We have been exiled from our homeland. We have labored in captivity, but still we remember Zion -- the place where we were free; where we were united; where we were truly home. By the rivers of Babylon, we sat down and remembered. Across the rivers of Babylon, we now set out to claim and lift up our home again.
Such is the mythology of ancient times. Such is the mythology of our time. A man named Reagan exiled us. A man named Bush now rules in his stead. A people called Americans have grown weary of captivity, and we have sat down. Our cries to be delivered have not been heard by Congress, by the Courts or by the Media. But the rest of the planet has heard, because they share our dream, as the ancient progenitors of three great religions (Judism, Christianity and Islam) dreamed of Zion.
Without a dream, the people cannot muster the strength to stand up and ford the rivers of Babylon. Let us dream. Let us stand up. Let us remember, and act on that memory to seek a future again. Together.
Point of impeachability: September 23, 2007
Point of no return: When Bush's approval ratings hit 25% - 7/23/07
How long can they kill our prophets
While we stand aside and look?
Some say it's all a part of it
We've got to fulfill the Book.
Redemption Song
Bob Marley
Babylon. Ancient. Mysterious. A name which echoes down the centuries. Bob Marley, and the Rastifarians, know Babylon. It is present every day. It is a force of hatred, of injustice, of prejudice. It seeks to subjugate the true human being, the Rasta Man, within each of us. It seeks to consume the energy and eat the heart of all of us. Human beings empower it, but it rules them, even though they are the last to know it. The Rastifarians call this insidious power of Babylon dread.
Our fellow citizens -- sons, daughters, spouses, neighbors, friends -- in the United States military are immersed in that place once called Babylon. Patroling between, over and around the great rivers of which the prophets of old sang in modern times, they struggle to understand the people and the place to which they have been sent. In the off moments between heart-pounding lunges from bunkered place to bunkered place, they dream of home. They dream of Zion.
Babylon's Rise
In March, We The People reached the point of no confidence in this Government. The mythic force called Babylon has revealed itself to us. Millions of us have known this Babylon has been there all along. We thought we had defeated in during Watergate. We saw it rise again under Reagan and the first Bush Administration. We saw the Clinton Administration struggle against it and be paralyzed by it in turns. Now, in this Administration, believing it cannot be assailed or stopped, Babylon has let down the veil and stands naked and terrible before us. Weary and beaten down, We The People have sat down. We sent a message in the election last November. We thought deliverance was near, furthered by our Representatives who were empowered by Us.
And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand."
Daniel 8:23-25
Alas, Babylon did not yield. Alas, Babylon's hold on those Representatives was stronger than we thought. Instead of relenting in the face of Our Will, Babylon dug in and pushed back. It pushes back still. It will not yield or hide any longer, it must now be broken by Our Will -- "broken without hand" as the prophet spake. We have come to the point of decision, upon which our common history depends and on which our common future as free citizens balances.
Immersed in this balance, Our Will will defeat Babylon's tide of dread. We are driving the demons of dread out of the hearts of our Representatives and freeing their souls, if only for a moment, from Babylon. In such a moment, the Bush Administration (and any Power or Principality of Darkness) is impeachable. But more important than reaching that moment is the next: to fill the void of Babylon's lack of humanity with a vision of humane wisdom. That wisdom is the true inheritance of the progressive movement, and the liberal philosophy of the Enlightenment from which sprang the Constitution.
We not only oppose Babylon, we envision Zion and manifest it in our common life. Main street rises again while Wall Street retreats. Balance is being restored and sustained. This challenge is greater than defeating the banal evil of Babylon. We have to aim through this target hit it, otherwise it spins again just out of range.
The design of the Constitution is not that our Representatives would be magically embued with wisdom -- quite the opposite. The past few days, like earlier times, we have cried out because our Representatives have not stood up strong enough. We The People strengthen them more than they strengthen us. Our political leaders can inspire us. They can speak for us in times of joy and despair, if they are able. But they are human beings and provide little strength by themselves, or even in multitudes numbering in the hundreds. We are millions. We are energy. We are power. Behind us, the many more millions of the dead and gone stand, imposing on us the responsibility to look to the future as they did in their time.
Sit for a moment longer and let us remember the future, our Zion, together. It will give us strength for the journey ahead, past the rivers around us and to the mountaintop which beckons us. At that great height, we will be able to stand again with Martin Luther King and Woody Guthrie; with the Founders fresh from writing the Constitution when the new Republic was still a dream full of possibility; and with all those immersed in Babylon dreaming of Zion and an end to their exile. In your heart, stand there now -- for even Babylon cannot stop us from being free and equal in our hearts, no matter what powers it holds over our bodies and our minds.
Censorship: Darkening Of The Light
Not light but darkness,
First he climbed up to heaven,
Then he plunged into the depths of the earth.
Here the shadow of the old man, after the inflation that made impossible its integration, sinks in the inactive, unconscious state again. In a still not integrated psyche this potential unconscious state of the archetypal old man, together with his shadow, would be contained in the depths of the earth
I Ching: Hexagram 36
From I Ching as the Model of the Psyche
Ivan Dugic
Our fellow citizens on the political right suffer. In their churches, Babylon has taken their ministers, fed by Rovian demons of money, false recognition and the semblence of political power never quite realized, but dangled before them.
- They are told prayer will return to the public schools, or private Christian schools will supplant public ones.
- They are told God guides the Dear Leader and they put his portrait in their Sunday School rooms, idolatry hidden as patriotism.
- They are told the Rapture will vindicate them and to pray for it
- to seek the End Of Days and betray their coworkers, friends and family to the Government
- accept the Mark Of The Beast because "they have nothing to hide" and allow national identity cards, embedded RFID chips under their skin
- security cameras everywhere except public bathrooms
- drug and psychological testing to get or keep a job
- credit cards to buy anything and, in exchange, be tracked by hidden servants of Babylon through every moment of their public life
These fellow citizens now see their precious liberty in peril, but cannot yet speak of it. Babylon tells them to blame The Far Left -- without revealing the truth that we are all fellow citizens and give each other the gift of liberty. But it is they themselves who empowered the registration of everything they possess -- and the subconscious guilt of that reality eats at their hearts. Now that Presidential Directives make explicit what they have been taught the Antichrist would do, the cognitive dissonance is breaking them down. Weary and betrayed, they must sit down and dream of Zion anew.
THE JUDGMENT
DARKENING OF THE LIGHT. In adversity
It furthers one to be persevering.
One must not unresistingly let himself be swept along by unfavorable circumstances, nor permit his steadfastness to be shaken. He can avoid this by maintaining his inner light, while remaining outwardly yielding and tractable. With this attitude he can overcome even the greatest adversities.
In some situations indeed a man must hide his light, in order to make his
will prevail in spite of difficulties in his immediate environment. Perseverance must dwell in inmost consciousness and should not be discernible from without. Only thus is a man able to maintain his will in the face of difficulties.
Hexagram 36
We must sit down beside them and listen. When we speak, we must find words we share with them to ignite true conversation. When we cry, we must embrace each other. The freedom we all seek is at hand. A prophet is not one who foretells the future, as a good friend of mine reminded me the other day, a prophet speaks while filled with the spirit of God, or Providence or Truth or Justice -- or any ideal state passionately attained and faithfully expressed. In such a state, artists stand up to government agencies keeping files on them. In such a state, historians demand records be preserved and released to a public with the right to know. In such a state, scientists write and defend honest conclusions from their data no matter how many pundits attempt to suppress or rewrite their work.
THE IMAGE
The light has sunk into the earth:
The image of DARKENING OF THE LIGHT.
Thus does the superior man live with the great mass:
He veils his light, yet still shines.
In a time of darkness it is essential to be cautious and reserved. One should not needlessly awaken overwhelming enmity by inconsiderate behavior. In such times one ought not to fall in with the practices of others; neither should one drag them censoriously into the light. In social intercourse one should not try to be all-knowing. One should let many things pass, without being duped.
Hexagram 36
Prophets all, as are we who come here to write for, and to, each other. In times of great peril for the body politic, prophets stand up. But first they sit down and listen until they know the words which needs be spoken. First they remember Zion.
It is the pitiful state of our legislative branch which primarily explains the failure of our vaunted checks and balances to prevent the dangerous overreach by our Executive Branch which now threatens a radical transformation of the American system.
...But there is yet another Constitutional player whose pulse must be taken and whose role must be examined in order to understand the dangerous imbalance that has emerged with the efforts by the Executive Branch to dominate our constitutional system.
United States Constitution in Grave Danger
Al Gore
January 16, 2006
Babylon conquers free people not by military force, but by the whispered voice, "Don't you want to be safe? Don't you want someone else to be responsible for your safety? Don't you want to give up a few personal choices for the Good Of All?". Over centuries of time and in every age of it, Babylon has worked relentlessly to censor dissent with the siren's song of safety and security and blissful forgetfulness.
Pray for our fellow citizens, if prayer comes naturally to you. Work for the good of our fellow citizens so ensnared if the work comes to you. Talk to these fellow citizens. Deflect their "are you saved?" defensiveness and look them in the eye to engage the real conversation, "Are you free?". Prophesy. Witness. Throw off your yoke so you can help others throw off theirs.
We the people are - collectively - still the key to the survival of America's democracy. We - as Lincoln put it, "[e]ven we here" - must examine our own role as citizens in allowing and not preventing the shocking decay and degradation of our democracy.
Thomas Jefferson said: "An informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public will."
The revolutionary departure on which the idea of America was based was the audacious belief that people can govern themselves and responsibly exercise the ultimate authority in self-government. This insight proceeded inevitably from the bedrock principle articulated by the Enlightenment philosopher John Locke: "All just power is derived from the consent of the governed."
United States Constitution in Grave Danger
Al Gore
January 16, 2006
For freedom we all crave, in our souls. Freedom we all need or our lives come to naught. Freedom we all deserve for reasons beyond question, enshrined in our Constitution and written in our Declaration of Independence. Liberty is our birthright, each and all of us. We must claim it together and concede it to each other in all things, or no one will have it in any meaningful measure.
Babylon has censored us. We have sat down. We dream. Now we must stand up together and claim the prize endowed on us all by our Creator: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In this one thing, we are all united, no matter what else may naturally divide us.
The intricate and carefully balanced constitutional system that is now in such danger was created with the full and widespread participation of the population as a whole. The Federalist Papers were, back in the day, widely-read newspaper essays, and they represented only one of twenty-four series of essays that crowded the vibrant marketplace of ideas in which farmers and shopkeepers recapitulated the debates that played out so fruitfully in Philadelphia.
Indeed, when the Convention had done its best, it was the people - in their various States - that refused to confirm the result until, at their insistence, the Bill of Rights was made integral to the document sent forward for ratification.
And it is "We the people" who must now find once again the ability we once had to play an integral role in saving our Constitution.
United States Constitution in Grave Danger
Al Gore
January 16, 2006
Censorship is broken when citizens speak out. Babylon is turned back when citizens stand up. Freedom is earned when the People come to know again the ancient power that springs from understanding that liberty is endowed on us by the fact we are even here -- and is claimed by the action of any one of us to stand against the forces of tyranny.
Babylon's Fall
By the rivers of Babylon
Where he sat down
And there he went
When he remebered Zion.
For the wicked, carry us away
Captivity require from us a song
How can we sing King Alpha's song in a strange land?
By The Rivers Of Babylon
Sublime
It is time for Babylon to sit down. It is time for the terrible wrath of the People to be unleashed and reveal that what seems so powerful is actually the same old story: the few seeking to traffic in the liberties of their fellow citizens. The many are served best when the individual can seek their own security and safety, not when the few convince the many to "let us take care of you". In such seductive spells our souls are forfeit. In such words tyrants reveal themselves. In such times patriots are born from those formerly enslaved by dread.
Stand up and demand your Representatives do so. Now. Stand with the rest of us and see the powerful shaken. Turn together toward the day, soon in coming, when human judgement is nigh. It is this kind of judgement, rendered by the hearts of the faithful when they stand to throw off the bonds of tyrants, that Providence blesses -- but free souls enact.
In the moment when Babylon must pause and fear emerges in its heart, this Administration will be impeachable. It may be that impeachment itself will not necessarily follow -- that being impeachable is enough to turn back the dread wreaked upon the soul of our nation. Whatever lies past that point, Babylon must be made to pause. Babylon must be made to sit down. Babylon must learn again to fear. For it is one or the other: Babylon stands or We The People do. For us to stand again, free and proud and a true beacon to the world for the cause of liberty, Babylon must be forced to sit down and be bound again.
Such it has been before. Such it must be again. Dream of Zion, then set out to make it real in your own way, a free citizens with one thing only need be in common: knowing our liberty has no price and our security only has assurance than when we are fully empowered to make it so ourselves.
Babylon must fall by Our Hand and be bound by Our Will. The time draws nigh. Attend to it. Abide each other to attain it. Once obtained again in any measure, never let it go.
The countdown continues, with each beat of each heart in every human breast. The world awaits Our Judgement. Let it be swift and true. Let it be terrible to behold by those in power. Let it be unstoppable and run its full course this time. Let no one in power "spare us the anguish" of the People's Wrath, meted out in full measure on those who deserve to be cursed and cast down from power to live in shame and be remembered as examples never to be emulated again in our history. Let none of them attain power in our Government again or hold any position of trust or profit in the United States Of America for the rest of their days.
Cast out any undue faith in Representatives. Instead, give our Representatives the energy of our faith. Do not expect any Representative to stand up for the People unless the People have already stood and loom behind them. Do not expect any Representative to be themselves a prophet, but pray they listen to prophesy truly spoken -- for their own good as well as the People's. We give them energy so they can reflect it, focus it and respect its power to enact real change.
If it be asked, what is to restrain the House of Representatives from making legal discriminations in favor of themselves and a particular class of the society? I answer: the genius of the whole system; the nature of just and constitutional laws; and above all, the vigilant and manly spirit which actuates the people of America, a spirit which nourishes freedom, and in return is nourished by it. If this spirit shall ever be so far debased as to tolerate a law not obligatory on the legislature, as well as on the people, the people will be prepared to tolerate any thing but liberty. Such will be the relation between the House of Representatives and their constituents. Duty, gratitude, interest, ambition itself, are the chords by which they will be bound to fidelity and sympathy with the great mass of the people.
Federalist 57
(emphasis mine)
Let us pour forth that energy now, delayed no longer by dread. Cast off this spell of Babylon and despair and set off for the mountaintop, bringing everyone around you, and everyone you meet, with you. We will make it there together, or not at all. Don't forget this truth in the coming days. We The People must be our watchword and our song. Sing it in your heart and never stop. Let the beating of your heart join with the beating of 300 million hearts as we stand, as we journey, and as we climb. The only thing Babylon cannot stand against is Us. Let Us teach It fear again. Let us free each other and bind Babylon for another season. We may have waited too long, but We can wait no longer.
See you again soon on the march to the mountaintop, fellow prophets.
Crossposted at Progressive Historians and Diatribune