More Peace!

These badges are the Chinese spelling for PEACE and are available from Reporters Without Borders. They have developed the badges and are promoting a campaign to get as many people as possible,who actually go to the Beijing Olympics to wear them.
Of couurse they are calling for a total boycott of the games and I support that as well!
Here is the pwerful official graphic they have been using to promote the boycott.


So far a few countries including Germany are going to boycott the opening ceremonies. The poignant reports from Tibet in the last few days which even the state sponsored controlled trip to Lhasa couldn't suppress have painted a picture of cultural and religious persecution that has gone on brutally for 50 years.
The Chinese government has tried to spin it as irresponsible thuggery. They paint the Tibetans who did riot as violent criminal dissidents and have denied and tried to change the actual history of the region. They ignore the fact that the Tibetans have been discriminated against in their own land and treated like second class citizens while other ethnic groups have been transplanted to the region in an attempt to eradicate Tibetan identity.
In the last week, the organization Avaaz, which works for human rights all over the world has collected over a million signatures. They have been working inside Tibet and China for years. Sign this petition now and take a little time to learn about Avaaz and what they have done and plan to accomplish. They would like to have 2 million signatures by the middle of the week. We are attempting to participate in a consumers boycott of Chinese goods. So far, there are a few thousand people participating. Maybe, somehow, we can persuade the Chinese Government to have realistic talks with the Dalai Lama and resolve this situation.

I have been asked how I can support the rights of religious group being in a sense anti-religious. I have never said that I oppose the right of any religion to exist or the right of anyone to believe what they like. I, myself, feel that organized religion is a stage of the development of human society and conciousness that was neccessary, but like all things that develop and grow, our collective conciousness has reached the point where we are able to see beyond the past. I feel that some religions have a more enlightened theology that enables them ot be a part of this on going evolution..
Some religions have been able to leap ahead in their development of the concious and unconcious mind.
I also feel that the growth of religions and their popular acceptance have more to do with political power and social movements. I see examples of this every day.
I try to promote with my stance towards religion, on this blog, the idea that organized religion is a stagnating force and we live in a time of great flux. In this very crucial part of our develoment as a specie, we can easily destroy ourselves by not making it through this dangerous bottle neck.
If you want to talk about religion on this blog, please do not try to use it as a tool to try to proslytize and convert. We can talk about concepts, respectfully, but I will not tolerate hysteria.