CULTS, WAR AND THE LOVE OF ALL
As typical with life, so much happens every moment that there rarely seems time to chronicle the things that I want to share with the world. The past two weeks have brought quite a bit: A wonderful trip to Chicago, great music, challenges of competition, dance, and the always present mortal fiber that faces each of us every moment: Death.
Instead of dreaming of immense writings that offer volumes of prose exploring each one of these situations, I want to write a work that molds these experiences into an expression of the outcome. That outcome is that I am a little more open to the people and the places that surround me (thank you for allowing me to borrow that line Neil Peart). Perhaps a little less constricted by the walls of negativity and free to the possibilities of acceptance and tolerance.
I definitely have opinions, I definitely have thoughts. But whether you find community and fellowship within a church, synagogue, mosque, mother earth, friends, Dance World, rock concerts or with personal solace-my dream is that we can all grow in those communities without assumptions and judgement.
Community does not assume the need to have legislated rules. It does not assume the requirement of "It's my way or the highway." Community is like-minded and like-hearted people welcoming and building up each other during our travels through this life. People and friends that are together with us, without the need to degrade, judge or "send to hell," or "save" others who may not be like-minded with you. Peace and grace to everyone. Enjoy these thoughts:
PART 1:
If there is one thing that I have witnessed continually, especially over the past several weeks, it is that this universe is simply too big and perplexing to live as separated agents of our own device. Being around unfamiliar people, places and ideas gives a person two choices: resist with the war of ideology where the main strategy is to prove the other person wrong. Or, live with an open heart and mind, accepting people with no assumptions. Unfortunately, most of us resist with assumptions and judge people without knowing one thing about them. This causes us to miss the beautiful essence of this creation: We are all connected and in the same boat.
St. Patrick's weekend was a time where I lived in Chicago for a few hours. On Saturday, a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art surrounded me in an environment of people, art, thoughts and dreams. I stepped back and just sucked the vibes of all these different people into me. It felt good, connected and together. Although I knew no one, we were all together with no animosity, hatred, pre-judgement or need for wrong ideas. We just, were. 
A few hours later, that same day my friends and I found ourselves in a surreal setting where nearly 100,000 people joined together in voicing their support for bringing our troops home from the war in Iraq and their opinion that this war is needless. With hundreds, possibly thousands, of Chicagoland police in full riot gear on one side of us, and the marchers on the other, we found ourselves as the only people in a sort of weird de-militarized zone, almost invisible to all in the middle of this. What struck me is that there were no problems. People, both marchers, spectators, police accepted everyone.
With acceptance, we all get along. Removing the need to be right all the time destroys the need to build up walls between us. The purposed action of causing no harm results in a simple result where the truth is illuminated. After all, the truth needs no defense; and it is apologetics for any philosophy that is a clear signal that something is awry with that very philosophy.
There is no institution, no war, no set of rules or doctrine that will change society. It is the people. In 1994, Peter Drucker wrote the following in a article for The Atlantic: "It is the social transformations, like ocean currents deep below the hurricane-tormented surface of the sea, that have had the lasting, indeed the permanent, effect. They, rather than all the violence of the political surface, have transformed not only the society but also the economy, the community, and the polity we live in. "
The continued situation in Iraq will not cause betterment. It will be social transformation that comes from the people. Yes, it is distinctly possible that a "freedom bringing" force may open doors for more of the people to be heard against tyranical ideoligists, but ultimately, war does not bring permanent, positive, spiritual, connected change.
Spiritual change does not come with war against culture or the legislation of morality. Bombs of belief that gut our minds with the idea of separate worlds between love and hate erode the opportunity to affect positive change. Hate is our neighbor as much as love is our roomate. Walls will not make our neighbor go away (just look at the wars through history). Love will conquer all. But the eradication of hate will not happen by resistance to it's existence.
From an early age most of us are pronounced guilty of simply being born who we are. We lock ourselves in a prison of misidentity that girds us in solitary confinement as we attempt to surrender to "heavenly"powers in an effort to receive early parole from this caged hell. Being fed the notion that we don't belong here; that we are 'strangers & aliens' misplaced not by purpose, but by the guilt associated with us for the crime of being born, we subscribe to monolithic dreams of golden roads paved with the warfare of armageddon rain that will bring us to a hall of victory, where we can live in a grand mansion of unearthly array forever and ever, amen.
This prison is a separate world fit perfectly with the alms of western democracy, where we are on our own to win or lose, live or die, breathe or suffocate; and whatever the outcome, "it's our own damn fault."
But we aren't created that way; separate. We are connected. Each one of us, together in some fashion or form. We are all in the same boat. We can deny this all we want, but to paraphrase a recent "guru" post: "Just because the blind person say's 'the sky isn't blue' doesnt make them right."
Community, fellowship, and friendship; these types of connectedness are built outside of politics, plans and strategies. They are human things. No institution on earth can cater to the matters of soul with programs. In the words of my friend, Kenny, "It isn't one size fits all." Therefore, no matter how much our institutions such as government or church try to create "programs" that fill needs, they will ultimately fall short in serving the progress of community. Sure, good things may happen and people may be helped by these programs, but they are pieces of a puzzle that fall morbidly short of providing the connectedness that our true being requires.
When I see faddish signs adorn the lawns of our southern bible arenas emblazoned with advertisements such as, "Divorce Recovery," or "Youth Quake," I am reminded how these are really no more than social welfare programs doled out by an industrial complex that survives by telling the domestication story I wrote about earlier in this prose. My favorite is the billboard that reads, "Wear Jeans to Church." The assumption that "People are getting divorced, this is bad, let's fix it" It sounds very familiar to the template that purports most agressive military actions in the world. But, the battlefield here is the soul. And, you find similar things in almost every organized political and religious complex; it's not just christianity.
I have no doubt in my mind that many people are helped, and find community within these programs and institutions, just as much as I believe people are helped by welfare at some points. But, again, it isn't one size fits all.
If you find community in these types of institutions, peace to you. I wish you nothing but fulfillment and happiness. But please don't tell the world they have to believe like you, and hold it against them if they don't. "But, Scott, that goes against the 'Great Commission'". Maybe so, but that 'Great Commission' is sadly outdated and comes off more like a spiritual attack on an unarmed, peaceful country.
"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us 'Universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a fewpersons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is initself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security." -- Albert Einstein
On a lighter note, The Cult concert in Chicago rocked. Here are captions from the photos above that I have smattered throughout this writing:
1) The Cult played a sold out show at Chicago's Vic Theatre on St. Patrick's Day. Spun with social and spiritual consciousness and a firestorm onslaught of power, Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy did not disappoint. This was the seventh time I have been blessed to see The Cult. They are my favorite rock band, and this was definitely the most fun and satisfying Cult experience of those seven concerts.
2) Chicago, Chicago. What a great city. What great vibes and people. Sure, I only saw a very small part, but it is awesome to be around diversity and immensity. It is beautiful and intimidating at the same time.
3) War protest. March 18th saw 70,000-100,000 anti-war demonstrators march down Michigan avenue. I have never witnessed anything like this upfront and personal. This was a very surreal scene, and also very peaceful. My personal take is that people all over the world are sick and tired of out of touch folks calling the shots. Whether Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine or the U.S.A., decisions being made by corrupt governments that don't represent the people are wearing thin on people's spirits and patience.
Thank You,
Scott
