an added “tax” burden and can slow economic growth. In contrast, it is estimated that opening the valve on energy development in this country could create one to two million new, private sector jobs (without increasing the deficit)! And it would probably send energy prices spiraling lower – what a shot in the arm for a stalled economy. Oh well, another opportunity lost.

And stocks headed lower.

With regards to this newsletter, I wish to take issue with several points in this article. First of all, you say “all of our treasure” is going to the Middle East.  Let me tell you, sir, your idea of treasure is entirely wrong.

I am the owner of a small business that serves a national niche market of other small businesses, whose end customers are families with children. My market, like that of any market dependent upon a free flowing and abundant supply of disposable income, has been severely negatively impacted by the high gas prices we have been experiencing since before Obama became president. For those few at the top with great financial means, the high gas prices have been unfelt, and even appreciated: a boon to your portfolio. But for the vast majority of the shrinking middle- to lower-class, the high gas prices have spelled doom. For you to blame the Obama administration for the high prices of gasoline, when domestic oil drilling was expanded under the Bush administration, with the then-promise of lower gas prices for drilling in the Gulf, is absolutely unconscionable. It is also absolutely unconscionable for you to be promoting further expansion of oil development in North America, when you stand to financially gain from such activity.  Is that even legal, for you to support the expansion of oil production at this time with the Keystone pipeline open for public comment? My understanding of SEC regulations are that as a financial advisor, you are not to engage in such activities to thereby influence the value of a stock asset.

And it is particularly unconscionable for you to promote such activity when our country’s economy is still reeling from the impact of the BP oil spill.

All over the world, oil spills, several dozen a year, are poisoning the water, the ground, and the air, causing huge amounts of economic and physical harm to people and ecosystems on which they — we — all of us ultimately, depend. Whole industries are being ruined, from fishermen to farmers to tourism, and even worse, the long-range health detriments are not even yet realized. Harmful chemicals from the petrochemical industry have found their way into our bodies–and our hair and into mothers milk– all over the world. It is morally reprehensible that a few wealthy people are getting insanely wealthier off the rape of the earth that results in so much harm to so many others, and to future generations.

What we need is to wean ourselves from the societal drug of fossil fuel, to which we have become addicted in the past century, before it is too late, before our closed system of life on this planet is broken and no longer able to sustain us.

I am an Orthodox Christian and my patron saint is St. Basil the Great — who lambasted the wealthy of his day, saying, “if you have two coats and your neighbor has none, then you are thief.”  We have become a nation of thieves. And it is far worse, what we are stealing.  God’s green earth is as sacred a gift as anything else He made.  All of creation is sacred. All human economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment, which God gave to us. If we destroy His gift, if we overwhelm the natural systems which release oxygen, cleanse our drinking water, protect us from solar radiation, build arable soil to grow food, and keep the extremes of climate within livable limits — if we break all of that–then there will be no human industry, no human company, no corporation, no government, no human endeavor of any kind, that will have the resources to save us. Our planet will become another Mars — dry and dead.

I have been voting since 1980 and have been a political independent all of my life. I was a Ross Perot supporter in ’92 because he was the only one talking sense, in warning about destroying the foundations of our economy by giving away all our manufacturing to China and Mexico. He foresaw the immigration problems we inherited from that ill-advised policy, which was a disaster for millions of subsistence farmers whose lives were ruined when big corporations booted them off “their” land, broke up their families, turned children into orphans, and made them refugees all over Central America.

Let me tell you, Obama has deeply disappointed those of us who looked to him for common sense and long-range vision. You would accuse him of “forcing conservation” on Americans? Would that he had but asked us to conserve, as a good leader would have. Instead he has caved in to the right’s quest for more profit, he has bought and swallowed their laudable argument that removing regulations will actually create jobs. If oil companies really cared about hiring people, they’d have taken their record profits and hired telemarketers to do their lobbying; instead, just this week my phone in my home rang with their call to action on the Keystone pipeline — a recorded robocall — not a person on a payroll. Are they paying taxes? Hell no. Yet suddenly, they have more rights than I, a taxpaying citizen have. Meanwhile, thousands are getting arrested outside the White House, to protest the Obama Administration’s support for Keystone.  Conservatives really ought to relax, just sit back and let Obama ride another 4 years — he’s your man. He’s already done a world of good in promoting the conservative pro-corporate agenda.

Human beings have been consuming fossil fuels for only about 100 years. In that 100-year period, we have seen nothing but wars, concentration of power like nothing before leading only to more war and death and destruction, and ever increasing environmental disasters–spills so large and long-lasting no human effort in even one lifetime can even hope to make a dent in their clean up.  And you want to expand this operation???

I urge you, as an intelligent man, to stop for a moment, and take a step back. Look at human history, going back far longer than 100 years. Look at the world you grew up in, what you were given. Did you play anywhere but outside as a kid?  Pick apples from trees? Fish?  Now look at the world your parents were given, and their parents.  Look back further, to their predecessors. What role did God’s green earth play in all their lives, that supported and sustained them?  Honestly, in the history of your family alone, how much abundance came directly from Him, through his creation?

Now think about your children and your children’s children. Forget about the money. Money is nothing.  It is mammen. Put your heart where it belongs — with those you love.  Do you really wish to leave the children a world so polluted that there will be no more trees, no more birds, no more fish, and no more freedom because the corporations will have taken over all the governments of the world? Do you really want American children living, either in squalor, warming themselves over trashcans in the street, fighting for food–or behind bars, drugged, domesticated and useless, in a zoo?  This is becoming reality all around us.  If you choose to live behind your ivory walls where you cannot see, and meanwhile you focus on profiting from the sale of humankind’s “family jewels” — God’s green earth — this horrendous, destroyed world is what YOU will be leaving your children.

Today in southeastern Wisconsin the air was filled with acrid, biting smoke — from fires hundreds of miles away in the forests of Minnesota. We are all interconnected.  Your wealth cannot protect you or your children from this ills of the world. To hide is no solution.

Do you not love your children? Then stop this insanity of chasing the almighty dollar, this insanity of dividing people into left and right, into profiting without sharing, into accumulating massive amounts of wealth, while millions go hungry. Beware: there is a demon at work here, tempting us — you and I — with power, every single day. The true and genuine spiritual warfare: to stop, take off your shirt and your coat, open your kitchen and share — give it all away to our fellow man.

Do what Jesus instructed: put your heart into the real treasures which last: God and those we love. Forget the money. For God’s sake, forget the money. Focus on what you can take with you.  God gave us the birds, who sing His praises from 3 am to 9 am every day with joy overflowing, before they stop to think about feeding their babies. He gave us birds so that our hearts might be touched by their song, and so that we might learn to be like them. He did not put them here for us to destroy them, like Abel destroyed his brother Cain. Fight the demon that lives within; fight that temptation to desire more, to covet, to seek power. The righteous thing is to to become humble and meek. And to demonstrate, to teach and to lead others to do likewise.

I apologize if I have disturbed you with this email. I only hope that in something I have written, I may have touched your heart, and caused you to get out of your bean-counting head, and sink your awareness down lower to the gut–for that is where you will find Him.

With Love In Christ,
Laurel Kashinn

Angels, demons and ghosts in the machine

Did you ever have the experience while working on your computer, of merging with its programs?

Years ago when I used to spend hours creating colorful images and animations, going timeless playing with the animated brushes and amazingly fun tools of DeluxePaint on an Amiga, there were times when the software would execute a command I was thinking, as I thought it. Before I could move my hand and mouse to pick a new brush, for example, the computer would select it. It was always amazing, and it happened many times, not just to me, but also to my artist husband as he painted on the Amiga. We both experienced the synchronization or merging of our minds with the software. In the years since the Amiga died, it has happened to me only once, when I was creating a complex layout with QuarkXpress on the Mac, that I was able to attain that creative flow state of mind and merge with the machine. I wonder – has it ever happened to you?

Our nerve cells, and the biggest collection of nerve cells, our brains, generate and are enveloped in dynamic electrical energy fields that vibrate at specific rates. The fields extend out from our bodies to merge with each other, and with our machines, which also possess electrical fields. In more than 20 years working with computers, besides this “merging” experience, I have also had the distinct feeling that there truly can be “ghosts” in the machine–and angels.

On many occasions I’ve been in a negative, distracted, agitated state of mind, and when I sit down at the computer to work, the machine crashes. Through experience I have learned that when such crashes happen, I need to close my eyes, take a deep breath to calm my thoughts and slow down my mind, to take charge of my energy, and to enter into a more positive state. And then, amazingly, the machine responds, functioning properly. I know individuals whose energy patterns routinely seem to cause computers or even other kinds of equipment to fail when they come into physical contact.

Similarly I have learned that if I am faced with a difficult, emotionally challenging experience with people, whether it is public speaking or meeting with a difficult individual, that if I close my eyes, focus on slowing my breath, and say a prayer beforehand, the outcome will be much easier and more successful. Years ago I used to practice affirmations, repeating a positive thought or idea to myself. That definitely helped, but I have found that taking a few deep breaths, centering my attention inward, and then acknowledging a higher power, asking for help and guidance–in essence, praying–is actually much more effective.

I have also had the experience of what I feels like an entirely independent “presence,” working through the machine.  For example,  I went through a period several years ago when I struggled with a negative mind state; for whatever reason, my ego was feeling threatened, my thoughts were replaying memories evoking very negative emotions of anger or fear. I felt defensive, hurt, victimized.  Usually this would be at night before going to bed. Compulsively, I would compose and send an email, to the relative or friend whom I love but who was the target of my current negative emotions. Then in the middle of the night I would wake up remorseful, even panicked, my conscience now bigger and stronger than my sleep-shrunken ego–over sending the communication, because I didn’t really mean to. I realized that I was to blame for my negative state of mind, and that my words would hurt the recipient, make things worse, not better. I felt sick inside that I had sent the communication.

In the morning when I logged in to my computer, I found that the email I sent had bounced; even though the address was correct, something had prevented it from being delivered. This happened to me several times in the early days of my computer use, and I have always been grateful to whatever force it was that saved me from myself.

Not that it happened every time; like many people today, I have suffered and caused suffering, by hitting “send” without compulsion, without editing, without stopping to calm myself, and review what I wrote from a more detached perspective.

As the internet has grown and people have become linked, in an addicted way, to their machines–to Facebook and to Twitter and to texting– I cannot help but think that unseen forces, for good, and for evil, are out there, in the machine, taking advantage of our mass addiction, and  influencing people as they can, much like my angel helped block my negative outburst.

By the way, I have noticed that these negative, ego-generated states of mind seem to occur most frequently at night, when tired. This would be a good reason to practice positive affirmations, meditate, or best yet, to pray, before going to bed.

Last night, I did not pray.  Just before bed I spent 15 or 20 minutes on Facebook, scanning the many posts and responding to a few.  Then I went to bed, and as I was drifting off to sleep, an image, like a suggestion, suddenly popped into my head: I saw an angry thought and a desire, in a way that was like an impulsive command, to set off a bomb in a public place.  It was absolutely freaky. And I felt it had come into my mind from outside, specifically from the internet, to which I had just “merged” my mind, just prior to bed.

So this morning, I woke up thinking about this experience, and about the teachings of Elder Thaddeus, who is the spiritual guide to our 4th graders this year at St. Nicholas. He tought how critical our thoughts are. That when we read and hear about these horrible stories in the media of random and insane human violence and destruction, that such behavior is very likely fact driven by the fallen one, taking advantage of the unconscious addiction to which we modern humans have given ourselves.  And an idea came to me for how to counter this negative, even demonic, presence and influence.

As so many today know, our thoughts are very powerful; our thoughts determine our lives. And prayer is a form of thought that has even more power, for it calls out to the Creator for divine assistance.*  Many of us practice positive thinking; many of us practice meditation, of slowing our thoughts to a more peaceful place; and many of us practice prayer, and belong to prayer groups. If we were to flood the internet, flood Facebook, with positive thoughts and prayers, perhaps we can raise the vibrational level to be in league with God, with the angelic forces, help them do their work, raise the vibration of the entire world.

It would be interesting to do a broad experiment, and invite to post their favorite positive thought or prayer online, every night before bed. Many do this, but perhaps if we did purposefully, together, we could wage peace.

Every thought expressed, every word spoken, is like a pebble dropped in a still pond. It ripples outword. Perhaps what we need is more silence. The water is churning chaotically and fiercely with so many words. Maybe we would be best served by being still, saying nothing, and letting the waters quiet down.

What makes God cry?

The Blessed Elder Thaddeus was one of the foremost elders of twentieth century Serbia, filled with the Holy Spirit and blessed with many spiritual gifts including clairvoyance. He had a dream in 1987, when he was 73 years old, that he was in a large church, kissing the icons.

Christ Himself appeared before the icon of the Lord. He was weeping. Upon being asked why He was shedding tears, He answered that it was because, when confronted with evil, people fought back with evil.

Elder Thaddeus 1914-2003
Blessed Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica 1914-2003

The only thing we truly have control over — although it is surely a struggle to wrest control away from the many forces that would try — is our thoughts. Our thoughts are so powerful.

Our life depends on the kind of thoughts we nurture. If our thoughts are peaceful, calm, meek, and kind, then that is what our life is like. If our attention is turned to the circumstances in which we live, we are drawn into a whirlpool of thoughts and can have neither peace nor tranquility.

In our minds we conceive everything we do, say, and plan. Without this we cannot do or say anything. Everything first receives its shape and form in the mind; all of our energy is first made manifest in our thoughts. Thoughts are the power that conceives everything in the center of our being (the heart), and when we are united with the Source of life, everything is revealed to us and we are open to all kinds of knowledge.

When a person has the Grace of God, his thoughts are unbelievably powerful, because it is the power of God Himself that acts in us. If we have turned away from God in our thoughts and hearts, then our thoughts can be terrible, even death-dealing, to our fellow men. If we are united with the Lord with a heart full of faith, the power of Grace works in us. But if we have not yet cleansed ourselves from pride and still feel offended and angered when others say unkind words to us, then the power of God in us is diminishing.

From Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica, St. Herman of Alaska Press, 2009, 2011.

Good Wolf, Bad Wolf, and American Politics, part 2

In response to my note correcting four factual errors (See Part 1), Tom’s friend, Jim, succinctly expressed feelings that many of our conservative brothers and sisters share:

I still think Obama is a Jerk. We all have to vote him out at the next election before his crazy schemes are in stone and we loose our Country and Freedoms as we know them. This guy is hell bent on changing us to some sort of Socialistic soceity with him as the head.

Do not be deluted (sic) with his talk and charm.  No truth comes out of his mouth.  Do not believe what he says but see what he does.

Jim

Here is my reply to Jim.

Dear Jim —

An old Cherokee told his grandson, “My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is fear, anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth.”

The boy thought about that for a moment, and then asked, “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”

The old man quietly replied, “the one you feed.”

Jim,  thank you for sharing the fears that you and Tom and many others have expressed about Obama. And I hear you, and I see your fear.

My point is not about defending Obama. My point is about the lies upon which your fears seem to be based. Is fear justified if based upon a lie? Is there ever a basis for fear? What is fear? Where does fear come from? According to all of the great spiritual traditions, fear is evidence and symptom of separation from God. Fear comes when we turn our backs to the light, and choose to look into the darkness. That, in fact, is how we feed the bad wolf. Whether it is Obama or Ronald Reagan or the lady who lives next door we lie about — it doesn’t matter.

My point comes down to this:  Which wolf do you want to feed?

Our real enemy is not Obama or Bush or Pelosi or Boener. Our real enemy is not a political party, an ideology, a system of government, a country, a gang, a group, nor even a multi-national corporation. Our real enemy — and we definitely do have a real enemy — is not an idea. He is not even a human being. One of the greatest victories our real enemy scored was to get millions of people on a mass scale over the past century or so to believe he doesn’t even exist, to think he is a myth. What a strategy!  But he is very real, very powerful, and is evidenced by his methods. He has been around since the beginning, and is known by many names. Our real enemy is the father of all lies. He is the bad wolf, the tempter, the fallen angel. And in these days, he is howling with pleasure, reveling each time anyone takes up his weapons and uses his dark methods, tearing each other apart over petty things like thoughts and ideas, of property, money and power.

You see . . .God gave all of us the gift of free will, and he never takes back his gifts. With free will, each of us has choices to make, every day, in every moment.  The beautiful thing is,  we can choose to become genuine spiritual warriors, and join in the Battle of All Time. The Battle is not out there, in the world, fighting each other. The Battle that truly matters, is internal, inside each one of us–a Spiritual War. It is the Battle to stop feeding the bad wolf, and to feed instead the good wolf.

We become spiritual warriors when we choose to refuse to participate in the tactics of evil — for example, refusing to gossip, spread lies and mistrust and anger and hatred about any human being — even our “enemies.”  We join the Battle by becoming magnanimous, choosing to think only good thoughts –instead of fearful thoughts. We wage spiritual warfare by listening to each other with loving care and concern as if to young children, treating each other civilly and with kindness–instead of with anger. We feed the good wolf by expressing gratitude and forgiving each other and ourselves–instead of casting blame or judging others. We starve the bad wolf by striving for patience, self-control, biting our tongue, tolerating others, and understanding–instead of acting rashly and meanly. And most important of all, we feed the good wolf great big juicy steaks when we practice humility — putting others ahead our ourselves, giving, and sharing, out of love. The practice of genuine humility in effect shrinks our ego, which allows God’s grace to flow into our life, to heal and repair and work miracles. This is how we practice spiritual warfare, how we replace ALL and ANY fear with an unending peace that is beyond worldly comprehension.

Jim, I genuinely care about you and Tom and everyone on this distribution, as well as for all civil authorities. I pray that all of us are together at the end, in His hands, in the light of His peace. We are his prodigal children whom He loves, and He welcomes our choice to return home. That he wants mankind as His Sons and Daughters, and not as slaves, infuriates the fallen one. Make the choice to feed the good wolf, and you join the Battle of All Time.  And remember — the evil wolf — he is just a fallen angel, on par with the Archangel Michael. As much as he’d like us all to believe, he’s nowhere near as big and powerful as God Himself.  God who offers us his Radiant Cloak in His Son, whom we can put on.

May you consider your choices, and may you have many glorious and light-filled days of holy peace, where fear cannot enter in.

With gratitude for your sharing, and with gratitude for your patience with me, a lowly and sinful person, who begs your forgiveness for any intrusions or annoyances I have made this day,
and
with Love in Him,
–Laurel

Good Wolf, Bad Wolf and American Politics, part 1

One of my dear church brothers who is in his late 80s, enjoys sending provocative political emails to his long list of friends, including me. He is ultra conservative, and his emails are usually anonymously written forwards, containing strong negative opinion sprinkled with statements of fact, which frequently prove to be erroneous. When extreme, and if I have time, I feel compelled to respond with factual corrections.

Recently we had just such an exchange, in which the anonymous writer asserts that President Obama inserted into the new health care law provisions of Islamic Sharia law, that will in effect exempt Muslims from buying health insurance, while unfairly forcing Christians to buy the insurance or pay a fine. The writer goes on to conclude, very ominously, that the law is part of a conspiracy on the part of Muslims to take over the world.

“Obama Care allows the establishment of Dhimmitude and Sharia Muslim diktat in the United States . Folks, this is exclusively an Islamic concept under Sharia Law. So exclusive they had to make up an English word to define the concept. Why would our government start interjecting Sharia Law concepts into new broad and sweeping legislation like health care that would control the US population? ….Anyone? Muslims are specifically exempted from the government mandate to purchase insurance, and also from the penalty tax for being uninsured. Islam considers insurance to be “gambling”, “risk-taking”, and “usury” and is thus banned. Muslims are specifically granted exemption based on this.

How convenient. So a Christian would have crippling IRS liens placed against all of their assets, including real estate, cattle, and even accounts receivables, and will face hard prison time because they refuse to buy insurance or pay the penalty tax. Meanwhile, Louis Farrakhan and all other US Muslims will have no such penalty and will have 100% of their health needs paid for by the de facto government insurance. Non-Muslims paying a tax to subsidize Muslims. This is Sharia Law definition of… Dhimmitude. This is not a Western Civilization concept.

Dhimmit has two purposes : To enrich Muslims AND to drive conversions to Islam.

I recommend sending this post to your contacts. This is desperately important and people need to know about it — quickly!

This really is happening in your country. A fraction at a time.

Wake up America ! They’re coming in the back door.”

Here is my reply to my friend, Tom:

My dear friend, Tom, et. al:

First, please forgive me for copying you all who were included in this distribution. I know most of you, and a few I do not. Please know I hold all of you in the highest regard and respect. If this communication were to have been made publicly, at a podium, I would have felt just as compelled to walk up to the mic to correct what are clear factual errors. Errors which, if uncorrected, pose a danger to the loving community in which we are all united. So, out of duty I feel bound to grab the mic here. Please forgive me if I offend you by so doing.

This entry at Snopes, which the unidentified/anonymous author of the email uses to confirm the veracity of his claims, in fact contradicts his conclusion and many of the alleged facts.  http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/exemptions.asp.   Tom, did you actually read it through? It appears that the writer didn’t either, that he simply looked at the quoted copy of contested email, which is found at the top of the article, and without reading past it, construed it to mean that Snopes verified its accuracy.

At least three facts and one claim asserted by the anonymous writer are directly contradicted by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson, authors Snopes article:

1) that the Muslim legal term “dhimmitude” is written into the law. Not true.
2) that Muslims are specifically identified within the law as exempt from the insurance requirement, because Muslims see it as a form of gambling. Also not true, on both counts.
3) that Christians would unfairly singled out to be made to pay a fine or buy the insurance. Not true — the most likely group to be exempted is in fact a Christian sect.
4) the writer asserts that the law will promote the expansion of Islam. Given all of the above, this claim is not substantiated in any way.

The Snopes article says clearly (my emphasis added):

“The fact is the ‘Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’ (PPACA) legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama does not include language which specifically exempts members of any particular religion from health insurance requirements (nor does it use the word ‘dhimmitude.’) The bill contains a general ‘religious conscience’ provision which establishes guidelines under which religious groups may have established conscientious objections to certain forms of insurance and may seek exemption from health insurance requirements”

and then the article quotes the applicable paragraph from the PPACA, which references for definition of religious sect that would seek exemption to section 1402(g)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code, which addresses religious exemptions from paying any kind of tax, including social security.

Bottom line: longstanding IRS code, not PPACA, is what will define who is or is not exempt.

Included in this definition of who might be exempted from the insurance purchase requirement would be the Christian sect Anabaptists (ie Amish, Mennonites, Hutterites) because they are already exempt from paying into or receiving benefits from the Social Security system, because they choose to take care of their own.

Furthermore, the Mikkelsons speculate that Muslims will likely not be exempt under this IRS definition, because they have never  qualified for an exemption from paying in to Social Security. This is because, contrary to what the writer said,  the Muslim community in general views SSI as a worthy charitable action, of taking care of others who cannot take care of themselves, such as the elderly and disabled, and it involves no risk, no gamble.*

So, to summarize the truth, this provision in “Obamacare”
1) does not use Muslim legal terms from Sharia law,
2) will likely grant special exempt status to some Christian sects
3) will likely not apply to Muslims, and
4) will in fact do nothing to advance the “cause” of Islam, as the writer asserts.

As this portion of the law does not go into effect until 2014, it is not yet known who will apply for exemption, and who will be granted exemption.

Clearly the purpose of this email is to spread fear, misinformation, mistrust, and stir up hatred against our civilly elected president AND the entire class of people in this country who legally practice the faith of Islam.

Tom and friends — I believe Christ was right when he said “the truth shall set you free.” Lies are lies and truth is truth; we, as Christians, have a duty to truth. I would ask you, and by extension, your friends whom I have never met but for whom I hold in the highest regards, to please, please refrain from spreading lies. It does not keep us One Nation Under God.

As I have been studying the lives of the saints and the holy fathers, contemporary and ancient, it is my understanding the God’s grace cannot flow into the lives of people who sin. Sin drives God away; he simply cannot come where sin is, missing the mark of being in line with His will. Its sort of like tuning a dial a radio — if you want to tune in to grace, tune in to the frequency of truth, love, and humility, not sin.  Just as we teach our third and fourth graders, always speak truth and for truth; do not lie, for lying is another frequency altogether; what you’ll tune in, instead, is evil.

Again, forgive me if I have offended you in any way by what I have written. Thank you for your time.

With Love in Christ,
–Laurel

*p.s. My personal opinion, regarding Muslims or anyone for that matter, seeing the new health care law as a risk or a gamble:  The only gamble these days is to have Republicans in office who are bent on disassembling the safety net of our Social Security by privitizing it. That would most certainly turn it into a risk venture, if all our social security public trust funds were put into the stock market! Can you imagine the shortfall today, if the Bush administration had succeeded in privitizing Social Security, as they tried to do in the early 2000s?

In my experience, our current healthcare system as it has evolved today, a bloated, bureaucratic, profit-driven mess– already constitutes a huge gamble: that coverage will be denied by insurance companies redefining benefits,that employers will be able to afford to buy insurance for you as part of your compensation, that you will be able to get coverage at all.  Our current system grows riskier by the year; this healthcare legislation, written not by Obama but by a bi-partisan committee which included the healthcare industry — seeks to minimize the risk, through this provision of requiring everyone to buy into it. Just like automobile insurance is, as a way to lower the risk of having uninsured drivers, this provision has the same aim.

This is just my opinion. Thanks.

—  +  —

See Good Wolf, Bad Wolf, Part 2 for a follow up to this posting which I received from Tom’s friend, Jim.

Book Review: A Modern American Orthodox Pastor: The Homilies of Fr. William Olnhausen

As a convert to Orthodoxy, I was delighted to hear about the new book: A Modern, American Orthodox Pastor: The Homilies of Father William Olnhausen, our dearly beloved parish priest. In addition to the joy of participating in the Divine Liturgy and church life since my Chrismation in 1999, I look forward each week to the inspiring sermons of Father Bill. Having spent nearly four decades like so many Americans today, outside of a spiritual tradition and practice, without the loving guidance and insights of a genuine spiritual leader or community, today I am grateful to be raising our daughter within the family of the Orthodox church, and to have Father Bill as our spiritual father. Like the editors, I am grateful to be able to share with others the love, wisdom and guidance offered by this very down-to-earth and very remarkable holy man.

Many say that Orthodox Christianity is the best-kept secret in America, and I agree. With this well-written, easy-to-read book, the secret is out. Within its pages are found insights into the workings of the original, indigenous Christian church, alive with the love of the Holy Spirit in the 21st century, unaltered and unbroken in its worship tradition since the very beginning. “Orthodox” means true, and the title of this book could not be more accurate, for revealed within its pages is a true, modern-day Orthodox pastor. Writing and speaking each week from the heart, Father Bill’s homilies share openly his own personal insights and experiences of his spiritual journey.

In my life before Orthodoxy, I knew few whom I could describe as genuinely spiritual people, who shrink their egos and allow the light of God to shine through them.  Father Bill is just such a person. In 1998 the Holy Spirit spoke through him, touching my heart, when he explained how it is that we come to know God. At that point I was a typical “Baby Boomer,” college educated, secular, intellectually minded, non-church-attending, and harboring grievances against the “church” for its historical record of atrocities, malfeasance, and arrogance. In Introduction to Orthodoxy class, Father Bill explained that getting to know God is like getting to know your spouse. When first introduced, you don’t just jump right in and get intimate. You treat him with respect and get to know him gradually, a little at a time. You meet the family and hear stories about things he did in the past. You learn how and why other people love him. You eat, work, and play together, and get to know him yourself. Genuine friendship develops and you fall in love, not just your head or your body, but most importantly, with your heart. 
 A heart that seeks God finds Him. And those who do find their lives transformed.

This book chronicles 20 years of such transformation, as Father Bill encounters the living God and His saints, both ancient and modern, as he guides his flock to deeper understanding of Orthodoxy and the Divine Liturgy, and as he comforts the bereaved. Trained as a scientist and continually reading and growing, Father reveals that intellect and skepticism play an important part in a genuine spiritual life. He shares how saints have and continue to intercede within his life and direct his path in ways both simple and profound. From his first encounter with our Holy Father Bishop Nicholas the Wonderworker, who founded our parish in Cedarburg, Wisconsin with Father Bill’s help (he basically just had to get out of the way so the saint could do his work) to the modern wonder-working St. Nectarios, who reposed in the early 20th century (Father has met and developed a relationship with the helpful saint over the course of a decade of prayers and annual trips to Greece), Father Bill reveals the living triune God, in relationship, as the Orthodox truly know Him.

In the act of worship in the Divine Liturgy each week, we are lifted up spiritually into communion with God and the angels, saints, and our loved ones in heaven, and when the Liturgy is finished, we take a piece of that heaven with us into the week. Through an active prayer life which we are gently and lovingly encouraged to undertake, at our own pace, we strive to be open to the transformation by the Holy Spirit, to undertake the process of theosis–to become like Christ Our God. The Orthodox church is both a home and a journey, a place and a path, a spiritual hospital that renews the shine of the light of God within our lives and our journey through the world. Father Bill’s grace-filled presence, guidance, and leadership is what an Orthodox priest should be: a true beacon, a guidepost, and a loving refuge along that journey.

A Modern, American Orthodox Pastor: The Homilies of Father William Olnhausen, reveals openly the “best kept secret” of Orthodox Christianity in America today. This book will stand the test of time, speaking to the hearts of readers for years to come. His sermons are inspiring to hear each Sunday, and thanks to the loving dedication of editors James Scarpaci and Michael Huber, now they are inspiring to read as well. May God grant Father William Olnhausen many more years of sharing his journey, his heart and his wisdom with us all.

A Modern, American Orthodox Pastor: The Homilies of Father William Olnhausen makes a wonderful gift, and is available online and through the parish treasurer, Suheil Acra. All proceeds benefit St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Cedarburg, Wisconsin. For ordering information, please download an order form from the church’s website, stnicholascedarburg.org, or email Suheil at s_acra@sbcglobal.net.

My Spiritual Journey, Part 1

We hadn’t talked in years and one day I got an email from an old work acquaintance. We emailed back and forth, catching up, writing about our families, our Macs and our pets.  I included a short note about a period of intense spiritual growth I had experienced in the late 1990s.  Kathy, a very bright and intellectual person, wrote back, asking “what do you mean you’ve been growing spiritually? I really want to know what you mean by that. I canNOT fathom what our culture/society means by spirituality because it means so many different things.”

“It sounds like you are approaching the spiritual from the intellect,” I replied, which is very common in today’s world, and an ineffective way of understanding the spiritual.

Her question reminded me of don Juan Matus, a seer in a line of seers extending back more than 20 generations who knew the power stories of his benefactors’ benefactors stretching back to the time before the Spanish Conquistadores. In teaching his apprentice, anthropologist Carlos Casteneda, he spoke of the change of human consciousness over the past half millenium from right- to left-brain dominance. Thousands of years of ago, humans in their day-to-day lives predominantly operated from the heart, the emotional, gut level, basing decisions on feelings, intuitions, and information from the non-physical plane. Today, most of us have completely lost touch with that side, don’t even realize it exists, and rely almost entirely upon empirical, logical, verbal, left-brain evidence. In the past few hundred years, human consciousness and culture, particularly in the West, have all but discarded the wisdom offered by the right brain. This has led to a serious imbalance in our whole world, what the Anastazi called “Koyaanisqatsi.”

In the Native American worldview,  life is a sacred hoop, a circle or bubble on which we travel while suspended in the spiritual world. At birth we come out of the spiritual world, leaving the “good blue road” of spirit, and begin our journey on the “good red road” of the material world. Spiritual leaders, they would say, are those who walk with one foot in both worlds. As we travel the road of our life growing older, we move away from spirit, but then our journey circles back, returning to spirit. This explains why young children and the elderly are more able to see angels or ghosts or spirits, because they are closer to the source. It is also why tribal wisdom says to honor what both the very young and the elderly have to say, for they have a better connection to the Source of all life, creation, wisdom, and gifts. In the Native American tradition of the northern plains, in order to find the way back to the “good blue road,” it is important to walk in a “holy” way. That means to respecting all life, and practicing spiritual traditions that honor the Creator, traditions given to the people by the Great Spirit through his emissary, the White Buffalo Calf Woman.

The Orthodox Christian worldview similarly sees our journey through this world as a temporary journey, which begins before birth in the Kingdom of God. While we do not believe in original sin in the way the western church does–that man is inherently sinful or evil, and that we were banished by an angry God — we do believe and perceive clearly that the world is a fallen world, a place filled with traps and snares set by the only true enemy of man: the devil.  The devil’s greatest tool is the ego of man and it is the ego of man that destroys a man’s soul, and prevents him from returning home, back to the Kingdom. In the practice of our faith, which lifts us up into the Kingdom, into communion with God, the saints, the angels, and our loved ones on the other side, we strive as Orthodox Christians to be in the world but not of the world, to do battle with the demon by seeing his snares and traps. To sin means simply to miss the mark, the mark being to be like God, in the heart, in the soul, and to undergo the process of theosis.  The biggest ploy of the devil over the last century has been the disconnection of man from his heart, his nous, his soul, which we do by having big egos. When our egos get big, we actually invite the devil in.  As Orthodox Christians, we strive to do our best to keep our souls clean, by cultivating an internal life of prayer, fasting, practicing the sacraments.

“I sincerely do not have a clue,” Kathy wrote, “as to what people mean by spiritual if it’s not something related to the concept of God/internal enhancement of that belief system and the affects created by that mechanism. I don’t mean to seem hard or cold, but I really don’t understand what it means.”

Her question, while clearly sourced in the left brain, was nonetheless a good one. In the world, there are things we can see, and many more things we cannot see. The spiritual unseen world is the source of the physical seen world. The spiritual cannot be accessed through the eyes or the intellect. When Bill Gates says he sees no evidence for the existence of God, it is like looking at an automobile and saying there is no evidence for the existence of an assembly line, or a beautiful painting and saying there is no evidence for the existence of a painter. I have another friend who is a fantastic painter and amateur astronomer, who marvels at the rings of Saturn through a telescope and enjoys beautiful sunrises over Lake Michigan. He, too, cannot connect the sense of awe and beauty he feels, the inspiration that drives him to paint beautiful landscapes with exquisite detail, to the existence of God. It is precisely those feelings of awe and beauty that are the evidence of the divine. That sense of awe is the doorway to our connection to the spiritual, to God.

Personally, I have always had a sense of being connected to the non-physical, non-time-space spiritual plane from which we all come and to which we all — God willing and if we do not give our souls over to the devil — return. Where did my own sense come from? Premonitory dreams as a child preparing me for my father’s passing. A strong sense of being watched over and protected. A clear and urgent voice on the highway one time that saved my life. Dreams in which non-physical spirit beings provide answers to questions about death and rebirth. Having a close friend who is a genuinely gifted psychic. That sort of thing. I’ve always been interested in human potential, interspecies communication, parapsychology, mysticism, particularly Native American, Orthodox Christian and other indigenous cultures, healing by laying on of the hands, the concept of oversouls, and discovering–remembering–the real purpose I’m here. As Sting put it so well, we are spirits, in the material world.

Tire Pressure Gauge for Change

I just want to thank John McCain for bringing to my attention Barack Obama’s excellent suggestion that if all Americans were to simply inflate our tires properly, the country would save a huge amount of gas.
I am writing to report that on the micro level, my experience is that this is very true. My husband and I routinely track our mileage and all maintenance in a little log book we keep in the glove box. It’s something we’ve done for decades now, a practice which takes less than a minute per fill and helps us get a better deal on a trade-in — a little tip my husband learned from his auto mechanic dad, Joe Shinners, rest his soul.
Anyway, last week I drove to and from the Detroit area in our 2006 Honda CRV, a round trip of about 1,000 miles.  The night before departure I checked my tires; they were at 30-31 psi, so I filled them to 35 psi.  Since we got the car last fall, our best highway mileage was 26 mpg.  That simple tire inflation boosted the mileage to 31 mpg!  And that was driving through Indiana at and slightly above posted speeds of 70 mph. I imagine the results would be even higher at the most fuel-efficient speeds of 50-55 mph.
No matter who you’re voting for in the fall, the guy who promoted it or the guy who ridiculed it — do listen to AAA, NASCAR and all the experts, and inflate your tires!  If lots of us do it, it’ll add up to a huge gas savings, lowering demand, thereby helping bring down the price at the pump. If you want to get the best mileage of all, practice hypermiling to reduce traffic jams (it really works!), and drive at 50-55 mph whenever possible.  A little discipline across the board will yield results a lot quicker than new drilling for oil, without the inevitable environmental degradation to our fragile and priceless coastlines.
Yes, we can make a difference!

The Perfect Stranger

For anyone who may be interested in Christ, I recommend the movie called The Perfect Stranger, which we Netflixed this past weekend. A low-budget film based upon Revelations 3:20, it is the fictional account of a modern-day career attorney and harried mother who receives an invitation to dinner with Jesus Christ. Most of the movie consists of their very interesting conversation over dinner at an upscale Italian restaurant in Chicago. The actors and filmmakers were challenged and succeeded in presenting the story, which had very little action, adventure, and few changes of scene, in the most engaging way possible. Watching it provided an enjoyable reminder of who He was, the way to be, and answered many of the critiques and questions agnostics and skeptics have about Christ and Christianity. My 5-year-old daughter sat and watched the entire movie with me, twice.

An Honest Response to 9-11: Address the Root Cause, Not the Symptom

Written September 30, 2001

The thousands of innocent people killed in the tragic terrorist acts of 9/11/01 will never be forgotten by those who loved them or by our nation, nor will the horrific acts of violence which took their lives. This shocking event is still so unbelievable, so extreme, so unprecedented, I cannot help but wonder in anguish, as many are wondering—what on earth could have happened to the perpetrators that they could be filled with so much hatred towards America, and be so incredibly desperate, as to take their own lives in such a vicious and deadly attack?

Upon hearing of the attack, I could not help but recall a deeply disturbing news report I witnessed in 1991. A middle-aged Iraqi civilian man, utterly grief-stricken, crying aloud, his face wet with tears, was being interviewed on CNN by Wolf Blitzer, just after discovering that his wife, children, grandchildren, and parents had been bombed to death by the United States in the Gulf War. His anguish was palpable and I began to cry at his grief—a foreshadowing of the grief I feel this week. And then I shuddered in horror when he shook his fist into the camera and swore angrily in broken English, “if it takes 5 generations we will wreak vengeance on the United States!”

I was chilled to the bone and all I could think at the time was, Oh my God, what kind of “national security” is it for the leaders of our country to tortuously bomb and wantonly take the lives of innocent people in a culture that lives by “an eye for an eye.” That man’s family did not elect Saddam Hussein to power. His wife and children were not responsible for the invasion of Kuwait. He was not even a soldier. They were innocent and it was just plain wrong for them to have been killed. I knew when I saw that news report, and with every bomb that fell on those poor people, hour after hour, week after week, that some day, at some point in the future, innocent people in our own country were going to lose their lives over this terrible and unjust bloodshed.

Back in 1991, I cried when I heard the bombing had begun, and I thought about writing my elected representatives to protest, but I did not, feeling my thoughts would be ignored. I regret now that I did nothing. I did what most Americans did: I kept my mouth shut, got busy with my life, turned off the news, and did not follow up on what has happened since the end of the war. Ours is a free country and I as a citizen have a duty to be responsible — to respond to my conscience. My conscience is grief-stricken today for the thousands of innocent American lives and their distraught families, for the children in our country whose innocence and sense of security has been forever stolen, for the end of the carefree freedom we have enjoyed for generations that will surely now be replaced with fear-driven defensive measures, and for the new wave of hate crimes that has begun in our own country against even more innocent people. I am grief-stricken that I might have done something to help prevent this terrible event.

My point of view is not very “p.c.,” and some may not understand how I could think such things at a time like this. But if I do not speak now and do what I can to try to break the cycle of violence and revenge that may lead to a third and horrific world war, if I do not express my feelings and ideas as best I can, I know I will be no better than the citizens who looked the other way while millions died in gas chambers a half century ago. My conscience compels me to speak my truth at this time to help protect us all—for the next 5 generations.

As in Marketing, Image is Everything and Perception is Reality

After World War II, the United States was perceived nearly universally as an exemplary nation, a savior to the world. Our flag stood as a beacon representing heroism, selflessness, freedom, justice, and good will towards all. Unfortunately, for many in the world, that image is no longer true. Increasingly over the past decades, Americans take their lives into their hands when traveling overseas to many areas that historically were friendly to the U.S. Today it is not uncommon to experience animosity from citizens abroad. To growing numbers of people around the world, the United States is no longer perceived as a strong, loving savior or big brother to look up to—it is seen as a big, mean gun-toting bully that cares only for its own interests.

Something has happened since the end of WWII to tarnish our good image in the eyes of many—to such an extent that our national security is now severely threatened. Many things, actually. The establishment of the Israeli state, while itself a good and noble gesture, was at the same time devastating to the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were pushed out of their ancestral homelands against their will to make way for the new Jewish state and forced to become refugees. I am not saying the Israeli state does not deserve to exist—of course it does. But I am saying that what has happened to its neighbors has been terrible. Experts agree that most of today’s Middle Eastern terrorists are descendants of these refugees, some two, three and even 4 generations later, raised in war zones, disenfranchised from the world, living without even a country they can call home. Many in the media have called the terrorists responsible for Tuesday’s acts “madmen.” Are they crazy, or just desperate? At what point does despair drive people crazy? These are people who have no hope for a future for themselves or their children. Their complaints have fallen on deaf ears literally for generations. Their only hope of making a difference is to give up the only thing they have–their own lives–to rid the world of what they see as the source of their despair: an unjust bully nation that cares only for its own material well-being.

We must practice the Golden Rule and walk our ralk

One of the survivors of the attack in New York was interviewed on a special Discovery report the day after the attack. His story, like so many, was heart-wrenching, and he was perplexed as to why this could have ever happened. Angrily, his voice cracking with emotion, he looked into the camera and told the attackers to “keep your wars over there.” While our government has done many good things globally since the end of World War II, it has also made many, many enemies by failing to do just that—by intruding into the affairs of other countries and bringing war, despair, and lack of freedom to many parts of the world that did not want or ask for it.

One could rationally argue that our government has even gone so far as taking the lives of innocent children for the sake of political and economic gain. The Gulf War to liberate Kuwaiti oil and the ongoing sanctions against Iraq are a poignant and on-going example. The US military and the mainstream American media—which apparently no longer digs deeper than official press releases for the truth—would have the world believe that the bombing of Iraq consisted of highly successful “surgical strikes” against only military and non-civilian targets. However, the 42 days of continuous 27/7 bombing did in fact stray from military targets and resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians. Some sources say more than 100,000 civilians died in those 42 days. (Compare that with the 58,168 American military casualties suffered in the 10 years of the Viet Nam war.) Even more appalling, since the end of the Gulf War, Iraqi civilians, particularly innocent children, have continued to die at a mind-numbing rate and under gruesome conditions—as a direct consequence of subsequent US military and political action.

The trade embargo imposed against Iraq after the end of the Gulf War by the international community for the country’s refusal to cooperate in eliminating weapons production soon led to mass starvation of its people. An “oil for food” program was then set up, in which the Iraqi government was allowed to sell some oil, provided the proceeds were to be used strictly for humanitarian relief for its people. The policy of entrusting a cruel, despot dictator to feed and care for his subjects clearly has failed—the Iraqi government has not cared for its people and the starvation and deaths continue. Over the past 6 years there have been repeated calls from the vast majority of the international community for the removal of the embargo to save the lives of innocent children. But our country, alone except for Great Britain, exercised its veto power and prevented such life-saving action.
According to a 1996 report issued by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR), “the children of Iraq are suffering unspeakable horrors as a direct result of economic sanctions against Iraq and as a result of illnesses, disabilities and deformities apparently caused by the radioactive residue from bullets and other weapons containing depleted uranium (DU) used by the United States during military operations against Iraq.” The U.S. uses depleted uranium (DU) in anti-tank ammunition. Scientists have associated DU, a radioactive toxic waste, with many adverse health effects. Since 1990, thousands of American troops and millions of Iraqi civilians have been exposed to DU. The UNCHR reported that “more than 560,000 children have already died since the war ended and that the current monthly figure of deaths of small children surpasses 5,000 with another 5,000 for persons over the age of 14.” (http://www.webcom.com/hrin/parker/c96-20.html)

A wide coalition of non-government organizations and governments around the world joined together to condemn the sanctions against Iraq because of the extreme suffering of the Iraqi children, but to no avail.

In 1998, the largest Gulf War veterans organization in the country, the National Gulf War Resource Center (NGWRC), joined in the call to repeal the sanctions. Comprising over 54 member groups from around the country, the NGWRC serves as a resource for information, support, and referrals for all concerned with the complexities of Gulf War issues, especially Gulf War illnesses. Already successful in helping pass a bill to ensure better health care for sick veterans, the NGWRC turned its attention to DU and protecting both U.S. troops and civilians from DU exposure. In a resolution passed shortly after the December 1998 air strike, the NGWRC urged that further civilian casualties in Iraq be avoided.

“As soldiers,” the resolution states, “we were trained to abide by international laws relating to the treatment and protection of civilian populations. Economic sanctions which prevent or otherwise hamper nations from maintaining the public health of their citizens, are in violation of these international laws, including Geneva Protocol 1, Article 54, which prohibits the ‘starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.’ The UN and the U.S. must work toward an immediate end to the humanitarian crisis in Iraq.

“The economic sanctions on Iraq now result in serious shortages of food, clean water, and medicine. Water and sanitation systems have collapsed, fueling an epidemic of diseases. Denis J. Halliday, the former UN head of the oil-for-food program, estimates that over 5,000 Iraqi children under five are dying each month from malnutrition and disease directly related to the sanctions. Meanwhile, the Iraqi government remains untouched and firmly entrenched.” (http://www.iacenter.org/gulfvets.htm) The policy has failed.

Despite gruesome facts of starvation, disease, cancer, birth defects including headless babies, and repeated urging by a vast majority of our allies for the repeal of the sanctions, the United States refused to lift the sanctions—effectively condemning thousands of innocent children to continuing suffering and death. A policy that blames the starvation of children on the despot ruler of the country, while denouncing that ruler as a madman deserving of assassination, but then putting that same ruler in charge of humanitarian assistance, is ludicrous if not morally bankrupt.

Think about how angry we all feel right now, after this terrible week in our history. Imagine how we might feel if 560,000 American children had died at the hands of a foreign power over whom we were powerless, and 5,000 children per month were continuing to die, year after year, with no sign of help on the horizon, and the one outside country on earth that had the power to stop it chose repeatedly to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to our plight. Might we, too, become filled with desperation and rage?

While the mainstream American media drew the nation’s collective attention to the critically important O.J. Simpson trial and later to the smut and bedroom affairs of our 42nd president—issues of dire national security—the heated discussions at the United Nations centering around the deplorable conditions in Iraq went largely ignored. An overwhelming majority of our allies called again and again for the lifting of sanctions—all to no avail. (See Press Release SC/6833 at http://www.un.org/search/) The pressure cooker of hatred that creates terrorism continued to boil.

Our leaders and most of our citizens would like the United States to be the country that it was in 1945, a beacon of light representing heroism, selflessness, freedom, justice, and good will towards all. Our country helped rebuild Europe and Japan after the war, recognizing the dignity of the people there and acknowledging the suffering their society underwent at our hands during war, and seeking, rightly, to bring the suffering to an end. It is noble to exercise power not to perpetuate death and disease, but to end needless suffering caused by war. Why have we changed and become so cruel?

The foreign policy of the 20th century served to fan the fires of terrorism; policies to achieve our new goal of eliminating terrorism must remove the fuel, not add more to it.

After nearly a decade, not only has the foreign policy of economic sanctions against Iraq failed in its goal of coercing the cooperation of the Saddam Hussein regime, the misery created by the policy has served only to fan the fire of hatred against the United States and the American people, thereby empowering such terrorist leaders as Asama Bin Laden, and creating a major threat to our national security.
To effectively fight the war on terrorism, our leaders must admit that the country’s foreign policy paradigms of at least the last half of the 20th century have failed miserably in their mission to create a safer post-Cold War world: not only do terribly cruel despots like Saddam Hussein remain in power, but now we have thousands, perhaps millions, of disenfranchised desperate people who hate us-—and hate us enough to take their own lives to kill us en masse.

Yes—go after those specifically responsible for the attack on America. Yes, bring them to justice. Yes, wage war on terrorism. But do so wisely, by recognizing the truth that acts of terrorism are merely symptoms and not the disease. The disease is decades of pent-up, unexpressed rage brought about by repeated and unaddressed injustice and abuse.

Just as a child subjected to repeated physical abuse at the hands of a powerful adult will likely grow up filled with rage and become an abuser, so have generations of disenfranchised people abused for generations by powerful governments grown up to become terrorists. If we use our country’s vast power to wage war only on the symptoms—to attack only those who cause the violence and remove them from the scene—and not address the cause of the disease itself: human rights abuses wherever they occur in the world—the cycle of violence will never end. Violence that is unjust—that touches innocent people—will only pour fuel on the rage of terrorism.
What is the cost to our economy, not to mention human lives, of perpetuating terrorism? It is clearly in our economic interest to let go of ineffectual policies and embrace new policies that genuinely strike at the heart of terrorism by reducing rage, turning down the heat of the pressure cooker, by walking our talk, running our country and conducting our foreign affairs with integrity and nobility, predicating every decision on the truth that what is in the best interest of the other is in the best interest of ourselves, taking the moral high ground and recognizing that we are all one. We must once again become a savior to the world by developing a foreign policy that holds the respectful, loving and dignified treatment of human beings as the bottom line of every decision. And we must start with the children—whose hearts and minds are still reachable and unpoisoned by hate.

Each One of Us Is Responsible

As Americans, we live in a free society and are responsible for electing our representatives—a luxury that most in the Middle East do not share. If we as individuals fail to take responsibility for our freedom to choose our representatives, and if we choose to ignore the actions that our representatives take which create a global atmosphere of hatred and fear instead of love and respect—then we will surely suffer and be responsible for the consequences. Human beings must be respected as much in other countries as they are in our own, and we must demand our representatives set policies and behave accordingly.

I do not and we must not condone violence. The attackers, the terrorists, are without a doubt hatefilled and hateful monsters, worthy of pity. We must not allow the violence done to us by them to turn us into hateful monsters, too. Instead, we must rise above the pain and suffering to see the bigger picture, and turn this tragic event into an opportunity to truly re-make ourselves and our world into a better, more moral, and truly safer place for all people. We must not become like our enemies.

I urge our leaders to proceed with reason and not in haste.Do not succumb to the temptation to strike in anger, but wait for the anger to subside. However long it takes, be effective. Study and understand the culture, heart, mind, and motivations of the enemy. Learn what are his strengths and dependencies. Develop and use the knowledge gained with intelligence, fully and wisely. Make any strike truly surgical and with no collateral damage to innocent civilians. Address the disease of the terrorism and not just the symptoms, by showing compassion for innocent children with the lifting of sanctions and feeding the hungry, by actively listening to the disenfranchised and abused and acting accordingly, by supporting the cause of human rights, and by condemning human rights abuses wherever they occur. In this way, we can become again a hero and a savior.
The only way to wage war on terrorism effectively, to truly eliminate it from the world and regain true security for all, is by going to its root. Appeal to love , not hate; seek justice for all, not revenge. Revenge is what motivated these terrorists. Let us rise above it and not become like them. It is in our economic and security interests to respond to this terrible situation wisely and morally—for the generations alive today and for those to come.

Laurel A. Kashinn is a freelance writer, graphic designer, and small business owner from Grafton, Wisconsin. She and her husband own and operate two family graphic design businesses, worship at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, and after 15 years of marriage are expecting the birth of their first child in March, 2002.