While I was half watching, the thought came.  These are the people who are leading our country?  People who engage in personal attack, disrespectful behavior, and congressmen who insult others to their face?  Politicians who work to instill fear of the future into the hearts and minds of it’s citizens, as they search for a political advantage?  Speaking for myself, this behavior is far more discouraging than the individual policies they may represent.

Our problems are too big, and too complex to be playing a game of political football.  From my perspective, we need our representatives to muster all of the Love and Spiritual Power they can find, along with their best understandings of compassion, respect, and kindness, and then put them to use to solve our problems.  The congressmen I see represented in the media  spend a lot of time fighting the ideas / bills / laws they don’t want, and not as clearly emphasizing what they want to build.

We simply cannot build what we want by fighting what we don’t want.  It doesn’t work that way.  You want Health Care that works for everyone?  Put a plan in front of us that will allow us to make the best possible choices from a wide list of selections, and help us to understand why your plan is better – don’t try to sell your plan by attacking someone else’s plan.  All that tells me is that your plan is not that good.  The time you spend attacking and insulting another’s plan is time you have wasted.  Better to spend time developing and educating the public about your own plan.

Equally unacceptable is the News Media’s role in this.  We need a news media who will report to us what is happening – objectively.  It is not acceptable for the news media to simply give time to the extreme elements of society – people who rudely disrupt proceedings and pundits with narrow views in an increasingly complex world.

This is what I mean by “Spiritual Leadership”.  We need politicians and news media to be guided by the common spiritual principles of kinship, compassion, fair play, and Love.  We need leaders who are worthy of the public trust, and who work to develop a greater society.

I understand the concept of the Separation of Church and State.  The founders of the United States did not want the government led by one faith’s set of religious principles.  They wanted people of all faiths to have an equal say in how their country is governed.  They did not intend that our leaders would have to disregard all spiritual principles before they entered the halls of Government.  Although I don’t want the Government led from a perspective of strict Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Jewish, Muslim, or Buddhist doctrine, I also don’t want my government leaders to discard the core spiritual traditions of Compassion, Love, Justice, and Fair Play. I want the Media to do the same.  I want them to embrace core spiritual values, which are shared by all major world religions.

Of course, it’s not enough that we demand this of our leaders, if we don’t also demand it of ourselves.  Our politicians are, in the end, a reflection of the people who elect them. One of the lessons I’ve learned in my life is that I usually cannot change other’s beliefs by force, but I can often change them by example and by positive leadership. Does our daily behavior exhibit the values that we want our children and our politicians to display?  Will you join me in my attempt to set a better example for those in our world?

Something to think about…..

We live in the house we all build – www.earthshare.org

What is missing from those daily headlines is Balance (a key principle in my life).  Today, in addition to the thousands and tens of thousands of acts of violence, abuse, and theft, there will be millions and likely hundreds of millions of acts of kindness (or more) that will occur.  The vast majority of those acts of kindness will go unnoticed and unreported, whereas many acts of violence, theft, and abuse will be reported in some way.  Speaking for my life, I have experienced MANY more acts of kindness and giving in my lifetime than I have had of violence, theft, and abuse.  I pray that is true for you as well.  Unfortunately, those acts of routine everyday kindnesses do not get reported, and they do not make the News.

Today, Millions will help a child read a book, transport a sick friend to the doctor, deliver a baby, work tirelessly in their chosen profession to deliver their service, console someone over a recent death, or rescue an injured animal.  Today, many people will stop to help a stranger in need.  Today, about 150 people in the US will donate a heart, kidney, cornea or other organ so others may see or live.  Today, thousands of people will volunteer their services to run Life Squad, staff the local Fire Department, or assist the local Police Department.  Today, hospitals across this country are staffed with thousands of volunteers to man reception desks and to act as guides.  Today, many volunteers will staff homeless shelters and soup kitchens.  Today, bakeries will donate day old pastries and bread to retirement communities.  Today, people are donating their time to the local Red Cross chapter to prepare for the next disaster.  Today, hundreds of volunteers will staff one of the local Ronald McDonald Houses to assist the parents of sick children.  Today, thousands of people will volunteer to help their local religious and spiritual institutions.  Today, hundreds of people will act to assist our overseas Service members or their local families.  The list goes on.  You won’t hear about most of those acts of kindness, nor will you hear about the great things they achieve, but they happen everyday.

With our 24 hour a day access to Bad News, it’s easy to see the people of our world “going to Hell in a handbasket”.  It can seem obvious at times, and yet (in my view) that point of view is based on an imbalance.  I believe that the acts of kindness still far outweigh the acts of violence, abuse, and theft  that occur everyday.  I don’t want to discount the violence, theft, and abuse – because they are there, and we need to deal with them firmly and effectively.  I just want to keep them in a balanced proportion to their importance and occurrence in daily life.  As you watch the news, read the newspaper, read your favorite news web site, etc., I hope you can keep in mind that what you are seeing / hearing / reading is just part of what is happening in this world today.  There is much, much more, and I believe that a significant portion of it is unreported good.

My Religion is simple. My religion is kindness

- The Dalai Lama

Something to think about…..

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I value honesty.  I value someone who considers all sides of an issue before making up their mind.  I value someone who can change their mind about situations as their knowledge grows.  I value someone who can change their mind as their wisdom grows.  I value fairness.

I value integrity.  I value people who tell me what they believe, and what they stand for.  I value people who “walk their talk”.  I value people who respect other’s journeys.  I value people who exhibit class in the way they honor the experience of others.

I value personal growth, and those who value and promote the personal growth of others.

All of the above considerations factor into how I view the current situation with President Obama, the US Government, and our organized Media.  Before I begin this commentary, let me say that my commentary is not intended to be political in nature, in that I am not intending to take the position of any political party or belief system.  Instead, I want to comment on the values (or lack thereof) of what I see unfolding before us.  The values of the situation are separate from what I think of the various political positions presented by the parties involved.

First off, I believe that the first and highest obligation of the press is to present the public with a clear and balanced picture of the day’s issues and events.  Presenting a clear and balanced picture allows the viewer / listener / reader to develop a clear opinion of any given situation.  Historically, this has been the function of the American press.  Great newsmen like Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Tom Brokaw, Tim Russert, and many others have prided themselves on their ability to present a fair and accurate representation of the day’s issues and events.

I see less of that today, particularly with Fox News and MSNBC.  Fox News has a clear tilt to the extreme right, and presents the day’s issues and events with the seeming intent to persuade the viewer to possess its view of the day’s issues and events.  MSNBC (in my view) tilts left of center – taking the democratic point of view.  Who represents the middle and presents a fair and balanced perspective of the news?  I want a news outlet that will present me with balanced coverage of the day’s most important news and events.  I want to use that balanced coverage to make up my own mind about whether I want to hold Democrat views, Republican views, or Independent views.  Fortunately, there are available news outlets other than the 2 televised outlets I just mentioned.  However, it bothers me that this blatantly unbalanced reporting is relatively unchallenged in today’s market.  Personally, I see it as disrespectful to the intelligence and trust of the American people.

Secondly, I am disturbed by the sensationalism of the news.  I want a news outlet that presents me with the discovered facts of the most significant issues encountered and discussed that day.  I want the news presented to me to be the issues that are likely to affect me longest into the future, and to present me with a balanced view.  Instead, I see so much sensationalism.  I believe that President Obama is correct when he says (and I’m paraphrasing) that today’s media concentrates on those individuals who say something sensational, stupid, argumentative, or sexy while it seems not to cover all of those individuals who have worked honestly, intelligently, diligently, and sometimes heroically throughout the day.  Celebrity news will many times bump more important news items.

Do our media present the news to us in a manner that allows us to constructively build the society of our dreams, or does it present and concentrate on the destructive and opposition elements of our society?  Of course, we all know the answer to that.  The daily emphasis is on opposition and destruction, not on constructive thought or building the society of our dreams.  For me, if I concentrate on opposition and destruction, I will get more of the same.  I believe the same is true for you as a person, and society as a whole.

One of the things I have come to believe about life is this:  “You become who you hang around with”.  I use that belief when I make decisions about friends, associates, employees, etc.  Do I want to be like these people?  If the answer is yes, then I make the decision to include those people in my group.   If my answer is no, I make a decision to move forward in a way that includes those people as little as possible.  A corollary of that rule would be “You become what you think about all day”.  Our daily attention is absolutely affected by the chatter of those around us, the news presented in the media, and the importance attributed to it.  Is our attention being directed to the most important issues of the day, and is it being directed in such a way that it allows us to take constructive action?

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, I value someone who can put aside pre-conceived ideas and concepts when they are being asked to make a decision, so they can make the best possible decision in any given circumstance.  In today’s political environment, that ability is a liability (or, to put it in my terms, a Lie-Ability).  As soon as someone does that, they are considered a “flip-flopper”, someone with a weak backbone, someone who has no convictions, or someone who has the Ability to Lie.  I believe we do a great dis-service to ourselves and our public servants when we demand that they always have 1 consistent lifetime position on every issue, regardless of circumstance.  If we must insist that they have 1 consistent position on every issue, I would prefer that we insist that their consistent core values be ones of compassion, honesty, trustworthiness, balance, and integrity.  Issues and positions change and evolve.  Core values do not.

Lastly, I am disturbed by Party Politics.  Given all that I’ve said above, I want our country’s representatives to stand for integrity, honesty, compassion, balance, and fair-minded action.  I completely reject the idea of putting those principles aside for the sake of party unity.  I completely reject the idea of anyone putting those principles aside to gain political points.  I completely reject the principle of a politician killing needed legislation for political gain.  To me, that is one of the highest indicators of government corruption.

So, what do I want?  I want something better than what I’m seeing.  If you’ve read my other Blog entries, you know that I think that fighting what I don’t want in life is NOT the best way to get what I DO want out of life (See my Loving What Is blog entry for more information).  I believe that I need to work towards what I do want out of life.  I want integrity, balance, honesty, compassion, respect for others, and personal growth.  If you have ideas about how we can build a better society while adhering to those values, I am interested in your comments.

If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die. – Maya Angelou

Something to think about……..