The Way I See It - The State

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Wed, Nov 04, 2009, 7:00 am  //  Ham Hayes

Rousseau in 1753, by Maurice Quentin de La Tour
Father of Statism?
Source: Wikipedia
Few of us advocate for the suppression of the human spirit. In fact we would be shocked if others characterized us as miserly, mean spirited or oppressive. Yet today we find ourselves in a social, political and cultural dialog where in many quarters those characterizations are being directed toward those who hold different views. Sometimes the vocabulary reflects an “either/or” mentality and perhaps indicates a growing intolerance. One of our cherished American beliefs is that our country offers safe harbor to people who hold a wide range of differing beliefs and cultural practices. At this time, that may be more myth than truth. Control by the government appears to be increasing. And there is a corresponding decrease of influence from our religious and spiritual traditions.

The Religion of the State, or Statism, now dictates our society’s moral authority. For over 200 years, Western society has been undergoing a transformation. This transformation is marked by the systematic isolation and eradication of religious influence from the body politic. It is also marked by government, i.e. the State, providing the code of morality for society. Political and social revolutions, the rise of National Socialism, Fascism, Communism, and indeed modern western democratic societies can trace their genealogy back to 18th and 19th century philosophers and the basic premise that moral authority comes not from God, but man. The intention of those who advocate increased government control can be well meant. That’s what we wish to believe about our own government. Other 20th Century societies, Germany, Russia, China, and Cambodia among others, went another way, the way of genocide to eliminate opposition to the new priesthoods of those societies. And all of their State "priesthoods" believed they were morally justified in their actions.

Today, we can understand the reasons for the French Revolution and the overthrow of a monarchy backed by religious authority. One only has to visit Versailles, palace of the last French kings, to see the unparalleled decadence of the French monarchy. When built by Louis XIV, that palace cost France one-half of its gross domestic product. That is like our government spending 7 trillion dollars today on a really nice house for the President and his staff. In the evolution of humanity, we see the revolutionary events and the thinking behind them as part of a dynamic that breaks through the old toxic thought forms and opens the planet up to truly new thinking. In that era, Mankind needed to be freed from ego-based religious institutions. The corrupt human institutions that usurped control of access to God and authorized “divinity” to kings had to go.

Belief in the State is the ultimate political expression of rationalism. It is the political end of scientific thought. This dynamic has been running since the Renaissance. The dynamic was meant to break the worldly enslavement of the spiritual world by mankind’s ego. Recently, Statism has been somewhat successful in breaking this enslavement, but not completely. The “not completely” is due to the premise by Statism that there is no spiritual world at all, and science can be legitimately opposed or used for the State’s purposes. Where that leaves modern society and science is at the mercy of Statism’s relativistic moral authority. And having been almost completely marginalized by the State, spiritual wisdom traditions are now largely ignored if not harassed.

This is the source of stress in our political and social institutions. We have seen the rise of the State and had hope in its promises. What has actually happened over the last century has mostly resulted in broken promises, a continued inability to solve problems, and great harm done to our fellow Man. Some track record. And that record combined with marginalization of our spiritual traditions has left us with great uncertainty about what is right and wrong. We seem to have constant and challenging arguments with each other about the course of action we need to take to solve complex societal issues. Too often we seek to make the other person or group “wrong”, often because the only things we have to fall back on are discredited or non-relevant beliefs. The other results of this situation include the feeling of loss of power, a rise of cynicism and finally non-participation by many of us.

Continued separation between the State, Spirit and Science will not serve us. We will continue to wander in our political and social turbulence and continue to fail in solving pandemic addictions to everything from drugs to political power. In the past, we have relied on religious institutions, government and science to tell us what to do. That doesn’t work. The solution to our dilemma lies within us. We are capable of integrating the three principles, fusing the wisdom of each. What that will take from each of us is personal involvement and personal responsibility combined with the understanding that we are all connected. It is not "either-or" and we’ve got a lot to lose if we don’t.

David Camp  //  Wed, Nov 04, 2009, 11:47 am

Anonymous Robot World

Hiding behind a laptop (filled with righteous zeal)
we spray pseudonymous opinions into the void.
Watching porn, clinically categorized; voting against the homo’s (they’re Sinners!) - What? My homo-hatred is public? We can’t have that!

Who likes to be hated? There’s plenty to go around - no shortage of folks concerned with motes and deliberately ignorant of beams.

Enabled irresponsibility, forever juvenile. Looking for a reason to dismiss the other.

The sickness is deep, the reality broken, the replacement unhealthy. Live in this pretend world as the real world dies.

Lummi Ferry Petition is Linked

Wed, Sep 01, 2010, 2:40 pm  //  John Servais

A petition to the federal government online at skookum.us. It asks they step in to resolve the impasse between the Lummi and Whatcom County.

0 comments

Lummi Island - The Price of Admission

Thu, Aug 26, 2010, 3:01 pm  //  Tip Johnson

Legal or Political Football?

4 comments; last on Aug 27, 2010

Politics & Ice Water: Part 1 of ?

Sat, Aug 21, 2010, 8:07 am  //  Larry Horowitz

Politics is like a pool of ice water. When men jump in their balls shrivel up.

5 comments; last on Aug 26, 2010

Lummi Island Softball

Fri, Aug 20, 2010, 3:26 pm  //  Tip Johnson

Islanders need a new game

1 comments; last on Aug 24, 2010

Cantwell Confused

Wed, Aug 18, 2010, 4:07 pm  //  Tip Johnson

Ignoring the real problem

3 comments; last on Aug 19, 2010

Election Results

Tue, Aug 17, 2010, 8:05 pm  //  John Servais

A running blog this election night

0 comments

The Political Downzone of Responsible Land Use Planning

Mon, Aug 16, 2010, 12:55 pm  //  John Lesow

John Lesow rebuts Jack Petree's Herald oped article that strongly criticized county planning.

30 comments; last on Aug 25, 2010

Herald runs a beautiful smear of Rossi

Mon, Aug 16, 2010, 12:03 pm  //  John Servais

Headline and article paint U.S. Senate candidate Dino Rossi very badly on final day ballots are mailed. The Bellingham Herald editors print a perfect smear.

5 comments; last on Aug 18, 2010

Lummi Football

Sat, Aug 14, 2010, 12:20 pm  //  Tip Johnson

Time for hardball?

0 comments

Mail your ballot by Monday, 3 p.m.

Sat, Aug 14, 2010, 6:51 am  //  John Servais

Mailing even late Monday evening is gambling on its being counted. Mail in time.

1 comments; last on Aug 14, 2010

Deceptive Herald article on planning

Fri, Aug 13, 2010, 8:39 am  //  John Servais

Am looking for a writer to rebut Jack Petree's BIAW propaganda article the Herald saw fit to print.

3 comments; last on Aug 20, 2010

The Way I See It - Time to change

Wed, Aug 11, 2010, 4:00 pm  //  Ham Hayes

Fear and attack-rhetoric are leading us in the wrong direction.

1 comments; last on Aug 12, 2010

Candidate choices of John Servais

Mon, Aug 09, 2010, 3:15 pm  //  John Servais

Personal opinion and recommendations from an independent liberal and progressive. ADDED more on Tuesday, Aug 10.

3 comments; last on Aug 13, 2010

And in the 40th we have…..

Mon, Aug 09, 2010, 1:49 pm  //  Ham Hayes

Candidates, o candidates - where art thou? Monday Updates

2 comments; last on Aug 04, 2010

Where’s the Info?

Mon, Aug 09, 2010, 12:38 pm  //  Viki Warner

One week till the Primary, but no info?

3 comments; last on Aug 09, 2010

Cooperation no substitute for small libraries

Sat, Aug 07, 2010, 8:18 am  //  John Servais

A library card from any Whatcom County library can now be used at any library in the county

5 comments; last on Aug 15, 2010

40th District State Representative Pos 1 Primary - Tom Pasma’s Responses

Fri, Aug 06, 2010, 4:54 am  //  Ham Hayes

Tom answers our questions

1 comments; last on Aug 08, 2010

40th District State Representative Pos 2 Primary - Rep. Jeff Morris’ Responses

Fri, Aug 06, 2010, 4:50 am  //  Ham Hayes

Jeff answers our questions

0 comments

40th District State Representative Pos 1 Primary - Chuck Carrell’s Respones

Fri, Aug 06, 2010, 4:48 am  //  Ham Hayes

Chuck answers our questions

0 comments

Act of War or Act of Congress?

Thu, Aug 05, 2010, 1:50 pm  //  Tip Johnson

Where, oh where, are our federal representatives?

6 comments; last on Aug 06, 2010

A letter to the Bellingham City Council

Thu, Aug 05, 2010, 8:28 am  //  John Servais

We ask why the EIS extension was given to the Chuckanut Ridge developers when the city is negotiating to buy the property.

0 comments

City bumbles on Chuckanut Ridge extension

Wed, Aug 04, 2010, 8:12 am  //  John Servais

Bellingham Planning Department is giving quiet extensions to the Chuckanut Ridge developer - propping up the property value.

1 comments; last on Aug 04, 2010

Chuckanut Ridge Development Gets Extension

Mon, Aug 02, 2010, 1:30 pm  //  John Servais

Bellingham Planning Department gave a three month extension, till Oct 29, to Greenbriar

2 comments; last on Aug 02, 2010

John Powers death, in the words of a friend

Sat, Jul 31, 2010, 9:29 pm  //  John Servais

John Powers died yesterday. Ted expresses his remembrance.

0 comments

Raising a Village: Can the Bellingham Cooperative School be saved?

Fri, Jul 30, 2010, 10:54 am  //  Kamalla Rose Kaur

Mourning the loss of a valuable community asset

2 comments; last on Aug 01, 2010

The Way I See It - Mud resurrected

Wed, Jul 28, 2010, 4:39 am  //  Ham Hayes

It is time we gave “mud” back its good name.

0 comments

The Way I See It - En Garde

Wed, Jul 21, 2010, 4:42 am  //  Ham Hayes

“We have lots of robberies.” As I reported last week, that was the apocalyptic statement by the investigating officer to our recent plight in St.…

0 comments

Greed: The Shadowy So-called Non-profit Taecan

Mon, Jul 19, 2010, 11:53 am  //  Tip Johnson

For-Profit Non-Profits - Pulling the Plug on Services

0 comments

The Forsaken Constituents of Lummi Island

Mon, Jul 19, 2010, 11:20 am  //  Tip Johnson

Taxation without representation

3 comments; last on Jul 28, 2010

Libraries are still very valuable

Fri, Jul 16, 2010, 8:18 pm  //  John Servais

The New Spice Man tells us why libraries are useful and valuable. This applies to all libraries.

0 comments

Three Port Executive Finalists Withdraw

Fri, Jul 16, 2010, 1:30 pm  //  John Servais

In a surprise development, the Port of Bellingham is starting over again in their search for an executive director. Position now vacant for over a…

1 comments; last on Jul 18, 2010

Book Review:  Whole Earth Discipline

Fri, Jul 16, 2010, 4:44 am  //  Guest writer

Eric Hirst reviews this October 2009 book by Stewart Brand of Whole Earth Catalog fame. Stewart is critical of several mainstream environmental stances.

1 comments; last on Jul 19, 2010

 

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