The Age of Unreason

Throughout history, eras demanded their own unique labels, “Dark Ages;” ” Middle Ages-Renaissance;” “Age of Enlightenment and Reformation;” “Age of Romantisicm;” and more recently, “Industrial Age;” and “Technology Age,”  but it’s seventeenth century philosophy, or the  ”Age of Reason” which calls to me now as I ponder today’s Age and reflect on this previous age distinguished by, as Wikipedia’s site establishes, the belief that, in principle (though not in practice), all knowledge can be gained by the power of our reason alone [rationalists taking mathematics as their model] and those who rejected this theory, believing that all knowledge has to come through the senses, from experience [empiricists choosing the physical sciences for their model], standing in stark juxtaposition to our current age characterized by communication and absence of privacy, among many other things.

Many agree with me our current age might aptly be described as “The Age of Unreason.“  As Susan Jacoby, author of  “The Age of American Unreason,”  sees those shocking polls showing most Americans can’t list the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment or find Iraq on a map as confirming her suspicion  “the scales of American history have shifted heavily against the vibrant and varied intellectual life so essential to a functioning democracy.”

In her review of Jacoby’s book, Laura Miller cites Richard Hofstadter’s 1963 classic, “Anti-Intellectualism in American Life” (a clear inspiration for this book), who described anti-intellectualism as “older than our national identity” and deeply rooted in our history.  She also cites Jacoby who thinks the old American distrust of those who devote themselves to “ideas, reason, logic, evidence, and precise language” has been worsened by the conditions of contemporary life. There is, Jacoby writes, “a new species of semi-conscious anti-rationalism, feeding on and fed by an ignorant popular culture of video images and unremitting noise that leaves no room for contemplation or logic.” People never read books, they can’t concentrate on anything significant for more than a minute or two, and as a result they don’t really think anymore. Lulled by the “pacifier” of “infotainment,” their civic and political decisions emerge from a confused welter of laziness, reckless emotion and prejudice.

 I concur with Jacoby’s belief :

The chief manifestations of this newly virulent irrationality are the rise of fundamentalist religion and the flourishing of junk science and other forms of what Jacoby calls “junk thought.” The mentally enfeebled American public can now be easily manipulated by flimsy symbolism, whether it’s George W. Bush’s bumbling, accented speaking style (labeling him as a “regular guy” despite his highly privileged background) or the successful campaign by right-wing ideologues to smear liberals as snooty “elites.” Unable to grasp even the basic principles of statistics or the scientific method, Americans gullibly buy into a cornucopia of bogus notions…[dot, dot, dot] 

I believe it’s fair to say, most of us don’t even begin to understand the religions or philosophies we defend.  Uncomfortable with this current American Society of Unreason, which has its treacherous aspects, I would like to issue this as your call to read, research, investigate, debunk your own ignorance and inform your community, encouraging them to debunk for themselves!  If we don’t, we’re destined to continue facing unreasonable beliefs which lead to dangerous villifications, which subsequently involve harm to ourselves and others.  I could substantiate this last statement with headline horror stories and other nightmares which never make it to even the back pages, like children performing mock decapitations of other children who voiced beliefs differing from their own; but those of you who have your own sagas don’t need more and you who have managed to avoid unreasonable de-humanizations may not believe these things could happen in America.  Instead, I leave you with this plea, as much as possible, live in this moment; more often than you have, challenge insanity and unreason; and seize daily opportunities to educate yourself and others.  One last thing, wherever you can, share yourself and your gifts with those differently abled than yourself, whether they’re terminally ill, marginalized by their different abilities, or just different from you–those who just wouldn’t normally appear on your radar screen. 

With conscious intention, we can transform our culture.

as we forgive~RWANDAN MIRACLES

as we forgive, new gold academy ward winning student documentary film by Laura Waters Hinson, has captured on film the post genocide forgiveness, reconciliation and rebuilding of lives taking place in that country.  No less than miraculous, this film will leave you stunned and deeply changed, not only by the events taking place but by the artistic sensitivity and perfection of its maker, Laura Waters Hinson-who debuted as recently as last week with Windrider Film Festival during Park City, Utah’s Sundance Film Festival.

A documentary about Rosaria and Chantal—two Rwandan women coming face-to-face with the men who slaughtered their families during the 1994 genocide. Can they forgive the person that murdered their family?  The subjects of as we forgive speak for a nation still wracked by the grief of a genocide that killed one in eight Rwandans in 1994. Overwhelmed by an enormous backlog of court cases, the government has returned over 50,000 thousand genocide perpetrators back to the very communities they helped to destroy. Without the hope of full justice, Rwanda has turned to a new solution: Reconciliation.

But can it be done? Can survivors truly forgive the killers who destroyed their families? Can the government expect this from its people? And can the church, which failed at moral leadership during the genocide, fit into the process of reconciliation today? In as we forgive, director Laura Waters Hinson and narrator Mia Farrow explore these topics through the lives of four neighbors once caught in opposite tides of a genocidal bloodbath, and their extraordinary journey from death to life through forgiveness.

Many serendipitous events led to Hinson gaining the support of Mia Farrow, who compassionately narrates this work, as well as two Washington, D.C. musical composers to produce the soundtrack for this her first film.  No detail was left unattended.  Hinson is to be congratulated and well deserves the many honors her film has received:  Golden Winner Student Academy Awards Best Documentary, 2008 Angelous Student Film Festival Best Documentary, National Geographic All Roads Film Festival Audience Choice Award, Crystal Heart Award Heartland Film Festival, Official Selection Kansas International Film Festival, Official Selection Rocky Mountain Women’s Festival, Official Selection La Femme Film Festival, and Official Selection Seattle Human Rights Festival Amnesty International.

Inspired by Wonderland & Other Starving Artists

Today,  while looking for courage in my hot, black liquid brew and listening to an older Carolyn Wonderland interview, I googgled the words, “Unemployed, Starving, and Stuck,” where I found a somewhat different take on life in “Kokes Notes.”  Here’s one of the more inspiring thoughts from this blog:

So here’s to the life of a starving artist! Only it’s not a physiological starve. I’ve found there is no such thing as an anorexic artist. Not only do you lack the energy to pick up a pen, paintbrush, or instrument, but the arts are reflections of life and refusing to eat is an invitation to death so it just doesn’t work. The starve of an artist is one of ambitious yearning in the midst of mystery.

What happens when you don’t have a steady income is that you can’t afford the distractions – the ones that keep you from concentrating on your dreams or the ones that screen your imagination, or most importantly the ones that fuel your reckless vices. You start to see signs. You start to appreciate what you already have. You start to trust your gut feelings.~~Kokes Notes

After being awestruck by Little Red Elfinghood Wonderland for years, as she visibly dances with her muses, and thanks to the eloquence of  “Kokes Notes,” I now realize the guts it takes each and every day, to keep concentrating on your dreams in order to be the artist you are becoming.  What an artist Carolyn is.  No distractions.  Only her music.

Because of you, Carolyn Wonderland, I’m willing to just be with my muses, just be the starving artist for as long as it takes, because nothing else matters.  Think of me and others like me, who are looking hard to find the guts it takes.  You’ve got it all.

Home in Austin, Texas

Home, where the music’s playin’; Home, where everybody knows my name; Home, where I’m not on probation; Home, where eveyone knows me and loves me anyway; Home sweet Home, with those who made me who I am today.  I love you Austin…it’s been Heaven…thank you for calling me here, if even for just a little while. 

Know this, Sweet Austin, wherever I roam, you’ll always be Home.

How Different Would Your Life Be…

If you knew EVERYTHING that happens is the result of the Universe conspiring tirelessly on our behalf, for our highest good?
How differently would we choose our thoughts, words and actions if we knew we were creating and manifesting our own reality with every breath we take?
What would life feel like if we noticed our feelings and judgments, and cherished ourselves for having them?
And if we were willing to see the perfection in ALL, could we then choose PEACE?
I’m willing.

Economics USA: The Crumbling of an Empire~~Our Time Has Come

We’ve known wealth.  We’ve known power.  We’ve known comfort.  We’ve known ease.  We’ve lived the illusion.  Living the illusion cost us more than we ever took the time to evaluate.  It cost us more than -dollars and cents.  Living in a super-inflated economy took its toll in relationships, in ethics, in priorities, in values and in character.

Many have warned us that our economy was on a collision course.  Two of my dear friends, Dr. Robert Jensen and Dr. Jim Rigby have long been describing this unavoidable occurence, when no legislation Congress can forge will circumvent the inevitable.  In Jensen’s book, Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity, he writes encouragingly of  Maintaining political, intellectual, and ethical hope in the heart of the world’s most powerful nation.  Now that this Empire, this illusion can no longer be sustained, we the people have the enormous gift of being able to come together on solid ground~~claiming our humanity.  We have the opportunities to once again create time for our families and our neighbors…to take turns lending a helping hand.  We can use our two hands, our minds, our hearts, our backs to shoulder the labors ahead of us together.  We can learn anew to live closer to the earth, use less, replace more…our time has come.  To paraphrase the recent words of Dr. Jim Rigby,

…let us open every pore to the present gift. [encouraging us to "taste the soup."]

Now, more than perhaps ever in our lifetimes, we can appreciate all of the genuine abundance that we truly live with.  We can savor the breath that gives us life.  We can cherish the life that surrounds and sustains us.  Without a doubt, we will have less in that we no longer can delude ourselves or the world; yet, undeniably, we will have more.  Each and every day will bring new riches that money and inflation cannot buy at any price.

I look forward to working with each and everyone of my neighbors, regardless of race, creed, or sexual orientation in life sustaining,  community building endeavors. 

I will consider it my highest priority to meet each day with joy in the privilege of being alive in this exciting time when the Empire crumbled and the people arose.

Our time has come; the perfect time for relocating~~for moving from the penthouses of our heads into the rich wilderness of our hearts.  This is the perfect time to live abundant lives of compassion, recognizing the worth of every creature, of every individual, of every nation.  Now is the time to “beat our swords in plowshares,” to mine our vast resources of courage, strength and determination in order to live not the illusion, but a life worth tasting.

For more from this author, visit http://itsawonderfulife.wordpress.com and http://ashtoraspeaks.wordpress.com.

For more perspectives like this, write Dr. Jim Rigby at jrigby0000@aol.com, visit Carol Creel at www.lifeworks-marketing.com.  You can also email Ashtora, izee4mee@hotmail.com.

The Confluence and Comments On Sarah Palin and Politics of Fear

My response:

I have no idea how to help our United States recover from the past eight years, but some idea of what our guiding principles [refer to "Barack Obama Are You Listening..."] must be.  I deeply believe that both Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama embody these principles.  It is my sincere hope that whomever we choose to take the helm and guide our beloved nation for the next four years, will be up to the task and will have as their crew, every single citizen of these United States. 
Regardless, the days ahead will not be easy for us as Americans, nor for the rest of our globe.  We must form an authentic alliance with this planet and every life form on it, fully committed to our joint survival, prosperity, and posterity.
We must embrace our differences as essential to our survival, setting aside our pettiness and our ego trips that give us cause to see ourselves as puffed up blowfish or throat-swollen toads.  Let us roll up our collective sleeves and begin the labors of repaving, rebuilding, renewing, and restoring not only hope and faith, but relationships with nature, ourselves and each other. 
The words, “…in order to form a more perfect Union…,” from the Preamble to our Constitution come to mind.  “We the people” can begin by forging a more perfect alliance, one in which justice, equity, tranquillity (non-war), and protection for all form its foundation.

Mudflats declares Palin Not Ready for Prime Time

My response to Mudflats recent post:

Our comments, of course, sound like a Dem fest, but in light of my recent experience listening to “J. Public”, I know first hand, the soundness of eajphd Molten Contra Palin’s comment/opinion.
It seems that wherever I travel, I am surrounded by pro McCain~Palin citizens, citing sound byte after sound byte, sounding like Rush Limbaugh echo, echo, echoing machines. Separated by hundreds to thousands of miles, these individuals, unbeknownst to each other, repeat the rhetoric of the Republican machine, almost word for word, i.e., “Obama is a Muslim,” Obama can’t be trusted,” “What has Obama done for this country?” “Do you want a man that came from that black church that blames whites for all their woes?” “Are you voting for him because you think he’s the Messiah?” and “If you think you can handle the taxes, go ahead and vote for Obama.”
Back in the days when I was responsible for press releases, sound bytes were “Press 101″~~for a very good reason…they work. So WHY doesn’t the Democratic camp employ this effective device? Perhaps their hope to fall on the ears of the thinking is still alive?
Palin is a pawn, much like a “dumb terminal.” If McCain wanted anyone more than that, he had only to look to his own Senate; but, he and his campaign knew that only a “dumb terminal” could appeal to that portion of our American population that want to take their signals from such. Anything further would require independent thought. Quite frankly, I find myself resenting that aspect of our humanity that falls prey to such an obvious ploy, and those who would devise and use it.

Oh, for a Nation of THINKERS rather than REPEATERS…of DOERS rather than DELEGATORS.

http://itsawonderfulife.wordpress.com Three Women of the Lake [a modern day fairy tale]

BARACK OBAMA, Are You Listening? testing the power of the blog

Good Morning Mr. Obama,

My intention in writing this public letter to you is to alert you and the Obama~Biden Campaign to the pitfalls of reacting to what others say and do, rather than acting and responding from your center, your core and your intentions.  When we react, we’ve already lost our balance.  I’m speaking of your campaign’s self-destructive behavior of reacting to McCain-Palin Campaign attacks.  Let them lose their balance~~only your unwavering focus and stability will place the Obama~Biden platform in the White House.

Mr. Obama, this nation needs leadership that can maintain its balance, especially in the face of bombardments that would undermine our identity as individuals and a nation of the people, by the people and for the people. 

We need to rediscover WHO we really are, clarify our purpose, carefully formulate our intentions, then begin, fully empowered as a cohesive nation, to re-establish this great nation with its ruddering principles of Truth, Freedom, Justice, Equity, Humility, Integrity, Compassion, Respect, Responsibility, Accountability and Peace solidly guiding us through perilous waters;  through waters full of opportunities to express ourselves through intentional, honorable actions that guard and protect every indiviual’s dignity, equitable freedoms and pursuits, without compromising who we are or our purpose as an integrated nation of visionary peoples, having been taught by experiences throughout centuries rich with failures and successes.

We need to hear more from you about who we are and how your vision and your leadership can guide us through the journey ahead of forgiving ourselves for allowing this country to shipwreck, of working to make us sea worthy once again and to sail prouder than we’ve ever sailed before, with each and every citizen dedicated to serving in their own capacity as this great nation’s crew. 

America can humbly apologize for violating our own principles, our own Constitution, International trust and individual rights.  We can make restitution to the extent possible.  We can rebuild our identity, our self-esteem, our vision and our purpose.  With dynamic, wise and visionary leadership, we can restore our strength and our fortitude.  America can reconstitute an uncompromising freedom that embraces diversity, assures equity and justice for all; provides unparalleled education for all;  and lays the foundation for gainful employment, assuring that every indivdual is equipped and has the means to afford their own meaningful contributions to our national, global and environmental economy.

As human beings, American citizens, and fellow brothers and sisters with all, we must reassess who we’ve been, what we’ve represented, and choose this day who we will be from this point forward.  Barack, we will not get there by reacting to anyone or anything; especially, lies and slander from McCain~Palin campaign.  Instead, we must remain true to our core, faithful to our vision and purpose, steadied by our guiding rudder of higher intention.

Barack Obama, YOU are ultimately responsible for the content of your campaign.  Knowing that you love this American nation as much as anyone alive today, I call upon you this moment, to let your constituents know now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, who we are, what we stand for, where we are going and how we will get there, once we’ve replaced the current Administration…leaving McCain~Palin in their self-imposed dust of age-old fear-based rhetoric. 

We must fervently consider the impact of our thoughts, words and actions, pressing humanity ever upward, toward our highest potential.  Today, our future and the futures of our posterity depend upon it.  Only in maintaining our balance will ultimately, the balance of all be restored.

With Respect, Conviction and Commitment,

Ashtora

American, Global & Environmental Citizen

Professor Jensen Speaks Out: Arrogance, Ignorance, and Cowardice: What We Should Learn From 9/11 or War Made Easy

If you’re going to be in Austin, Texas, this coming Thursday, September 11, 2008 (09/11/08), 7:00 pm, you’re in luck.  It’s perfect timing for a Jensen Encounter:

Never slowing down nor deviating from his chosen path of exposing truth, the diligent, authentic, humble role model Robert Jensen, UT journalism professor and author of Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity, will deliver a lecture on “Arrogance, Ignorance, and Cowardice: What we should learn from 9/11.” The talk will be followed by a screening of the film War Made Easy. Jensen was widely criticized for his anti-war writings after 9/11, which led many to call for his dismissal from his teaching job. Jensen’s talk is the opening event of a four day series, “Struggle for Global Justice: Screenings in Solidarity with Dr. Binayak Sen,” details can be found by visiting http://www.thirdcoastactivist.org.

Location: UT – Austin, Welch Hall, Room 2.246, map at http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/wel.html