With today’s news of the arrest of nine members of a violent, right-wing “Christian” militia group, and watching the angry ride to hell that the Republican/Tea Party is taking us on, I find some comfort in this passage from the I Ching.
When misfortune has spent itself, better times return. The seed of the good remains, and it is just when the fruit falls to the ground that good sprouts anew from its seed. The superior man again attains influence and effectiveness. He is supported by public opinion as if in a carriage. But the inferior man’s wickedness is visited upon himself. His house is split apart. A law of nature is at work here. Evil is not destructive to the good alone but inevitably destroys itself as well. For evil, which lives solely by negation, cannot continue to exist on its own strength alone.
Tags: Christian, I Ching, Republican Party, Tea Party
March 29, 2010 at 12:24 pm |
Really? What you are accusing others, you are yourself. Why are you so filled with hate toward those that love liberty and freedom? Why must others be compelled to serve your wants and needs? You need to look at your hatred of Conservatives because they reject your demands that they support your needs!
March 29, 2010 at 12:55 pm
This is interesting because I’d considered adding a comment at the bottom of the post saying something along the lines of “I know this will be turned on it’s head by somebody, that I will have the accusation sent back at me.” Then I thought, “No, just let it happen and then say something about it.” This is where we’re at as a country now. There is absolutely no dialogue. None of the “sides” is going to win. The reason I oppose (hate is the wrong word) the so-called conservatives is that they don’t love liberty and freedom. What they love is egotism. There’s a huge difference.
March 29, 2010 at 1:15 pm |
Thanks, Mark, for bringing me and maybe others, via the I Ching, some hope and reassurance. Perfect timing.
March 29, 2010 at 2:42 pm |
Evil is not limited to the angry ride of the Republicans and Tea Partiers. If we are to be honest about this trip, then we have to acknowledge that people of almost every ideology have espoused hatred and committed violence. For example, Congressman Stupak received death threats from one side when he was holding up passage of health care, and then from the other when he switched his position and supported it.
In the interest of dialogue, Mark, how do the recent health care reforms alter “liberty and freedom” in your view?
March 29, 2010 at 2:57 pm
That’s difficult to answer simply. I intend to post something eventually about the freedom of the individual. I keep thinking about it, thinking about it, but I haven’t had the time to write it. We have a weird emphasis on the individual in this country, an emphasis that is unhealthy because it assumes the absolute separateness of individual beings. We end up seeing freedom in egoistic terms. It’s unreal. But if I talk too much shorthand here, I won’t be understood except by those who already are into this. Simply stated, there has to be balance between the individual and the collective. And since that doesn’t adequately express my views, I’m going to shut up.
March 30, 2010 at 7:47 pm |
I’ve been thinking lately that I’d like to learn about beekeeping. So the issue of colony collapse disorder has been much on my mind.
Researchers haven’t found the cause of colony collapse disorder. The best guess is a variable mix of stress, pathogens, parasites, poor nutrition, and noxious agrichemical cocktails. Some mysterious tipping point is reached, and the bees suddenly leave their hive. They abandon their brood and their honey and apparently fly off to their deaths.
I sometimes have an eerie feeling that something parallel is happening in our human society. There’s a lot of confused and erratic buzzing around. I don’t mean to suggest that we should all think alike, or that we shouldn’t pursue our own individual paths. But I believe our survival absolutely depends on our ability to work together, in harmony with each other and with the rest of nature, to do the things that really matter. It occurs to me that sustainable food and energy for our offspring should perhaps be among those priorities.
I don’t follow the news closely, so I know relatively little about the Tea Party. In what I’ve read, I’ve seen the anger on the surface. But I also catch a vibe of fear underneath. I think there’s fear that hardworking people will see the fruits of their labors stolen away into a corrupt system and unfairly redistributed, never to return in any kind of reciprocal fashion. The fear is that there isn’t enough to go around. The anger is a self-defensive reaction (self with a small “s”). When the fear is authentically addressed, spiritually as well as materially, the anger may dissipate. That’s my perception, anyhow.
Wouldn’t it be nice if all the energy spent on negative emotions could go toward building local community instead? It sounds a little utopian, but even the bees know enough to focus their energy that way. Or at least, they used to.
March 30, 2010 at 8:07 pm
I agree that fear is the source of their anger. It’s going to get worse. We’re in for some very difficult times. The seeds were planted long ago.