Thanks for stopping by.
Steve

Thanks for considering my blog worthy of posting a complete article of your thoughts but at the moment I’m not inviting guest writers to post on Lions Led By Sheep. Sorry to disappoint at this time, Francisco.

Good luck with your own blog. (And a word of advice - use Wordpress, not Blogger or Typepad. You’ll have a lot more options and freedom even if it might be a little more tricky getting everything up and running.)

Thanks,
Steve

Sadly, it’s getting darker and darker all the time ;-(

And a prime reason for such darkness is that which is called “religion” ;-(

Believe i am to begin a blog, and originate forums bearing the “title” of
“The Destruction and Perversion of Creation”, and i hope you wouldn’t mind me posting the primary article in such a blog here. Has to do with a vision i had about 10, or so, years past.

And even though i am assured that the vision was of The Spirit, it resulted in a physical, yet un-natural, scientific understanding of one way the earth was physically being destroyed. I have not read a published article anywhere that defines such destruction.

Please let me know if such a posting would be an affront to you. It is somewhat related to the posting and comments in that the primary cause of such destruction is greed, yet the vision revealed only that which was physical yet un-natural, and a scientific understanding of one root cause of the earth’s being destroyed.

Sadly, i do not believe the earth can be “saved” , yet i also believe that no one has to “play their part” in the destructive processes.

We have a choice!

So there is hope that there would be those who choose wisely!

“A Simple and Spiritual Life is the only Life that will survive”.

Peace, in spite of the dis-ease(destruction) that is of this world…….

Truth is never ending…….

“They think they are poor because they can’t have everything they want. They really believe that what they want is what they need.”

Yes, need and want - two very different things that, sadly, many people these days find totally indistinguishable.

I’m sorry to hear you’ve had to choose between your health and your stomach at times. Maybe if more people had to endure that they world would be a much better place. But what a sad state of affairs when we cannot simply empathise with someone else’s plight, we must actually suffer to understand. Haven’t come very far since the Dark Ages, in reality, have we!?

Yes, Francisco, you can’t serve the better good AND money. Yes, it’s people’s greed that is to blame, and, yes, it’s our media that has a lot to answer for in that department.

Thanks for great comments, you guys,
Steve

“You can not serve GOD(The Great Spirit, Creator, Father) and m-o-n-e-y”!

“Choose you this day, that which or Whom you will serve”!

And for the atheists? Once again, you see your ‘god’ each and every time you look in the mirror ;-(

Why is it that 100 years past most people in the so-called “civilized world” had 7 needs and 70 wants and today they have 70 needs and 700 wants?

What is naturally needed more than each other?

Those excessive so-called needs, and the media induced wants all are playing their part in the destruction and perversion of Creation(land, air, water, creatures, Light, Truth, Peace, Love, Hope, etc.) ;-(

Hope is there would be those who “see” “The Light”!

“A Simple and Spiritual Life is the only Life that will survive”.

Peace, in spite of the dis-ease(greed) that is of this wicked world and it’s systems of relgion, for “the WHOLE world is under the control of the evil one” indeed and Truth…….

Truth is never ending…….

I too have had a lot: money, success, etc. But through a series of bad choices, I’ve hit bottom and am scrambling just to buy groceries. In the US, though, our view of what poverty is is vastly different from the world reality. I work as a caseworker for a non-profit agency and it always amazes me how people view themselves as poor. Many of the people who come to me for assistance make more on government funding than I earn. They think they are poor because they can’t have everything they want. They really believe that what they want is what they need. Yes, there are some in this country who truly have nothing. But it is a very small percentage compared with the real poverty in the third world. The majority of the “poor” in this country are eligible for food stamps, soup kitchens, housing assistance and free clinics. And even though I have had to make the decision whether to buy medicine or groceries, I at least have never had to resort to eating rats or dirt.

Francisco is right about the worship of “false gods”. Fame and fortune are fickle gods indeed. If we recognized that, maybe our worldview would be a lot clearer and we could work together to right the injustices of the world.

Another great comment. I take your point, but I’d advocate more legislation, not less. I hope you’ll appreciate my point if I expand.

Yes, the free market economy can improve life, but that’s not what it’s doing most of the time. Most of the time in developed countries it’s not giving us ‘life’ choices, but merely ‘life style’ choices. I’m sure you’ll appreciate there’s a huge difference.

Let me give you an example:

Gasoline powered lawn mowers are attracting more legislation from the U.S. EPA to make them more fuel efficient and reduce pollution. Both worthwhile aims, I’m sure you’ll agree. But with no government intervention, the manufacturers would be very happy with their products and would continue selling them as they are - a detriment to your pocket, health and the health of the planet. The problem is that business is not generally self-policing. Business does not do things for the good of the people, the planet, or even the economy. Business does things for the benefit of the balance sheet and stockholders! More legislation is needed to even that balance.

The problem comes from the fact that most governments are hand in pocket with business, and politicians have their own agendas. What’s needed is government that is intelligent, compassionate, and responsible. Sadly, that’s way too much to ask for with the worldviews/goals most people currently hold.

Actually, I’m starting to wonder if it might be better to write a proper post on this topic as there’s way too much to go into here. You’ve raised some good points which need addressing but that’s way beyond the scope of a simple comment.

I’ve already drafted the next post - another one to get your creative juices flowing and see you pounding on the keyboard, Greg! Give me a week or two and I’ll pen a post specifically aimed at this subject. It is difficult though, as I aim for posts to be around 800 words but frequently go 50+% over that and have to cut like mad, so leaving out vital information. I think that’s better than overwhelming people with masses and masses of info in very lengthy posts, though.

Anyway, I hope I’ve answered your comment enough for now but will come back with a proper post with real depth. I hope you approve.

Thanks, Greg. I hope your comments make others think as much as they do me!
Steve

Simply, “Spirituality” is to have Faith in that which is Spirit.

“The substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen”.

Truth is never ending…….

Useless garbage? Far from it.

“Islam actually advocates peace and not ruling by the sword…” Muslim scholars frequently disagree with this. In any case their extremists will make it very difficult to bring prosperity to those parts of the world which they control. Gaza, for example.

“but exist to create need where there really is none, thus wasting valuable resources and depriving us of our money which could be better spent.”

Wealth is created by the development of resources and the creation of new things in a complex web, which is why the GDP of countries can constantly increase. That wealth also permits exotic new uses of resources previously untapped. Hydrogen power for our cars, for example. Hydrogen is also potentially a source of energy for very poor countries.

The US, Britain, Europe, and a few other places could all do with a lot less government, but as I mentioned there are places which do need some - stable, predictable government of and for the people that provides an infrastructure and a legal system and then gets out of the way.

Sorry, but what the Oil Cos may have done to the environment (and they’re far cleaner these days) pales beside what state run companies have done. Bad as they might be (and I think the press is worse than the reality) The Oil Cos are at least responsible to market pressures and shareholder input and have to follow the rules, to some extent anyway. State run companies have no such stops, no incentives to clean up, and often have tanks helping them out.

An oppressive corporation has conditions that force it to at least act in its own interests and pretend to give a s***. An oppressive government doesn’t.

And then you have the government run corporations. Ugh. There’s an entity with no checks or balances.

I agree that the markets do have to serve people. But wealth is created through the efforts of people working to create it, not the state, which works to spend it. People create, distribute, and sell products and along the way there are a lot of jobs created and a lot of openings for creative people. Iraq, for example, has an economy that is growing quite nicely for this reason. The creativity of people when left to their own freedom is quite impressive and is only stifled by government. The greedy and power-hungry will still show, whether its capitalist, government, or terrorist.

China realizes this too, unfortunately it has a brutal communist thugocracy at the core. It has realized though that the way to wealth is to let capitalism in around the edges and that’s what going to lift its people out of the muck. That government will be doing a fancy dance trying to keep the energy of its entrepreneurs from cracking their system too much.

The best thing for those people with the mud cookie business would be for their government to allow investment into that country and make a business friendly environment, along with a few rule to insure fair play and the hiring/training of local peoples. They then collect a certain amount of taxes which they can then stuff away in hidden bank accounts, er… use to help build that infrastructure and start building a real economy.

No, there’s no way that those people will get anywhere with just a change of outlook. They need to have something to eat, first, and then something to start building with. And they WILL build, if they’re given a chance and a little helpful guidance.

BY the way, I entirely agree that a little respect for one’s fellow human being would go a long way in any scenario. Jillyanne’s Monstanto fellow, for one. (Jillyanne, please use paragraphs, your stuff will be lots easier to read.)

Like you said its a tough situation and most of us, in the Western world anyway, are pretty lucky to be where we are, bitching and moaning about our little issues and pointing fingers.

Want a mud cookie?