On the Program

I was on the Your Daily Hour With Me TCTV program a couple weeks ago, on the second of May, the program includes some footage of the MV Star Dieppe, a cargo ship arrival in Budd Inlet to deliver to the Port of Olympia ceramic proppants for fracking. That episode is one hour in length, and is posted to the internet on YouTube here.

I was on the program again today 20130515 (Wednesday 15 May.) After turning on the tapes we talked for about an hour about various topics, including religion and politics, psychology and ecology, industry and environment, wealth and poverty. It felt good, we had some laughs, and despite a couple of technical difficulties, we made a few phone calls, including to Elder Gordon and Elder Hill, Missionaries with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I had fun. That program is scheduled to air in a week from now, on Wednesday the 22nd of May, at 11:30pm on TCTV Channel 22.

Here the video from the 2nd of May is also embedded in this here blog post:

Rosh Hashanah Blessings

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Wishes for a happy New Year 5772.

Although I am not Jewish, I like the idea that we all may look on the past year and forgive each other for any ways that we may have hurt or offended each other.

In this photo the planet Jupiter appears nestled in some tree branches. This is near the house where I live.

L'Shanah Tovah

Harmful Activities

According to some Buddhist thinkers, there are 10 major harmful activities. I found the following on the Tricycle Magazine website:

THERE ARE TEN actions that we must become completely aware of and completely abandon in our lives. They are divided into three unvirtuous actions of the body: killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct; four unvirtutous actions of speech: lying, slander, harsh speech, and idle chatter; and three unvirtuous actions of mind: covetousness, wishing harm on others, and wrong view.

www.tricycle.com/insights/complete-abandon

New Material

It is Easter Sunday, and although I don't consider myself to be Christian, I do recognize Jesus as a pretty awesome human being! I was somewhat raised Catholic, so I understand some about the event. I think it is good to ask questions. For example, who was Jesus. What was the reason he was killed. How has his life and death been interpreted and used?

Anyway, happy Passover, and happy Easter, or whatever other you might celebrate at this time of year (like the start of the growing season, in the Northern hemisphere, the return of the Sun...)

I have posted new stuff on my other blogs, like a video about Artswalk and Procession of the Species 2011 on OlyBlog, here. Also I have new photos on Flickr, videos on YouTube, and other material on Facebook and Twitter.

If you are in Olympia, make sure to get to the Capitol Theatre this week for the Olympia Film Society showing of "I Am," a documentary film by director Tom Shadyac (director of Ace Ventura, Bruce Almighty.) It is about human consciousness, social/political/economic evolution of consciousness. Trailer posted below.

Berd

Non-judgment day is near

bumper sticker

The higher power I believe in is not one of judgment. The higher power I believe in believes in the power of love, and seeks not to travel nor to dwell on the avenues of fear.

Cathedral of St. Paul

41 photos:

Who Would Jesus Bomb

Who would Jesus bomb?

Christmas Day, 2009

Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation Peace Vigil

Percival Landing, Olympia, Washington

War is immoral. All war begins with aggression. Aggression is immoral. Military aggression is widely considered immoral, and there are numerous international legally binding treaties established against war of aggression. It is probably unanimous amongst international political bodies that aggression is immoral and illegal. How could it not be? If stealing is illegal, if rape is illegal, if murder is illegal - then how could the most horrendous violence possible - the violence of a war of aggression - ever be considered legal.

Self-defense is one thing. A reasonable and proportional self-defense against immediate attack. But the wars of the United States of America are a different beast. The wars of the USA are not truly self-defense - nor a legitimate protection of "national interest." What the wars of the USA defend is the selfishness and the greed of the USA. The wars are an effort to further international policies of and practices of oppression and exploitation, under which the USA operates. The wars of the USA do not truly defend the national interest. The wars and international policies of the USA defend the corporate interest - the interest of the most influential and powerful (typically multi-national) giant corporations.

War is immoral. For good reason. War is the worst violence known to humanity. War is waste. It is oblivion. War is destruction defined.

People and nations have a right to defend themselves. But people and nations do not have a right - and in fact they betray the rights of all people - when they commit the crime of a war of aggression.

The wars of the USA are aggressive wars - imperialistic wars - wars designed to further the establishment of dominance - of global hegemony.

I believe that the imperialism of the USA, and the giant corporations that are its keepers, is the worst violence known to modern humanity.

But this perspective - these truths - are very effectively kept away from the American people by a revolving door between cultural affectation, and a media structure that feed off of, and create, each other.

There is a horrible myth in today's America, and to a lesser extent in today's world. It is the myth that America is the greatest nation on Earth - when in reality, the very opposite may be true. It may be more true that America is the worst nation on Earth - that America is the world's greatest perpetrator of violence and oppression - even to the point of wars of aggression, conquest and imperialism.

In America, terrible violence is part of mainstream culture. In America, there is a disparity in wealth between rich and poor that is maintained through systematic oppression.

In America, some people make profit when bombs are dropped. People profit when wars are waged. People profit from all sorts of harmful, destructive and violent economic (and anti-economic) activities!

So, really, I ask you to please answer this question: who would Jesus bomb?

Pillar and Ceiling

Cathedral of Saint Paul, St. Paul, Minnesota

Signs Posted on Fence Near Fort Lewis Berkeley Street / Freedom Bridge / I-5 exit 122 Gate

Fort Lewis Army Base, Washington State

Crusading for a Christian Military

Democracy Now!

God, Gold, War, Oil Pipelines, and Sarah Palin

These videos of Sarah Palin speaking in a church is a scary example of fundamentalist thought and ethos.

It reminds me of a recent post about Jeff Sharlet's book "The Family." The Family: Elite Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power.

People use the concept of a higher power, aka God, to assume their own power, or somehow justify their own power over others and over planetary resources.

I wonder if these supposed Christians understand the Golden Rule (ethic of reciprocity.) Because, I can't imagine anyone using petroleum like there is no tomorrow, without regard to the environmental and social (health, etc.) impacts - not to mention impact on future generations.

How are they so sure that Armageddon is near? Perhaps it is because theirs is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Anyway. agh.

I am a spiritual person. I believe that all matter and all energy that exists is part of a great whole that can be understood as a higher power. I understand that everything is part of God. Life is given as a lesson - to learn and to evolve spiritually as individuals, but also as humans collectively. That's what I believe.

So I am saddened by this fundamentalist ethos of domination, of fear-based preaching about "end-times." I wonder if those who belong to these types of communities have a love-based reality or do they perceive the world from a reality that is fear-based? Do they like it, or do they feel trapped and too fearful to break out?

p.s. Maybe Palin just has "God" confused with "Gold."

Part one


Part two

The Family: Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power

[update: here's a link to the publisher's website for the book: The Family]

I heard this today on my favorite radio station, KAOS, The Evergreen State College radio station.

It's a great program. Check it out. This is a must listen recording. Here's an excerpt from the description on Writer's Voice and a link where you can find the mp3 of the recording.

I highly recommend this one.

Host Francesca Rheannon talks with journalist Jeff Sharlet about his bestselling new book, THE FAMILY. It’s about the real “New World Order” of elite fundamentalism.

When Senator Sam Brownback ran for president during the recent primary season few people knew that he’s a member of an elite fundamentalist group that’s waging spiritual war in the halls of American power and around the globe. It’s called The Family. It counts not just conservatives but also liberals like Hillary Clinton among its intimates and fellow travelers. When the National Prayer Breakfast is held each year–it’s organized by the Family. When we say “our nation, under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, or we read “In God we Trust” on our greenbacks–that’s because of the Family. Founded during the Great Depression in 1933, the Family preaches a gospel of “biblical capitalism,” military might, and American empire. It’s played a crucial role in the unraveling of the New Deal, the waging of the Cold War, and the harsh economics of globalization. That’s what journalist Jeff Sharlet says in his new book, THE FAMILY: THE ELITE FUNDAMENTALISM AT THE HEART OF AMERICAN POWER.

Jeff Sharlet’s previous book was Killing the Buddha, which he co-authored with Peter Manseau. He’s a contributing editor for Harper’s and Rolling Stone. His Mother Jones article about Hillary Clinton’s cozy relationship with Christian fundamentalists, “Hillary’s Prayer”, can be read here.

The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power

So Check it Out! - Bert

A better world is possible.