Activism

Rev. John Dear: Like millions of others, I’m grieving the death of the nine church folk killed in the unthinkable massacre inside Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church on Wednesday night. My heart goes out to the families and friends of the dead, and the church members, and I offer all my condolences, prayers, blessings and love.

“For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence. On infiltration instead of invasion. On subversion instead of elections. On intimidation instead of free choice. On guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which […]

Everyone has to practice nonviolence. Everyone. From the people on the streets to the police, to church ministers and parents, but also our media spokespeople and elected officials. Including the president. And the military. Everyone, everywhere. The days of war, killing, shootings, bombings, torture, executions and nuclear weapons are coming to an end. The days of violence are over. Everyone has to practice nonviolence. That is our only future–if we are to have a future.

There are less than one million people, world-wide, who wish to maintain the present system of exploitation. There are 6.9 billion of us. Numbers difficult to grasp so let me re-state it so: For every one of “them”, there are nearly seven thousand of us! The minute we act together is the same minute in which their system of exploitation will cease to exist. This is why “they” spend billions on black propaganda and carefully staged acts of terror aimed at dividing us against ourselves…Once we grasp, however, that it is not WE who are doing these things but that we are ALL victims of the self-same theatrical propaganda campaign then it becomes much easier to solve the problem. When we all grasp that we have been conned into believing that any particular group, nation or whatever is “out to get us” and that the only ones who are truly out to get us are the self-appointed “elite” who’ve been exploiting us all along then we can act together to eliminate our sorrows at their source.

Toby Israel: Though I consider myself a staunch advocate of non-violent protest, I don’t know what it feels like to have a family member or neighbor brutality victimized by police. I can’t say with absolute certainty that I would feel so inclined to peace if these threats formed a part of my daily experience. I believe that the reality surrounding the current situation in Baltimore might be too complex, too replete with senseless brutality and injustice, anger and inequality, to take a hard line on one side or the other of non-violence.

Spanish activist group Hologramas por la Libertad staged the world’s first ever hologram protest in response to the Citizen Safety Law passed by the Spanish government, which set huge fines for protestors convening outside of government buildings. The virtual demonstration, which took place in front of the Spanish Parliament, was meant to show that, despite the new legal restrictions, the public can still get its message across.

With nearly 3,000 votes cast, the results of Prospect’s world thinkers 2015 poll are now in. Voters came to the Prospect website in large numbers through Twitter and Facebook, and from many countries around the world. The top 10 of last year’s poll was dominated by thinkers—including the winner, economist and philosopher Amartya Sen—whose work focused on the social, political and environmental challenges posed by economic growth in the developing world.

Everything is an opportunity for awakening. So says one of my spiritual teachers. Leonard Jacobson. And he did mean everything. In the past two weeks the media in western countries (and many others) has been focussed upon the massacre at Charlie Hebdo magazine. Many of the readers who come to the Conscious Life News website […]
Homeless Homed: ‘The Daily Show’ Features Utah’s Awesome Initiative That Gives Homes to the Homeless

The way Utah is addressing the homeless issue caught the attention of “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart. It’s helping shed light on an important issue while also making people laugh. It all started with the many housing units set up to help get homeless off the street. It’s a program called Housing First, and it’s working so well, the state says it has decreased homelessness by 72 percent since 2005. Now, even more people are hearing about its success, thanks to the popular show.