I think that the nihilism of Western society is the root of the problem. For all its faults and hypocrisy the West used to be grounded in the humanistic ethos of Christianity. Everyone created in the image of God, love your neighbor as yourself, turn the other cheek, etc.
Now we are all atomized, self-gratifying consumers, trying to have as much fun as we can before it all ends in the eternal dirt nap, the next guy be damned. Makes for a hellish society, as we are all in the process of discovering.
UN Security Council does not pass draft US resolution on Gaza ceasefire
Russia and China veto US proposal that critics say fell short of demanding an end to Israel’s war on Gaza.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said the draft was exceedingly politicised and contained an “effective green light” for Israel to mount a military operation in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, where more than 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.
Nebenzia said there was no call for a ceasefire in the resolution’s text and accused the US leadership of “deliberately misleading the international community”.
China’s representative, Zhang Jun, said the draft “dodged the most central issue, that of a ceasefire” through its “ambiguous” language.
“Nor does it even provide an answer to the question of realising a ceasefire in the short term,” he added.
I was at a Palestinian support rally last night when I heard Russia and China had vetoed the US proposal, and they said the same: the US wants total surrender by Palestine so Israel can complete its genocide. Caitlin's writing has opened my eyes, and my heart. The US was built on stolen land by conscripted and stolen laborers. That they also captured and perverted the words of Jesus means there is nothing worth defending here. Russia and China have cultures that will continue. The only question is how much the monsters of the US hegemony will destroy as they lose these last wars.
The US move was an incredibly cynical and corrupt gesture. After 3 vetos of real cease fire Resolutions, they were under severe criticism. So the Biden people crafted this Resolution, which was the Israeli position, as a tool to fake the appearance of diplomacy while forcing China and Russia to veto so they could now point the finger at them.
Yes they did. But training was set up on zoom, which is something I don't do, so we're going forward the old school way here. I just moved to Philly and was not aware that you had to be register to vote to sign a ballot petition, so I registered yesterday - changed from independent to Green Party.
Either Israel is just spewing this propaganda, or projecting her own sickness onto Palestinians. It so disgusted me. Don't they call the enclosure they built to warehouse the Palestinians an outdoor concentration camp? Oh, and wasn't it the Israeli's who carried out the NAKBA to remove them from their land? Oh, and isn't it the Israeli's carring out a genocide? They're absolutely loathsome in their propaganda.
Israel says Palestinians need ‘educational transformation’ akin to post-Nazi Germany
In a speech at the UN Security Council, the Israeli envoy said the vast majority of Palestinians “want to annihilate Israel at any cost” and must therefore be “deradicalised”.
“The educational transformation that the German people underwent after the Third Reich is what the Palestinians need to receive so they finally support coexistence with Jews and Israel. That’s how we educate our kids,” Gilad Erdan said.
The ambassador said the UNSC – which is debating another resolution on ending Israel’s war on Gaza after a criticised US resolution was rejected – must demand that the Palestinian Authority “end incitement” against Israel among Palestinians.
During the war, top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have repeatedly rejected a two-state solution that would recognise Palestine as a sovereign state and end Israel’s decades-long occupation.
Well said Fran.. there is a much more sinister occult agenda to this Israeli' agenda. The destruction of the AlAqsa mosque in Jerusalem to rebuild Solomon's temple on that site where the zionist fundamentalists want to bring about the incarnation of their messiah...heavens knows who or what it is.....aided and abetted by US Christian Zionists who are equally deluded and dangerous. It's a nasty nasty situation but having the effect of giving the half-awake a good shake up.
I really believe Israel is a very sick country and fails to recognize it's own pathology, because how do you make sure to be on time to blockade any food and medicine from getting into Gaza which a lot of Israeli's participate in, and some 68-70 percent of their population feel it's a good thing? If you were critical of what they say and do you're labeled an anti-Semite.
I just read on Aljazeera that Israel is calling the Palestinians Nazi's, and they have to change there ways and except their presence. Of course I don't believe they think that for a minute but thought it was disgusting they should even try to pull off that BS.
The opportunity to adjust the nature of our “relationship” with Israel is present, yet the United States won’t take it. The chance to rid ourselves of this parasite and liability and conduct a fair, balanced and neutral and realistic diplomacy in the region is here, now, and we don’t have the intelligence or the will to do it. To paraphrase Bismarck: Israel isn’t worth the bones of a single American soldier. Israel is a nest of thieves and pathetic liars.
Little Nell I'm not sure what you are responding to in terms of what I said.I agree the US is even being a con artist in trying to come across as if they are trying to make Israel stop when she's giving her the green light to do what she wants and Russia and China are calling her out on it. Who Trust what the US does, I don't.
I agree with you 100%. The U.S. proposal for an immediate cease fire was so artlessly worded and so clearly a green light for Israel to continue its genocidal policies that it deserves the contempt it received in the Security Council.
I really want to know what the basis of our relationship with Israel is all about. Why do we do anything and everything for Israel?
Well, I just listened to an interview with John Mearsheimer who wrote the book on the Israeli lobby and the influence it has on American politics, especially when it comes to Israel. It is the lobby that puts the stops on any criticism of Israel and quick to call anyone who does an anti-Semite. It finances the careers of our politicians, and that's why Biden will talk the talk, but will do as hes told. If Israel wants to continue it's genocidal rampage, which is the case, it will, and Biden will support it. That is what's it's all about.
I see it at the personal level, you don't need to study the UN or NATO to see the evil. When passengers on a train will film a person being murdered or assaulted and do nothing: is it fear of government, apathy, curiosity or personal priorities that leave them so numb they can watch horrors with their own eyes and walk away ?
The western individual is broken so we no longer feel kinship.
In this "west" we live in, people bond over hate and derision. People recite the noises from the smug/hysterical muppets on the television at each other. People follow these assaults and slaughters as a reality show or a football match and pontificate as if the thoughts come from their own mind.
The defining trait of the people of this "west" we live in is the casual pose.
Who the hell would want to be kin with any one of these creepy weasels?
I think it was Ben Franklin who said; America is founded on Christian values and it is totally un suited for any other. In light of the fact not all founders shared that religion and many were gnostic, or Masonic. IMO it was just a wish on his part. Although I myself don't profess any particular system I find the 4 Noble Truths and the 8 fold path of Buddha to be more valuable as a guide than the present Christianity as it is the US.
I'm not familiar with what Ben said in that regard, but growing up in America you do learn, or are taught America is a Christian nation, although it doesn't act like one.
In a sense every belief system that delegates our own individualities to another power whether real or imagined is a religion..many people will deny it, yet they consider Government a religion. In addition many governments use religion as a tool to power. Eg, God granted the King or monarchy power and other such Blather. Some even have money as their religion in as much as it gives them power over others. Masonry like any secretive exclusive club can and has been used to achieve a level of religious adherence of its members. Conspiracy? Who knows?
Christianity was all a lie from the beginning. Everything about the religion in regards to the characters, their stories & laws (as well as the Bible itself) were all plagiarized from earlier ancient mythologies that predated Christianity.
Gods, Satan/"The Devil"/"The Enemy," Heaven, Hell, Sin, Ghosts, Spirits, Souls, Angels, Demons, etc. are all illusions. All imaginary. Fictional. Fantasy. They were nothing more than man-made concepts designed by corrupt, powerful people to control humanity emotionally & mentally through organized religion, as well as to grift & extort people out of their money through churches, tithes & prosperity gospel.
The truth is, we're all animals under Homo Sapiens, the last race of the Homo in which all of us humans originated from Africa between 200,000 & 300,000 years ago. It wasn't until people have migrated from Africa into other continents such as Asia & Europe.
We're also stardusts in which the sun & all planets in the solar system in space & from the universe were made from stars, including all species, after they've become supernovas. I also believe that when we die, we'll all cease to exist, in which our atoms, molecules, energy, etc. returns to the universe, & in which we also become part of the earth.
My background is in science, taught it, but I don't think science should be used to dismiss people's faith, and one should always recognize science is not another god and you are using it as if it were.
Never said that science was perfect; It isn't, as it's never 100%. It just comes from doing research & takes a while to form a conclusion.
However, it's far more believable than an Abrahamic religion & a fairytale book that's being used to brainwash people, such as the earth being 4.7 Billion years old, whereas the Bible depicted it as 6,000 years old. And mind you, I used to be a Christian myself & used to believe in that.
All I'm saying Marcus is that there is a lot science has not figured out, and if you know it's history lots of screw ups. I'm a Unitarian Universalist, not exactly a religion that tells you what's true and what's not, pretty open and encourages you to go your own way, and never takes a dogmatic stand.
As I recall, the Unitarian Universalist Church/Organization was the only organized religion that formally spoke out against the torture practiced by the US Government under the Bush Regime.
I don't know if it was a universal position, but our congregation was certainly opposed to it. A lot of people and groups I belonged to opposed it and I was as active as I could be the anti-war movement even knowing the US does what it wants and it's citizens don't matter.
The Christian "myth" as you call it represents a symbolic process within us all, the suffering we all experience - a type of God-man incarnation in this sad world of ours. The human and divine suffering set up a relationship of complementarity with compensating effects.
Materialism is just as much a myth as Christianity. It's the new myth of our time - believed as devoutly by new arrogant fools - as much as those who believed in Christianity.
Anyone who tells you they understand the riddle of consciousness, or that "Science" has unraveled its mystery, is lying to you and to themselves.
We live in a material world..to quote Madonna....and atheism is the default position of the majority. "I only believe in what I can see hear touch smell etc." The fact remains there are hidden mysteries material science struggles to explain and can only theorise that we as conscious humans who can differentiate between good and evil evolved from tadpoles or whatever the latest trend is in the scientific community. There is much much more to discover
I am an atheist and agree with your critic of organized religion but... religion has been a benefit to mankind in general, creating a codified form of law, an expectation of moral behavior in the society and a conflict resolution strategy that became the justice system. You are struck on the details of the myths and not looking at the bigger picture.
Throwing out the baby with the bathwater is the old school term.
"Just as man, as a social being, cannot in the long run exist without a tie to the community, so the individual will never find a real justification for his existence, and his own spiritual and moral autonomy, anywhere except in an extramundane principle capable of relativizing the overpowering influence of external factors."
The root of the problem _is_ christianity etc. It is the ultimate system for controlling the masses. That is: don’t worry/complain about your shitty life, if you’re a good little peasant you get to go to heaven.
At the end of his 1940 movie "The Great Dictator" Charlie Chaplin gave his final speech. It is as true now as it was then, except that now the situation is even more perilous.
“Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…”— excerpt from his final speech in The Great Dictator.
The entire speech and film is available on You Tube
"I'm not an atheist. I'm definitely an agnostic. Some scientists say that if the world were to stop revolving we'd all disintegrate. But the world keeps on going. Something must be holding us all in place–some Supreme Force. But what it is I couldn't tell you."
Marcus Judd defines science as all knowing which is not. I have had so many different experiences science is not in a position to explain away, and my background is in the biological sciences. Keep your mind open to all possibilities which doesn't mean your brain has to fall out of your head which is the way Marcus kind of makes you feel if you don't adhere to his perception of the world from it's beginning to it's end.
I agree. I have to restrain myself not to take a blow torch to this subject. Sigh. I prefer Science over blind faith (any day of the week) - but there are still plenty of open philosophical questions not yet answered by science. The Mind/Body problem for one.
Maybe Marcus and the Materialists will be right in the end (and I for one will be sorry for it.) But to claim we already know the answer to these still outstanding profound questions is comparable to listening to a fool ringing his bells. Although I do share some of Marcus Judd's sentiments in regard to a now 2000 year old religion, I don't share his nihilistic certainty that we simply live in a mechanical clock world and that's that. We (as in Science and Human Philosophy) just don't know yet.
Regardless of what beliefs we have, nothing bad will happen to us. I'm saying to not take at face value that an evil God from an Abrahamic religion is the one we should believe in. The God who's so hateful is going to punish us if we don't believe in him, serve him & obey him as if he's entitled.
Plus a "God" shouldn't have human emotions or a gender whatsoever. It should be all loving, & be a part of us if there's one that does exist.
Hey, I never claimed to be all knowing about science, as it always has it's faults.
All I'm saying is, that Gods are made up by man, & there's thousands of them. If there is one, it certainly wouldn't be the God from the Bible that's a bully to control people & being told, "You're going to "hell" if you don't believe in me." Especially from most religious leaders. It's just all wrong. Do you realize how much that's tormented people like me?
If there IS a supreme being, it would be all loving & caring towards everyone. It wouldn't have human emotions or a gender. It would also be a part of nature, just like all of us humans are.
I think that more and more people are starting to really care about what is happening in Gaza which then inspires some of us to look again at some of the other ongoing and recent atrocities. Ukraine, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and the list goes on. After a while it can be overwhelming unless a person takes a rest for a day or two. In order to bring about change we need to try to stay mentally and physically healthy.
Too many see what is going on in Gaza through the skewed western media, so they don't know what is going on at all. I think for many Hamas attacked Israel, killed many, and Israel is retaliating. They have been brainwashed through decades as seeing the Palestinians as the perpetrators of atrocities, not Israel. Ignorance will kill us all.
For some it biblical. They actually believe these are God’s chosen people! Chosen to do what??! This has made me become less communicative unless they take it too far - then bang!
It’s complete and utter bullshit. If God meant them to have the land that is “Israel” then he seems to have reneged on that promise more than once. The first time was the Babylonian Captivity, when the ruler of Babylon enslaved and removed almost all of the Jews to Babylon - the so called Babylonian Exile. The second time God reneged on his promise that Israel was for the Jews was in 70 CE under the Roman Emperor Titus when the Roman Province of Palestine was emptied of the Jews and they had to spread throughout the empire because of their revolt against Roman Rule. For centuries very few Jews lived in the area of what had once been the Promised Land. Then, they began to arrive in force after WWII and rob, murder, and steal it all back from the people who had always lived there. The Jews spent more time living outside of their Promised Land than they ever did inside it, which indicates that their “God” never really “gave” it to them and, given their history, never thought of them as his Chosen People.
We're not all heartless. Not to mention we live in a country, America, that wants to be top dog and have a media that really works overtime to make sure that happens. It didn't always. Have mercy.
There must be a permanent ceasefire in Gaza in order to comply with the ICJ ruling. Not with Palestinians suffering under oppressive conditions, but as a place where all live with peace and equality. It is time for Pope Francis to do more than talk. He must go to Gaza and make a stand for peace and freedom.
Let us also support UNRWA. If our governments won’t act in accordance with humanity, then we will. https://www.unrwausa.org/donate Let us do it to honor Aaron Bushnell, or in memory of Hind Rajab.
Let us call for a No Fly-Zone over Gaza!
These are a few small things we can do. If we can do more, let us do more.
As a collective species on this planet, I don’t think we are redeemable. I recall a part in Terminator 2 where the machine observed 2 little children playfully shooting each other and commented that it was in our nature to destroy each other. My problem is that it doesn’t have to be that way. This comment has nothing to do with the article, it’s just how I feel at the moment.
You know what would have helped, could have helped? If we had been in the direct line of descent from the bonobos, who kiss a lot, things would be a whole lot better. Unfortunately the chimps are much more closely related and in a direct line of descent, and they run around fighting other chimp groups, and sometimes when the female population drops they may wind up killing each other.
The ultimate and highest level of human development and state of being is unity consciousness, the ability to know and experience the interconnectedness and unity in all things and all beings.
That state of awareness is more than an intellectual understanding (though it starts with that). It's a functioning of consciousness. It's a multidimensional understanding combined with multidimensional experiencing.
It starts with knowledge, specific and holistic knowledge, and ends with expansion of the heart. Compassion and expansion of the heart is a function of intelligence. We tend to relegate it to emotion. It's beyond emotion, it's a component of overall and overview intelligence. It brings seeing and living unity to the forefront of awareness.
There's a state of development where compassion and love are a state of consciousness, the highest state of consciousness, unity consciousness.
That's a great consciousness, and it's likely that this consciousness is difficult to maintain and integrate as a consequence of being untethered to our ancestors, their shortcomings and their blessings. I really don't think it's much of an issue of not being in "unity," but more that we are a homeless people living out impoverished lives as a result of such homelessness. I might even go so far as to suggest that the striving for something like "unity consciousness" is born of such cultural truancy wrought by our homelessness. Striving for unity is the sign that we are dwelling on empty, that we might even be searching to escape the earth that we don't know intimately because we didn't have the elders to teach us about our mutual reliance on it.
Unity consciousness (of which there are ever increasing levels of) should be a natural state of being, unfortunately our society is not conducive to it's development, for many of the reasons you skillfully describe. Our society's ways of being steer us toward separateness, mine more than ours.
"Striving for unity is the sign that we are dwelling on empty". There's a truth in that. Unity is natural, striving can get in the way, though ultimately there are no rules.
I wonder what is overlooked in the name of "unity?" I'm currently learning about my backyard, the land I live in, who was here before my ancestors brought their ruptured ancestry and the worship of a singular god with little relationship with earth and earth consciousness. I'm also trying to protect the bay and the ocean where I live from the onslaught of industrialization in the name of wind farms and port expansion. Industrialists might tell me that I should adopt unity consciousness, that I'm a NIMBY and should get out of the way for the greater good. Who's defining the greater good, and what is the greater good? I'd be hard pressed to hear the tribes I work with advocating for "unity" anything. We unite, work together to protect what is sacred from being sacrificed by a human that has taken up the erroneous task of sacred making, of defining themselves as the center of this sacred dance. We are the receivers of the sacred, we don't define it. So when I here a prompt for unity consciousness, I wonder what hovers close behind this call, if anything.
Oh. I read a prescription for a state. I didn’t read your experience of the state. It’s likely that an IDF soldier has visited the Satori that many of us have also visited. And then what? These are genuine inquiries.
People who work in the field of conservation, or ecology adopt a consciousness that goes all over the world, and not, gee I'm worried about the bald eagle, but screw the tigers. I also found that kind of global perspective in an uncle who was in the merchant marines who was all over the world many times, and when I was a kid I picked it up and thought it was great. However grow up in most countries and you're not encouraged to have that kind of perspective, since it is a perspective that doesn't serve your country's best interests, unfortunately. You know like, my country right or wrong.
Interesting that during WW11 merchant mariners were often attacked by journalists like Walter Winchell for having integrated ships, since the American army was not.
Well, as a teacher I have always seen the natural world as not bring limited to my own backyard, and no teacher I had encouraged me to see it any other way. Some people who work in this field are focused on a particular problem, or issue and it may come across that way, but if there is no interest or concern on a broader level then there is something wrong. Let me also say although the 20 century is considered the century of the environment it did take them a long time to catch on to that, and maybe many you know and work with in that field were taught with a very narrow and pragmatic perspective. I wasn't. The curriculum changed on all levels, and even in the Junior High schools.
"They’re afraid of the changes and upheaval that would come with an overturning of the status quo."
I think this is the biggest reason people don't open their hearts and work to change the world for the better. Fear. I call it the "Stick with the devil you know rather than the devil you don't" syndrome. They'd rather be miserable and watch others be miserable and desperate than risk upturning the apple cart. Change is scary. Their hearts are closed.
We do have free will. We do have the ability to make the choice to open our hearts and our heads and work for a safe and healthy world for all human beings. What will it take for the majority of us to exercise that free will for the benefit of all?
In explaining why people don't care or know, Caitlin wrote:
"or because they are intellectually and morally lazy, or some other selfish reason."
I again will strongly disagree with this kind of "blame the victim" approach. (I got into that issue yesterday).
I think a little more compassion is in order for those "unknowing" and/or "unfeeling" ones out there. The world is a difficult place to navigate and there are smoke screens and barriers everywhere (not just in propaganda and indoctrination) that block access to liberation and enlightenment. Many people are mired in the material world in a struggle for survival - they don't have the resources or time for lecture sessions in compassion, non-violent communication, critical theory, "doing your own research", or yoga.
I agree with bill wolfe partly, but not entirely. When I was a professor at an Ivy League medical school in the 1980s I would try to explain to my “liberal” colleagues what was happening in Central America due to US intervention. Most of them would literally cover their ears and say something like, “I’m sure it’s awful, but I don’t want to know about it.” This attitude continues among “liberals” to this day.
Yes, I have dealt with these same people all my life (I attended an Ivy League graduate school). They are the minority, but I found their denial and apathy grounded in cowardice and careerism and selfish interests. Chris Hedges' book "Death of the Liberal Class" analyzes this in great detail.
My comment above was targeted more on the working class and poor factions, not the liberal elites.
I appreciate that you’ve put liberals in quotations. It’s extremely important to remember that conservatives and liberals no longer exist in the political landscape of The US and haven’t for over 40 years.
Caitlin, your Newsletter warmed my heart today. Like the great sage said wisdom has to go hand in hand with compassion. There is no compassion without wisdom; no wisdom without compassion. We have to open the door of our heart to our suffering and the suffering of others.
You make me optimistic that there will be a time when people armed with knowledge and awareness will wake up to caring.
Thank you so much. No other writer I know does as well as you do at expressing the full scale of our challenges, which indeed goes beyond politics.
I think that the nihilism of Western society is the root of the problem. For all its faults and hypocrisy the West used to be grounded in the humanistic ethos of Christianity. Everyone created in the image of God, love your neighbor as yourself, turn the other cheek, etc.
Now we are all atomized, self-gratifying consumers, trying to have as much fun as we can before it all ends in the eternal dirt nap, the next guy be damned. Makes for a hellish society, as we are all in the process of discovering.
The West used to be grounded in the Humanistic ethos of Christianity? Not from the history I was taught. When? Well, as they say in name only.
UN Security Council does not pass draft US resolution on Gaza ceasefire
Russia and China veto US proposal that critics say fell short of demanding an end to Israel’s war on Gaza.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said the draft was exceedingly politicised and contained an “effective green light” for Israel to mount a military operation in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, where more than 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.
Nebenzia said there was no call for a ceasefire in the resolution’s text and accused the US leadership of “deliberately misleading the international community”.
China’s representative, Zhang Jun, said the draft “dodged the most central issue, that of a ceasefire” through its “ambiguous” language.
“Nor does it even provide an answer to the question of realising a ceasefire in the short term,” he added.
I was at a Palestinian support rally last night when I heard Russia and China had vetoed the US proposal, and they said the same: the US wants total surrender by Palestine so Israel can complete its genocide. Caitlin's writing has opened my eyes, and my heart. The US was built on stolen land by conscripted and stolen laborers. That they also captured and perverted the words of Jesus means there is nothing worth defending here. Russia and China have cultures that will continue. The only question is how much the monsters of the US hegemony will destroy as they lose these last wars.
The US move was an incredibly cynical and corrupt gesture. After 3 vetos of real cease fire Resolutions, they were under severe criticism. So the Biden people crafted this Resolution, which was the Israeli position, as a tool to fake the appearance of diplomacy while forcing China and Russia to veto so they could now point the finger at them.
What dirtbags these bastards are!
Well said my friend. Did the Stein people get back to you on the date for canvassing in Pa.? We start in IL. next week.
Yes they did. But training was set up on zoom, which is something I don't do, so we're going forward the old school way here. I just moved to Philly and was not aware that you had to be register to vote to sign a ballot petition, so I registered yesterday - changed from independent to Green Party.
Either Israel is just spewing this propaganda, or projecting her own sickness onto Palestinians. It so disgusted me. Don't they call the enclosure they built to warehouse the Palestinians an outdoor concentration camp? Oh, and wasn't it the Israeli's who carried out the NAKBA to remove them from their land? Oh, and isn't it the Israeli's carring out a genocide? They're absolutely loathsome in their propaganda.
Israel says Palestinians need ‘educational transformation’ akin to post-Nazi Germany
In a speech at the UN Security Council, the Israeli envoy said the vast majority of Palestinians “want to annihilate Israel at any cost” and must therefore be “deradicalised”.
“The educational transformation that the German people underwent after the Third Reich is what the Palestinians need to receive so they finally support coexistence with Jews and Israel. That’s how we educate our kids,” Gilad Erdan said.
The ambassador said the UNSC – which is debating another resolution on ending Israel’s war on Gaza after a criticised US resolution was rejected – must demand that the Palestinian Authority “end incitement” against Israel among Palestinians.
During the war, top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have repeatedly rejected a two-state solution that would recognise Palestine as a sovereign state and end Israel’s decades-long occupation.
Well said Fran.. there is a much more sinister occult agenda to this Israeli' agenda. The destruction of the AlAqsa mosque in Jerusalem to rebuild Solomon's temple on that site where the zionist fundamentalists want to bring about the incarnation of their messiah...heavens knows who or what it is.....aided and abetted by US Christian Zionists who are equally deluded and dangerous. It's a nasty nasty situation but having the effect of giving the half-awake a good shake up.
I really believe Israel is a very sick country and fails to recognize it's own pathology, because how do you make sure to be on time to blockade any food and medicine from getting into Gaza which a lot of Israeli's participate in, and some 68-70 percent of their population feel it's a good thing? If you were critical of what they say and do you're labeled an anti-Semite.
"That’s how we educate our kids”
I am currently reading Palestine in Israeli School Books by Nurit Peled-Elhanan. You won't be surprised to hear that's not how they do it.
Jewish state, Jewish majority, Jewish control
I just read on Aljazeera that Israel is calling the Palestinians Nazi's, and they have to change there ways and except their presence. Of course I don't believe they think that for a minute but thought it was disgusting they should even try to pull off that BS.
The opportunity to adjust the nature of our “relationship” with Israel is present, yet the United States won’t take it. The chance to rid ourselves of this parasite and liability and conduct a fair, balanced and neutral and realistic diplomacy in the region is here, now, and we don’t have the intelligence or the will to do it. To paraphrase Bismarck: Israel isn’t worth the bones of a single American soldier. Israel is a nest of thieves and pathetic liars.
Little Nell I'm not sure what you are responding to in terms of what I said.I agree the US is even being a con artist in trying to come across as if they are trying to make Israel stop when she's giving her the green light to do what she wants and Russia and China are calling her out on it. Who Trust what the US does, I don't.
I agree with you 100%. The U.S. proposal for an immediate cease fire was so artlessly worded and so clearly a green light for Israel to continue its genocidal policies that it deserves the contempt it received in the Security Council.
I really want to know what the basis of our relationship with Israel is all about. Why do we do anything and everything for Israel?
Well, I just listened to an interview with John Mearsheimer who wrote the book on the Israeli lobby and the influence it has on American politics, especially when it comes to Israel. It is the lobby that puts the stops on any criticism of Israel and quick to call anyone who does an anti-Semite. It finances the careers of our politicians, and that's why Biden will talk the talk, but will do as hes told. If Israel wants to continue it's genocidal rampage, which is the case, it will, and Biden will support it. That is what's it's all about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoHq6dBpxYU
https://theintercept.com/2019/02/11/ilhan-omar-israel-lobby-documentary/
I see it at the personal level, you don't need to study the UN or NATO to see the evil. When passengers on a train will film a person being murdered or assaulted and do nothing: is it fear of government, apathy, curiosity or personal priorities that leave them so numb they can watch horrors with their own eyes and walk away ?
The western individual is broken so we no longer feel kinship.
Your response is nothing I can relate to in terms of what I said. I wasn't talking about the UN or NATO and rarely use the term evil.
you said:
UN Security Council does not pass draft US resolution on Gaza ceasefire
Russia and China veto US proposal that critics say fell short of demanding an end to Israel’s war on Gaza.
That was the impetus of my response.
In this "west" we live in, people bond over hate and derision. People recite the noises from the smug/hysterical muppets on the television at each other. People follow these assaults and slaughters as a reality show or a football match and pontificate as if the thoughts come from their own mind.
The defining trait of the people of this "west" we live in is the casual pose.
Who the hell would want to be kin with any one of these creepy weasels?
I think it was Ben Franklin who said; America is founded on Christian values and it is totally un suited for any other. In light of the fact not all founders shared that religion and many were gnostic, or Masonic. IMO it was just a wish on his part. Although I myself don't profess any particular system I find the 4 Noble Truths and the 8 fold path of Buddha to be more valuable as a guide than the present Christianity as it is the US.
I'm not familiar with what Ben said in that regard, but growing up in America you do learn, or are taught America is a Christian nation, although it doesn't act like one.
Masonary is not a religion, you have to profess to being a deist that believes in a higher power but that is all.
In a sense every belief system that delegates our own individualities to another power whether real or imagined is a religion..many people will deny it, yet they consider Government a religion. In addition many governments use religion as a tool to power. Eg, God granted the King or monarchy power and other such Blather. Some even have money as their religion in as much as it gives them power over others. Masonry like any secretive exclusive club can and has been used to achieve a level of religious adherence of its members. Conspiracy? Who knows?
It was John Adams. ‘Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people and is wholly unsuited for any other.’
Christianity was all a lie from the beginning. Everything about the religion in regards to the characters, their stories & laws (as well as the Bible itself) were all plagiarized from earlier ancient mythologies that predated Christianity.
Gods, Satan/"The Devil"/"The Enemy," Heaven, Hell, Sin, Ghosts, Spirits, Souls, Angels, Demons, etc. are all illusions. All imaginary. Fictional. Fantasy. They were nothing more than man-made concepts designed by corrupt, powerful people to control humanity emotionally & mentally through organized religion, as well as to grift & extort people out of their money through churches, tithes & prosperity gospel.
The truth is, we're all animals under Homo Sapiens, the last race of the Homo in which all of us humans originated from Africa between 200,000 & 300,000 years ago. It wasn't until people have migrated from Africa into other continents such as Asia & Europe.
We're also stardusts in which the sun & all planets in the solar system in space & from the universe were made from stars, including all species, after they've become supernovas. I also believe that when we die, we'll all cease to exist, in which our atoms, molecules, energy, etc. returns to the universe, & in which we also become part of the earth.
My background is in science, taught it, but I don't think science should be used to dismiss people's faith, and one should always recognize science is not another god and you are using it as if it were.
Never said that science was perfect; It isn't, as it's never 100%. It just comes from doing research & takes a while to form a conclusion.
However, it's far more believable than an Abrahamic religion & a fairytale book that's being used to brainwash people, such as the earth being 4.7 Billion years old, whereas the Bible depicted it as 6,000 years old. And mind you, I used to be a Christian myself & used to believe in that.
All I'm saying Marcus is that there is a lot science has not figured out, and if you know it's history lots of screw ups. I'm a Unitarian Universalist, not exactly a religion that tells you what's true and what's not, pretty open and encourages you to go your own way, and never takes a dogmatic stand.
As I recall, the Unitarian Universalist Church/Organization was the only organized religion that formally spoke out against the torture practiced by the US Government under the Bush Regime.
I don't know if it was a universal position, but our congregation was certainly opposed to it. A lot of people and groups I belonged to opposed it and I was as active as I could be the anti-war movement even knowing the US does what it wants and it's citizens don't matter.
The Christian "myth" as you call it represents a symbolic process within us all, the suffering we all experience - a type of God-man incarnation in this sad world of ours. The human and divine suffering set up a relationship of complementarity with compensating effects.
We have more in common : ) I work in AstroPhysics.
You should be able to find me in the list ha.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.10518
Materialism is just as much a myth as Christianity. It's the new myth of our time - believed as devoutly by new arrogant fools - as much as those who believed in Christianity.
Anyone who tells you they understand the riddle of consciousness, or that "Science" has unraveled its mystery, is lying to you and to themselves.
We live in a material world..to quote Madonna....and atheism is the default position of the majority. "I only believe in what I can see hear touch smell etc." The fact remains there are hidden mysteries material science struggles to explain and can only theorise that we as conscious humans who can differentiate between good and evil evolved from tadpoles or whatever the latest trend is in the scientific community. There is much much more to discover
I am an atheist and agree with your critic of organized religion but... religion has been a benefit to mankind in general, creating a codified form of law, an expectation of moral behavior in the society and a conflict resolution strategy that became the justice system. You are struck on the details of the myths and not looking at the bigger picture.
Throwing out the baby with the bathwater is the old school term.
"Just as man, as a social being, cannot in the long run exist without a tie to the community, so the individual will never find a real justification for his existence, and his own spiritual and moral autonomy, anywhere except in an extramundane principle capable of relativizing the overpowering influence of external factors."
~Carl Jung, "The Undiscovered Self" #p24
You might be interested in reading An Indigenous History of the US….Afriend has been in a book group that has been reading it….eye open
Ing she said..and not for the faint of heart…if you can’t find it make a comment to that effect and I’ll get hold of her for the precise title.
The root of the problem _is_ christianity etc. It is the ultimate system for controlling the masses. That is: don’t worry/complain about your shitty life, if you’re a good little peasant you get to go to heaven.
I wouldn't say that to any of the indigenous peoples of the West. Or be really, really fast on your feet.
Well said ... https://liborsoural.substack.com/p/iceland-in-gloom-re-visited
https://liborsoural.substack.com/p/sob-with-priesstnitz-nature-cure
At the end of his 1940 movie "The Great Dictator" Charlie Chaplin gave his final speech. It is as true now as it was then, except that now the situation is even more perilous.
“Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…”— excerpt from his final speech in The Great Dictator.
The entire speech and film is available on You Tube
"I'm not an atheist. I'm definitely an agnostic. Some scientists say that if the world were to stop revolving we'd all disintegrate. But the world keeps on going. Something must be holding us all in place–some Supreme Force. But what it is I couldn't tell you."
~Charlie Chaplin
Marcus Judd defines science as all knowing which is not. I have had so many different experiences science is not in a position to explain away, and my background is in the biological sciences. Keep your mind open to all possibilities which doesn't mean your brain has to fall out of your head which is the way Marcus kind of makes you feel if you don't adhere to his perception of the world from it's beginning to it's end.
I agree. I have to restrain myself not to take a blow torch to this subject. Sigh. I prefer Science over blind faith (any day of the week) - but there are still plenty of open philosophical questions not yet answered by science. The Mind/Body problem for one.
Maybe Marcus and the Materialists will be right in the end (and I for one will be sorry for it.) But to claim we already know the answer to these still outstanding profound questions is comparable to listening to a fool ringing his bells. Although I do share some of Marcus Judd's sentiments in regard to a now 2000 year old religion, I don't share his nihilistic certainty that we simply live in a mechanical clock world and that's that. We (as in Science and Human Philosophy) just don't know yet.
Regardless of what beliefs we have, nothing bad will happen to us. I'm saying to not take at face value that an evil God from an Abrahamic religion is the one we should believe in. The God who's so hateful is going to punish us if we don't believe in him, serve him & obey him as if he's entitled.
Plus a "God" shouldn't have human emotions or a gender whatsoever. It should be all loving, & be a part of us if there's one that does exist.
yes that's why i consider myself an agnostic and not an atheist.
Wow, well said. I agree, keep an open mind which Marcus doesn't have since he has it all figured out.
Hey, I never claimed to be all knowing about science, as it always has it's faults.
All I'm saying is, that Gods are made up by man, & there's thousands of them. If there is one, it certainly wouldn't be the God from the Bible that's a bully to control people & being told, "You're going to "hell" if you don't believe in me." Especially from most religious leaders. It's just all wrong. Do you realize how much that's tormented people like me?
If there IS a supreme being, it would be all loving & caring towards everyone. It wouldn't have human emotions or a gender. It would also be a part of nature, just like all of us humans are.
As someone who worked in the field of science, God and religion are not up for discussion.
I think that more and more people are starting to really care about what is happening in Gaza which then inspires some of us to look again at some of the other ongoing and recent atrocities. Ukraine, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and the list goes on. After a while it can be overwhelming unless a person takes a rest for a day or two. In order to bring about change we need to try to stay mentally and physically healthy.
Too many see what is going on in Gaza through the skewed western media, so they don't know what is going on at all. I think for many Hamas attacked Israel, killed many, and Israel is retaliating. They have been brainwashed through decades as seeing the Palestinians as the perpetrators of atrocities, not Israel. Ignorance will kill us all.
For some it biblical. They actually believe these are God’s chosen people! Chosen to do what??! This has made me become less communicative unless they take it too far - then bang!
Not much different than believing one is the master race.
It’s complete and utter bullshit. If God meant them to have the land that is “Israel” then he seems to have reneged on that promise more than once. The first time was the Babylonian Captivity, when the ruler of Babylon enslaved and removed almost all of the Jews to Babylon - the so called Babylonian Exile. The second time God reneged on his promise that Israel was for the Jews was in 70 CE under the Roman Emperor Titus when the Roman Province of Palestine was emptied of the Jews and they had to spread throughout the empire because of their revolt against Roman Rule. For centuries very few Jews lived in the area of what had once been the Promised Land. Then, they began to arrive in force after WWII and rob, murder, and steal it all back from the people who had always lived there. The Jews spent more time living outside of their Promised Land than they ever did inside it, which indicates that their “God” never really “gave” it to them and, given their history, never thought of them as his Chosen People.
Well, if they are God's chosen people I hope there is a second God waiting in the wings.
Opening our hearts is one thing - for those in the West who appear heartless require a transplant.
We're not all heartless. Not to mention we live in a country, America, that wants to be top dog and have a media that really works overtime to make sure that happens. It didn't always. Have mercy.
😂😂😂
Newscorp via Douglas Murray and others, to my mind are going hard on the propaganda in Australia. No Douglas, it didn’t start on October 7.
There must be a permanent ceasefire in Gaza in order to comply with the ICJ ruling. Not with Palestinians suffering under oppressive conditions, but as a place where all live with peace and equality. It is time for Pope Francis to do more than talk. He must go to Gaza and make a stand for peace and freedom.
Please sign the petition and share widely.
https://chng.it/CRQ7qw4Gzn
Code pink
https://www.codepink.org/cnngaza?utm_campaign=12_15_pali_update_alert_3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=codepink
Let us also support UNRWA. If our governments won’t act in accordance with humanity, then we will. https://www.unrwausa.org/donate Let us do it to honor Aaron Bushnell, or in memory of Hind Rajab.
Let us call for a No Fly-Zone over Gaza!
These are a few small things we can do. If we can do more, let us do more.
As a collective species on this planet, I don’t think we are redeemable. I recall a part in Terminator 2 where the machine observed 2 little children playfully shooting each other and commented that it was in our nature to destroy each other. My problem is that it doesn’t have to be that way. This comment has nothing to do with the article, it’s just how I feel at the moment.
You know what would have helped, could have helped? If we had been in the direct line of descent from the bonobos, who kiss a lot, things would be a whole lot better. Unfortunately the chimps are much more closely related and in a direct line of descent, and they run around fighting other chimp groups, and sometimes when the female population drops they may wind up killing each other.
The ultimate and highest level of human development and state of being is unity consciousness, the ability to know and experience the interconnectedness and unity in all things and all beings.
That state of awareness is more than an intellectual understanding (though it starts with that). It's a functioning of consciousness. It's a multidimensional understanding combined with multidimensional experiencing.
It starts with knowledge, specific and holistic knowledge, and ends with expansion of the heart. Compassion and expansion of the heart is a function of intelligence. We tend to relegate it to emotion. It's beyond emotion, it's a component of overall and overview intelligence. It brings seeing and living unity to the forefront of awareness.
There's a state of development where compassion and love are a state of consciousness, the highest state of consciousness, unity consciousness.
That's a great consciousness, and it's likely that this consciousness is difficult to maintain and integrate as a consequence of being untethered to our ancestors, their shortcomings and their blessings. I really don't think it's much of an issue of not being in "unity," but more that we are a homeless people living out impoverished lives as a result of such homelessness. I might even go so far as to suggest that the striving for something like "unity consciousness" is born of such cultural truancy wrought by our homelessness. Striving for unity is the sign that we are dwelling on empty, that we might even be searching to escape the earth that we don't know intimately because we didn't have the elders to teach us about our mutual reliance on it.
Unity consciousness (of which there are ever increasing levels of) should be a natural state of being, unfortunately our society is not conducive to it's development, for many of the reasons you skillfully describe. Our society's ways of being steer us toward separateness, mine more than ours.
"Striving for unity is the sign that we are dwelling on empty". There's a truth in that. Unity is natural, striving can get in the way, though ultimately there are no rules.
I wonder what is overlooked in the name of "unity?" I'm currently learning about my backyard, the land I live in, who was here before my ancestors brought their ruptured ancestry and the worship of a singular god with little relationship with earth and earth consciousness. I'm also trying to protect the bay and the ocean where I live from the onslaught of industrialization in the name of wind farms and port expansion. Industrialists might tell me that I should adopt unity consciousness, that I'm a NIMBY and should get out of the way for the greater good. Who's defining the greater good, and what is the greater good? I'd be hard pressed to hear the tribes I work with advocating for "unity" anything. We unite, work together to protect what is sacred from being sacrificed by a human that has taken up the erroneous task of sacred making, of defining themselves as the center of this sacred dance. We are the receivers of the sacred, we don't define it. So when I here a prompt for unity consciousness, I wonder what hovers close behind this call, if anything.
I've described a transcendental state of awareness not any kind of doing or prescribing.
Oh. I read a prescription for a state. I didn’t read your experience of the state. It’s likely that an IDF soldier has visited the Satori that many of us have also visited. And then what? These are genuine inquiries.
People who work in the field of conservation, or ecology adopt a consciousness that goes all over the world, and not, gee I'm worried about the bald eagle, but screw the tigers. I also found that kind of global perspective in an uncle who was in the merchant marines who was all over the world many times, and when I was a kid I picked it up and thought it was great. However grow up in most countries and you're not encouraged to have that kind of perspective, since it is a perspective that doesn't serve your country's best interests, unfortunately. You know like, my country right or wrong.
Interesting that during WW11 merchant mariners were often attacked by journalists like Walter Winchell for having integrated ships, since the American army was not.
I've worked with US environmentalists my whole life. For the most part, they are a very parochial and narrow minded crew.
Well, as a teacher I have always seen the natural world as not bring limited to my own backyard, and no teacher I had encouraged me to see it any other way. Some people who work in this field are focused on a particular problem, or issue and it may come across that way, but if there is no interest or concern on a broader level then there is something wrong. Let me also say although the 20 century is considered the century of the environment it did take them a long time to catch on to that, and maybe many you know and work with in that field were taught with a very narrow and pragmatic perspective. I wasn't. The curriculum changed on all levels, and even in the Junior High schools.
Expansion of awareness is key. The farther the expansion the more profound and the more fulfilling.
Yeah, but people are born into countries who have a vested interest in not encouraging that mindset.
"They’re afraid of the changes and upheaval that would come with an overturning of the status quo."
I think this is the biggest reason people don't open their hearts and work to change the world for the better. Fear. I call it the "Stick with the devil you know rather than the devil you don't" syndrome. They'd rather be miserable and watch others be miserable and desperate than risk upturning the apple cart. Change is scary. Their hearts are closed.
We do have free will. We do have the ability to make the choice to open our hearts and our heads and work for a safe and healthy world for all human beings. What will it take for the majority of us to exercise that free will for the benefit of all?
Being stuck in the same place day after day can also be intimidating.
Truth, thank you. My heart is cracked open from the suffering, the torn fabric of our Humanity that needs to be stitched back together.
In explaining why people don't care or know, Caitlin wrote:
"or because they are intellectually and morally lazy, or some other selfish reason."
I again will strongly disagree with this kind of "blame the victim" approach. (I got into that issue yesterday).
I think a little more compassion is in order for those "unknowing" and/or "unfeeling" ones out there. The world is a difficult place to navigate and there are smoke screens and barriers everywhere (not just in propaganda and indoctrination) that block access to liberation and enlightenment. Many people are mired in the material world in a struggle for survival - they don't have the resources or time for lecture sessions in compassion, non-violent communication, critical theory, "doing your own research", or yoga.
I agree with bill wolfe partly, but not entirely. When I was a professor at an Ivy League medical school in the 1980s I would try to explain to my “liberal” colleagues what was happening in Central America due to US intervention. Most of them would literally cover their ears and say something like, “I’m sure it’s awful, but I don’t want to know about it.” This attitude continues among “liberals” to this day.
Yes, I have dealt with these same people all my life (I attended an Ivy League graduate school). They are the minority, but I found their denial and apathy grounded in cowardice and careerism and selfish interests. Chris Hedges' book "Death of the Liberal Class" analyzes this in great detail.
My comment above was targeted more on the working class and poor factions, not the liberal elites.
Anarchist(?),
I appreciate that you’ve put liberals in quotations. It’s extremely important to remember that conservatives and liberals no longer exist in the political landscape of The US and haven’t for over 40 years.
Truth is included with the gift of life, as is the power of love,
to light the truth.
Truth champions love. Love powers truth.
True love is the love of truth.
Excalibur Truth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS9AiofVkkQ
Caitlin, your Newsletter warmed my heart today. Like the great sage said wisdom has to go hand in hand with compassion. There is no compassion without wisdom; no wisdom without compassion. We have to open the door of our heart to our suffering and the suffering of others.
You make me optimistic that there will be a time when people armed with knowledge and awareness will wake up to caring.
Ah, emptied heart! The weary o' the path!
How would I to fill ye up o' love!
I'd tear this lute, that it might whir
A song that soothed thy lone, awearied path.
I'd steal the sun's pale gold,
And e'en the silvered even's ray,
To treasure them within this song
That it be rich for thee.
.
~PW
Thank you jamenta. A very beautiful poem.
Agree.
You are relentless in challenging us. Thanks for that 🙏🏽
Well, as Uncle Albert said, "Formerly, man could not do as he desired. Now, he can do as he desires; and he must change his desires, or perish."