This just in from poet and metaphysician Charles Upton on the Bundy Ranch stand-off.
Dear Kevin,
Here’s a little something I just wrote today. A friend sent me an email about how the Feds stole a herd of cattle from that Nevada rancher, and how militias from around the U.S. are coming to his aid. It looks like a range war may be shaping up. That made me remember Woody Guthrie’s song “Ranger’s Command”, and think how perfectly appropriate it is for the present circumstances. Woody, a darling of the Left, who put a sign on his guitar reading “this machine kills Fascists”, wrote a song that’s totally in the spirit of a cause now being adopted by the Right-wing militias.
And here’s the thing I wrote:
CREDO
When the Leftists or the Communists stand with the oppressed against the oppressor, then I am a
Leftist and a Communist.
When the Tea party activists or the Patriots stand with the oppressed against the oppressor, then
I am a Patriot and a Tea party man.
When the Left is the oppressor, I am a Right-winger; when the Right is the oppressor I am of the
Left—
But no—forget that. What I really want to say is: to hell with Left and Right, they don’t mean
anything anymore.
The real fight is not between Left and Right but between Up and Down.
Wherever the oppressors are, I am against them. Wherever the downtrodden are, I am with them.
My ideology is not Liberal or Conservative, Communist or Fascist; it is only this:
That whoever exalts himself will be humbled; that whoever humbles himself will be exalted;
That those who hunger and thirst for justice are blest, for they will be satisfied;
That the downtrodden, those whose faces are ground into the earth, are also blest, for they shall
inherit the earth.
Harry Reid behind the Bundy Ranch land-grab?
http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines/breaking-sen-harry-reid-behind-blm-land-grab-of-bundy-ranch
this 'inherit the earth' nonsense is actually the danger behind most of imperialism and his big father, PATRIARCHY! not many talk about it because they themselves are patriarchs and dance around the issue as if its someone or something else but this arrogance about dominating mother earth is the root of the problem and the seed comes from patriarchal spirits or lack thereof. his religions and governments and pretty much anything he has ever done is a genocidal disaster. just read his HIStory…but dont bother wasting your time plodding through his silly murder memoirs the bible, quran or his other me as god and king blathers.. patriarchy and his silly nonsense is the real culprit and enemy to be composted responsibly…
So you're basically saying "Mothers good, fathers bad." That sounds just as one-sided as the other way around.
Christianity writes women out of the reproductive equation with its odd notion of God as "father, son, and holy spirit." But Islam doesn't. In Islam, the two first even slightly tangible qualities of God are "al-rahman al-rahim" meaning "mercy and compassion," compassion and caring," etc. These words connote the kind of love that mothers have for their children. So in Islam, God is at least as much mother-like as father-like. But ultimately of course God is neither male nor female, and far beyond any kind of comparison, including comparison with human beings.
Post-Christians like you, Bird, love to project their beefs with Christianity on Islam, without knowing the slightest thing about it. Read Murata and Chttick's "The Vision of Islam" and Michael Sells' "Approaching the Qur'an" – you might be surprised.