The Media Brings us down
Betsy Dewey – The world seems abundantly full of negativity these days. War, division, depression, hate, child abuse, almost everything we hear about is screaming sickness – our politics, our addictions, our dependence on government and drugs, the state of public education. The list seems endless. What I know is that there is balance. For every horrendous thing happening at this very moment, there is something beautiful happening out there to balance it, and we can be a part of it. If the world is out of balance, as it certainly appears to be, then why don’t we just band together and push the see-saw in the other direction. I don’t expect Utopia, as human nature is its opponent. The next generation will have to learn civility like we have, but maybe we can all have it better.
I am not a religious person, but I do appreciate the great teachers who have taught us peace and to love one another. It’s interesting that religions spring up in these teachers’ names posthumously. We worship these teachers, and for good reason. They’ve brought us gifts. They’ve taught us patience, kindness, forgiveness, selflessness and the rest of the laundry list of ways to create positivity in our lives. We live in an increasingly secular world, which makes sense given what has happened in the name of some of these religions. People are turned off by the it’s my way or the highway fanaticism and fear that accompanies most religions. How do we know which one is right? And the answer comes… faith. Okay. Well, that’s still selling there’s only one way to God. Watching the religions duke it out over the last few millennia shows how absurd religious followers can be. Many people out there keep religion at a safe distance.
God’s too big for just one religion ~ Michael Franti