Talking to Inanimate ObjectsIN the 80's and in to the mid-90's Columbia was in turmoil amidst a drug war which claimed the lives of all types of people from adults to children; and like Columbia, Mexico now faces a similar violent and heinous battle. One factor remains the same in both situations, people are living in fear so that American kids and adults can get high.
One constant theme I've noticed in almost every article I've ever read about this situation is that many of the people and organizations involved in drug trafficking were or still are involved in smuggling marijuana. I have a friend who grew up in Columbia, and he ( like myself ), is deeply disturbed by the casual approach to marijuana in this country and people's tendency to think that its no big deal. He told me about how violent criminal organizations are involved with marijuana trafficking and of the deaths and lives destroyed as a result of this activity. I am in no way implying that pot is the only drug that these people are involved in, but the money from its distribution helps to heavily fund their crimes.
The realty is that the top levels of distribution rely on criminal activity which affects the lives of innocent people who we never even consider. Its almost like what I write about animals and the fact that people eat meat without really thinking about how the animal ended up on their plate.
The other problem I have with weed is that when we defend its use as not hurting anyone, we simultaneously admit that the drug does produce burnouts. I myself can tell you from personal experience that I have seen people who were dedicated to spending large amounts of time smoking it over several years, reach a point where they were lethargic about everything they did and became counter-productive. Make no mistake, that is their prerogative if they want to live that way; but lets not just pass the drug off as harmless. We should at least admit that any type of substance that alters ones mind might not possibly be the greatest thing; and if nothing else, weed is still an inhalant which might not be that good for a person's lungs.
OUR
disregard for the human body as a vessel which should be taken care of does not only exist while we are alive, but many times continues on after we die. Television shows revolving around anything from morgues and murder scenes to hospital rooms with half naked patients and blood splattered all over the walls are scenes to me that are slowly mirroring real life.
I understand that autopsies are sometimes necessary in cases of mysterious deaths which may have been the result of murder, but when a child dies as a result of a horrible accident out in public with numerous witnesses, do we really need to mutilate the body further to determine the cause of death?
Our physical form is our vessel, and it must be respected at all stages of its existence; even after death. "Many times we look at problems as only having one solution when in actuality there are many other avenues, and I think a much more worth while cause would be the pursuit of returning our country to a level of respect that we have lost in which kids could at one time walk down the street or play outside with out the fear of being attacked or taken away."
FEAR sometimes causes erratic responses and actions that are later regretted. I have been paying close attention to the recent trend of RFID human implants being used by citizens for various reasons. I can't see in the first place how having something like that in your skin is safe, but aside from that I also think that having such a device is another reminder of how removed we are becoming from the human experience in a world where we will now mix flesh with machine for convenience.
THE
emerging trend is that parents will have these chips implanted in to their children for the sake of finding them if they are ever kidnapped. I believe that if we continue on with this, children could eventually be routinely chipped in hospitals at birth until eventually all humans have this implant.
ANYONE can give really good reasons to justify this procedure, and I am not going to argue that these views are wrong; but I believe that none of them are an excuse to give up our humanity. Many times we look at problems as only having one solution when in actuality there are many other avenues, and I think a much more worth while cause would be the pursuit of returning our country to a level of respect that we have lost in which kids could at one time walk down the street or play outside with out the fear of being attacked or taken away. Simply implanting everyone with chips just seems to me like putting a band-aid over a much bigger gash of a wound.
IT
is very fashionable right now to not believe in God, but saying that we are “just here” and that there is no purpose to life is just as silly as saying there is a person in the sky looking down on us. I do believe in God and there has been proof of an unexplained world beyond what we see, we just choose to ignore it. As much as there is horrible useless nonsense in our world, there is also order and complexity. How could a random event resulting in our existence produce mathematics and the laws of nature? Are we to believe that these things invented themselves out of nothing?
Padre Pio ( a priest from Italy who lived until 1968), bled profusely from his hands in a phenomena which doctors where not able to explain. He was one of many saints through out history who bled the stigmata.
Padre Pio ( a priest from Italy who lived until 1968), bled profusely from his hands in a phenomena which doctors where not able to explain. He was one of many saints through out history who bled the stigmata.
THERE
have been countless accounts of near death experiences documented where in some cases, children with no prior knowledge of God describe seeing angels and heavenly imagery.
I do not have all the answers to life; but I do think that to assume there is no God and that we are all here for absolutely no reason, could be an extremely naive mistake. We have an entire counter culture which studies the paranormal and have caught ghosts on camera, claiming that they are spirits who are having difficulty passing on to Heaven. If we believe that there is no after life, then we are also saying that there is no validity to the world of the paranormal which, leaves a big hole which I feel needs an explanation.
I WATCHED
a show the other day which featured children who were visited by ghosts. One of the child's mother said how she had told her to ask the ghost its name and what year it was born as well as other information. The mother went to the town historian and found that this person actually existed in the 1800's. Again I ask how we can explain away something like this? I know people make up a lot of stuff, but what about those cases which can't be explained away?
LET
us consider the many locations and instances around the world in which people have claimed that the Virgin Mary has appeared to them coinciding with events in which miraculous healings have taken place. In the case of Medjugorie, the village was surrounded by civil war. However, there were multiple instances of bombs failing to explode when being dropped on the village as if being protected by Mary who had been appearing to children there at the time.
During the 60's in Garabandal Spain a group of children claimed that Mary was appearing to them. One of them (Conchita Gonzalez) was told that she would receive a communion host from Saint Michael which would be visible by the crowd of people present when it happened. Not only did people see it appear, but a onlooker actually caught the glowing host on film. I have seen the still shot many times and it is astonishing.
This happened in 1962 when super imposing, photo shop, and high tech computers didn't even exist. Again, I am not telling people what to believe, but if there is no God then we have even more explaining to do as to how such things happen. The Christian, Muslim, and Jewish religions all derive from Abraham and all three come from the same area of the world. God appears to us in many ways and with many religions, each one suitable for the individual person. Even many people I know who don't believe in God still tell me that they believe in “something”, they just don't know what. I believe that the “something” they refer to is in fact God.
RECENTLY
here in Massachusetts we had a well publicized incident in which a professor who worked at Harvard University was arrested by the police when they thought he was breaking in to his own house. It brought up questions about race and the president had to get involved, so it made me want to share my thoughts on this problem.
I have known people in my life who weren't the most outstanding citizens, yet decided to become police officers and overnight they were looked at as incapable of doing any wrong. It is a job which can attract people who shouldn't be in such a profession.
I also don't think that every last little questionable interaction between the police and people of color has to to with racism, and if black leaders simply chose to address only the most extreme cases, then I think they would get a lot further in alleviating this problem.
While I do think that there are many police who have made horrible decisions while on the clock, I also hesitant to believe that they go around trying to kill people of color. The reason I think this is simply because I believe that even those police who are willing to jeopardize their integrity would draw the line before doing something that would cost them their job and lively hood.
African Americans live with a deep pain from a history of being left out of participating in the creation of our country, and this can be an extremely sensitive topic for them as a community. I think that when the President invited both the professor and the police officer to the White House, it was a positive and ground breaking step forward in race relations, and it was an event that we can all learn from.
We clearly have a problem in this country with members of the police who take liberties with their privileges, but I think that promoting the killing of a policeman, police woman or anyone for that matter is just as stupid. Regardless of people's past trials they may have experienced, there is no justification in causing further pain.
I have been Straight Edge since I was 14 and I've seen so many trends come and go. While it is a great way to live, it has also been associated with a lot negativity. I believe that it has become big enough that we have to decide right now which direction it is going to travel.
We can use violence to get our point across and continue on as an obscure cause while people pigeon hole us as a group who are not worth listening to, or we can take this to the next level and use the current momentum to spread this. Violence will automatically turn away people who may have otherwise listened to us. Political movements that are too extreme linger around history for years only gathering small groups of people and getting nothing done. Straight Edge is huge, but it is not big enough.
I have helped get many alcoholics, drug addicts and dealers away from the lifestyle, and I have done it by making them understand the damage they have done to their families and community ( something I would have failed at if I had used my fists ). In my view, this method has ultimately been the most damaging to the world of substance abuse. Using more violent tactics would have given those involved with drugs and their friends yet another reason not to listen to me and continue on with their destructive behavior.
A lot of people who are Straight Edge will read this and have their own opinions, and the only credibility I have is in the work I've done, but I did it in a way that I don't think would have made as much progress if I had gone down the obvious path.
