Dispelling the myth of a 'Christian nation'

Inside the First Amendment by Charles Haynes

Culture warriors, pseudo-historians and opportunistic politicians have spent the last several decades peddling the myth that America was founded as a "Christian nation."

The propaganda appears to be working.

A majority of the American people (51 percent) believes that the U. S. Constitution establishes a Christian nation, according to the State of the First Amendment survey released last month by the First Amendment Center.

Because language about a Christian America has been a staple of Religious Right rhetoric, it is not surprising that acceptance of this false interpretation of the Constitution is strongest amongst evangelicals (71 percent) and conservatives (67 percent).

 Even many non-evangelical Christians (47 percent) and liberals (33 percent) appear to believe the fiction of a constitutionally mandated Christian America as historical fact. Forgive me for being snippy, but read the Constitution. Nowhere will you find mention of God, Christ or any intention to found a Christian nation.

On the contrary, the only reference to religion in the Constitution-before the addition of the Bill of Rights-comes in article VI: "No religious test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

This means that political power in the United States may never be limited to people of one faith-a necessary condition for a "Christian nation"-but must be open to people of all faiths or none.

Barring a religious test for office sparked widespread outrage in 1787, especially in states with religious tests designed to make sure that only Protestants or Christians would ever be allowed to hold public office.

In their wisdom, the framers in Philadelphia knew that the time had come to break from the precedents of history and bar any religious group from imposing itself on the nation using the engine of government.

Even this was not good enough for Thomas Jefferson and other founders who wanted to prohibit any and all entanglement of government and religion in the new nation.

In 1791, the opening words of the First Amendment-"Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or the free exercise thereof"-were added to the Constitution, further ensuring a fully secular state with a guarantee of religious freedom for all.

Of course, some of the founders worried that "no establishment" might lead to a breakdown in Christian values in American culture. Alexander Hamilton, for example, contemplated the creation of a "Christian Constitutional Society" to promote Christian virtues and principles among the people.

In spite of this anxiety, drafters of the Constitution took the radical step of founding the first nation in history with no established religion.

Truth be told, they had little choice. Religious divisions among the many Protestant sects in 18th century America were deep and abiding. Anglicans, Quakers, Baptists, Congregationalists and many others fought bitterly over what it meant to be "Christian"-although almost al could agree that "Papists" (Roman Catholics) were followers of the anti-Christ.

In other words, religious diversity at America's founding made a necessity of religious freedom because no one group had the power or the numbers to impose its version of  true faith-Christian or otherwise-on all others.

It is worth remembering, however, that principles as much as practical politics inspired many of our founders to define religious freedom as requiring no establishment of religion.

Roger William founded the colony of Rhode Island in 1636 out of his conviction that only by erecting a "wall or hedge of separation" between the "garden of the church" and "the wilderness of the world" would it be possible to protect liberty of conscience as required by God. Religious freedom, Williams argued, is itself a Christian principle.

Any attempt to establish a Christian nation, therefore, always has been and always will be unjust, dangerous and profoundly un-Christian.

Charles C. Haynes is a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center. e-mail: chaynes@freedomforum.org. 

The Otherfish Wrap would like to thank Mr. Haynes for sharing the right to publish this article with us. In these times, we must find truth amongst a proliferation of lies. This article attempts to inject a little sanity into the discussion of politics amongst the people of the Earth.

Cheaters Don't Need To Pay Attention

In our attempts to make the world more and more idiot resistant we have come up against an unintended consequence. I do believe there are ways to recover from this life out of balance, but it will require some sacrifice and diligence on our part. We have innovated our way into a sophisticated system in which capital is thoroughly divorced from things that matter most, the means of production has sucked up into too few hands and with which we can placate the masses with nothing more than streams of electrons and products that can be produced for pennies and sold for dollars. The cheaters are still in charge of the system and they assure themselves that they will always have the upper hand. Their ace in the hole is that they think that we all need them to fake their way to the top and siphon out the lion's share of the wealth that is created from the sweat of the forgotten man's brow.

I started to realize just how much trouble we were in over thirty years ago. I was tired of the two or three guys who sat behind me cheating (copying from my answers) during tests, so I purposely answered the most ridiculous way I could think of. The teacher, noticing all of our tests were identical, called me aside and asked why I had cheated. I knew her and thought she knew me, so I told her of my ruse. I asked her if I could re-take the test in private and she agreed. When I aced the test, she gave the other boys a passing grade, but let my original test score stand. She told me that had I done my best, those cheaters would have found a way to get the best grade possible, instead, I helped them to fail and that was what was wrong. We are in the same position today. Those who have not paid attention to history or economics, mathematics or science are cheating, just like they did in grade school. The problem is that we let them and the bigger lies they tell, the more insane their logic, the more responsibility we trust them with. The recent addition to the slate of "presidential candidates", from Texas, is an excellent case in point. Never mind the economic and environmental facts, just forge ahead spouting outright lies and the news will cover you as if you are their darling. Now, because their weak minds have been titillated by the digital manifestation of his lies, they will parrot back the falsehoods and claim them to be true.

There are not scientists converting daily to the belief that climate changer is a myth. There is actually no better way to reduce pollution and climate destabilization and raising much needed money than from a carbon tax. It is customary to tax things we do not want more of. Perhaps what is needed is a raving lunatic tax or a bold faced lie tax. The slate of candidates would clean itself up if the tax was high enough.

Hardly a word is said in the public sphere that relates to the fact that a large portion of Northern Japan and the ocean around it will be inhospitable for humans for centuries thanks to splitting atoms for power. Even less is said about the fact that the green light that was originally given to nuclear energy was because of the need for weapons grade material that can only be made in nuclear reactors. The facts about nuclear energy are as chilling now as they have always been, but the cheaters never wanted us to know about the truth. Similarly, those who claim that US reserves of fuel will last for centuries are just dead wrong. To "harvest" the oil shale and tar sands that are touted as our energy salvation will require billions of kiloquads of energy being wasted in the fracking and extraction processes. Making energy this way is akin to carrying water from a well miles away in a bucket with a hole in it.


The banks cheated their way into such a deep hole that we all had to bail them out. Now we can see how willing they are to help us. Car companies as well fought tooth and nail to be allowed to continue doing the wrong thing, yet my car, a 1999 model gets fifty miles to the gallon. My intuition tells me that whenever we determine a necessary path to make the future better that we find no shortage of idiots who make themselves cheerleaders for doing nothing, or worse, continuing down the wrong path at full tilt. The very word "conservative" has been twisted and eviscerated by the religious right, their tea party offspring and the gun-totin' nationalists who claim that our paternalistic government will one day limit their freedoms to bear arms. The well-organized militia part of the constitution may as well not even be there. The cheats, liars and true terrorists only pay attention to things that make their quirky claims seem real.

I have seen little good come of commissions, committees and inquiries, focus groups, advisory councils and working groups so I am usually loathe to recommend them, but in this age of stupid people wresting the tiller of public opinion from their factual underpinnings of truth, justice and The American Way, perhaps it is time to have a sort of truth commission that allows public discourse to stay on topic, reflect the best information available and to prevent the public sphere from being contaminated with hearsay and innuendo. We can make some things up as we go along but the truth is not one of them.

The Cult of Ignorance and America's Worship of Stupidity

I am an avid student of parenting issues and am seeing a startling parallel between the development of the human organism and our country as a whole. There are critical times in the development of the human brain. Called efflorescence, these times are characterized by what is best described as a blossoming of synaptic potential in the brain. My understanding is that new neurons are created, which inevitably displace some connections, but allow new connections to develop as well. The times that this occurs are well known in the first stages of life, but the second phase, that takes place in adolescence, is something we are less familiar with. Anyone who has raised children knows far more about this phenomenon than science can prove or recognize at this time.

The scary thing is that with our new found personal computing potential and the increased ability to communicate via the digital realm, it is as if our entire human potential has been changed in similar ways. Many of the same effects that brain growth can manifest are taking place throughout our culture and especially in these United States. Babies have this efflorescence because their brains must become capable of far more than the new born can process. Similarly, in adolescence, the human organism must greatly increase skills and integrate more responsibilities as well as developing sensitivity to subtlety. With this mighty "brain storm", change occurs which temporarily debilitates us with the ultimate result being increased functionality. Luckily, for most, parents are still there to guide us through these turbulent times and add a sense of stability to the craziness that is taking place inside our cranium. Our whole culture has run amok in that we cannot "see" the results of our actions or understand the results of inaction within the greater context in which we are becoming able to operate.

We all know individuals who are cheerleaders for the "no growth" model. The ones who will be childminds throughout life. Some of them can be fun at parties, but will forever be challenged by the tilt of the Earth or it's revolving around the Sun. Retardation of a person's development can be caused by many things and I do not want to belabor that here, but for our culture, it is essential to guard against retention of childlike ways. We cannot continue to be the country that throws temper tantrums or makes bad decisions in the future. Adolescent behavior is difficult enough for those ho have to live with one or two people who are suffering the consequences of this stage, but when a whole country is trying to adjust, it can throw the whole planet off it's game.

Our Church of the Ignorant, seems to me, to have gotten it's start long long ago. Terminology like "ignorance is bliss" and our fascination with "idiot savants" is well known. When I was a child, I never could understand the love people seemed to have for The Three Stooges and Laurel and Hardy. The stupidity behind their violence just upset me. Many tried to tell me that it was fun (and funny), and they encouraged me to lighten up, but the underlying messages were too puerile for my young brain. Like the spacy period that we all went through in adolescence, having to relearn things that we had known years earlier, our whole culture seems to have forgotten some of the basic facts of life, the things we learned in kindergarten, and how to be helpful to others that we may one day depend on for our own quality of life.

I see this most clearly in the realm of politics, but it is all around us. It has been a long understood phenomenon that all it takes to bring people together is to give them a really good enemy. As our ability to communicate improves, it is harder and harder to establish criteria for who would make "a really good enemy". What is needed is a new way to bring people together without the need for hate, deception and trumping up charges that really don't hold any water. Case in point...here in Wisconsin we are currently being told that public sector employees, except police, fire and emergency services personnel, are costing us more than we can afford to pay them. Teachers alone are being singled out for a 900 million dollar pay cut and another half billion is being proposed to be cut from health care workers in our state. This is concurrent with continued funding for our prison system which is nearly two billion dollars. I don't want to discount the need for doing something with people who threaten public safety, but in this day and age, we have incarcerated huge numbers of people for non-violent drug crimes, while we let those who ran our economy into the ground amass ever greater wealth. We are also living through the safest time period in over thirty years. Even as crime rates continue to plummet, we are told that we must be involved in a war on crime, a drug war, and be "ever vigilant" against every manner of imagined threat. But I digress. The point is that those who destroy the economy, the ecological integrity of our land, air and water, those who fill the airwaves with lies and distractions from those real problems and those who destroy the lives of the poorest people among us by making them work harder for less are held up as "successful" and allowed to keep the wealth that they take from the rest of us. In fact, if they get themselves into trouble or crash the economy, we say that they are too big to fail and take even more from the poor, to fund more wealth and tax relief for the rich.

If we are to believe most of the rhetoric that makes it's way into the "news" the only safe place is sitting at home in front of the tee vee. Luckily, as more and more people get out in the world, they discover that the biggest threat that we face is the dumbing down of our culture by the major media outlets. This week's exoneration of the church of hate known as the Westboro Baptist Church is as fine an example of the Cult of Ignorance as one can find. Imagine, having the "right" to invent a fictitious character who is supposedly all powerful but that would kill innocents because they were mad at gay people. Then, imagine the courts affirming the right to speak out about this abominable belief in the presence of people that are grieving their lost loved ones. Assaulting both the sensibilities and emotions of those who are gathered to mourn their husband, lover, child or friend in a lame attempt to popularize their quirky beliefs. Those who "serve" our country are left to swing in the wind, but the very people who they served can attack and desecrate their memory? What is next? Should we demand that all children be raped so that they might have more compassion for the perpetrators of this heinous crime? I think that Baptists claim Christ as their savior. I have never heard a story about Christ that made him out to be a hateful bastard. Somehow, it isn't very comforting to know that if he had truly existed, he would have had every right to treat others without respect.
Like the child, who for years, has known that after each meal they need to rinse their dishes and put them in the dishwasher, wash their hands and put the leftovers away, our country has gotten things right for quite a while. The source of our current break down in reason and lack of attention to logic and sanity remains obscure. My own feeling is that it is a result of being awash in a sea of ideas and opinions that are not well-reasoned or thoughtful. Like the brain that is rapidly adding nerve cells, some are blocking established routes and connections, leading to utterly unrealistic behavior. In time we will hopefully learn to utilize this new potential. With a bit of luck it will be before we destroy ourselves completely. Many children are not able to navigate through these turbulent times, but with the steady hand of a compassionate mentor, they have a much better chance of surviving into adulthood.
Education is the second most expensive thing in the world ignorance is the first. Please speak out on behalf of truth. It may be the most important time in the history of humankind to do so.

The Last Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse was in 1638

Galileo Galilei was still alive when this event took place. Remember, he was the fellow who wrote: "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same god who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." He was the first to use the refracting telescope and witnessed the phases of Venus as well as discovering the moons of Jupiter. His astute observations and scientific rigor allowed him to prove the validity of Copernicus' theory that the planets revolve around the Sun. For this he was subjected to the inquisition, convicted of heresy and sentenced to life in prison which was reduced to lifelong house arrest because of his ill health and old age. Nearly four hundred years ago, the powers that felt threatened by his discoveries took it upon themselves to make him recant his support for Heliocentrism, although "primitive" cultures dating back many centuries had known the central place of the Sun in their cosmology. The Earth, when it eclipses the Sun, has the power to darken the Moon, just as our earthly ignorance and quest for power has the ability to block out god's love and our ability to perceive the goddess in her abundance as well. After nearly four hundred years, the powers that be are still trying to get us to forgo the use of our sense, reason and intellect. We must stand in the face of their oppression and take back these god given aspects of our make up.
The miracles that I have witnessed are things like animals hibernating. They appear to be completely dead then come out of their torpor to live again. If a frog, turtle or spider can be reborn, should we claim that they have died for our "sins" and worship them? Three days for a human is pretty good, but many animals hibernate for months! The Solstice is the most likely reason behind the season, we should all agree to disagree with the Jesus Myth. It was predated by several similar myths from far more ancient cultures. I don't want to rehash all of that again, but if you want to know more, watch the Zeitgeist movie, or study your history. Another miracle that I have witnessed is the fact that a single seed can increase itself with such vigor as to produce many thousands of times it's own weight in food while creating many times it's mass of oxygen, transforming the Earth by it's very process of living. We could learn a lot from something as delicate as a dandelion seed, or a pea. The lessons that are attributed to Jesus Christ are alive in the cornucopia, a pagan symbol that predates Jesus, the star, which is shorthand for Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit and dozens of other ancient pagan symbols. The ignorance of our age is to mistake what we must all ultimately take responsibility for, our own ultimate power, for some sort of esoteric and unproven "power" that we give a story, to guide our lives.
I have been told by well-meaning Christians that my attire, behavior, beliefs and lifestyle relegate me to burning in hell for eternity. I have seen these same folks use power and control to oppress their wives and children, unleash their hatred and anger on innocent beings, lust after both neighbors' possessions as well as their wives, destroy nature and disavow intellectual development in favor of what they call "The Word". I'm with Galileio. If subscribing to their way of thinking means that my sense, reason and intellect must be forsaken, I want no part of it. Look no further than ancient folk wisdom or the current television series in which the CEO goes to work at the lowest level in their own company to see that the clothes certainly don't make the man. I have not acted with malice toward anyone, though I do refuse to submit to the power trips of others. I believe in Love, Peace, Liberty, Truth and Justice but understand that without living in a spiritual way, few of these qualities can be understood or defined with clarity. I also believe that many of my X-tian friends and neighbors are tormented more surely on this
Earth, than they ever could be in their imaginary "hell". Fearing corruption is nearly as dangerous as hating it. In either case, the mere granting of it quarter assures it's continued existence. If we fear something profoundly enough, we will "see" it around every corner. Likewise, when we hate, our energies somehow act as a cosmic funnel, bringing the object of our disgust back into focus for us to "get a better look".
A new place in time requires new approaches and a sense of honor for those who came before. Without their insight and awareness, we cannot hope to advance the cause of humanity without the dangers of repeating their errors as well. Yes, there really is a Santa Claus, as we come to realize as we enter adulthood, the personage that we sent our letters to is a fallacy, but the abundant spirit of giving is alive among us. Some of us keep that spirit alive throughout the year, others, only when they bake more cookies than they can possibly eat themselves. So too, the spirit of the Christ Child, the young man seeking the truths of the sages of India during his "lost years", even the heretic who sought to live as the light and love of our Creator and the man who was crucified for his insubordination are imaginary as well, they live within us, not in chapter and verse of a plagiarized document translated through half a dozen languages to meet our ear or mind. It behooves us to make a distinction between the fables that we are told and the truth that lies within them.
During this time of quiet reflection and the rebirth, of the Sun, may we all find ways to more purely abide the Golden Rule, stand for what we believe in, and accommodate the needs of others in our own struggles to find happiness. Once we find the prince of Peace within our selves, may we find ways to share that personage with others. Our closest burning star gives without measure and we need to follow the lead of that heavenly body, supporting life, affirming the abundance that the sun "son" personifies. Let us not get hung up in what our parents may have told us when we were young and impressionable. Growing up requires us to make a distinction between truth and fantasy. At some point we must "let go of childish things" and take full responsibility for our own salvation. Blessed Be this day and for all time, may your spirit soar and your body be healed through right livelihood and mutual respect for all beings.

The Tragic Cost of Hatred and Misunderstanding

All too often we forget that we do not live in a vacuum. We deny the fact that our "democracy" is too often controlled by money, more money than the majority of us can fathom. The powers that be know that it is far easier to demonize and blame others for our tragic failings than to take responsibility for our own mistakes and change in ways that can fix the problems that we have created ourselves. Our figurehead leaders are put in a difficult position because they have at least a glimmer of understanding about the immense power that the fortune 500 companies wield. Right now, today, the non-financial S&P 500 corporations are sitting on enough capital
(in smaller amounts it is called dollars)to fund another bail out like the one we taxpayers are on the hook for. We spent money that we do not have to save their asses and in return, they have taken that much cash back out of the economy. Why do we let them do this? Because we value "freedom". I contend that the freedom to do wrong is not protected under our constitution but try to find someone willing to take on the big dogs. The right-wing of our government feels that those dollars, which were created by exploitation of "resources", including human ones, investors and profit margins, is theirs to do with what they will. Well, if a mere 500 companies have the cash on hand to float the American people a loan to get things moving again, wouldn't it help them to do it as well? In fact, even a zero interest loan to the government would benefit them more than they could calculate because it would help break through the log-jam that is facing our economy today.

Those who keep telling us that the government is the problem are only fomenting hatred of any system that might have a chance of working. I am thoroughly amazed at the number of working poor who feel that the government is taking too much from them, because that is what come career businessman has told them. Most of these people get a full refund of federal taxes withheld at the end of the year anyway! The misdirection of our collective attention would strike awe into the most smooth and successful magician. If we could see through the smoke and mirrors, we would find corruption and collusion from the local level all the way up to the top rungs of our industries. Government is always in the terrible position of having to "play nice" with the most vile and reprehensible characters. The "regulated community" as most government officials refer to it is made up of folks who feel entitled to whatever they need to make a profit. Frequently, these organizations feel that they are not only entitled to everything they want, but justified in taking it because they "create jobs". Sadly, the other unspoken truth of the matter is that these corporate leaders often feel that they are better humans than the rest of us and therefore have the equivalent of The Divine Right of Kings. Calvinism dies hard amongst those who can use it to justify pollution, exploitation and degradation of the very communities that they exist in.

Lest I forget to mention, these entities usually support local non-profit organizations, but it seems a bit disingenuous when the same folks who bring in and release to the community the largest amounts of toxic and carcinogenic compounds turn around and support the walk for breast cancer research, or that the same companies that require mothers and fathers to work late donate to the Boys and Girls Club to help fight juvenile delinquency. Hundreds of bad actors placate the public by making donations to noble causes. Strangely enough, these funds are written off pre-tax, which results in under-funding programs that the government tries to support.

Few realize the deductions allowed business on a daily basis, or the huge sums that skate by as non-taxable. Everything with corporate logos printed on them, from hats to shirts, to uniforms, to pencil holders, "freebies", frisbees, pens, pencils, packaging, etc. think of all the things that you see that have a logo on them...all deductions pre-tax for the corporation. Is there a benefit to anyone by allowing this one deduction? Since most of these give-aways are cheap plastic crap from China, I suppose someone in China benefits, but why would our government subsidize their industry?

Understanding these issues goes a long way to unraveling the mess that has been made of our political and social lives. When we begin to see the falsehood and rhetoric behind the most commonly used words such as "freedom" and "patriotism", we can begin to sort out the true meanings of these words and define them for ourselves, rather than taking them as code words for something bigger and more occult. Hatred flourishes when ignorance is in the mix. That is why ambassadors and statesmen are usually from a more educated class. I, in no way, want to sound prejudicial, but the fact is that ignorant people have been and will continue to be graduated from Harvard and all he Ivy League schools. Being educated is not like filling a vessel with water, prejudice, hatred and misunderstanding exist in all of us to some degree, they act as holes in one's vessel, allowing truth to spill away and lies to be contained within. Stemming the flow from one gaping hole often leads to partial patches over other holes as well. We begin to learn when we realize that we really know very little. The worst thing that education has ever attempted to do is to send people in their late teens, to College, directly out of High School. Who knows more, and knows that they know it, than a High School senior? Two years of community service, or military training would go a long way to curing many of those misconceptions.

This week, The Red Cross has had to curtail efforts to bring relief supplies and equipment into Pakistan. After a month of suffering, along with millions of others, a tipping point has been reached. The refugees began attacking aid workers, making it unsafe for the Good Samaritans. What has happened during the past month has been mostly, nothing. We forget that the Pakistani people are just that, people. We have been told recently that their government is supportive of those that we righteously hate. Do we forget the atrocities that our own government carries out in our name? The truth of the matter is that our enemies are leading relief efforts on the ground, exhibiting for the local populace who "cares" about them, while we withhold aid and stand in awe of the catastrophic flooding. It took a few days to begin putting relief into Haiti, but after a full month, humanitarian aid was flowing into that area relatively freely. The longer we wait to "do the right thing" in Pakistan, the more loyal to our enemies their people will become. Instead of a few corrupt and powerful government officials and a cadre of military leaders who support our "enemies", the displaced people and refugees will note that the hands that sustained them during this current crisis were the same color as theirs, and that the politics of hate has merit.

We cannot afford to have an entire country, one that has nuclear weapons of it's own turn out to be a terrorist state. We must begin to understand that we are all one, brothers upon the same Starship Earth. In spite of the fact that the vast majority of Pakistanis wanted a woman, educated in the West, to be their next leader, a fringe militia, frightened at the prospect of losing their power, murdered her. The people love what we stand for, but if we acquiesce now, many will lose faith that there can be a path to a better life. The moral high ground is neither if we cannot lend a hand to those less fortunate, those suffering the costs of our unbridled greed, and those who bear most heavily the weight of our failure to understand basic principles of freedom and democracy.

When the majority becomes cold, heartless and misinformed, all is lost for our country. We need to develop more leaders who are willing to stand up for truth and justice, stop the rhetoric of scarcity & competition, and get on with the process of educating ourselves instead of relying on well-funded elites to give us more smoke and mirrors instead of reflections of stark reality. The truth may be difficult to look at from time to time, but it is what it is, and we play a big pert in it. I cannot presage what the next meaningless distraction that we will be fed will be, but I assure you, it will be designed to keep us from seeing what is really going on right under our noses.

Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies

I have been amazed at the number of people who have become enamored with a book and movie called The Secret. Although our beliefs do play a large part in our "reality", as the book and movie claim, positive thinking alone cannot determine outcome of our behavior nor can our will alone determine the future. Action is still able to "speak" more loudly than words. More importantly, when our beliefs override good sense or eternal truths, we set ourselves up for the proverbial fall from grace.

Books and videos may foist one belief or another upon us, but it is in our best interest to examine each bit of information that we receive, considering the source, exploring the motivations behind the message and trying to understand the goals that lay behind the "curtain" of secrecy that most of us allow to exist between production and consumption of ideas. As a stagehand, I am literally one of the people behind the curtain and I assure you that profit for the few and wage slavery for the rest of us is at the heart of most of what you see in music, film, television, sport, newspapers, books, the internet and the entertainment industry generally. We are in a difficult position when spirituality enters the realm of entertainment. The recent deaths of seekers who attended a mass sweat lodge, set up by one of the presenters featured in "The Secret" attests to the dangers of mixing spiritual questing with the profit motive.

I am only now beginning to realize that the end of Uncle Sam's war in Vietnam, that I worked so hard for as a child, would turn into an obsession for so many souls. Just yesterday I overheard a conversation that could have been forty years old about the lies upon which the war began, was executed and reported by journalists. The torment was thick in the voice of the veteran who was still educating people about that war and what it meant for him. The spiritual motivation behind our cause, and the love that we felt for those we did not know had little effect on the lives, or for that matter the deaths of people whose blood, sweat and tears stained the soil halfway around the world. Our rulers, and they are not elected, found that involvement in Indochina was no longer convenient and that the curtain was beginning to rise on the true nature of their motivation as well as their influence on our involvement there. Our government would like us to think that they suddenly developed a conscience, but that is truly not the case. The sense of victory that coursed through the peace movement was palpable, but the power dynamics remained unchanged.

War is always good for the power elites who own the means of production. It is good for those who stand to lose nothing. For all of the rest of us, nothing is gained, and for many all is lost. I believe that we have the power to change this dynamic, but there is little we can do about the unelected leaders who determine when and where our nation shall go to war, unless we understand that they are indeed there, and make changes that will allow us to see their influence as plainly as if the curtain were not there at all. The recent victory felt by many when Obama was elected is noteworthy because, like the end of the Vietnam War, it created a feeling of positivism that reverberated around the world. Even though the world economy was teetering on the brink of collapse, we felt as if change had truly come. We will have to look no further than the morning news to see that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Those who seek to control us and keep us wage slaves have had an extremely long time to hone their skills, develop methods that work and create the structures that benefit them while fleecing others. The real secret, as far as I am concerned is that we are all held captive by our own chains. Those who seek to control us are deft in their use of rhetoric. They are magicians of the first order, getting us to look away at precisely the right moment, and believe what they need us to believe to get the responses that they desire. If the Thompson Twins song "Lies" is not reverberating in your head yet, it should be.

For years I have developed a costume for Halloween that was born of my sub-conscious, grew over time, and continues to blossom in meaning for me. It all started after I participated in the "restore" after my first event theater experience. As a stagehand, I was able to scavenge dozens of short lengths of chain from the dumpster. I remembered a great line from literature, and had to immediately run home and check the Gutenberg Project for a specific series of lines from "A Christmas Carol". After reading Charles Dickens and his description of Jacob Marley's Ghost, I endeavored to become, if just for one night each year, this personage who spoke to me through the ages. His greatest line, "I forged these chains in life." touched my soul so deeply that I wanted to repeat it again and again for others to hear and learn from. Hopefully, it has touched a few people over the years.

Each of us is shackled to a world view that we alone have forged. The power elites know how we do this and why. They also give us the tools we need to make our most basic decisions. Religion, money, education, national pride, etc. become the tools of our own oppression while we are distracted into thinking that they can save us. My pagan beliefs are often turned into a reason to judge, hate or distrust me. Those who feel that their God can be threatened by my beliefs actually have no concept of Gods or their powers. Lies need to be constantly propped up while truth stands alone, forever. Even the fact that their "god" is based on dozens of gods before him, which ultimately was passed down from sun worshipers, cannot assuage their loathing of my pagan way. Similarly, when I renounce affluence and the consumerism which most folks believe in, they have derogatory words that they call me. Telling the truth about the dollar really irks folks who otherwise seem to be mild mannered and astute. Even Christians who practice voluntary simplicity get upset when I share my understanding of our monetary system, and the exploitative and extractive nature of economic power elites. Teachers might just be the worst. They believe so thoroughly in their craft that they are nearly unreachable with logic. I have read textbooks that they have used to teach my children. I know that they are full of lies and omissions that make a huge difference in how children think, and occasionally, their ability to think at all! Regarding Nationalism, has anyone not seen the photos of the earth from space? Are we not able to see the fact that we are all one? Some of my ancestors come from an island culture. Although some of their cultural practices are not things I would encourage, at least they know about the finite nature of the land that supports them. The ruthlessness reflected in the way we seek out resources can only continue under an "us versus them" mind set. When we understand that everyone has equal right to having their needs met, the artificial boundaries that we create on the planet will fade and hopefully we will begin to treat one another with the respect we all deserve.

Speaking truth to power has led to many of the concessions that the power elites have yielded over the centuries. It is up to us to determine when they will fall. As long as we accept their lies, we can never be free of their power to affect the quality of our lives. Love truly does mean letting go of fear and the primacy of fear in the emotional rhetoric of the power elites should be self-evident to anyone who has studied the history of politics, religion, economics, agriculture, energy, transportation or education. Fear based behaviors are the whole kit and caboodle for those who would control us. Love truly has the power to conquer all. Not love of "god", not love of money, not love of country. Just good old fashioned love. The love that I have for mankind may not be as pure as it could be, but it is as pure as I can muster and I continue to refine it. I truly care about your health, your sanity, your sanctity, and your prosperity. I have a deep and abiding love for mankind as a species and that alone means the world to anyone who can fathom the depth of love that is reflected in that statement. I am not motivated by the profits of the next quarter. I have no agenda but to care for the well-being of those I share this planet with. I have seen the results of our current approach, and have understood the need for change since childhood. I invite everyone to refine their world view to include love and peace as the basis for change. It truly is a beautiful world and there is no need to exploit another to express our own wealth.

Feeling Our Way

In many ways we are like the five blind brothers described in the Chinese folk tale. The first time they encountered an elephant, each took hold of a different part. The first brother felt the ear and declared, the Elephant is like a great fan! Another grasped the leg of the great beast and said This creature is like a great tree of the forest. The third brother grabbed hold of the tail and said, the elephant is like a sinewy rope. Next, the fourth brother felt the trunk and said this beast is like a large, soft snake. The last brother experienced the great belly and decided that the creature was like a great wall.

As we grapple with the unknowable, we each are privy to but a slice of the whole and we must be forgiven for our lack of understanding of the whole. One of my favorite representations of this idea is from a lost sacred city in Indonesia. All of their Buddha statues are contained within perforated clay vessels. they show us in no uncertain terms that we each are bound by our own perspective, unable to fathom the true nature of the Great Spirit. We are all entitled to our own view, but occasionally we must be forgiven for them as well.

To be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way. Part of the sweetness of life is knowing that others hold both insight and awareness of things we cannot fathom. Careful listening to the perspectives of others have the potential of helping you to "see around corners" with regard to these hugely unfathomable concepts. That is why the most enlightened people are often the most patient. They realize that after everyone has exhauseted themselves by expressing their beliefs, they will eventually become open to the deeper truths that have the deepest meaning.

When I first began The Otherfish Wrap

Back in the day, we had two competing newspapers in my town. One was large, and exquisitely conservative. The other was overwhelmed by their own "underdogism". My own belief is that there is nothing inherently good about being an underdog, but neither is there anything patently evil about being the biggest fish in a small pond. In a youthful reaction to these two opposing forces, The Otherfish Wrap was founded. At the time, I worked in a print shop, and fanzines were the rage amongst my cohort of punks, tree huggers, and freaks. Looking around for a forum for intelligent discussion of topical issues, finding none, I took it upon myself to start a vehicle for thoughtful outsiders to share perspectives and converse about issues that are important to all of us as well as our neighbors. Rather than crying wolf, as our smaller newspaper nearly always did, or telling people not to worry (about critical issues), or to worry (about false threats) as the Gannett-owned paper did, The Otherfish Wrap took a hard look at decisions that have lasting impacts on the environment, human health, education, welfare and security.

Many of my friends, acquaintances and even some strangers have encouraged me to develop a cable access program that features meaningful conversation about these important points. In time it may come to that, but for now, this is my forum. cheaper than printing and distribution of my "paper", and far more accessible, The Otherfish Wrap exists here for your enjoyment. Rather than constantly seeking diametrically oppositional belief systems, my goal is to find points that all people can agree on and try to educate everyone about ways to tailor their own lives to reflect deeper truths that have direct effect on our quality of life. I shy away from those who demonize and dehumanize their opposition, so I try not to be one of "those guys", however, when you have egg on your face, I will point it out to you. Like a good friend, I'm not going to let things go, just 'cause they make you uncomfortable. Holding one's feet to the fire is considered torture, ask any witch, but when the fire is of your own making, don't expect me to let you walk away from it either!
Living, as I do, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, I have always been a bit of an outsider. First and foremost, I'm not a big football fanatic. I do love great defense, because I was around for the "Glory Days" of the Green and Gold, but I also realize that the Greeks invented sport to keep the public distracted from politics. The technique still works today (as do glib, self-righteous and close-minded talking heads) and I believe that this alienation of people from the decision making process. This in turn directly affects us, and in my opinion this is pathological in a society such as ours that has little respect for the birthright of individuals to clean air, unadulterated water, healthy food and a living wage. Sports rarely have real world value, and the amount of attention we pay to these things waste time that could be spent solving problems. We must also ask ourselves, why we waste so much time on issues that are reportedly "unsolvable" by pundits. The erosion of human rights and Liberty have not been justified by any threats, real or imagined. The Otherfish Wrap is my own personal attempt to question the logic behind the fear tactics that are being perpetrated on the people of the world for the profit of a few and at the expense of us all.
I may not fit in because of several other things that are unique to my experience, but these cannot be covered in a short post here. Suffice it to say, my own experience has led me to revel in study, unlike many folks I have known, I thrive on learning. Those who are like me know that this is both blessing and curse. Going with the flow is out of line for those who see the pressing need for change. I'm suspicious of the "experts" that they find for every "crisis" that "arises". Recognizing that opinions are like a**holes, can we not see the fallacy in recognizing every delusional, opinionated "expert" that is paraded out for the cameras in today's media? Needless to say, if you are a Fox News Junkie, you won't like what I'm doing here. I would encourage you to open your eyes, and mind, to the truth that I'm seeking. You may be surprised at what you will learn.
My children have asked, "Why does news have to be bad?" I'm here to prove that it doesn't have to be. In my seeking for answers, I am given courage to continue my quest for solutions that honor life, honor individuals, and respect both the dreams and aspirations of those who are willing to feel, learn and grow in the direction of the highest good for all people and the planet that we must all share. I invite you to take a ride with me on the way back to Eden. Truth needs no support to stand. Lies need to be constantly shored up and buttressed to survive. I will have none of that. Speaking truth to power has created most of our martyrs. I don't expect that to stop, but in the end, we have two choices. To put our heads in the sand, or to bravely stand shoulder to shoulder against repression.
Each day, it helps to ask, Whom do I serve?
Blessed Be, and may your answer become, the next seven generations! Namaste' T. C. Saladino