I have read with great interest the many diaries that have permeated this blog over the last 5 days. I have watched many make comments that brought immediate responses that I personally would have not made, yet I understood the emotions that brought forth such responses. I hope that what I write today will offer a method to bring about a means of understanding when we disagree and to help facilitate open dialogues that are direct and to the point. I hope that endless muckraking or slathering demagoguery because someone disagrees with another will cease and we can move forward and become victorious in our desire to defeat the Neo-Con agenda for America.
I bring this diary forward, because I have seen and heard many decry the lack of a code of ethics for many Republicans, Democrats and progressives. I don’t know if they lack a code, or simply don’t know how to live by a code of ethics. I hope that others will share this code of ethics with your friends, families and business associates. It has worked very well in my life, in energizing me, opening my heart and mind to the choices others may make and helped me keep an open mind and heart toward those that I disagree.
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crossposted at European Tribune and My Left Wing
Native American Code of Ethics!1. Rise with the sun to pray. Pray alone. Pray often. The Great Spirit
will listen, if you only speak.2. Be tolerant of those who are lost on their path. Ignorance, conceit,
anger, jealousy and greed stem from a lost soul. Pray that they will
find guidance.3. Search for yourself, by yourself. Do not allow others to make your
path for you. It is your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with
you, but no one can walk it for you.4. Treat the guests in your home with much consideration. Serve
them the best food, give them the best bed and treat them with
respect and honor.5. Do not take what is not yours whether from a person, a community,
the wilderness or from a culture. It was not earned nor given. It is not
yours.6. Respect all things that are placed upon this earth – whether it be
people or plant.7. Honor other people’s thoughts, wishes and words. Never interrupt
another or mock or rudely mimic them. Allow each person the right to
personal expression.8. Never speak of others in a bad way. The negative energy that you
put out into the universe will multiply when it returns to you.
- All persons make mistakes. And all mistakes can be forgiven.
- Bad thoughts cause illness of the mind, body and spirit. Practice
optimism.
11. Nature is not FOR us, it is a PART of us. They are part of your
worldly family.12. Children are the seeds of our future. Plant love in their hearts and
water them with wisdom and life’s lessons. When they are grown,
give them space to grow.13. Avoid hurting the hearts of others. The poison of your pain will
return to you.14. Be truthful at all times. Honesty is the test of ones will within this
universe.15. Keep yourself balanced. Your Mental self, Spiritual self,
Emotional self, and Physical self – all need to be strong, pure and
healthy. Work out the body to strengthen the mind. Grow rich in
spirit to cure emotional ails.16. Make conscious decisions as to who you will be and how you
will react. Be responsible for your own actions.17. Respect the privacy and personal space of others. Do not
touch the personal property of others – especially sacred and
religious objects. This is forbidden.18. Be true to yourself first. You cannot nurture and help others if
you cannot nurture and help yourself first.19. Respect others religious beliefs. Do not force your belief on
others.20. Share your good fortune with others. Participate in charity.
Author unknown
I am human, I fall short of the mark in many places in my life. I have a great deal of emotional energy centered around the losses perpetuated against my personal rights as those in power continue to erode the very foundations of our Constitution. I despise and repudiate any religion that has the arrogance to call itself the one and only way to find God. The understanding I have, of my own Great Spirit, shows me that I must respect all others in their pursuit or non-pursuit of a relationship with God. That I personally have been blessed, that I walk in Grace each day, clearly opens my heart and mind to the extraordinary power that has entered into my life. I speak of this only because I am a recovering homeless derelict heroin addict, who had nothing to live for and everything to die for, yet even committing suicide on the installment plan did not work for me.
I have fought hard to become the person I am today. I have changed everything about myself, my beliefs, my ethics, my priorities, and my principles, especially my spiritual principles. Here is one aspect of how I lead my life along a spiritual system that keeps me sane when all around me there is insanity.
Great Spirit, give me your power whenever my weakness shows so I can live by spiritual decisions
There are many areas in our future, both near and far that have the power to split us and weaken our strengths in the battle for our country. I hope that all of us, can empower these principles of ethics, to overcome our differences, find a way to agree to disagree and move forward in compromises that empowers and motivates all progressives, democrats, and moderate republicans to take our country back from the neo-cons.
I have read many great diaries on what is wrong, now is the time to start writing about how we can make a difference in how the power structure is divided up. Now is the time to mobilize, start talking to those whom you know that are not part of the solution. I talk to anyone who will listen and I have been surprised to note that many moderate republicans in my community are becoming disillusioned with GW and are not afraid to state it publicly.
I continue to attend school board meetings, county commission meetings, city commission meetings and listen and speak out when I feel there is a need for a dissenting voice. There is a good ole boys network in the county and city I live in, many on city and county commissions just keep changing seats from one to another. I don’t know if I should run, given my history, yet I know that if there are not others willing to step up and challenge the status quo, it will never change. Can I make a difference, do I make a difference, I don’t know, yet I do know that if I don’t step up, there is not a chance in hell that I can make a difference.
I have read here, that some are saying that we must compromise on important issues that define us as progressives. I have not seen or read that in anything I have read here, yet. I can tell you that there are issues that I will not compromise on, in any way, shape or form. Those issues are the following:
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The right of privacy or no gov’t intrusion in personal/medical issues (abortion, sexual preferences, marriage, adoption)
The protection and restoration of our environment
The complete dismantling of the patriot act
The elimination of religion from my government
I view each and every one of these issues in the terms of human rights. I am not willing, nor will I compromise on these issues. I will support any candidate that incorporates these into their platform in running for office. I don’t know how many of you have been to a third world country, that does not support basic human rights. I have been to many countries, from Mexico, Central America and South America, many of those were in the early 70’s. I believe that given the current path this administration is pursuing, our country may well become much like Central America in the 70’s.
I will fight this movement to my dying breath, I want an America that I can be proud of again. I know that my country has many warts. But until our government is again by the people, of the people and for the people, it will have more than warts upon it. Somehow we the people have allowed the corporate elitists in conjunction with the theocratic religious right, to gain more than a modicum of control over our government. It is our right, our duty to take it back, to instill within our government that which is so boldly written by the founding fathers of our republic.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed,
I believe that Americans and I mean a majority of Americans, still hold to this famous quotation from our Declaration of Independence. That a minority has somehow found a way to gain power that is greater than their due, causes me great disquiet and energizes me to focus upon the real problems that this creates. That they have within their sights, to take over the Supreme court, that will impact the lives of my children and grandchildren, is a hideous prospect. I can only hope that the Progressive and Democratic members of Congress will in fact pursue their responsibilities with the all the courage and backbone that this challenge presents to them. Our constitution provides this as a means to balance out the power of the Executive branch of our government, to prevent what is actually occurring today in our country.
by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for,
I will continue to write my Senators, both wingnuts, who view the current SC selection as the best fit for what America needs. I will write my congressman and other congress members to make sure they know that someone somewhere does not agree with them or does agree with them. I will support in whatever small way financially I can, every Candidate that shows me through actions, not just words, they too believe in the same values that I do. I find the current climate, less than perfect for making our beliefs, values and principles well know and part of the mainstream, in American culture. Yet our founding fathers found it less than desirable for themselves to venture forth on this grand experiment called the United States of America.
How can we as progressives be less courageous when the very fabric of what our Founding Fathers created is being torn asunder by the Neo-Con agenda, to dismantle, cripple and completely rework the constitution of the United States of America. If you do not believe this then I suggest you check out this site PNAC, they very clearly state what they believe is in the best interest of the USA and it is not in the best interest of the people of the USA.
Stand up, be counted, get involved, open your mouth, but most of all, follow this simple code of ethics, you will be surprised at how easy and simple it really is, how it can help you grow and ultimately help you get your points across. I have one goal for the next two elections, it is to get as many progressives elected to office, National, state and local, as I can help facilitate, not only in Kansas but the rest of our country. I make the assumption that most if not all of you here are progressives, the one thing that you can do to insure fair and credible elections is to volunteer at your local elections office or registrar of voter’s office. There are a myriad of ways that progressives can interfere with the Neo-con agenda, so that real Americans, can and will take their country back from those who would rather see themselves telling all of us what, who, why and how we can live our lives.
You are the power, you are the voice of challenge, and you are the way to facilitate change in our world. Open you hearts, your minds and your mouths, for we may not have another chance to take back what is rightfully ours. The United States of America.