Retrospective

Jim,

I was in college when the Vietnam War started up. It began with "evidence" of transgressions which turned out to be fabrications, what if scenarios about a domino effect. I retain my skepticism about presidential announcements, and it doesn't move when military people offer their approving salute. Our forefathers told us to be wary of government and leaders, ask questions, be an informed and vocal citizen.

Before September 11, I carefully watched one of the weakest and most isolationist presidents we've ever had. I watched him break his campaign promises over the environment and education, watched him favor the business and oil interests over the wider interests of serving all the people, the common good. Following Sept. 11, I saw a brief attempt to build meaningful international coalitions, then squander all the good will with an obsession on using war to remove Hussein from power. In other words, I saw him revert to being an isolationist with a principle loyalty to oil and business interests.

I see the world in very large "spiritual" terms, as a battle between the Spirit and the powers of negativity. The weapons of the negative powers are primarily fear, followed by hatred and discouragement. We live in a time when mankind has the opportunity to remember that we are all one family, to remember the oneness of being God's children. The world is divided into actually two religions, I think: fundamentalists and universalists. The fundamentalists (of whatever stripe) believe they have the one and only way, and all else are infidels. Their universalists believe we are all one, though we may express ourselves through different preferences. A fundamentalist has more in common with a fundamentalist from another religion than with a universalist in his own religion. They all fall into the camp of keeping the world hopelessly divided and at each other's throats. Bush, in pressing for war, even when the majority of voices around the world say no, falls into the camp with those who keep the world divided while following selfish interests.

The world will only become more secure for everyone as we learn to work in concert with each other and press for peaceful yet effective avenues of action. It won't become more peaceful by unilaterally seeking to destroy a single enemy while inciting to action a whole new generation of young people feeling themselves set upon and wronged.

I don't trust Bush. He's proven to me that he is a liar again and again. He calls himself the compassionate conservative who will leave no child behind while drawing up guidelines to trim school lunches for the poorest and rewarding the rich with huge tax breaks, himself included. The proposed tax breaks would have saved him $60,000 last year in taxes and saved Cheney over $300,000!

I applaud the French and the Germans for learning the lessons of WWII: namely, you don't blindly follow any bullying leader into war. You ask questions. You demand absolute proofs. You look for peaceful means, even if that means taking tedious and long-term steps. That is better than the collateral damage to untold numbers of innocents and unknowns of any war.

I deeply mistrust anyone who tries to persuade me of anything by using fear. That's the hallmark of the negative powers, their calling card. Does anyone feel more secure these days anywhere in the world. The North Koreans surely think Bush is now capable of anything, and so they prepare for nuclear war!

I actually think the United Nations is working, is doing exactly what it's supposed to do, following its own processes and safeguards. The fact that Bush isn't getting what he wants isn't a sign of "irrelevance" for the UN, but a sign of its active and dynamic relevance. It's the USA that is "weakened" by beating the drum for unilaterlism. Anything that moves us toward world cooperation seems to me the right direction.

These are challenging times. I wish the best for all of us. I like Thomas Paine who said "The world is my country. Doing good is my religion."

Love and Light,

Sandy Lyne