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November 11, 2004 Five years ago I wrote that we were two elections away from a “Christian Taliban” and I was not radically far from the mark. The unthinkable (for people interested in living in a free country, anyway) happened with the re-election of America’s cowboy dilettante, George Bush. Who would have thought on armistace day in 1946 that 58 years later we would be moving so close to the kind of world we were fighting against? Fear, greed and petty hatreds are mighty motivators, and we still have a long way to go to grow beyond them, but we take a step forward occasionally. We just have to remember that it's possible in times like this. It becomes increasingly important to remind people of the things we need to celebrate. Life, with a big “L” continues and though the bushista’s of the world are doing their best to end life as we know it, we survive. How long, in the context of the melting arctic, and the expansion of the ozone holes in the atmosphere is becoming a reasonable question, but for now, the seasons still change, the cycle remains. My views of five years ago about religion and our place in the world have evolved, and perhaps solidified with experience. I’ve come to view religion of any kind, regardless of it’s beauty as metaphor, as muddying the water, something that gets in the way of our understanding the natural world, of truly feeling connected. Gaia as metaphor , free of any religious context, works for me and I think a lot of the folks who listen to us as a means of understanding the larger web. I still sing about that connection, and still think that Pagan holidays make the most sense, (everybody needs a break from the routine now and then) but I no longer participate in ritual. Art fills that need better for me, and much of our audience, and I've come to believe and hope that (should we survive the current religious backslide) in the future, art will replace religion. At this point, the most I seem capable of doing to make change, is to urge you through word and song to engage. We need to make people aware that monstrosities like Bush and this American iteration of the Taliban that he represents are hurting us - people you hopefully know and love - and appeal to people’s sense of fairness. And equally important, we need to keep celebrating the cycles and our connection, and live the happiness we’re striving for - to show by example that the vision we have of a world that recognizes our connection is better than one that dreams of death as the better condition. It’s not easy - they’ve got the guns and the tax exemptions, the churches and the media, and all we’ve got is love and reality. For the moment, breathe - grieve the loss and move on, keep you powder dry and your avenues of escape open - but breathe and engage. It’s hard to beat reality. |
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All contents © 1993 - 2002
Christopher Bingham. All rights reserved. If you use part of what you read here, please attribute accordingly. |