The Absence of The Light

It has been challenging, to say the least, to stay on an even emotional keel this holiday season. The devastating tragedy of the Sandy Hook school shootings presented such a harsh contrast to the Christmas holiday with all its spiritual meaning, it was hard to know how to respond, what to say or feel.

Nevertheless, lots of people think they know, and are doing their best to persuade us that we only have two choices: we must take a stand either for or against gun control, either for or against 2nd amendment rights, either for or against guards with guns in every school.

And of course there are a variety of conspiratorial perspectives: the shooter was brainwashed by the CIA; it was a false flag operation meant to stir up support for severe gun restrictions; etc. There may be grains of truth in such theories, but I prefer the more obvious explanation. A mentally deranged person with easy access to a weapon of destruction is simply a mirror of the state of our culture: a broken, twisted, violent world lurking just beneath the surface veneer of affluent, civilized society. In this illusory realm we have an unspoken consensus agreement to remain numb to the violence all around us, except for the moment when it strikes close to home.

It is heartening, therefore, to see that there is interest in approaching this situation, as a practical matter, on a spiritual level. I have seen some remarkable expressions of support for healing with compassion and forgiveness. A friend posted this on Facebook and received dozens of positive comments: "When I was talking to my father about the horrific tragedy in Connecticut on the phone tonight, he said something that surprised me. He said that the only justification for such a heinous act is the hope that we, as a people, could respond to it by becoming more loving toward each other...he said, "Beyond the issues of gun control and mental health, if we could go further and become more giving toward one another, to somehow love one another more in response to this, that would be the only reaction that would at all justify such a tragedy as this."

There was also this amazing Facebook post: "It is beautiful that everyone comes together in such times of tragedy. It is my hope that these feelings of compassion could be an every day reaction by everyone, for everyone. Right now we cannot be sad enough, or worry enough, to change what has already happened. What we can do now is have more compassion for everyone's journey, and send our love and light to those who suffer in pain from loss of their loved ones. Perhaps this recent tragedy can also help us understand the extreme grief and sadness any parent any where in the world feels when they lose their child to senseless acts of violence. It is all unacceptable. Overwhelmingly hard to understand because no one can make sense of the senseless. The world is ready for a true shift in consciousness. I will not watch the media reports on the event, because it is unacceptable to me to use the grief of so many people to sell advertising, political points of view, or ratings."

Another friend shared the stunning, powerful statement given by Robbie Parker, father of one of the slain kids, and again got many thoughtful and positive comments:



I've also seen people whose response is to become utterly deluged with painful emotions, not realizing that this event was only triggering the expression of pain and anxiety they were already feeling about something else. Shortly after the shootings, I had to talk a family member down from being engulfed in a raging flood of feelings that was becoming overwhelming.

In truth, however, I was not far from there. Our dad was recently diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, and a number of other health issues have also come to light. It has been hard for us to come to terms with, and thus our emotions are already much closer to the surface than usual.

Events like this shooting pull back the curtain to expose the gaping flaws in our society as a whole, but they also make it easy for us to get lost in our own personal pain. It's a very human thing to do. Who hasn't gotten excessively angry with someone over a minor quibble, only to later admit they were actually upset about something else. So it is with grief, anxiety and the agony of feeling helpless, powerless to change the things that are going wrong.

The fact is there are things we just can't control. No amount of feeling stress, anxiety, grief or depression is going to make those kids come back, or make cancer go away. We may need to express those feelings, but to get stuck in them accomplishes nothing and helps nobody. In fact, we only hurt ourselves, and render ourselves useless for helping anyone else.

Nevertheless, we plunge ahead with the intense urge to do something, to make a difference, to solve the problem, to fix what is broken. But that is just covering over the deeper issue we don't want to face: no amount of campaigning for gun control, or gun freedom, mental health awareness, etc. can heal the heavy sense of despair, the spiritual emptiness, the loss of hope that weighs down our hearts.

If we really want to find a way to restore our ability to feel love, joy, faith and hope, we must be willing to do some hard spiritual work. We must be willing to step back, way back, and see everything in the widest possible perspective. That rusty old saw, "it's always darkest before the dawn," is counseling us to remember the light, even as we are stuck in the darkness. Not so rusty after all.

This terrible incident happened to very young children. The sadness of such a thing is unbearable, and yet we have other children around us who are there every day teaching us how to live in a state of blissful happiness. We have children who have survived unspeakable horrors who nevertheless come back to show us, the supposedly intelligent and wise adults, a thing or two about hope.



There is also the fact that the shootings happened during the Christmas season, when the genuine spiritual lessons of Jesus traditionally penetrate, for a brief moment, into the mainstream of the public consciousness.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God..."

...Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered,       "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."

 In light of the tragedy, we are called on to pay much closer attention to their deepest meaning. We must learn that these teachings are not only for when things are all lovely, but are most especially important when things are going bad. 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.  He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous...

"You have heard that it was said, 'eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."

And to anyone who finds this naive or can see no practical value in focusing on these concepts, we must thank them and continue on our way. We have seen countless examples, time after time, how the actions of one person can make a difference to many others. The simple act of extending humble generosity, compassion and forgiveness to another can have powerfully positive ramifications.
It always starts small - with a spouse, our family, our children, a friend or co-worker - but the ripple effect is undeniable.

I know what you're thinking. How did we get from gun violence to this? Well, I said this would take work. Sometimes these kinds of ideas need to be approached in small steps. We just need to keep asking ourselves, what do I really want? To win and feel morally superior, or to live in peace? Is being right more important than liberating myself and others from and endless cycle of struggle, suffering, anxiety, guilt and remorse?

OK, then, what if we just do something, anything that takes us in that direction. Just do one thing that shows some compassion, some generosity, some forgiveness. Help someone relieve their suffering; be of service to someone who needs help.

"The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

We have to stop thinking about how this is not going to change anything. That is the ego talking, thinking that we must have a large, systemic impact to be worth something.

"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

We only have one reasonable choice: to try, just try, to live each day with hearts full of love and compassion for things as they actually are. In this way we can bring peace to our little corner of the world. Lots of people are already doing this, all the time. Let's join them.




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True Believers and Manipulators

                   
As more and more facts come to light about the stunningly immoral behavior of the superclass which seeks to control every aspect of our lives, we keep asking ourselves, what motivates these people?

Mark Crispin Miller, in his introduction to a recent reprint of Edward Bernays Propaganda, points to an answer, as he discusses the dual nature of the minds of demagogues such as Hitler, Mussolini, McCarthy and others. While on the one hand, they appear to be radically committed to their mission, on the other they are detached and manipulative. Miller proposes that it is actually both - they are "fanatical and cynical at once, neither wholly in control nor wholly ecstatic. Such agitators work within a certain mental borderland, where one can never clearly see conviction as distinct from calculation. Indeed, that inner murkiness appears itself to be the very source or basis of the mass manipulator's enigmatic power, and so we cannot comprehend it through schematic dualistic formulas."
(By the way, this is a very valuable book to read, and Miller's excellent introduction makes it doubly so.)

I think this idea goes a long way to explaining the actions of all the megalomaniacs running rampant over our democracy, our economy, our media, our civil liberties, our education system, our privacy, our environment, our food, our water, you name it. And of course, waging wars around the world. They always come up with a rationale to justify what they do, and perhaps they even believe it is a righteous, virtuous cause. But that doesn't stop them from engaging in the most blatantly unethical, manipulative, and usually criminal behavior in pursuit of their goals.

The powerful manipulators seem to have two underlying attitudes. One goes something like: "I think you are inferior, therefore I have no reason to treat you with any respect, compassion or humanity. I can exploit you and do whatever I want to you with no concern. The only things of importance are the increase of my own wealth and power." The other would be: "I think you are inferior, therefore I must use my vast superiority to do whatever is necessary to protect and improve the world as I see fit. Because you are inferior you are incapable of deciding for yourselves what is best for you. I, in my superiority,  must make those judgements - for the greater good of all." As Miller suggests, both of these attitudes may exist simultaneously in their minds.

As you explore this topic you find there are many levels as the elites manipulate those below them, who in turn manipulate those below them. The plight and peril of anyone who has genuine passion and commitment is that he is susceptible to being used by someone who knows how to manipulate his passion. Thus the revolutionaries in the Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt and Libya are in danger of being manipulated by Western covert forces who only view their countries as pieces on the global chessboard. NGO's and charitable foundations, staffed by hard-working, smart, sincere, committed individuals, unwittingly provide cover and credibility, disguising the true objectives of the mega-billioinaires who finance them. Honorable young men and women with noble ideals, equipped with great intelligence, skills, and bravery, become the public face of a military that, just below the surface, is rife with corruption and senseless brutality.

Perhaps the true believer's passion is actually nothing more than bigotry, or simple hatred of the poor, the foreign, the dark-skinned. He can be used by the elites to engage in the most heinous, in-humane actions - which also happen to serve the long-term agendas of the elites. That person may eventually be exposed as a racist or extremist, but his manipulators remain obscured.The recent coverage of the sordid history of forced sterilizations in the U.S for most of the 20th century is but one example:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/15/health/california-forced-sterilizations/index.html
http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/11/07/8640744-victims-speak-out-about-north-carolina-sterilization-program-which-targeted-women-young-girls-and-blacks

We have some contemporary examples in which it is hard to tell whether one is a true believer, or a cynical manipulator. Take for example Duane Clarridge, a CIA officer who became notorious in the 80's for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal.  He is a perfect example of someone so wrapped up (apparently) in the myth of American exceptionalism that he is convinced that any level of brutality is allowable, as long as it is in the cause of defending and promoting American interests. Note how insistent he is on selling us on the righteousness and importance of what are clearly violent, inhumane acts.



And his present-day counterpart, Jose Rodriguez, virtually identical in his tone and intent:



Do they really believe what they're saying? If so, whose agenda are they serving so willingly? Or are they just cynically spouting the words that they know will inflame the passions of those who respond more to appeals to emotion than to reason? Or is it all of the above?

In political rhetoric, there is always some invocation of a "greater good" to justify actions that are clearly, obviously uncompassionate, inhumane and destructive. Cut social spending to save the economy. Fight endless wars to achieve peace. Support a dictator to help spread democracy. The illogic of such double-speak is usually so transparent one wonders how they carry it off. Then we remember: they are experts at that.

In a world of such insane contradictions, it helps to recognize that this is actually the elites' weakness: the inherent irrationality of their actions. By being so utterly obsessed with personal gain and the exercise of control, they are forced to produce a rationale for public consumption that simply doesn't hold up. They are aware of it; that is why they engage in so much propagandizing, media manipulation and cultural conditioning. What we need is for people to reawaken their common sense and capacity for critical thinking, in order to break through all that, and realize we need to stand up and refuse to tolerate it.

It also calls for us to re-connect to our core sense of compassion and empathy for others, in order to grasp the basic, simple ethical flaw in the mindset of the manipulator: that the lack of caring for others is, in reality, destructive to themselves and to the greater good they claim to serve.


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