(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . About some Diaries of the last few days [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-18 Many been involved in a recurring and necessary discussion over the last few days about “ people of faith being shamed” and non believers lack of respect due believers. I think this is a fundamental discussion with far reaching implications for democracy and progressive ideas in general. My personal view is that claims in any be evaluated by actions and outcomes. What someone believes is immaterial - what they do is not. By this standard I am firmly in the camp of those who object to the excesses and abuses of organized religion both historically and presently . At the same time respecting the spirituality of others is not a problem. There is a difference between the two. A sense of wonder and awe, commonly referred to as spirituality, is innate in humans. So for better or worse, is the long history of hierarchal organizing principles in almost all societies. It is at the confluence of these human traits the problems arise. Herodotus in his time and Jefferson in his addressed the issue effectively and succinctly yet here we are again … and again. Humans communication often incorporates and relies on symbolism. None believed in an actual Easter Bunny long before there was a “ holy day” but all understood the significance of the Vernal Equinox and the symbolic representations of regeneration associated with the reproductive cycles of the hare and the hen. Such is the nature of our stories. We have lost something important along the way — our memories of what our stories are and why we tell them. We only tell a few but we tell them very well. Or at least we did. Today not so much. Today our stories often serve different purposes We have allowed for far too long the summary executions of fellow Citizens by publicly funded enforcers under the guise of transparent lies. We have allowed for far too long an out of control MIC to run unchecked over much of the globe under the lies of “spreading Democracy” without fear of consequence. We have demanded the continued despoilation of the biosphere as a “right” exclusive to our and other “developed” nations. We have watched as millions of our fellow Citizens are forced into poverty, deprived of basic liberties, sustenance and hope. We know these things. That's why most of us are here. But these are not symbols. These are outcomes. Today in our nation there are many fellow Citizens who do not want progress and change. Who have been persuaded to detest the very notion of democracy. A growing number are willing, even planning, to kill those who disagree with their vision of reality. They preach it from their pulpits, they enact it into laws as they demand the power to force conformity through the violence of the state. The symbols around which these fellow citizens gather are those of organized religions; primarily Christianity. This is where we are today We all know it There is much to be answered for in this regard and we all know that too We must also accept the accounting will never balance In times of great stress people turn to our stories for guidance That is after all one of the main reasons we tell them Our stories can represent collected wisdom but also be and have been cynically manipulated to influence the more literal minded This is where we are We are at this juncture because of human actions and we are burdened with the outcomes of those actions This is not the first time we find ourselves in this place A wider view suggests however, it could be the last What a waste [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/18/2153681/-About-some-Diaries-of-the-last-few-days Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/