There have been environmentalists till time immemorial or maybe ever since we found out that we were the only beings/living things on this planet that can have the ability to create and destroy almost everything we touch and even the ones we create. Global warming has been in the news for a long long time but people only took notice when the storms became fiercer and the damage they caused touched their lives, why? Well it didn’t matter to us in the past for we weren’t affected at all so why pay attention? The floods and strong storms haven’t caused enough damage, till now that is and they are getting worse.
When the tornadoes and storms became stronger and more frequent, people began to ask the question that were we responsible for the things that were happening all around us? Indeed we were and the choices we make everyday are to blame. The fridge that contains harmful CFC’s that eats away the Ozone layer, the old air conditioner you keep using that consumes more than half the amount of electricity new models with the same rating do. All these have an impact on the future of your world. The candy wrapper you throw away, multiplied by all the number of candy lovers around amounts to tons of plastic that would cover the world in a year if nothing was done. People say plastics are bad so turn to paper (not many countries have the ability for sustainable forest products) products that are more environmentally friendly (or are they?).

We all know Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of the UK who was replaced by Gordon Brown at the helm of the UK government. He was loved by some and scorned by many, but we’d all have to agree that he played his part in our recent history. A staunch ally of the US when they invaded Iraq, he fought to bring justice to those killed in the London bombings that killed many people. Much so that he continues his work as the official envoy of the West to the Middle East as he continues to play his part in the world of politics which he has come to realize has been utterly changed by religion in one way or the other.
In his many years as the Prime Minister of the UK, he has suffered blow after blow as to why the UK got itself involved in one of recent history’s most devastating blunder, going to war after people who are motivated by religious beliefs and fundamentalism. Fundamentalism that has incorporated violence as part of their basic concepts and that without it, no victory would be possible. Many soldier’s lives were taken by such fundamentalists in Afghanistan and Iraq which the invading forces say would take a year or two to mop up. Now, five years after the initial invasion and long after the dictator Saddam has been executed as retribution for his crimes against humanity, the war rages on.

Much so is the effect of the two terms that being labeled evil invokes our primitive instinct to treat that person differently, as society has associated and branded people who are called to be evil as those who deserve persecution. Society labels anyone who does harm towards his fellow man as evil and being evil warrants punishment. Our judicial system is based on this premise that an evil doer must be punished as his form of payment for his evil acts.
Other societies as the ones in the Middle East offer a more brutal form of judgment which they claim follows the laws laid down by their holy scriptures, “An eye for an eye, A tooth for a tooth” has resulted in many well publicized horrific executions of criminals who were rendered judgment by their courts. If you kill somebody, then you are to be killed and so on and so forth.
Many question this approach to justice and the definition between good and evil for they say it is inhumane and undignified. But some argue that who are you to counter laws and traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation by a people who have developed in parts of the world deemed to be the seats of civilization.
The debate goes on and on so the definition as well as the scope of such debates continues to expand and delve into the deepest recesses of human thoughts and ideology. Ask anyone and they will have their own unique definition of good and evil which would give you an idea of how hard it is to come up with a universally accepted definition of the concept. People are still labeled evil to this day and they are still being punished for their being such. Good on the other hand demands praise and remuneration as everybody knows which is in accordance of the basic concept that the sole purpose of man on this earth is the pursuit of personal gain and excellence regardless of what society says or does.

Everybody on earth has their view regarding the topic and the fundamental ideas behind the two have been debated since the first philosophers decided to ponder why there is good and evil. Philosophers have long argued that the sole purpose of man’s life on this earth is for self satisfaction and that the two ideas come into play in the pursuit thereof. Plato observed and reflected in his works that there are only a few possible ways and means by which man can do good deeds but indefinite ways by which to commit evil towards fellow man.
Time has had the true definitions and fundamental ideas behind the true meanings of the two bent and twisted to suit our very needs. During the time when the US loved and embraced slavery, it was not seen as an evil though today it is by no means defines as such. Societies such as the Nazi’s during the Second World War tolerated genocide as means of attaining the true identity of the Aryan race.
Is Good and Evil a universal description of truth or are they mere terms that as we say are bent and twisted to suit a societies needs and wants.
Moral Absolutism defines good and evil as concepts defined by GOD and that anything done that is against the will of GOD is to be defined and considered to be evil in all respects. Moral Relativism on the other hand offers a broader explanation of the ideals saying they are only products of local culture and that their definition can be changed to suit the needs of men who aim one goal or the other. Universalism on the other hand says that the difference between the two can only be bent so much and that the true meanings are still well defined by the teachings of past societies.

We humans have engineered our society to have a few individuals take care of the decisions for most of us. This has had a lot of good and detrimental effects on society for it has indeed brought about peace and order for most of us but misery and discontent with all the rest. Socio-economic groups have different needs based on many factors and they are too broad for one set of people to encompass them all. The Good of the Many outweighs the need of the some as they say. The world is in crisis, global warming, political unrest, wars and other socio-economic problems are getting worse day by day. In the Middle East, countries that were liberated to give way to freedom remain locked in battle as people suffer from identity crisis, saying they need help but let us do the helping ourselves, in Asia countries deluged by disasters say they need help yet many still suffer for the benefit of the cause. The balance between the need of the many and the need of the some to comply with international compliance is a hard game to play for not many can understand the implications of the big picture.
We all live in one planet and one conflict in one country among the thousands of them out there is still a conflict that has the potential to end life on this earth anytime. Peace goes as far as the money and people without cash want it, people with it want more and people who don’t have enough do the same. The need for equality is a hard thing to promote if you yourself cannot enact it for your own people. These governments may have too much on their shoulders that sometimes hard decisions have to be made. You win some and you lose some as they say in the world of politics. Africa, where a lot of oil exists is always locked in battle for control of their resources, Iraq also has oil but is unable to make any profit from it due to interests on who gets to control it and the list goes on. Many of the world’s superpowers have influence and power to do anything but have little will to do so due to the issue of self-preservation. Some of the greatest human disasters have come and gone and are gonna’ keep coming testing the global political will to help one another in the face of uncertainty. Time will tell if we as part of the global society have the will to survive as a race rather than a citizen of a specific country, time will tell and we may be running out of it, fast.

The world is divided into countries each with their own religions and sects to these religions that influence their people. The need for inter-religion cooperation is heightened by the fact the for example, the Americans who are still waging war in Iraq are now facing more of religiously motivated insurgents and not regular army combatants they started with. The UK has long accepted the fact that there was wrong in the initial assumptions that the war was for common good and the battle has been long and bloody. In Afghanistan, former Russian military officers who have served in the Russian-Afghan war are raising the red flag saying the Allies are committing the same mistakes they made during their own battles a few decades back. The Russians had to face defeat from the allied backed Afghans who fought hard and used tactics that were not even conventional.
Global trade is another motivator of the need for to allow people to work together for the same economic goals, the need for cooperation in between them is vital. Religion plays a huge part in how we work from day to day even if we do not say so. The way we were brought up in our respective faiths dictates how we deal and work in the future towards others and others from foreign lands. The Allies were hailed as liberators when the war began but are now labeled as invaders by the very people they fought and died to liberate. There might have been a lesson that was overlooked in the current crisis between the Palestinians and the Israelis who since time immemorial have been engaged in a war of religions and the right to exist. The battle rages not only in the battlefields but also in the arena of trade and many fall victims to poor policy that does not consider religious differences. Let us just hope that the leaders of today realize this as a fundamental truth and not just a fad for the sake of those left to fight the war for others which in their belief is their service for a brighter and better future for all.

Scientology has been called a cult, a religion, a pseudo-science and many other names. Scientology has fallen prey to more speculation when news of many celebrities in Hollywood, have been identified with associations to the said organization that many view with skepticism. Research reveals that Scientology is a body of practices and beliefs that are based on the works of American Speculative Fiction author L.Ron Hubbard who is the recognized father of the organization. The main regulatory organization for the previously unknown group is the Church of Scientology, a hierarchical organization founded by the author himself. Many other groups who work outside the main body use Hubbard’s works as basis for their own interpretation of the initial knowledgebase. During a time when people were deeply engrossed in a way of finding believable ideals that other religion can offer, scientology filled the gap. Their declarations as a church comes when Hubbard notices that there are many supporters who use his work in a myriad of ways, unifying them in the Church of Scientology which allowed him to standardize the interpretation of all his works. The ideals Hubbard interpreted are rooted in the works of many a famous philosophers like Bacon, Spencer, Freud and many others. His accumulated body of knowledge encompassed the whole philosophical theater from then till his time, incorporating some of the ideals of Hinduism and many other religions.
The combination of all those bodies of thought has resulted in a group that revolves around eight fundamental ideals that have to maintained and kept in balance. In Scientology, there is no absolute right or wrong but rather a body of ideals or events that lead to such. The scientology cross has eight corners, each representing eight ideals or dynamics on which they base their teachings. Self, Creativity (procreation family and Sex), Society (group and community), species Survival, life forms in general, matter, spirit and Infinity (Supreme Being) are the eight basic fundamentals areas they focus on. All decisions a practitioner of Scientology makes is said to need to impact all equally weighing them against these basic ideals.
Summing up all the information, they can be seen as an organization that has been derived from the many bodies of thought that is based on the acquired knowledge of many philosophers all combined into one body of knowledge. May you see it as a pseudo-science a religion or anything else, as long as it does not endanger the lives of their following then they should be left to do their own business.

I came upon the discussion in the New Humanist where it takes on the sudden resurgence of religious beliefs even in the upper middle class who are educated and well versed in the modern virtues of daily life. As I see it, the resurgence is not only contained within the country but all over the world which has seen a lot of people going back to their roots in religious beliefs to get through life even if one is armed with all the knowledge from college and from years of accumulated experience.
In the USA, Born Again Christians are all the rage with the Austin’s Lakewood Church a good example of a religiously based society that mixes business with faith. The founder of the church says there is a direct link between the two for realistically speaking any religious faith has an arm which deals with financial wealth and management which it is sure to have and obtain. May it be through book sales, donations and other sources, all have a form of financial presence in society that members do want them to be accountable and transparent for all to see. With respect to the church in question, the founder admits that his church is a family run business with the preacher being the main spiritual leader and producer of their much watched television program. The stadium they use has been renovated to the tune of a hundred or more million dollars to enhance the experience for its members. The earnings of their gospel church goes into the theme of 40 million plus from donations, another 40 or so million from book sales and some more from other business ventures. In one of his books, a reporter once asked why there is no mention of Jesus in his main ideals. The pastor replies that they are indeed backed-up by verses from the scripture inside the book which uses plain and simple everyday language which he then reinforces with the word of God. The said book is a best seller among Born Again Christians who first and foremost are termed as “the Rebels of the” religious world. They mix the scriptures with song and drama of eloquent speeches whose aim is to entice more members as they preach the word of God.

Many have heard of the news regarding the Danish Cartoons that had the Prophet Muhammad humiliated beyond context of his significance to his followers. He is the Supreme Being to Muslims from around the world and even stems from the tree of Abraham who during the same time existed besides each other as Christianity was becoming prevalent and was heavily persecuted by the Romans. How would you feel if your faith was attacked in the same manner? As we all know, many Muslims have felt outcast form the events in history that highlights their handiwork in what has become a standardized form they are to take their whole lives. In the United States, many people say that the borders of discrimination have long disappeared but there is discrimination at work in each and every turn. Ask any Chinese, Jewish, Muslim American and they will all tell you the story of their being discriminated against on the basis of their color and religion. A recent TV show I came to watch had an Investigative TV Crew stage a scene where there was a young Muslim woman who was out to purchase a loaf of bread from a bakery with the clerk refusing to serve her due to her religion (the clerk was part of the act), and sadly many people failed to uphold the right of that said woman who was an actual Muslim but was born and raised in the United States. One man drew fire from the clerk but not to defend the young lady but to defend himself by asking if the clerk has heard any news of any Palestinian or Jews (which he happened to be) blowing up anything recently which can cause him not getting his loaf. One White Supremist even praised the attitude of the clerk for refusing to sell to the young Muslim lady. He cursed at the camera crew and the host (who happened to be of some other race) saying they were not Americans and that they deserve hell.

We all fail to recognize the need to live in harmony with each other for this earth we live on is just one earth. No second chances, for if we end up destroying it, we don’t have anywhere else to go to. Time will come when all of us will be gone from this earth and all of us would return to what we were made of, the earth itself, dust. All of us would turn to dust after we die and that only has one color, grey or brown. We might have similar DNA yet we hate each other so much which still baffles most people. Look at each and every child who does not know how to speak, take one from each country on this earth and place them in a room and you will not see any prejudice or violence. Inside that very room they are just kids, kids who don’t care about religion or skin color or where they were born. 

I’m still amazed at my daughter’s friendliness towards everybody, the mailman, the kid who lives off the street, the stranger who passes by, all she says is “HI!” and her face lights up with a smile even though she doesn’t know that person. The innocence of youth is what we loose first as we get an education on this earth, as we learn right from wrong which should be one of the things we shouldn’t change with ourselves. “Give a smile from time to time, it’s free, it makes people happy and it doesn’t cost a cent.”