Stop Killing - Peace

We sing "Peace On Earth" in church every Christmas eve, but we find our society deeper in quagmires overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. We watch more and more body bags as they come home, and as families find themselves forever changed by wars they did not choose. Our small towns and big cities are drained of people to make cannon fodder for wars that have done nothing to improve our safety.

Violence in our streets is acceptable to many; it is little more then something to be glorified in our streets. We the public villeinize Romeno and Everrett, while our media celebrates the punishment of these individuals and glorifies their horrific takings from society. Their actions do not justify the killing of Scaringe and the losses to our civil liberties. This is wrong and must change.

We need love! We must stop killing now!

Less Consumptive Society - Spirituality

We need to consume less and think more about our actions. Too much of our society is not grounded in reality, but in delusions created by television advertising and glossy packaging. The landfill and the factory dumping dangerous chemicals into our environment is well hidden in areas from our conscience. We need to get back to reality and look to our earth and give it the love that Christ gave to us. Many of us find ourselves believing in these words, and yet finding ourselves to be hyprocrites at the same time.

Contemporary Christmas is in many ways a celebration of such consumption, but it does not have to be. It can be a time of realization in our society, a time to reflect deeper on ourself and the world around us. It can be about self-reflection and a celebration of individualism.

Think before you buy then toss! Get the real spirit of Christmas!

Respect and Dignity for All Individuals

We talk a lot about tolerance in our society, yet that tolerance only applies to prefered groups in society. We celebrate homosexuality and minority race status, and often dismiss all other kinds of choices of the individual. We must do better for this Christmas and forever on. We should respect and give dignity to all individuals, whatever their choices are in life. As an individual, you might not like another individual's choices and we collectively have the right to punish for intolerable actions, but we should try to embrace as many different groups of people.

We must remebmer that all people are individuals and they should not be labeled. People are not stupid, brilliant, mentally ill, special, different, or anything else: they are individuals. There is no one model for the individual, and while some might share certain commonalities, we should not try to extrapolate one part of an individual to represent his whole. Celebrate a person as an individual and not as a farmer or a person living in poverty in the south end. Love the individual not his symbolism.

Give respect to all! Respect breeds freedom and dignity!