The topic of religion is mysterious, but let me suggest a path through it. A person who is compassionate and merciful to others, and animals too, is far better than a so called religious person who is not. In fact there is no real religion at all without compassion and mercy. In addition the entire idea that God has some chosen people, or that some are saved and all others, usually by lottery of birth, are infidels and fit for slaughter is all nonsense under the name religion. God/Goddess is equal to all and has provided many ways to go to Him/Her. There is no, only one wayto God. God listens to any prayers aimed at Him in whatever language or style.
I am a lover of Lord Krishna and everything He stands for, including the simple none industrial village life He advocates as the ideal for human society. A society in which animals are not slaughtered in slaughter houses suffering
untold horrors.The extent to which the Hare Krishna movement can recreate this kind of simple, alternative, organic, balanced, sustainable and loving society - will be good! Now there are too many big temples and not enough simple farm communities with people living like Krishna did in Vrindavan. I joined Hare Krishna in 70's when I thought that was the direction it was going. It ended up going in another direction - which didn't so much interest me in the first place.
I do not believe in interfering with the beliefs of others, where they are none intimidating. Variety is after all the spice of life and obviously pleasing to Goddess/God/The Universe - otherwise She/He/Cosmic It - would not have made it thus. In my ideal government there would be no forcing of religious ideas on anyone - but violence (which is not unavoidable) to people and animals and even trees should not be allowed.
Next on government. I studied political philosophy in University
In my opinion:
'Rule of Law' and 'Democracy' may have done something to improve people's freedom. But they have gone too far in that direction, and the end result of 'rule of law' is that it is 'rule of nobody'! This has effectively given the power to selfish business and money interests who have very well been able to manipulate the current sytem behind the scenes to their own advantage! This has practically brought the world to it's knees and the brink of destruction. Nobody with a vision has been guiding any of this rampant "development"!
What is needed I think is an adjustment in the direction of mystical people's monarchy or 'rule of someone'! But this has to be modified in the sense that it should not be a return to uncontrolled despots of the past, but a step forward to a new system I call 'Democratic Monarchy' in which individuals are empowered to act, but still held accountable to the people in a democratic way. This is a radical new system which I espouse and advocate for saving the world. It probably should be done in a global way, and I would advocate a global eco-monarchy with an Earth Emperor! - or a head of the United Nations with teeth. But they do not need to interfere with national governments except on ecological issues for everyone's benefit. They should be accountable and removable, but once appointed or elected, have actual tangible power to make changes and to do it quickly. They must in effect be above the law! If not - as envisaged in the movie 'The Matrix' - we will all become controlled slaves of the machinery of demon government, as we in effect now are!
‘Progress’
When I was young I lived in the New Forest in the south of England in a village called Nomansland. In those days fruits and vegetables were mostly all local grown and organic. They were extremely tasty and beneficial. Peaches were sweet and fleshy and dripping with juice. Strawberries also were so sweet that you didn’t need to add sugar. Now that we have made ‘progress’ food is dead and tasteless. It comes in supermarkets and was grown usually in other countries. It has been stored long and shipped far. It’s tasteless and full of harmful chemicals. Whatever you may like to say in its defense I can tell you categorically that it is stool compared to when I was young. When I was young there were fewer cars by far on the roads and one could drive anywhere easily without worrying about parking, traffic wardens and meters and traffic jams. You could even move safely and slowly on the roads by horse and cart and it was before motorways and todays huge rush. That was all before ‘progress’. People too were polite – even teenagers used to listen to the advice of the elderly and behave themselves. Nothing at all like now when teenagers run amok without adult supervision. Life in these respects was far superior when I was young, before ‘progress’! ‘Progress’ has in my opinion ruined just about everything! Industrialisation which they dare to call ‘development’, of traditional agricultural communities has ruined village life and the balance of nature. Men now regularly take much more from the land than they put back and their minds are always disturbed by constant propaganda teaching us to desire more on TV, advertising hoardings, movies, magazines and papers and coming at us from all directions. Nowadays there are so many things we are taught to need. Thanks to ‘progress’ no-one’s mind is peaceful. People are judged on the basis of their bodily attraction only and thus the old have no use at all to the young who think themselves so advanced and superior, sometimes just on the basis of having fancy dreads!
In my experience ‘progress’ and ‘development’ have succeeded only in turning what was a heaven into a total hell. This is true everywhere – not just in England where I grew up.
I am very unconvinced about this thing you call ‘progress’ and development’. It seems that all the politicians and leaders and business men who are its most vociferous advocates are all making some kind of profit out of it, and spreading their lies or ignorance all around without mercy. I can see and hear nothing from those leaders except ignorant lies or at best diluted truth. In my opinion what we need to do is partially undo ‘progress’ and go back to simple agricultural life.
Science.
People have been duped on mass about science. It is not leading us into some kind of outer space utopia and unending life. It is mostly ruining everything, and it is all demons behind it. Science has no real proof for all the outlandish claims it repeatedly makes about the origins of life and the universe. Nor does it have any idea at all about what is really going on in space. And yet all kinds of speculation is repeatedly spoon fed to the gullible public – outlandish claims which we are told to automatically believe just because scientists say it. It’s all a total and utter concoction including Darwin’s theory and the Big Bang theory which are these days not only always presented as facts and not theories, but which are shoved down our throats from all directions. Including the ‘cave man’ theory and other such actually wrong idiocy. On top of this we are fed with a constant barrage of propaganda on TV and in the media in general. This propaganda in the form of advertising and over representation of main stream views is constantly being applied and gullible young people are these days so completely won over to no longer have even an idea that there is actually an alternative and what to speak of offering an effective resistance. Either that or they have sunk into an all devouring general malaise of negativity, destroying just about everyone!
None Sine Sole Iris: There can be no Rainbow without the Sun