I always find myself amazed, and in light of recent Kansas events wordless, at man’s ability to twist words of spiritual men. In our state this week it just happened to be a christian who carried out his own twisted thoughts. My prayers and condolences to Dr. Tiller’s family and friends.
These types of religious/hate crimes are common worldwide for various reasons. In trying to formulate some sort of response to this senseless death, I kept coming back to the same point. That is, that whatever the response is, it must not for me anyway, involve further hatred and speech inciting more hate. I started to write something with all the best quotes; Ghandi, Buddha, Christ, Mohammed. It read like a sermon. I ended up turning to music again. I’m not sure how this video relates to these events, but it seemed appropriate at the time. ~sekanblogger
PrairiePopulistsAndProgressives.net 
Music. The universal language. Good post, Sekan!
Excellent! Thanks for sharing, sekan. I love these music video things done all over the world.
I sometimes think if there were no governments, no religions, most people could get along.
As I said, I’m a bit naive.
SOMEBODY has to dream.
Excellent post SEKB. Yes, there will always be dreamers. Thanks very much.
There is so much hurtful confession about it all, people all over the world really have the same desires and wants. Perhaps we are just hard wired, from the beginning different meant danger and contending.
Even when the people looked the same and even acted the same we set our clans a part with flags and banners. One of the saddest thing is the Israelis and the Palestinians they are really the same. Same heritage and same experiences. If two people should be able to see eye to eye it is them, even their own religious beliefs have the same organs. All major religions have the same organs all worship the God of Abraham.
What the heck is there to be fighting about?
But we can truly dream, for in the dreams we find the reality that escapes us in the here and now.
Well said. We can dream and “Be Here Now” at the same time.
I think the issue that is hard wired is an idea to compete, to improve, to better our self. A less serious example, one can look to sports and the only reason for them? To compete to demonstrate that one group is better than another group at a particular time.
Then the issue becomes, that some will take this to an extreme, thus believing that he/she/they are better and more well equipped to dictate who, what, why, when, and/or how to the masses. Often times, I think this may be to the point of not looking at the possible outcomes of the action(s) or word(s) in how these affect others than just the self(or group).
I think in this sense most then can see that a sense of self becomes more important than anything, almost to the point of believing one can not be wrong.
I see this everywhere: sports, life, politics, war, etc. No willingness to work together or to find a compromise. In one camp, it must be plan A, in the other it must be plan B.
In a different sense, perhaps stemming from how I was raised, or perhaps my point of view. I’m going to use a current example. Why must we, to help others, rely on the government to do this? A force much larger than one entity already exists, that force is you and I. Why must it be the government that helps out our neighbor? Why can’t we help out our neighbor ourselves? For one day, can the self ever be set aside to think about a person other than the me?
I’ve struggled with that idea for a long time, and while I think I’ve done it, I question did I ever really do that.
I think for a while I shall be quiet again.
I think you and I are the government. We elect those who represent us and they spend our money. So if we feel we aren’t represented or our money isn’t well spent, we go to the polls and hold them accountable.
Most of us also give outside our representative government, but that doesn’t mean government doesn’t have a place and a part to play.
fnord, that’s exactly what I was going to say in a reply! WE are the government. The Founding Fathers even said that should it arise that government needs to be taken to task, it is within our right and our power to do so.
“That to secure these rights [life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness], governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”