~CIVILITY SURVEY~

~I think a person should be allowed to play his/her stereo, in his/her personal vehicle as loud as he/she might enjoy it. If it bothers some people at the intersection or trying to rest in a nearby home, then that’s their problem.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~I believe protecting the environment and natural beauty of the land is important and there should be better enforcement and more severe fines for litterers and polluters.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~I think it’s okay for tabloids to publish personal and compromised photos of movie stars and politicians, without their permission.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree () strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~I think policemen and other law enforcement officers should be required to shave their heads so they will look more intimidating, as a group.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~I believe that slow drivers, who hold up traffic, in this day and age, should expect to be yelled at.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~It’s best to be cautious and not go out of your way to help people on the roadside. It’s safer to mind your own business and let them do the same.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~There is no need for any sport to ever be violent to the point of battering, kicking, and bleeding.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~Soap operas are a distinctly modern and sophisticated form of entertainment.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~As a rule… bigger is better.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~Trying to rehabilitate prison inmates is, mostly, a waste of time and tax payer dollars.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~Cock fighting is a cruel psuedo-sport and should remain outlawed.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~The world would be a better place if there was only one church.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~The term “Christian” usually denotes a person of higher moral values.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~The term “Muslim” could translate to: hater of Jews.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~Public nudity is always offensive and perpetrators should pay stiff fines.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~It’s okay to park briefly in the “handicapped” space if there is nowhere else to park or if you are old.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~Trying to be politically correct is tedious and pandering… one should always call it what it is.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~When baseball teams clear the benches for a brawl… it hurts the image of the game and discourages me from being a fan.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~Bums and drunkards who get beat up in the street are just getting what comes with the territory. Society shouldn’t have to protect and care for vagrants the same as taxpaying citizens.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~Anti-social, violent or sexist lyrics, in popular songs, should be respected as artistic expression.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~If you believe in heaven, you must go to church regularly to get there.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~Violence on TV is okay because you know it isn’t real.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~Sometimes it’s okay to be rude.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~Consenting adults should be allowed to freely produce, purchase and use erotic materials and other adult products in the privacy of their own homes.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~The explicit and realistic depiction of sexual violence, in a film, when you know the actors are professionals, and not being harmed, is legitimate entertainment.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~In this day and time, no one really expects to have a door held open for them.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~It doesn’t bother me to overhear half of a stranger’s private phone conversation while I’m eating-out at my favorite restaurant.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~There have always been problems in the world… I have a lot of faith in people… I don’t think we’re living in the “End Times”.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~The only thing more important than being a financial success, in today’s competitive marketplace, is looking successful at any cost!

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~Punk Rock marked a low point in human evolution.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~Hitler was evil.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~Hitler may have been a despot and a mass-murderer, but he was no worse than his typical countryman who willingly conscripted in service to his dark ambitions.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~People make too big of a deal over violence in video games. I’m sure it’s a relatively harmless activity.

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

~I can forgive... but I don't forget!

I Agree ( ) I sort-of agree ( ) I disagree ( ) I strongly disagree ( ) I have no opinion ( )

Email answers to: ISOR@localnet.com

~ AUTOSAURUS ~

I like to think of myself as a bit of problem solver…

Like the time (1993-94) when I encouraged our NC tobacco farmers to start talking about commercial hemp as an alternative crop… not because I thought they would actually, necessarily, grow any hemp any time soon, but because I realized that just talking about it would make the Clinton administration, who wanted to raise tobacco taxes (and devalue the farmer's product, etc.) nervous, because they didn’t really want the salt of the earth, back-bone of America, farmers, to come out extolling the benefits of commercial hemp (read: marijuana)… This would pose policy problems, long ranging, for a host of government and BIG BUSINESS interests. (Read Jack Herer’s “The Emperor Has No Clothes”)

And, so, as soon as the word got out, what the farmers were talking about in the fields (growing hemp)… all of a sudden, you just didn’t hear anything else about any tobacco tax increases. Sometimes the best defense is, indeed, a good offense. Yeah, I’ll take credit for creative thinking there…

Little did I realize that a couple of those old farmer guys actually got to work researching and politicking… and, lo, 8 yrs. Later they had the NC General Assembly loosen laws prohibiting the growing of a hybrid; cannabis (hemp) and hibiscus, called KENAF… (Cannabis L). It looks just like cannabis growing in the fields, except it produces a large hibiscus-like flower, that is uterly un-smokable (of course). They built an 8 million dollar plant which produces several products…stable/kennel products (absorbent bedding etc.) and raw fiber for press-formed materials like dashboards. So, now the region has a budding commercial hemp/agro-industry that employs and profits hundreds (thousands?) of people a year in this region. Yeah you can go ahead and give me credit for saving the tobacco farmers, and incidentally, promoting a budding (don't you wish, ha!) commercial-crop industry… Well, let’s just say my hemp exploits were timely, at least. I got some statewide press and TV coverage, and sort of became the area “hemp activist”... a recognition I proudly own up to.

So, the long point is… I’ve been up-to-it again… Thinking about a problem…and trying to solve it with creative thinking… and, perhaps, just a little bit of gall!

And, the problem du jour?

> CARS, CARS, AND MORE DAMN CARS! <>MASS TRANSIT. And many people would love to be able to take the rails or busses… but only a small percentage of commuters, in most cities have mass transit systems to ride.

And then there are the millions of folks that just “aint going to ride a damn bus or train until they make Coupe Devilles (and Escalades) against the law!” And we all know that’s not going to happen. And as much as I’d like to see all the cars gone, I would be the last to vote for a blanket prohibition against the ownership and operation of a personal motor vehicle (check back on that one).

Truly, the best solution, of course, would be the development of clean burning engines like hydrogen and electric, etc. Don’t hold your breath.

Until that day comes, my solution is: everyone should VOLUNTARILY agree to give up their personal (gas-burning) vehicle, as mass transits systems are developed to handle, eventually, more or less, ALL of our transportation needs. (I can hear them laughing clear to the cornfields of Nebraska.)

So, to that end, I propose a contract… an agreement, among those (few?) who will, in the form of a pledge… that: we should all, voluntarily, give up our personal cars… (and here’s the catch) if… everyone else will agree to give up their car(s) too! Ha! E-Z out. I mean, really, what are the chances? Yeah, I know… I’ve got a better chance of getting people to change their religious ideas (see previous post) than to imagine that many people will volunteer to give up the daily gas and go. God, we love them cars!

Still, keeping true to the immaculate concept, I pose, as an example and invitation to all, the following pledge…
Please respond (post your pledge), in the comments section below. Or go to ISOR@localnet.com and let me know your thoughts!

The Cadillac Memorial Pledge:

I, (your name)_Mitch Bowen_ , having the benefit of understanding the wide range of detriments imposed upon the earth, and all its living creatures, by the overuse of millions of dangerous and environmentally intrusive personal automobiles… do, on this Date _ 7-08-06_ , pledge, myself, to voluntarily disown (or, otherwise, not use) my personal vehicle, when such a time may come that the greater majority of people might enjoin this pledge… to rid the world of the scourge of the ages: gas/oil burning automobiles, trucks and other combustion-engine driven vehicles.

Now… that wasn’t so bad was it?
So, lets all get signed up and put an end to this multi-million-headed monster!

Sign up now, and cure the world of car-mania!
We’ve got other problems to get on to!

FYI/ AUTOSAURUS: Extinct, beast of burden; circa late 20th, early 21st century internal-combustion engine-driven machine, designed for the transportation, primarily, of commuters and families by the tens of hundreds of millions.
Causes of extinction: neglect; impracticality; incompatibility with living systems and Earth’s atmosphere; simply put… the cars got tired. Ooo… sorry!

One last thought… DRIVE SAFELY… meanwhile!

~ The Christen Mind ~

The Christen Mind is preoccupied with thoughts of Love, for All, and Peace, Among Men.

The Christen Mind hears one message and follows One Unifying Principle: See your Self in every brother and sister, and cherish and respect all of nature and all the creatures on the Earth.

The Christen Mind reflects a world without the specter of human conflict… all conditions of war being undone by the One, Perfect Thought: Unconditional love and acceptance… for all. The Christen Mind applies This Perfect Thought, in relieving the world of fearful and conflicting conditions.

The Christen Mind sees One Purpose in the world, and for the world of things: That it be shared, in the realization of abundance, and given as proof of what is receivable and in endless supply and resource.

The Christen Mind uses The Rule of Abundance to relieve the world of conditions of lack and poverty… realizing that to be charitable is to share, and therefore, to MAKE REAL!

The Christen Mind uses The Principle of Forgiveness to release Itself, and, ultimately, the rest of the world, from thoughts of revenge and retaliation; understanding that only conflict can result from judgment and condemnation.

The Christen Mind has no need for the concept of right-versus-wrong and asked, only: What is True… Or, What is Real…

True = inclusive… untrue=exclusive
True = open-mindedness… untrue = fearfulness
True = unity… untrue = conflict
True = abundance… untrue = lack, limitation
True = free will… untrue = coercion
Real = sharing/giving… unreal = hoarding/stealing
Real = forgiveness/freedom/life... unreal = judgment/condemnation/death

The Christen Mind acts in and responds to the present and resists the idea that happiness is a thing that can be removed to some conditional future. The Christen mind refuses to delay a happy reality, by way of supposing a preferred reality, based on some pretensions about the future and upon some special conditions. Happiness, delayed, would be blasphemy.

The Christen Mind does not seek its potential for heavenly resolve in the future, but, wills to have heaven revealed, Here and Now. The Christen Mind looks upon heaven, now, and does not displace the potential for PEACE, NOW… by way of presuming some better time for the inevitable.

The Christen Mind is not burdened with thoughts of blame and retribution.

The Christen Mind cannot be victimized in the body, as a body, for neither is it contained in or limited to any body.

The Christen Mind abides safely in the Temple of The Body… The Vessel of Communication, and recognizes: acts of aggression, as perpetrated in the body would deny communication of His Perfect Thought!

The Christen Mind realizes fear is not communicable, and: Learning takes place, only in the presence of Love.

The Christen Mind is evident only in The Now which it knows not, as a moment-passing... but rather, as: The Continuum/Creation-ongoing. The Christen Mind experiences Creation as the ongoing state of things.

The Christen Mind forgives every miss-creation manufactured in the name of ego.

The Christen Mind recognizes that only the ego is capable of miss-creation.

The Christen Mind is Self-forgiving and guiltless, so that it is prepared and willing to release others from guilt, in the same light, always, and without hesitation.

The Christen Mind asks one question, only: “Who Am I?” And, hears one answer: “I am The Thought of Love”.

The Christen Mind shuns idolatry and vanity… in the Knowledge that all affects of the body are temporary and, ultimately, an investment in time-wasted .

The Christen Mind is not obliged to either except or deny the existence of God; The Christ’s faith is total and His atonement complete. This is the Salvation of The Christen… being among The Christen: all “sins” are undone, and all atonements secured, in and by His perfect faith. This is the saving power, and the Grace of His Understanding, despite the doubting of The Saved.

The Christen Mind regards “devils” and supernatural agents of “evil” as, purely, mythological and born of superstition and in ignorance of HIS TOTALITY, and further denies all province to despots and tyrants of the spirit, as well as, the rest of the world of things.

The Christen Mind resists the temptation to control and to fix, understanding: The choice to have a loving world revealed before you obscures any control aspect the ego might, otherwise, project onto the world… and, the world seen, though HIS PERFECT VISION, in no way, needs fixing.

The Christen Mind recognizes non-spirituals and ego-mongers as being temporarily distracted from their purpose, which is UNITY, and their source, which is UNIVERSAL LOVE.

The Christen Mind abides a natural wariness toward ritual and regards Truth and Salvation as presently and instantly available at The Alter of the Internal Self; realizing: neither, on bended knees or with folded hands can a distracted mind be saved.

The Christen Mind recognizes that: A unifying/universal philosophy, regardless of authorship, is Christen, in essence, and therefore TRUE, lest the Master teach the lie of separate purpose.

The Christen Mind recognizes any and all cosmologies and philosophies as Christen, in essence, if the central aim of the teaching is harmony, peace on earth and good will among all men, and reverence for the natural world.

The Christen Mind illuminates the commonality of being among the brothers and the sisters of the world, and looses sight of distractions from the reality of His Unifying Purpose.

The Christen Mind shuns special ness founded in the body… regarding all bodies and everybody in the same Special Light.

The Christen Mind regards no building or place or thing as sacred, in and of itself, but recognizes the sanctity of all places and things existing and under The Rule of PEACE.

The Christen Mind regards all political pretense as blasphemy, and all politicians as being temporarily distracted by a perceived need for laws and necessary resitutions and imprisonments; in demonstration of the false/ego-invested concept of separate purpose and supportive of the idea of divergent “realities”, not understanding: no law can stand in substitution for the Reality of PEACE, NOW!

The Christen Mind does not regard a world of laws, but reveres a world released from laws, and absolved from the pretense of necessary disorder and dysfunction. The Christen Mind understands: there are no laws, but only PEACE, NOW in His Perfect World Revealed!

The Christen Mind recognizes that physicians and psychiatrists requiring monetary resitutions for healing, should set a fee that will not burden the patient's mind with debt, in the name of healing his body, nor enslave his body to heal his mind; understanding: True healing is a gift that is multiplied and returned in the giving!

The Christen Mind responds, spontaneously, and in kind, to all acts of kindness and expressions of Love.

The Christen Mind understands the idea of humor through a sense of Self-realization and laughs, frequently, so as not to cry, at the ego’s vast world of pretense… the ego being the distracted-self; realizing: The ego laughs, always and only, at the expense of another. The Christen Mind finds no good-humor in humiliation and personal/character desecration, and realizes: attack-“humor” would reveal contempt for The Truth in Our Selves and the reality of Our Shared Purpose and Common Heritage. The Christen Mind rejects all forms of body-oriented “humor”, or, ridicule; understanding that attack, in any form, and solely for the ego’s entertainment, is unworthy The Peace Maker, Whom You Are! The Christen respond with laugher, only at the moment of Self-Illumination. Joy becomes of this!

The Christen Mind regards material wealth as, altogether, immaterial, until given unto The Reality of Unity.

The Christen Mind remembers an ancient song, enjoined by every voice. It is this song The Christen Mind returns to, being reminded of The Power of Unity. It is the Melody of Love, the ego cannot hear… The Rhythm of Togetherness, the ego cannot feel.

The Christen Mind looks to see: not, what should be done or not done, but, rather: What purpose is served? If the answer is not: “To unify the world…” Then, the doing will amount to time-wasted. The Christen Mind seeks to save time, always… and will have you not do things in vain.

The Christen Mind rejects the idea of competition and realizes that all war is founded therein.

The Christen Mind indulges only that sport which is time-suspended, or, playfully incurred, having found all players bound in spirit to The Rule of Forgiveness; and understanding that: this is how to appreciate temporary glory in the body and perpetuate a state of permanent goodwill and trust, among peoples and nations, while, still, you seek the Total Peace of Heaven.

The Christen Mind rejects the idea that time is a commodity which might be bought, sold, or rented, for the profit of some, and at the expense of some others; understanding that to sell, or rent time, one would have to, first, be able to own it; and understanding that the selling and renting of “time” is always attached to properties, goods and services, and that landlords and other, would-be, time brokers are misers, hoarders and oppressors, to the worst degree, who would impoverish their brothers and sisters, for the gorging of their own coffers; and, realizing, that all tenants, being equally distracted in blind aligience to their own empoverished beliefs, do, purchase nothing of real value, for all the investment they make in the wealth of their oppressors.

The Christen mind is wary of symbolism, by any design, and neither reveres, nor protects any trinkets of special ness, lest he bear the Cross of Sacrifice, or, wear the Star of Pride.

The Christen Mind realizes that the ego views the idea of Unity with fear and rejection, and that ego-manifest, which would rule the world of separate interests, is an unacceptable condition, which is only dissipated in the Light of Love and at the expense of all the world of ego-domination.

The Christen Mind realizes: Salvation is no complicated matter of enumerating and scoring the sins of the individual, but rather, Salvation is a simple matter of re-joining “individuals” unto ONENESS; Knowing that Unity, by definition, renders sin impossible, undoing the conditions that would tempt sin, in any form.

The Christen Mind regards special prayers, in special cases, to be re-enforcing of the idea of separate concerns and victim hood, founded in the body, and is reminded to pray for All, Always… that none be excluded from His Saving Grace.

The Christen Mind is wary belief… Knowing that: all belief is shaped to the contour of our fears. The ego establishes belief in what it thinks will keep it safe! That beliefs vary, from individual to individual, like fear, is evidence of their arbitrary nature, and an indication that beliefs can not be trusted… simply because beliefs do change, and then, again, are unchangeable and would become a cause for war. The Christen Mind, loosed from the constraints of belief, and associated dogma, symbolism and ritual, is now free to consider the Idea of Love; the simple idea that Universal Love dawns in the liberated mind and requires: Belief be gone! THE IDEA of LOVE is come to free every mind that would be enslaved to a world of available beliefs!

The Christen Mind, having become attuned to a world without ego-pretense, quickly develops an over-conscience that wards away all the world of ego-manifest, in all cases. The Christen, Whom, by definition, have asked to look directly on the Truth in Themselves, unfiltered and un-retranslated by the ego, stand, Together, in The Light of His Perfect Knowledge, and acquire insight into the ego’s pretensions; Knowing: This is the result of having removed the obstacles to clear vision, that the duplicitous ego would imposed upon the mind; the ego being: the mind that believes it is a body, in conflict, with other bodies.

The Christen Mind reckons, NOT, with death… understanding: that, which is unimaginable, must not be knowable. The Christen Mind, which Knows, only LIFE, has no means by which to assess the properties of the non-existent… who would be “the dead”; realizing: nothing, including the specter of death, is connective, in any way, to, let alone, follows LIFE! And, since there is no nexus “between” existence and non-existence… there is, in Truth, no escaping the promise of Eternal Life… by way of whatever vessel, may you be… forever, in His Eternal Mind! The Christen mind holds that there is but one alternative to life, in this world: ascension.

The Christen Mind, regards the projection of “death” onto the body, as respondent to the belief in time and the perceived need for rejuvenation; understanding: If bodies did not age, deteriorate and die, the passing of time would be of no concern! Else wise, there are clocks in heaven!

The Christen Mind denies the "death-experience" is possible, in any way; therefore, the question of re-incarnation is moot. The question is one of Re-integration… not, whether, or not,the Mind/Body Re-integrates…. But, when and where… When and where will The Continuum, being Creation-ongoing, express forth, and, in what form? The Christen Mind does not devolve, and Creation does not fold back upon Itself.

The Christen Mind is ever seeking to let Itself be known; in the Knowledge that The Truth does not fall on deaf ears, and no one can resist The Truth when made known to It! This is the beauty of It, and the release of all the world from right-versus-wrong aspects, and ego-rule.

The Christen Mind shines the light of special favor and charity upon the sick the meek and the helpless, that all are nurtured in spirit and healed in THE BODY OF LOVE.

The Christen Mind remembers, first, the innocence of Creation, as in the birth of all the brothers and the sisters of the world, and then, requires that you see them, as they are created… free of sin and safe from judgment. This is how we insure Salvation for Ourselves! The Christen Mind is Self-saving, in this sense.

The Christen Mind looks first, inward, to Its source, in HIS LOVING THOUGHT, and then, reflects Its clear vision outward, onto Creation’s Canvas, woven in time, and painted with the colors of His Mind.

The Christen Mind is not formed in isolation from other minds, and each mind is dependent upon all other's in the COMPLETION of HIS MIND!

The Christen Mind is prepared and preparing for THE DAWNING of HIS MIND upon the world… and will know it has come when all the people of the world agree: It is so… So, let it be!

The Christen Prayer: Let me, this day, and always, be… in touch with The Mind of Christ, in me. And let me, when my day is done, touch His Mind… in everyone.

So, let it be.