We are entering the final weeks of one of the most important political elections in recent American history. The political "spin" experts are gearing up for a flurry of distortions and distractions to keep us from focusing on the real issues that face us as a nation and as a species.
A major focus of the Stonyhill Newsletter concerns the need and importance for intentionally awakening our individual consciousness and the consciousness of our human species; the ability to pay attention to the reality of "what is" and live more fully in the present moment. We also talk a lot about the dangers of allowing our inner child's black-and-white primitive ego thinking process to unconsciously rule or dictate our consciousness in adulthood. The primitive ego consciousness of the inner-child that resides in all of us is rarely helpful when we use it to navigate the rapidly growing complexity of the adult world.
The vast majority of adults alive in the world today are unaware that they are unconsciously controlled by the primitive ego of their inner-child. Nor are they aware of how easily the "spin" artists that control the election information we read about, and see on both the Internet and television, use that reality to manipulate us. These spin artists assume that we, the American voting public, are essentially ignorant, naive, uneducated, immature, and therefore totally vulnerable to emotional media distractions and distortions. They count on this ignorance knowing that when voters are emotionally reactive, and driven by an unconscious primitive ego thinking process, they are easily manipulated.
It is imperative that they not succeed in this Presidential election. The future direction of our country is going to be decided for many years on November 4th, and it is critical that we challenge the arrogant assumptions of these political spin artists. If ever there was a time we needed to awaken our consciousness as a democratic nation, that time is now.
To successfully transform our primitive ego and awaken our more adult observing ego consciousness there will be three dangerous but obvious things to pay attention to in the remaining weeks leading up to the election. All three have to do with the "spin" artist's manipulation of our collective primitive ego and their assumption that we will react emotionally rather than intellectually; that we will not bother to pay attention and check the accuracy of their "facts".
The first danger will be emotional distraction, the second danger will be media distortions that use black-and-white thinking and outright lies to strengthen some of our already existing primitive ego assumptions and beliefs, and the last and most important danger will be a continuation of the fear and hatred currently being used to manipulate us into a religiously supported totalitarian theocracy. We will take a brief look at each of these dangers and how we might identify them between now and the rapidly approaching November 4th election.
Danger #1: Emotional Distractions That Shut Down Our Intellect
The spin artists know that if they can get us emotionally stirred up and distracted by unimportant emotional issues, we will be unable to focus our intellect on the more critical social and global issues that face us. Some good examples of recent distractions created by spin artists and the media include, the number of caribou or wolves Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has shot, whether her experience as a PTA mom qualifies her to be president, how many rifles she owns, how she is going to take care of her family if she becomes Vice President, her daughter Bristol's pregnancy, the bans on off shore drilling, what percentage of our energy is coming from Alaska, McCain's war record, issues regarding abortion, the "dangers" to our way of life as a nation if we legalize same sex marriages, whether statements such lipstick on a pig are sexist, the "deeper" Islamic implications surrounding Obama's middle name, the religious and political beliefs of Obama's old pastor, the "black" focus of Michelle Obama's term paper written 25 years ago as a college student…..the list is virtually endless and all are designed to be meaningless emotional distractions. The politicians, their staff that "spin" the information, and the media that report it as "news" apparently do not want voters using their intellect and asking difficult questions. The obvious question of course is why? What are they afraid of? What are the issues they want us to ignore?
If the politicians and their spin artists can keep us focused on these mundane, irrelevant, stupid side issues that have virtually no real importance to the future of our nation, perhaps they hope we will ignore more important questions and issues such as which political party was in power while our economy got to be in such disrepair? What reforms were needed in our financial market and why haven't they been implemented? Why has the United States failed to take a leadership role in the issue of global warming? Why do we not have renewable energy initiatives and why are we still dependent on petroleum from hostile nations? How are we going to solve the health care issues that face us? How are we going to control the problems of over population in the world and what needs to be done to address the growing scarcity of fresh water resources and declining world food production? How are we going to address the dangerous and rapidly growing gap between the haves and the have-not peoples of the world? What are we going to do about the critically growing crisis of species extinction being caused by humans?
Most importantly, why are we ignoring the sobering reality that we humans are now an endangered species blindly depleting the earth's limited and irreplaceable resources; resources that we will need to sustain us in the millennia to come. One thing is clear; these are undeniably the questions that the most powerful nation on the face of the earth should be focused on and taking a leadership role in helping the world address.
If we are not talking about these important issues in the coming weeks leading up to the election, we can assume that for some reason, somebody wants us distracted. The obvious question that we need to be asking ourselves and paying attention to is why?
Unfortunately, the attention span of our primitive ego is very short, so it is very easy to use emotion to distract us. Our more matured adult observing ego consciousness is far more likely to stay focused, ask the "why" question, and pay attention to what is it they don't want us looking at, asking question about, or talking about. It is time to put away the soap opera emotions and start paying attention with our intellect. Spin artists and the reporting media are not going to solve the problems that face us, only you and I can do that but we need to be focused and informed, not lost in emotional distractions.
Danger #2: Media Distortions That Use Black And White Thinking And Outright Lies To Support Our Existing Primitive Ego Beliefs
Our primitive ego likes to keep things simple. Things are right or wrong; good or bad. For our primitive ego, there is no middlepath or gray. Our primitive ego "knows" that its beliefs are right and good. In other words, if our primitive ego wants Barack Obama to be President then everything we hear that supports Obama will be truth, and anything that challenges Obama, will be automatically rejected as bad or wrong. If we want McCain to be President, then everything we hear that supports McCain will be truth, and anything that challenges McCain will be automatically rejected as bad or wrong.
Where this becomes a serious problem is when either political party or the media out and out lies or grossly distorts the "facts". When that happens, our trust is eroded. We stop paying attention. We begin to "tune out" because we assume that nothing is true or accurate. And that is exactly where the spin artists emotionally want us. They know that the collective primitive egos of American voters do not have the discipline or attention span to discern between truth and lies. They count on us not paying attention and checking the facts. If what is reported supports our candidate, they know our primitive ego will automatically accept it as truth. If it challenges the veracity or character of the other candidate, our primitive ego will again automatically accept it as being true.
The spin artists know how to manipulate us because they "know" our primitive ego insists on thinking in black-and-white terms. They know that our primitive ego is very narcissistic and "me" oriented. They know we will not check the facts to verify if they are true. Even when the candidates try to correct what is being reported about them, they will find it almost impossible to correct the record. Our primitive ego "knows" what it knows, and it tends to be absolutely certain that its beliefs represent "absolute truth". It does not easily change its mind or its beliefs.
The dangers of distortion and distraction are easily confronted. The truth is easily found. If each of us took the time to routinely check what the media reports as "fact" over the next few weeks leading up to the election, and then be open to changing our mind when we discover that some of our old beliefs are not accurate, we could easily cut through the distractions and lies to find the truth. The spin artists simply count on the fact that we are too undisciplined and narcissistically set in our primitive ego beliefs to even bother checking the facts. It is time to show them that they have under estimated our resolve to re-write the rules of the game; that voters in this election are indeed willing to take the time to intentionally work out of their more adult observing ego and be more conscious and aware when the politicians and media are attempting to be emotionally manipulative.
Changing our mind does not mean we are wishy washy, it means we are intelligent and able to embrace new truths. Don't "assume" that what we read or hear on television or Internet is accurate; even if it is reported as "news". Much of what we will hear regarding both candidates in the coming weeks will be intentionally distorted or an out and out lie meant to emotional distract us.
In the weeks ahead, and before you vote, take the time to verify what is being reported by going to web sites such as www.factcheck.org or other politically neutral fact-checking organizations. Don't let the "spin experts" get away with their distortions. Don't play into their assumption that we are too lazy or ignorant to check the facts. The future of our country is literally in our hands when we enter the voting booth. Know what is real; what is accurate; and what is not. Just because we believe something to be true does not make it so. Ignorance is always a choice.
Danger #3: The Fear And Hatred Being Used To Manipulate Us Into A Religiously Supported Totalitarian Theocracy.
In the last eight years we have experienced a frightening erosion in the Constitutionally established concept of separation between Church and State in our country. Religion and the American political process have become linked in some very subtle and dangerous ways. Religious fundamentalists, evangelicals, and other religiously conservative groups have entered the world of American power politics and now exercise a rapidly growing social, moral, and political power over the political process. These religious conservatives tend to be concentrated in the areas we call red states and are predominantly republican.
Over the last few presidential elections the religious conservatives have amassed a significant amount of political power and influence. Our supreme court judges are now chosen because of their conservative religious beliefs, our national values and moral guidelines are now defined by the religious right, our federal judges are fired because of their liberal views, and those who dare to question our conservative religious or political views are marginalized or labeled as either unpatriotic or being without "faith". It is becoming clear that questions, which in the past were the hallmark of our democratic system of government, are no longer tolerated.
It is appropriate for religion to be a prophetic voice guiding our culture and the secular political process. Some would even say it is an important responsibility of religion, but when religion begins to exercise direct control of the secular political process, as it does in the current Bush administration, we are well on our way to becoming a theocracy; a system of government in which priests or religious authorities, directly or indirectly, rule a country in the name of "Almighty God". Iran is an excellent example of a theocracy.
So why is this blurring of church and state boundaries that has been happening in our American political process considered to be so dangerous? After all, religiously conservative fundamentalists and evangelicals don't look dangerous. In fact they are usually nice people. They go to church, they live next door, they are often close friends, they give to the poor, and they care deeply about our country. To understand what makes religious conservatives dangerous when they achieve control and power over the political process of a nation we need to revisit and appreciate the rigid thinking process of the primitive ego.
Our primitive egos like the security and simplicity that comes from thinking about the world in obvious black-and-white categories. They do not like the anxiety and uncertainty that results when complex issues are filled with ambiguity and paradox. They like certainty. In other words, when things are clearly good or bad, right or wrong, our primitive egos feel safe. However, when the primitive egos of religiously conservative people combine their need for black-and-white certainty and security, with the need to always be right, and the assumption that their beliefs represent absolute truth, they begin to manifest a dangerous inflexibility.
Despite three hundred years of biblical scholarship that challenges the inerrancy of the Bible, religious conservatives still tend to accept the Bible as representing absolute literal truth. They refuse to embrace the reality that the Bible represents the beliefs, morality, and worldviews of superstitious, pre-modern cultures that lived two to three thousand years ago. They ignore the fact these ancient biblical scriptures we call the Old Testament were passed down as oral tradition for fifteen hundred years before being written down by a host of individual authors who each redacted the material to meet their own religious agendas. The process of converting the oral tradition into written scriptures was a laborious process that took the better part of a thousand years before others undertook the task of re-translating them first from ancient Hebrew into Greek, and then later from Greek into English.
As biblical scholar Bishop John Shelby Spong has shown, even the New Testament went through a long process of oral tradition and redaction within the Jewish synagogue prior to being committed to writing. Each of the Gospel writers then redacted earlier material to shape their Gospel so-as-to fit their particular religious agenda.
There are few things more rigid and stubborn in this world than the primitive egos of religiously conservative people who ignore biblical scholarship and continue to believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of an "Almighty God" who has spoken to them directly. Typical of black-and-white primitive ego thinking, they unquestionably "know" and understand the mind of "Almighty God" and those who dare to disagree with them will quickly experience their aggression and their tendency to anger and violence; especially when it comes to their religious and moral beliefs. They "know" that they are right, that God is on their side, and they have a mandate from God to imperialistically impose their beliefs, morals, and values on the rest of the world.
Religious fundamentalism and political totalitarianism are both synonyms for despotism, dictatorship, absolutism, and tyranny. Both demand obedience, both employ rigid control, both advocate and use violence to establish unity of thought, both violently reject questions or disagreement, and both assume that their authority is absolute and divinely based. To disagree with them is to disagree with and deeply offend "almighty God". In other words they both make extreme claims to exclusive truth and divine authority.
Using fear and hatred to manipulate, there is always one or more groups of people that are considered to be sub-human and dangerous; people that by their very existence somehow offend "Almighty God" and threaten the fabric of the world. Historically these have included Jews, Muslims, witches, women, blacks, heretics, atheists, and currently of course, homosexuals and Islamic terrorists referred to as the evil ones.
Even though we are living in the 21st century the religiously conservative still believe deeply in the sub-human status of gays and lesbians and are convinced that same sex marriages will literally destroy the moral fabric of human culture and the world, as we know it. They believe that females are beneath males and that much of the moral decay they see in our country is directly due to women being allowed to share equal rights and authority with men. They are convinced that such behavior is a violation of God's mandates.
Because religious conservatives believe that their beliefs are superior, they tend to be imperialistic in their behaviors toward other religions, and most importantly, they are openly hostile to modern scientific and cultural worldviews. Because it conflicts with "biblical truths", even evolution is rejected is being simply a scientific "theory". They are rabidly pro-life which means they are against abortion regardless of whether the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, they are adamantly against the use of condoms even when used to prevent the spread of AIDS, and because they reject the insights of modern science they are against all stem cell research despite the health benefits that could result from such research.
In other words they see and interpret the world through the eyes of their primitive egos and their inerrant scriptures. When a primitive ego is convinced that it knows what God wants, and "knows" that God is on its side, cooperation and negotiation with others is not necessary, and the end justifies the means even if the means include the use war and torture to defeat the "evil" ones.
The consciousness represented by black-and-white primitive ego thinking is simply not equipped or capable of creating the compassionate solutions that will be needed to solve the problems that face us as a nation and as a species. The imperialism and rigidity of black-and-white, all-or-nothing primitive ego thinking in religion or politics is dangerous because its inflexibility and non-negotiability will predictably and inevitably lead to violence, conflict, judgment, and the lack of compassion that humans tend to afford those they consider to be "other", different, or not like us. Political fundamentalism is no different than religious fundamentalism. When they are combined, the result is always violence and tyranny.
Conclusion
So regardless of whom you choose to vote for in this coming election, be careful to pay attention to what you are being told. Be suspicious of "emotional" stories or "issues" that distract you from the important national and global issues that are facing all of us. Political parties gain great power to influence when they can get your primitive ego to settle for simple black-and-white solutions. The only way we are going to solve the problems that face us is through dialogue, compromise, and cooperation; a willingness to put aside our religious and national imperialism, our power over others, and our narcissistic primitive ego belief that "we" have all the "correct" answers.
We are entering a global culture, which means we will increasingly need to embrace the beliefs and worldviews of other cultures. Because there is no one religious, cultural, or political "master narrative" or worldview that embraces all truth, the creation of a peaceful global culture will require us to fully and compassionately accept the religious and social worldviews of other cultures; an openness to fully embrace diversity, inclusiveness, complexity, compromise, negotiation, and flexibility.
And finally, pay attention to the incredible dangers inherent in allowing religious fundamental beliefs to infiltrate our American political process. The track record of religion in the history of humanity is a record of violence, persecution, Crusades, inquisitions, torture, and subjugation. Nothing has yet convinced me that "religion" has learned to use its power to manifest compassion and unconditional love. The founders of our nation knew what they were doing when they separated Church and State in our Constitution. Only through humility and the awakening of our consciousness will we become a nation capable of bringing light and compassion into the gathering darkness of a growing global religious fundamentalism.
PERSONAL THOUGHTS
I believe that it's time to awaken our observing ego consciousness and pay closer attention to what has happened to our country in the last eight years. Our nations religious and political leaders have increasingly used religious imperialism and the danger of terrorism to blind and distract us. We are so caught up in religious "faith" issues of abortion, same sex marriages, stem cell research, and building fences to keep others from taking our jobs, that we are ignoring the larger issues that face us as a nation and as a species.
As I have talked about many times in this Newsletter, faith is not and cannot be called absolute truth. Absolute truth, if there is any such thing, is truth that is fully verifiable. We refer to those beliefs that we cannot verify with facts as being beliefs that we hold to be true in "faith". To assume that we "know" the mind of God is simply arrogance based on ignorance. Ignorance and pride combined with absolutely no self-doubt is a very dangerous mind set to have if you are responsible for the actions of the most powerful nation the world has ever created. Just because we believe something to be true, does not make it so. Ignorance is still ignorance. And ignorance is always a choice.
It's time to acknowledge that we are indeed an endangered species playing with forces that we do not fully understand. We are deciding which of the next tens of thousands of species we will drive into extinction this year. We are already compiling next years list. If we continue on our current path, we are going to leave a legacy for our children and grandchildren that may well consign them to extinction. They will certainly shake their heads in wonder at how we could have been so ignorant and unaware of the consequences of our behaviors and choices. They will certainly not judge us well.
Given the power that we wield as a nation and the critical challenges that face us as a species living on a small planet whose ability to sustain us is being systematically destroyed by our collective primitive ego need to consume. Our collective primitive egos also manifest an unwillingness to pay attention to the consequences of our behavior. It is time for each of us to awaken our consciousness, drop the narcissism of our primitive ego, and become a light in what I believe is a growing global darkness. No growth in our consciousness should be considered too small or dismissed as irrelevant. Even light from one small candle can overcome the power of darkness.
I am convinced that if we continue to hand control of our country over to the inflexible black-and-white primitive ego "faith" beliefs of religious conservatives; a path that is leading us rapidly toward an American theocracy and the violence and conflict that inevitably comes from totalitarian religious and political institutions of power, our future is going to be dark indeed.
I would urge readers of the Stonyhill Newsletter to be suspicious and wary of any political positions in the next month that serve to emotionally and intellectually distract us from focusing on our more important critical social and environmental issues. It is time to say no to political candidates and news media who assume we are too ignorant, unaware, and gullible to question what they choose to tell us. I believe that news organizations, editors, and reporters that knowingly report lies and obvious distortions as "news" need to face significant fines and/or prosecution for undermining the trust of American citizens. A democratic nation that cannot trust the "news" that is being reported by its news agencies is in serious danger.
Politicians who allow their staff to use the media to intentionally spin lies and obvious distortions to win the election are going to have very little credibility when it comes time for me to cast my vote. Wanting positive change for our country is not enough. Change requires action. Take time to check the facts. I am planning to wear out my browser going to www.factcheck.org. I would encourage you to do the same.
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
The best spiritual practice that any of us can do in the next month to increase our consciousness and grow spiritually in self-awareness is to intentionally use web sites like www.factcheck.org to check on the accuracy of what we are being told; to intentionally awaken your consciousness and engage your observing ego's ability to pay attention.
Remember, our primitive ego loves to be emotionally distracted and sidetracked onto unimportant issues. We need to focus our intellect in this Presidential election, not our emotions. We have had enough emotional distraction, it is now time to pay attention and use our intellect and vote for the person we feel will bring out the best in each of us and most increase the light of compassion in the world.
There will always be those in the world that would increase the darkness. There will always be those who fear life and crave the security of the past. It is time for each of us to become a source of light; to move into the future and embrace the promise that tomorrow holds for us; to grow in self-awareness and awaken to a higher consciousness. Each of us has the power to literally change the world; together, there is nothing beyond our ability to accomplish.
QUOTES
"Presently, we are an endangered species and are endangering other species: We are threatening our own future and possibly the totality of life on our planet. We can express this threat in terms of "coherence". We have not been living and acting as coherent beings in harmony with others around us and with Nature; instead, we have collectively become "out of tune." And since "all" things are interlinked, our dissonance affects all life on Earth and the whole-world of the Cosmos." CosMos: A Co-creator's Guide to the Whole-World, Ervin Laszlo and Jude Currivan, Hay House, Inc., 2008
"The God who loves me loves Muslims and Jews and atheists, blacks, whites, and browns, gays, straights, wearers of flag pins, snowmobile racers, Eastern elites, moms of special needs babies, teen who have abortions, Republicans and Democrats, loves us all. Somehow we've all got to start doing a better job of leading this country, not to mention sharing this tiny precious globe. A good start would be getting our facts straight and respecting one another. That's the candidate who gets my vote. It's not that easy being a liberal religious voter, but it'll do fine. It's not religion lite. It's hard. Demands all the brains and heart God gave us."
Jean Grasso Fitzpatrick, www.pastoralcounseling.net, Author, NY licensed psychoanalyst, and a member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors.
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