Tom Chavez
The Core Problem
Gregg, I’ve not seen protest signs against epidemic controls. I see “I Can’t Breathe,” “No Peace Without Justice” and “George Floyd” everywhere.
The United States was founded on a principle that “all men are created equal; endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights..."
Unfortunately, certain contradictions have created bad karma.
European immigrants forcibly took lands from indigenous peoples, and then passed laws that it is illegal to take others’ lands by force. Where was the equality?
Slave traders brought Africans for brutal exploitation. Where was the equality?
After the Civil War various systems of favoritism and prejudice have continued.
Today varieties of white supremacists, Nazis, anti-communists, anti-socialists, anti-immigrants, anti-Muslims, anti-Christians, abortionists, antifa, etc., want to privilege parts of society above others.
What does “all men are created equal mean?” Certainly we are not equal on physical, mental or intellectual levels.
I see society analogously to a living body. My body has a huge variety of cells: brain, muscle, bone, skin, nerve, liver, etc., etc.
All those cells are living individuals, and I am like the lord of the body. All those cells serve and depend upon me. I also serve and depend upon them. I want cooperation with those cells to help me achieve my goals.
Suppose some cells declare ‘independence’: “There is no owner or lord of this body, let us exploit the bodily resources and do as we like.” They become cancer or cause weakness and disease.
The cells are not independent. If I leave the body, all those cells will die. While I’m alive, all the cells are equal in my eyes. I need my heart, my skin, all those parts. Each has its duty and function.
Sometimes the cells fight one another, like an auto-immune disease. That is what is going on now in our larger society—faction against faction. We are diseased, and we are our own worst enemies.
In my humble opinion, the core problem is not racism, economic hard times, or pandemic. If we citizens are united in common cause, we can overcome any problem.
The core problem is that we are losing sight of our Creator and becoming an antagonistic chaos of selfish interests.
Our real equality is on a spiritual level; we are all creatures of the Creator, including other species. If we all cooperate to please our Creator, there will be harmony and blessings from above. If we exploit and kill other living entities, we suffer the reaction.
If we follow spiritual principles, the economic, socio-political, medical and other problems can be soon resolved. We can start by cultivating truthfulness, cleanliness, austerity, and mercy. By all our individual actions we create the society we live in.
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