| | politicians and pastorsMuch is being made of the statements (whenever they were made) of Barak Obama's former pastor. I don't recall everything that the media and his political opponents have been saying, but there is one thing that has managed to stick in my mind. The remark about American foreign policy being the root cause for the 9/11 tragedy is both near to actuality and wide of the mark at the same time.
As much as I believe that too many of our politicians are self-interested bullshitters first and "public servants" second, as hard as I try to fix the blame on them, I just can't seem to make it work. It would be swell if things were as easy as that, but there are a few uncomfortable truths yet to emerge before we'll be able to deal with the circumstances that led to that event. Those "uncomfortable truths" won't be brought to light by any journalist or member of any political body from anywhere. They'll emerge in small bubbles, like the effervescence in champagne as it slowly goes flat ... some glasses will remain bubbly in defiance of reason and humanity, while some will go flat sooner than others as these realizations rise to the surface.
There are entirely too many contributing factors to be discussed in any forum that lasts less than centuries, and by then enough time will have passed and enough history will have been forgotten or relegated to dusty shelves (or crumbled away altogether) as to allow the recreation of the same circumstances: poverty, disenfranchisement, and hopelessness, and the presence of those whose expectations make those circumstances even more intolerable.
Ever been really shit-out-of-luck? No prospects? No hope for something better, while more and more of the little that you do have is taken away from you in such a way that there seems to be only one method of redress? It's a bad neighborhood. The WORST. It feels like it's a one-way street going in, with no exits at all, or maybe only one that's crowded with the rusted hulks of others who've tried before. It's really hard to see the more subtle possibilities, given the face of those circumstances, and the one road that appears to remain clear (at all) is Desperate Action Boulevard ... especially when there's a tour-guide who's only too happy to tell you what needs to be done to "make things right". We are there, one the side of those whose expectations act to perpetuate the circumstances of rage and despair. We are unwitting participants, drawn into our part in the play by the effect of our illusions. The world is not so large anymore, and the ripples of our actions and choices travel faster than we can imagine.
Humanity Before Oil
Humanity Before Commerce
The tenets of many of our faiths place us as stewards of our home, and so far, our example has been unacceptable. History seems to suggest that we are incapable of changing, and that is true if we expect someone to make laws that will lead us there. United individual effort is what will work, but such things only seem to happen after incomprehensible cataclysm.
PAX
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| | Posted 5/1/2008 9:53 AM - 1 comments
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