"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." ~ 
Any world is an illusion, but within illusion, another world, a better world, seems possible. In the material world, the one we think is real, the divide between the 'left' and 'right' is an artificial one. This divide serves to keep us separate from each other and prevents us from seeing clearly that we in fact have shared interests and a common enemy. A better way to approach economy, politics, culture and society would be to take note of the ways in which our societies are divided horizontally: the interests of the few (the elite) and the many (ordinary people). The elite wants to oppress and exploit the rest of us. In a material sense, they are our enemy. They are working to establish a One World Company, aka a totalitarian New World Order. World government is the last thing ordinary people need. We need free and open communities with equal rights for everyone and a profound respect for the many differences between us. We want freedom rather than security. We want peace, not war. Above all else, we want truth, dignity and justice. ~ The Editor
XML FeedsJulian Assange – a Christmas story
Rachel Stephens
Redress
Rachel Stephens argues that people should “celebrate the continuing tradition of Christ, who railed against the law makers of his time in an attempt to bring love, hope and justice”, by supporting and following the example of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in vowing “to spread the truth and to work against the tendency in governments towards evil”.
Some years go I decided to stop subjecting myself to the propaganda I received from daily news programmes. My knowledge of politics was poor, but the internet enabled me to educate myself and I was especially keen to learn about British involvement in the Middle East.
I have a Christian background, but I knew very little about Israel and Palestine. In my youth, working on a kibbutz seemed a laudable aim, although I’m relieved now that I didn’t ever get around to it. Like the majority in the West, I did not know that the country now called “Israel” had recently been Palestine.
The Old Testament did not mean a great deal to me. There was lot about Jews smiting their enemies, but it was the story of Samson and Delilah that brought home to me that the ethnic groups mentioned were comprised of real people living in Canaan at that time. The story of Samson slaughtering his wife’s Philistine kinsmen at their wedding feast is shocking, yet the Old Testament contains much more graphic material than this, despite the fact that there has been plenty of editing of the Bible, both Old Testament and New. Committees have chosen which bits to leave out and added parts where necessary to ensure readers receive the authorized version. Thousands of people who found themselves unable to accept the authorized version of the Bible promoted by their government at any particular time in history were tortured, burned alive (being buried alive was reserved for women only) or met other hideous deaths. Nevertheless, there is still plenty one can learn from the Old Testament and this article attempts to draw parallels between Biblical and modern times.
