Category: Ethic of reciprocity

A plea for sanity and virtue, Part 2

Posted on by kathiemm

by Stefan Schindler

Is the sun rising or setting on all of us?
Kathie MM

Part Two: Resurrecting the Wisdom and Spirit of Helen Keller, Dorothy Day, Molly Ivins, Martin Luther King, and Howard Zinn

In The United States of Amnesia, governed by Weapons of Mass Dysfunction, we daily witness America’s devolution into barbarism.

Therefore, it is better to swim against the current than to be swept over the cliff.

Collective Awakening is ever more necessary for the restoration of sanity and virtue in a republic apparently intent on self-destruction.

Insofar as the Republican Party is now wholly lost to the forces of sexism, racism, militarism, sophistry, empire, xenophobia, economic apartheid, ecological suicide, fear mongering, war making, science denial, and religious extremism – i.e., a polymorphous perversity of elephantiastical greed, bigotry and delusion, committed to the total overthrow of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal for the American people – and insofar as multi-party pluralism in a two-party system sold to the mega-wealthy is now and in the near future off the table, our best hope for a brighter future is for the Democratic Party to regain its heart and soul; both of which were lost at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968, when it betrayed the Civil Rights and Peace Movements it was obliged to embody in the spirit of our assassinated hero, Robert F. Kennedy.

Karl Marx urged egalitarian economics, arguing that each person has a right to the material security which allows for self-realization and creative service, free from oppressive constraints.  Buddha taught the same.

Which is why the Dalai Lama consistently teaches “a common religion of kindness,” committed to nuclear disarmament, global peace, ecological pragmatism, economic security for all, and lifelong free education in a planetary community where the institutions of society serve schools (and not, as at present, the other way around).  What the Dalai Lama urges and teaches is nothing less than a Global Enlightenment Project.

Also, it might be worthwhile to remind people that if they have a Social Security card, they are a card carrying socialist.

There are today strong voices in Congress urging a restoration of sanity and virtue.  They remain too few, and the forces arrayed against them are strong indeed; but those voices are a beacon of hope, and they deserve our support because they recognize the following:

People before profits = The Sermon on The Mount = The Golden Rule at the heart of The Torah = Heart Centered Rationality = Ahimsa = “Right Vocation” in Buddha’s 8-Fold Path = Covenant = universal health care = Ecosocialism.

Honor Thy Children (to save humanity)

Posted on by kathiemm

by Kathie MM

Cloe Axelson in a WBUR Cognoscenti article tells us, “The kids have something to say, and we should listen.” And she’s right.

Axelson’s article focuses on student activists who survived last February’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 died.

Parkland was not the first example of a mass school shooting in this country; given that the United States has become a nation in which nearly 100 people die daily from guns, it is unlikely to be the last. [I hope you are as horrified to read these words as I am to write them and are thinking of ways to fight the NRA’s deadly work for the arms industry.]

One of the highlights of Axelson’s article is her reminiscence about another young student, Mary Beth Tinker, who was suspended from her middle school in Iowa in the 1960s for wearing a black arm band to school to protest the Vietnam War. The ACLU took her case on behalf of student rights to free speech all the way to the Supreme Court, where she won her case in a 7-2 decision. 

I have same hypotheses about the child-rearing Mary Beth and other student activists experienced.  I believe that in general, they were not bullied and beaten by their parents.  They were not sent off to military schools to straighten them out.  They were not told to shut their traps, mind their own beeswax, watch out or they’d get what was coming to them, obey…or else.

More likely, young activists like these are allowed to ask questions, wonder about injustices, read widely, educate themselves about society’s ills, and even speak out about problems they see in their communities and beyond—nurtured rather than suppressed, taught to love rather than to hate, urged to strive for a better society rather than become bullies themselves.

“Beating the devil” out of kids is not a path to a better world. Corporal punishment can beat out a lot of potential for developing a universal ethic and sense of justice—and perhaps destroy our only hope for survival of the planet. If you want to stop violence in and to the world, work to end violence in the home.

And inspire yourself! Hear Mary Beth today in this brief video.

https://nowthisnews.com/videos/news/mary-beth-tinker-talks-about-her-role-in-the-history-of-student-rights

Pieced Together

Posted on by kathiemm

by Deana  J.Tavares

[Note from Kathie MM: This post from Deana Tavares fits in perfectly with both our series of personal stories from peace and justice activists–see this–and our series on John Pavlovitz’s message in Hope: A life-affirming, love-defending, butt-kicking, world-saving manifesto. Deana is a great example of someone finding and using her own superpowers to contribute to the forging of a better world.]

There are times in life when silence is hard to come by, and peace seems so far out on the horizon,  we must squint our eyes just to catch a glimpse. As a young girl, I squinted my eyes a lot.

Art, poetry, music, and nature taught me that I could find little pieces of peace all around and stitch my own blanket of peace from the swatches that I found. As the blanket grew larger, I  realized  many others could fit under it with me.

Within the puffy clouds of Crayola crayon worlds, I found peace. Peace was also there when I belted out the lyrics to records spinning on the turntable, as I listened through my over-sized headphones. Some peace  also came from  beautiful words and images found in photo magazines, then trimmed, displayed, and viewed daily. My mother’s organ and grandmother’s warm kitchen reverberated with peace. Lilies of the valley carried peace-filled beautifully-scented droplets on the wind to many people, who clutched them tightly within tiny hands. Butterflies, ants, and bees carried miniscule granules of peace on their backs and dispersed them where they could easily be found by big bright inquisitive eyes. Words of peace that circled within warm breezes were plucked like leaves from the branches of towering trees. 

When living between contradictory walls of chaos and walls of compassion, one gains an interesting perspective. One phrase that has remained with me since I was a very young girl is “treat others how you want to be treated.” This message made more sense to me than anything else in my world at the time. So, this is the path I chose for myself. With my art, I fought for me, so it made sense that I could fight for others as well. Especially if their voices weren’t as loud as mine.

As a result of Spina Bifida and Tethered Cord Syndrome, my body was never very strong  and I have always been aware of my limitations, as well as the limitations for many of communication.However, my words, my crayon birds,  have flown far and wide over many obstacles, through countless dark tunnels, and perched themselves comfortably within my adult life.

I have learned a great many lessons from the healing properties of nature. It reminds us that we all started from a small seed and then grew into the individuals, the humans that we are today. We all have the same capacity to hate or to love. Being involved with peace and social justice seemed like a very natural way of acknowledging the humanity of others and seeing myself within them regardless of their place of origin.

It’s not pleasant or productive when one feels small, unworthy, or voiceless. There were times in my life when I felt this way. However, we are all meant to be seen, heard, and valued. So if there is any way through my creative practices that I can help someone else to be seen, heard, and valued, then to me, that is true success.

My flight path has helped me to navigate through rough waters and find others who also believe deeply in the concepts of peace. I’m still finding pieces everywhere to stitch into my blanket of peace, and many beautiful individuals have been woven into it as well. I have learned that peace-seeking individuals come in many forms–college professors, poets, artists, peace chaplains, healing arts instructors, storytellers, playwrights, musicians, teachers, community activists, mothers, family, and friends, as well as Chickadees.

There are also many programs and organizations that focus on creating a deeper understanding for one another, which in turn creates more compassion, and hopefully leads to more tolerance within our world. There are a few groups that I have been extremely fortunate to be involved with and that have fueled my work for peace and justice, such as: Oneness And Wellness with Dot Walsh, Wake Up And Smell The Poetry with Cheryl Perreault, the William Joiner Institute for War and Social Consequences with Danielle Legros Georges, School Street Sessions Poetry Advisory Committee with Deborah Malone, Creatives For Social Change with Alison Brill, Women’s Suffrage Celebration Coalition with Fredie Kay, and the musical about women’s rights “We Did It For You” by Thea Iberall. These programs and individuals have all made me feel that my ideas of peace and social justice are attainable,because they are shared views.

We are so much more effective within society when we can find common ground and make an impact upon the lives of others, and shine a light whenever possible. So at this point in my life, new patches are being sewn into that blanket faster than ever before, bringing more people together, all in the name of equality, justice, and peace.