Daily Archives: February 6, 2017

Much has taken place over the last few days in our country. For those following the news we have seen demonstrations, court actions and other activists kind of activities in the light of the executive order signed by the president which affected refugees and other non-citizens, legal and illegal entering and leaving the country.

Some people have applauded the actions of the president. Most according to the polls have disagreed with the president; if not in the substance or purpose of the order, at least in the way it was carried out and the breadth of the order.

People on both sides of the aisle have reacted to the situation, with some being extremely diplomatic to the point where they actually said nothing in their statement. But politicians learn over time, if they dont already know how at first, to use the maximum number of words to say very little and sometimes to say nothing at all.

Two of our representatives joined with others to make joint statements concerning the issue of the executive order which caused such a furor and set the country in some degree of turmoil. One was very clear where he and his colleague stood. The other was so diplomatic he and his colleague said nothing really. But, others have gone to the other extreme too.

We can disagree with someone, even the president, and disagree very strongly without demonizing him. This did not take me by surprise however, because the country had practice and exposure during the last administration when the former president was called all kinds of names and made the butt of all kinds of derogatory jokes based on color and because of ideological differences.

Sometimes the chickens come home to roost. However, I cannot join the chorus that would paint our present president as the devil incarnate or anything close to that. And it has nothing to do with liking him or disliking him.

I believe in principle, not personality. My principle says that although I believe the executive order went too far, or was implemented very poorly, and as a result caused untold hardship on many lives, it is not sufficient justification to dehumanize the president.

We have more effective ways, and lawful ways, which many have pursued to address issues when we disagree with our president or government. Many used that door, and as a result, at the time of writing this article a judge had issued a nation-wide stay on the presidents order.

I trust the people collectively more than I trust the leaders collectively. And I believe the same people who voted for our leaders are the same people who will not hesitate to remove those same leaders if they cross certain boundaries.

I believe in the collective voice of the people. That doesnt mean I believe they are always right. I also believe in the individual and collective actions of the people. I believe we can make a difference even when our leaders are on the wrong track. And that is the direction this column wants to take; that we the people do the right thing, and on an individual basis reach out to others to help bring about unity, reconciliation, peace and goodwill in our communities, churches, workplace and where ever else we engage each other.

I want to appeal to us, the people to do what we know in our hearts is the right thing, and the right way to deal with others.

The golden rule has been a standard that many Christians and non-Christians have used. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, it says. In other words, we treat others the way we would like them to treat us, if we were in their position, and they were in our position.

Let us help to heal some wounds, bandage some hurts, show love where hatred has dominated, caring where there is none and sow peace where there is war and discord. Lets not just talk about love, let's show love.

Lets show that we are a welcoming, receptive people and not the kind of people many are making us to be across the world. And lets start in our neck of the woods, next door, and the places where we engage people every day.

Valentine Williams is a pastor and a former adjunct instructor at Trident Technical College. Contact him at valmyval@yahoo.com.

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Let the Golden Rule be our response locally and globally - Berkeley Independent

Deep inside anyone whos capable of thinking for themself beats the heart of an anarchist. Robb Johnson, arguably the greatest political songwriter working today, wrote a line that goes Each child born, is born an anarchist. Quite so.

Anarchism is one of the many words thats routinely misused and abused by the mainstream media. If asked what an anarchist is, most people would reflect this misinformation by replying with words suggesting some sort of violent terrorist. This is the image thats been carefully crafted, polished and maintained by the media. Even highly educated people, who really should know better, routinely misuse the word anarchy to mean chaos and disorder. It is, of course, nothing of the kind. Derived from the Greek word anarkhos, meaning without chiefs, anarchism could reasonably be defined as meaning a society without leaders. It does not deny the need for society, it denies the need for leaders.

The hard proof of this can be easily found by anyone who can read. Its there in black and white in the actual words written by real anarchists people like Bakunin, Kropotkin, Goldman and Chomsky. And although he wasnt known as an anarchist, possibly because he was active before the word was in common use, the writing of Tom Paine resonates with anarchist values on almost every page. Some people even claim that Jesus Christ was an anarchist because of his allegedly pacifist teaching, but given that no one really knows what he actually taught, thats impossible to confirm. However, most words written by known anarchists express values that are the diametric opposite of the interpretation routinely used by the media.

No doubt every real anarchist has their own personalised concept of anarchism. Most of my clothing is black or black and red the widely-used colours of anarchism and much of it has a circled A, anarchisms unofficial logo: my work-clothes, I call them. I do this not to show-off that Im an anarchist, but to promote anarchism, to encourage others to wonder what the A means. When they ask me, which sometimes happens, I like to have a quick and easy explanation of anarchism to hand because few people want to know about the writing of Kropotkin, for example, in reply to a casual half-interested question. So I have a quick one-sentence line patiently waiting in the wings: No gods, no masters, live the Golden Rule. Like all slogans, its far from perfect, but I think it captures enough of the important essence of anarchism to be pretty useful.

The no gods component carries enormous significance in those two little words. They burst with confrontational iconoclasm. There have been many times in our history when uttering those words could have been a death sentence. In parts of the world today, they still could be. The notion that we should have a society where all religion has been consigned to the scrapbook of history (along with all the other dead myths and superstitions that once ruled over different people but which are now rightly known to be complete nonsense) is still a powerful, radical concept. Religion is still a dominant force in most parts of the world, and is still used as it always has been as a highly effective controlling mechanism, supplying supposedly divine approval for the criminal actions of secular rulers. Shattering the right of priests to exert this power, as the words no gods do, is an important component of anarchism. It demands liberation from control by any and all religion and dares any priest to prove it wrong if they can.

Religions are most actively practised, and widely believed, in the poorest communities. Theres a good reason for this. The people who are the most oppressed and the most likely to rebel against their oppression need to be convinced that their suffering is part of some divine plan: the more they suffer, the greater their rewards in heaven will be. As the great Joe Hill song goes, Youll get pie in the sky when you die. Often this is the easiest and most comfortable option for oppressed people, permitting them to meekly accept, instead of openly resist. Priests are, of course, the people most responsible for this particularly powerful and effective brainwashing, and with very few exceptions priests have always allowed themselves to be exploited by the super-rich and powerful to continually maintain the lie.

Confronting the lie, as most anarchists do, making people begin to ask important questions about their cherished religious beliefs, is deeply subversive. It makes people realise that the desperate lives theyre living is all there is for them; that those lives are not pre-ordained by some old guy living in the clouds who nobodys ever seen. Theyre pre-ordained by human beings who are no different to them except in their ability to wield awesome power. Confronting the lie sews the essential seeds of rebellion the vital sense of injustice, the powerful motivating force to rise up and make things right. During the Spanish Civil War, priests, allies of Francos fascism, were rightly targeted by anarchists for the essential role they played in keeping the people oppressed. I dont suggest that priests should be murdered as they were in Spain but their ideologies must be continually confronted.

No masters is arguably even more confrontational and challenging. Most societies have always been ruled by masters. Few of these people have been selected by the free choice of those they control. Historically, the masters were often warlords who attained their status through bloodshed and terror, ruthlessly crushing all opposition. The hierarchical structures of lesser masters they established below them, to rule in their name, are reflected today in almost every institution and organisation in most parts of the world hierarchies of junior masters overseen by some supreme master. Suggesting that all these people are unnecessary, should not exist at all as the words no masters clearly does suggest is obviously the same as suggesting that our whole model of society is fundamentally flawed, and the very glue that keeps the model together should be scrapped.

The last part of the slogan, live the Golden Rule, is vital. The first two parts are negative, iconoclastic and destructive, calling for the complete breakdown of everything we recognise as normal society. Live the Golden Rule is positive, constructive, and proposes how a new society should be fashioned. That one sentence is more than sufficient to replace any religion, and also suggests a basis for remodelling the hierarchical structures no one really needs.

The Golden Rule is a simple basic philosophy thats so old it appears in one form or another in almost every ancient civilisation. Repeated in the work of Kropotkin, for example, who wrote: Treat others as you would like them to treat you in similar circumstances, the Golden Rule is arguably the most positive contribution anarchism makes to society. It doesnt promise the perfect society, but its quite easy to see that if everyone lived by the maxim, the world would be an infinitely happier place than it is today. Anarchism rightly confronts and opposes just about every core principle and feature of modern society an obviously destructive position; and with its support for the Golden Rule it proposes a simple solution for replacing our existing cruel and oppressive system.

Many anarchists embrace the Golden Rule so closely that they live vegan lifestyles, in recognition of the fact that animals too should be included in interpreting the rule. Voluntarily bound by the Golden Rule, as most anarchists are, its very clear to see that far from being dangerous terrorists, as the media routinely portray them, real anarchists are peace-loving humanitarians who disdain violence against all living things. They may destroy property, when they think its necessary, but they usually go to great lengths to avoid harming any living creature.

Our societies are not plagued by war, hunger, misery and oppression because we the 99% like to live that way. e have those things because our leaders, the 1%, deliberately choose to inflict them on us. Anarchism rightly identifies two of the biggest problems society has, and which must be overcome a deep existential belief in gods and masters; and it offers the simplest almost perfect solution upon which society could and should remodel itself: the Golden Rule.

John Andrews is a writer and political activist based in England. Check out John's books: Fiction: The Road to Emily Bay; Non Fiction: The School of Kindness; The Peoples Constitution. Read other articles by John.

This article was posted on Thursday, February 2nd, 2017 at 10:02pm and is filed under Anarchism, Religion.

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No Gods, No Masters: Live the Golden Rule - Dissident Voice

In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, Jesus outlines what it takes to experience the Kingdom ofGod.

We all know certain parts of those chapters and I want to concentrate on one verse, chapter7 verse 12, which we know so well as the Golden Rule. Do onto others as you would have them do untoyou. I like to add "if you were in their shoes."

We live in a world that looks for something to divide us or to be angry about. Jesus wanted us to learn to love one another by treating each other with respect and I believe that starts by assuming that others donot want to harm us. It starts with putting ourselves in another place and treating them as we wouldwant to be treated if we were in their shoes.

How would you treat someone in handcuffs if you saw yourself in them? If you were addicted to a drughow would you want others to treat you? When you win or lose a competition, how would you want tobe treated if you were on the other side?

In todays environment of conflict and division there is a longing in our souls to return to the Kingdom ofGod and the peace that comes with it. That can only happen if we dig deep into the Bible and allowourselves to be shaped by what it teaches us. Wouldnt the Golden Rule be a great place to start?

There is only one way for us for us to improve our culture and that is for some of us to break the cycle ofblame and anger and look for ways we can work together to fulfill the Golden Rule. We could be thestart of a change that impacts our community and the world. Will you begin to treat others as you wouldwant to be treated if you were in their place? We can make a difference!

Reflections is a column by religious leaders in the region. The Rev. Jeff Bobin is pastor of Bethany United Methodist Church, 140 Wadsworth Ave., Meadville; Littles Corners United Methodist Church, Routes 98 & 198, Saegertown; and Hamlin Chapel United Methodist Church, 16460 Route 198, Saegertown.

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Rev. Jeff Bobin: The Golden Rule - GoErie.com

Theres a lot of talk these days about building walls.

One of the most powerful politicians on the planet is obsessed with building a wall to keep out undesirables. The promise to do so was popular enough to help get him elected. And now two countries that once prided themselves on friendly relations are divided by the spectre of that great wall.

The wall, the idea of the wall and what the wall represents are deeply problematic. The wall is symbolic of grave differences of opinion between the two countries. The country that wants to build the wall wants to keep residents of the other country out. The theory is that they arent trustworthy, not good enough to mix with the residents of the suddenly isolationist nation. Help us build the wall or well slap tariffs on your exported goods to our country. What a needless, avoidable quandary.

But that is exactly what happens when individualism, misplaced superiority and intentional detachment is allowed to trump solidarity. Its not the way Pope Francis sees the world and its not an acceptable Christian view.

Is there anyone among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Jesus asks in Matthews Gospel. Or would hand him a snake when he asked for a fish? If you, then, evil as you are, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him.

So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the law and the prophets.

The Golden Rule message delivered by Pope Francis to North Americans and all others is straightforward. If we have sympathy and concern for ourselves, we should exhibit the same for others. If we want opportunities for ourselves, we must strive to do the same for others. When we go out of our way to maintain our own safety, we should go out of our way to keep others safe. Whatever we would do for ourselves, we ought to be comfortable doing for others.

The worries and problems of others have to be our worries and problems. If people are living in abject poverty in our countries, we cannot stand idly by. If civil wars and other conflicts leave people orphaned or in refugee situations, those living in better circumstances are obligated to lend a hand.

Pope Francis points out that it is not good enough to sustain your own family. Its equally important to look after others. It is not appropriate or Christian to build a wall around our own needs, wants and desires while shutting out the needs of others.

Thats a concept that seems to be lost on those now tasked with running the country to our south. They say their country doesnt have room for refugees displaced from war-torn Syria and would rather build a wall around their own interests. They say there are far too many unsavoury characters stealing across the border. A high wall is needed to protect their selfish interests.

They say they contribute an inordinate amount of financial resources to a 28-nation international military alliance and that others better up the ante or face the prospect of losing an influential and powerful member country. The concept of using what you have to help others seems to have been abandoned.

They say that multilateral trade deals that were negotiated to benefit all countries involved are weighted against them. They want to change the playing field, build a wall around their manufactured goods to protect against the free flow of other nations products coming into their market.

Its wrong to say that someone elses problems are theirs alone. Its wrong to say that those less fortunate than us are the authors of their own misfortune. And its wrong to say their misfortune is none of my business. Walls of selfishness do not cut it for Pope Francis and they didnt cut it for Jesus.

The message for individuals and for nations is simple. Treat others as you would have them treat you. No man and no country is an island.

Looking past the barriers that separate us from others will always trump building protective walls around ourselves.

(Campbell is a writer in Halifax, N.S.)

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Opinion: No room for walls in Gospel's Golden Rule - The Catholic Register