Guns of Memorial Park

"At the bottom of the barrel, surprise, surprise... we find our lives so intertwined" starts the latest cd by Sparta.

War it seems has been popping up every where in my life the past few weeks. War is the reason Politik7 (this post is also on that blog): to protest to the Iraq invasion and the current administration. There just seems to be war all the time for me.

In a recent post, i stated that everyone must have a book and cd they are currently listening too.. I will add movie to that list as well.

My music has a very anti-war stance, as does my book. I am currently reading Peace is the Way by Depak Chopra. This book's goal is not to bring an end to war... but an end to the very IDEA of war.

I couldn't agree more with that... esp. after seeing Hotel Rwanda. In the movie, there was really no point to the fighting, completely no reason to leave close to a million victims in it's wake. There are two groups here that were determined by the Dutch colonists way back in the day. One could not tell the difference between these two groups. To kill people, they checked they're ID or went on hearsay.

We need to erase our lines in the sand. Stop our divisions.

Only through division and de-humanization can war happen. Nazi's declared jews non-human just as these two groups declared each other non-humans. Just as terrorist declare all non-believers as non-human. We are all God's children (even those who don't believe in God are part of this group AKA 'Humanity').

Chopra states that extreme enemies become inherit allies. Think very hard on this... Enemies need each other, they are allies in one way. Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Rielly need us crazy liberals to demonize just as Osama needs Bush (and vice versa) just as good needs evil. Enemies need one another so they have a defining example to show not only what they are against but also use the example to figure out what they are for.

Limbaugh for 'family values'. How does one define that general term? Let's define what our 'liberal enemies' are for, and we'll define the opposite of what they do as 'family values'. We were against 'communism' during the Cold War. What is that? Well it's against the 'free marketplace of ideas' that our democracy represents.

Do you see that? Chopra describes it better, but there's your 10 cents worth. Just as i hate the values and mindset that the conservatives or fundamentalists have, i realize they are people too and have reasons for believing what they do. This blog is a forum to discuss those differing views. DISCUSS! Not fighting, not war. Religion won't do that.. unless that involves keeping an open mind that the other is your neighbor. Jesus and Buddha were COMPLETELY against war and yet millions of wars are still carried out in their name.

Keep the 1st Amendment above all else. Talk to those who disagree without trying to change them. Just get a feel for them and keep in mind that they are humans and bleed just like you do. This practice is what will save us and put an end to the very idea of war.