Politics & Ethics …Two lines that may never cross regarding capital punishment, or regarding anything for that matter!
“If a man injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so it shall be done to him: Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him. Thus the one who kills an animal shall make it good, but the one who kills a man shall be put to death,” Leviticus 24:20 from a Christian bible.
I was raised Christian, Roman Catholic to be specific, and this ideology was definitively a part of my teachings growing up. And I look now upon this message, and am not sure that I agree anymore. Of course, I am not saying homicide is okay nor should it be pardoned, but not sure that the perpetrator should die for it …I just don’t know, because I’m seeing this issue with different eyes –and heart– than when I grew up. I understand this is a hot topic and one that most people have fervent beliefs, please allow me to explore this issue aloud with you all. Thinking aloud through this posting as I write, let’s try to contemplate together and talk this heated debate through, eh?
It certainly makes sense from a logical standpoint, and even from an energetic or karmic perspective, that a “balancing” must occur. Yet, as we rise daily into these new energies of Unity Consciousness …and Father Sun regularly blasts us with solar flares of Oneness, I’m wondering if there’s a different way, or a better solution??? After all, “two wrongs do not make a right” –another phrase from duality consciousness which seems to be most apropos in this situation!
Supporting my statement that the death penalty seems to be outdated, and definitively has its days numbered in the creation of Nova Earth, capital punishment has seen a reduction in states across America willing to engage in this method –thank Goddess.
In contrast, the State of Virginia not only is moving forward with executions but placing the whole system in the dark ages by presenting a bill that allows for secrecy and the ability to concoct their own lethal injections …unregulated by the FDA! Now, I’m not sure what’s worse: Unregulated self-made lethal injections in Virginia, or being executed by firing squad in Utah. Whoa, I am truly numb.
Ethics & Politics: Lobbyists in the GMO debate continue to win the day
Sadly, with Big Corpo(rations) in bed with our government (my opinion, of course), paying our government millions of dollars, it seems our health –along with corporate morality and responsibility– has taken a backseat in society. Boo hoo. Why else would our governments continue to not honor and respect our requests, simple requests, such as labeling GMO foods? Just label the foods, that’s pretty easy and most reasonable, just label the foods that you genetically modify, so we can make a choice on whether we want to buy your products and poison our bodies.
Peter Stocker, from Friends of the Earth, is simply the latest advocate to stand up to Monsanto, and has petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Go, Peter!): “As someone who cares about the health of our families, our food system, and our environment, I was very disappointed by your recent approval of Monsanto’s dicamba-resistant cotton and soybeans. Dicamba has been linked to a range of adverse human health impacts, such as reproductive and developmental harm. Workers, farming communities, and children are especially vulnerable to these exposures. We need less toxic herbicides and pesticides in our food system, not more.”
Mr. Stocker continues, “In addition, allowing the use of more herbicide-resistant GMO crops increases the risk that organic and non-GMO farms will be harmed by pesticide drift and genetic cross-contamination. For example, dicamba easily moves off-site, and windy conditions or poor application can make the problem worse. The increased use of new genetically engineered crops, including Monsanto’s dicamba-resistant cotton and soybean seeds, will further increase profits for Monsanto at the expense of our health, food supply, and environment.”
To sign Peter Stocker’s petition and continue to stand up to “Big Corpo” in the ways we know how, please visit the link below. Thank you and God bless!
Tell the USDA: Protect our food supply, not Monsanto’s profits! By Peter Stocker. MoveOn.org.
Money & Psychology: Can money really buy happiness?
This definitely seems to be one of the oldest questions that people mull over throughout the centuries, probably even when “money” itself did not exist, but even when bartering goods! “Gee, I wish I had a cow to trade instead of this chicken,” might be words echoing from the mouths of those from pre-monetary cultures. Or maybe simply contemplating that “it must be nice to live in that castle, while we live in this shack, or in this cave.” It seems the grass is always greener on the other side, huh?
So let’s explore further, shall we? “In fact, new research shows that richer and poorer people are generally as happy as each other. Where they differ is in their level of sadness: Higher-income individuals are markedly less sad on a daily basis.”
“Using the most sophisticated measures of emotional well-being in a large-scale survey of the American population, we found that wealthier individuals reported less sadness but no more happiness during their daily activities…. The relationship between income and sadness is as strong as the relationship of income to life satisfaction,” says the study, which is published in the journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science.
The study concluded that richer people feel less sad. How is this possible? Let’s say that a rich person comes home to learn that the washer or car is broken and needs repair or replacement. This would simply “annoy” the wealthier person, being inconvenienced for having to make a call or simple pay for a new one.
However, these scenarios would greatly impact the poorer person’s life on many levels: Probably has no immediate funds to pay for it, needs to save which takes away from saving for or buying other needed items, may even have to go without it for an extended period of time, or depending just how poor s/he, may not at all be able to repurchase the broken item. And of course, that would create a whole slew of other problems, as a domino effect.
Interestingly, this study suggests that money cannot buy happiness, yet it can buy ease, comfort, convenience, and less stress –which in this day and age, goes quite a lonnnggg way.
Please remember we may not have all the money in the world, nor even enough to make life easy, but please know in our hearts that this too shall pass!
We Are All One
Gavin