I heard today that congress has avoided, or at least delayed, the “fiscal cliff” it created. From what I can understand the taxes of the ‘working poor’ will go up, middle class stay about the same, and the very rich will continue getting government welfare. On TV tonight the president said how we must cut expenses in almost every category except the 50% of the budget which goes for military spending, nuclear bomb building, defense department and CIA budget and more. He made no mention of cutting the large ‘killing’ budget which has brought so much bloodshed on us.
My hope is now that poor, middle class and rich, conservatives and liberals, right and left can come together and see what the real issue is: we do not live in a democracy but have a government controlled by what some call the “powers that be” or Merton the “unspeakable powers” or the “1%” of the Occupy Movement.
No matter what you call it, the denial of its existence is destroying our nation and hurting peoples all over the world.
The other night I mentioned by Political New Year Resolutions. If we look at politics in the original sense of the word, from the Greek politikos (“of, for, or relating to citizens”) it is the “art or science of influencing people’s beliefs on a civic, or individual level, when there are more than 2 people involved.” In this meaning “politics” goes to the heart and soul of all our relationships, to the spiritual and physical well being of all human beings.
Thus if we fight to eliminate the teaching of war and killing at Marquette or direct the 1.1 million dollars from the closing three Catholic Churches in North Central Milwaukee to the people in need in this area we are fighting a battle in the larger war of peace and injustice. As Gandhi and many of our mothers taught us “Charity starts at home.”
So I pray that I and my family and friends can stay positive and pick and fight, nonviolent, the battles locally, that will bring a true change of heart and change in our society. I pray we not get distracted by attacks on us or all the many distractions brought to bear on us.
Before died Jesus prayed that the will of God be done. We know the will of God from our conscience, our actions, reflections and mistakes. All we can do is to speak our “opinion of truth” to the “powers that be” and endure the suffering and sacrifice this good fight may bring. We are all political in nature.
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