It has been many years since there feeling of hope and shared commitment for bettering the world has flourished as currently. There are grass roots springing up to pull together to fight the 1 % that has taken over our country with the cold, cruel and rigid hands of a dictator. There will be politically elected recalls, people getting signatures for petitions to get referendums on ballots,and the birth of more groups like No-Labels. Energy is revving palpably.
On this Christmas Eve, as some are still celebrating Chanukah and all the other celebrations that pull people together for whatever their belief or reasoning, we universally look hopefully to the future. Will the day come when the rich will let the drawbridge down and see that there are starving children out there while they buy Swarovski studded toilets for $128,000?. Do these people forget the French Revolution or the Russian revolution and subsequent swing to Communism? That kind of blatant wealth in the face of poverty should be seen as fragile if one is to have learned anything from history.
Christians should not fool themselves into believing that the USA is a Christian nation. It is not. Yes, there are some Christians here but if a true count is taken, among those listed as such are many Atheists. They are the ones who have learned that religion does not create integrity nor morality. Living with integrity and morality comes from within. There are many religious people in prisons and there are many immoral people preaching religion,
Whoever wrote "You can't judge a book by its cover." was metaphorically speaking about the cover of religion as much as anything else. Zealots are not more religious, only more convinced they (and only they) are right and among the 'chosen' few. Like all addictions and bad habits, religion will have its fantasies gradually fade in the eyes of the majority. Religion is, indeed, an opiate of the people as Karl Marx wrote in the 19th C . His views did not convert the world but they didn't die, either. Just as it took 400 years for the Catholic church to recognize the genius of Galileo, (who said the earth was round). The concept was ridiculed by ignorant people making similar judgments today from the pulpit, TV evangelism and the Vatican.
On this Christmas Eve, as some are still celebrating Chanukah and all the other celebrations that pull people together for whatever their belief or reasoning, we universally look hopefully to the future. Will the day come when the rich will let the drawbridge down and see that there are starving children out there while they buy Swarovski studded toilets for $128,000?. Do these people forget the French Revolution or the Russian revolution and subsequent swing to Communism? That kind of blatant wealth in the face of poverty should be seen as fragile if one is to have learned anything from history.
Christians should not fool themselves into believing that the USA is a Christian nation. It is not. Yes, there are some Christians here but if a true count is taken, among those listed as such are many Atheists. They are the ones who have learned that religion does not create integrity nor morality. Living with integrity and morality comes from within. There are many religious people in prisons and there are many immoral people preaching religion,
Whoever wrote "You can't judge a book by its cover." was metaphorically speaking about the cover of religion as much as anything else. Zealots are not more religious, only more convinced they (and only they) are right and among the 'chosen' few. Like all addictions and bad habits, religion will have its fantasies gradually fade in the eyes of the majority. Religion is, indeed, an opiate of the people as Karl Marx wrote in the 19th C . His views did not convert the world but they didn't die, either. Just as it took 400 years for the Catholic church to recognize the genius of Galileo, (who said the earth was round). The concept was ridiculed by ignorant people making similar judgments today from the pulpit, TV evangelism and the Vatican.
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At one time, the views of Karl Marx had converted a large portion of the world. His economic views are now dying out, and with good reason: they have failed miserably every where they have been tried. The story of 20th century communism is marred with such atrocities as the Soviet Gulags, the Cultural Revolution, and the East German secret police. Workers in communist countries were considerably less prosperous than their western counterparts, as well as being less free. Even the late Marxist Christopher Hitchens abandoned Marx's economic program.
We are fortunately seeing the end of communism. Even Fidel Castro's brother Raoul admits that Marxism isn't working in Cuba, and is moving towards a more free market approach. This leaves North Korea as the last true communist nation. One could only hope that the death of "beloved" leader Kim Jong Il will finally cause North Korea to abandon this failed, destructive ideology.
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