Showing posts with label The End?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The End?. Show all posts

July 13, 2010

How Will You Vote in November?

I got the quote below from a comment posted on Op Ed News. I assume the attribution to Bill Maher is correct, but no matter who said it, it's worth repeating. This was part of a discussion about whether or not it makes sense to vote for Democrats in November. That's a hot topic in the blogosphere, and I don't have anything to add. Heck, I'm still trying to convince myself that's worth voting at all, after 40 years of faithful voting, believing it was my civic and patriotic duty. It feels like a joke now.

In the words of Bill Maher,

We have a center-right party and a crazy party. Over the last 30 years, the Democrats have moved to the right, and the Republicans have moved into a mental hospital.

One woman in the Op Ed News discussion commented that she would rather vote for an "honest Republican" than a Democrat in name only. Seriously?! An honest Republican? When is the last time anybody saw one of those???

Alas, I'm sure I will vote in November, only because we have to keep the Right at bay as much as we can for as long as we can. Then, again, an argument could be made that we may as well let the dam burst wide open, let the chips of right-wing neofeudalism fall where they may, and hope it results in the drastic, cataclysmic correction we must have for the human race to survive. Either way, it's a tough decision.

June 24, 2010

Who Made BP God? -Or- The End of Empire

I've been at such a loss for words . . . . The image in my mind is one of the Earth and her inhabitants spinning downward in a huge whirling vortex, as if the weight of all our unrestrained greed and stubborn ignorance finally tripped the lever on some colossal cosmic toilet.

How is it possible, for example, for anyone to believe that pumping millions of gallons toxic chemicals into the Gulf of Mexico, along with massive amounts of crude oil, is a good idea? Forget the so-called "experts" and their "science." Seriously, you have to be deeply disturbed to think that plan makes any sense. And why the hell does British fucking Petroleum have the right to destroy our home, our planet?

We have, collectively speaking, completely lost our minds. Is there enough time left for us to come to our senses? Hardly. On the other hand, some people think we are on the verge of a massive awakening, a new age of enlightenment. Maybe. (Will Republicans be included!?)

Tonight I visited the blog of a UCC pastor friend and read a fascinating post. As always, he provides a unique perspective, and I like what he has to say about the situation we now find ourselves in. I share an excerpt of the post with you here:
. . . To do injustice then is to unravel the foundations of the earth and create imbalance. As a spiritual entity, the earth seeks balance and will do everything within creation's power to regain that balance. (M. Night Shyamalan stated this mythically with his movie, "The Happening.") I heard one meteorologist refer to hurricanes as the earth's effort to seek balance. (Dominic) Crossan may call this consequence, the Deuteronomic writer might call this cause and effect of "curse" and "blessing."

I prefer to refer to the earth as the house of justice. Love dwells in the house of justice. When that house is despoiled or love's habitat destroyed, love wanders the earth seeking hospitality.

Because God created the earth and everything in it with inherent grace, there is much we can do to one another or to the earth and its creatures without immediate cause and effect. But if we are hell-bent on crafting a world in our own image of injustice, it will eventually flow back to us. Love is absent. Love cannot be found. Only intentional communities creating sabbath for the earth and sanctuary for its inhabitants provide a hospitality that welcomes love. The rest of the earth is consumed by the injustice it continues to practice.

We need to end empire now. The wars we continue to rage, the oil we continue to consume and spill, and the economic injustice we continue to foster are destroying love's home. And the consequences are dire.
Excerpted from Red Bison blog: It's the end of the world as we know it.

I have a sardonic answer to the question I pose in the post title: The Devil incarnate--Dick Cheney, of course--and his evil minions, the GOBP. They do bear much blame but, sadly, there is a whole lot of blame to go around. Amen, my friend; Empire must come to an end. It seems it will, one way or another.