Morality: Perceptions & Perspectives

By David Campbell Lavra

The reader is advised to read the chapters skipping over the items in the boxes and go back to read them at the end of the chapter.

Morality was written to help empower a people drowning in what Michael Lerner called "surplus powerlessness". (Politics of Meaning, 1997). The first objective of Morality is to contrast different beliefs about the U.S.A. with actual behavior. The second objective is to elucidate the alternatives and to encourage new directions, to invite behavior change.

Book 1 progresses through the ugly realities of our current situation and examines what we can have based on what also currently exists. Few facts or events are referenced because these have been documented by numerous other sources, and duplication adds little to the purpose. The books are a blend of personal experiences, observations and analyses. Book 2 is a convergence of ecological and psycho-sociological sanity. Important concepts and connections are repeated throughout Book 1 and Book 2 for greater impact. Book 1 is a wake-up call; Book 2 is a design for sanity.

The author uses public information and events to explore and define the topic of morality. Throughout the books the author describes morality and health. In Book 1 both political and religious behaviors are stripped to their essence. The alarming growth of both religious fundamentalism and cults are challenged in Book 1. Economics is stripped of its fallacies, and a practical alternative is presented in contrast.

Book 2 describes a socio-political structure to bring about constructive change and reorganize how we live. A model is offered for living morally, peacefully and cooperatively. The book offers a model for living ecological sanity and social compatibility. These two books compliment one another.

Note: For anti-political people the author suggests reading Chapter Two of Book 2 first. For all readers the author suggests skipping the content in the boxes and go back to read them and review the chapters.

On page 19 the footnote should read "NAFTA" and not "CAFTA".

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: May 28, 2007
• ISBN: 9781466957404

David Campbell Lavra

This author has lived a diverse existence. Years of training and work in teaching/education and mental health have been balanced with work in industry. Short excursions into the world of finances broadened his perceptions of the world. This also expanded his empathic understanding of the world for those that he met on his journey. The author has lived for shorter periods in Central America and Africa and eastern Montana (USA). He lived in Michigan (USA) for most of his early life, and then nearly thirty years in western Washington (USA). He has traveled in Europe and Canada. He has a B.A. degree in Psychology from Michigan State University, at Northern Montana College he later received a teaching certificate, and then an M.C. degree in mental health counseling from Seattle University. This was augmented with a Certificate for Gestalt Therapy. He obtained his political education in the anti-war, civil rights, and environmental preservation struggles beginning in high school in the mid 1960's. The author has remained idealistic. This idealism keeps him motivated to work for positive changes in the world.

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© Copyright 2007 David Campbell Lavra.

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction

Chapter One

On Contradiction

Chapter Two:

Moral Issues of the Political-Economy

Chapter Three:

Pro-life

Chapter Four:

Under-nurtured & Over-populated

Chapter Five:

Shepherds of the Earth

Chapter Six

Antidote for Fear and Greed

Chapter Seven

Solutions

Chapter Eight

Another Direction

Introduction:

Book Two

Chapter One

Outline for a Do-It-Yourself Democracy

Chapter Two:

Essentials of Sustaining Community

References:

End Notes

Do not kill, steal, or lie

DO TO OTHERS AS WE WANT THEM TO DO

TO US!!!

Would we tolerate foreign soldiers

Stationed in our cities, on our land?

Would we tolerate foreign companies or

governments running the USA?

When is bombing and killing okay?

How precious is life?

Most U.S. citizens are honest and caring, yet the U.S. military bombs people all over the world. Most of us seem to be peaceful, yet our government arms and trains foreign death squads. Although most of us claim moral principles, our military bombed Iraq for over teen years poisoning and killing people. Now Iraq is occupied. Our leaders lie and steal.

Most of us claim to value democracy and freedom, yet our government and the U.S. corporations prevent these in other countries. We are losing these here too.

Do not kill. Do not Steal. Do not lie.

When will you take responsibility?

Acknowledgments

This book is dedicated to all the wonderful people that I have known. I am particularly grateful to those that stand up for what is right, what is positive, what is in the best interest of us all, and what comes from their hearts. My mother was most influential in my early development and we may not know how much of this is my original thinking (likewise with my grandparents).

My mother’s husband, Bill, and Christine Lavra helped me get this manuscript to the publisher. Without assistance it is likely that you would not be reading this. My friend, Juan, who is native to Central America has been a consultant and is translating the Spanish edition.

Preface

It was all theoretical while I was living in the USA, but for me visiting Central America clearly made the point. There were others who I met along the way who were also aware of it. Some of the travelers had left the USA for the same reason as I had. It is painful to see what is happening and to realize that our society finances such things. As part of ‘such things’ I saw the Pentecostals, Evangelicals, Jehovah Witnesses, and other Fundamentalists feeding on the people beaten down by wars and invasions. Many travelers expressed their concerns about the church activities, and it validated my perception. The larger imperialistic picture is very upsetting.

I realized that those churches targeted areas that were more isolated and rebel strongholds when they were freeing themselves from tyrants like Somoza. It became apparent that the churches also served to pacify the progressive political centers. But the wildest image that keeps returning is that of the Kingdom Hall with the eight foot high cyclone fence and locked gate. It is also the biggest building in the small village.

Get the message? I did. I have learned of many more encroachments.

Note: (Some of the Sandinistas, for instance, subsequently became something quite different from what they had been and were corrupted and lost support. I also heard that the Sandinistas are in control of the Legislature of their country. Not so. Additionally I learned of the local perceptions of the Sandinistas and their lack of understanding of the U.S. involvement in the civil war. Then too I learned that there are now two separate factions of the party. On the other hand, I heard stories about the Sandinistas sending the university students out to teach the agrarians to read. This had the result of their nation having the most poets per capita internationally).

Even the Evangelists and Pentecostals had smaller, humble churches, like the local Catholic churches that blended into the community. However, in that country, in particular, the Catholic Church had already done considerable damage over the five hundred years of presence. More recently the Pope himself had insulted the people of this poor country, and opened the door for the mass invasion by the Fundamentalists. During this contemporary period the Catholic Church had begun to play a different role with its new Liberation Theology. The Vatican has smothered this too.

One sees a great deal when in a country for a longer period.

Introduction

If we could all live according to a simple principal proposed thousands of years ago I believe that our lives would improve drastically. We could enhance this message by presenting this concept in a more modern speech pattern: The statement needs to be reborn. I am only familiar with Judo-Christian and Buddhist philosophies in which each espouses in some form this principal or simple rule for living.

A friend pointed out that it is actually stated in the Book of Matthew (of the New Testament of the Bible). Do to others as you would have them do to you (my paraphrase). I realize that for some people there is a magic cadence experienced from chanting in Old English but please bear with me.

As you read the following chapters, try to put yourself in the shoes of someone born to another society or culture. Think about the impact on you and your family as a result of U.S. foreign policy. Please read the entire book, as reading only parts may mislead your understanding.

Some will surely object to the frankness in the following pages. However, I believe that too many people just want to be nice which can be just another form of resistance. They want to pretend, avoid reality, hence, take no responsibility. I will address areas of moral application after a discussion about paradoxes and contradictions.

Contradictions abound. No one would carry a cross into battle if they walked their talk. The new Protestants, as in the war on Iraq, have emulated the Catholics of the Crusades and of the Conquistadors’ slaughter in what is now Latin America. Real Christians do not kill or steal. But there is much more to focus on here, and I am not promoting or denouncing religion. By elucidating some major contradictions I aim to raise awareness and invite behavior change.

I have often said, at least to myself, that if Christians would practice what they preach and act like Christians, the history of the past two thousands or so years would have been much better. This also applies to Jews while still acknowledging the tragedy in their history. Without going into a discussion about the context or history of this rule, the Golden Rule, I do want to speak to some possibilities.

Without a moral code we are in danger of chaos in our civil life. If we, for instance, believe that we can cause loss and suffering for others without recourse, and worse, we see others as valueless, we will likely steal and kill. Whether executed by individuals or by militaries and economic institutions (like the World Bank), the behavior is fundamentally the same. If we loved our neighbors and treated them as WE WANT to be treated, we would not exploit or destroy.

We cannot alter the past, but we can change ‘now’, and improve the outlook for the future.

Note: One interesting paradox is that only under Communism could real Christianity exist. The fundamentals of JudoChristian religions seem to be alive in the proclamations of the Communist Manifesto such as sharing, cooperating, common ownership, and valuing each person’s constructive contribution. Consciously containing wars and greed in favor of promoting brotherhood and sisterhood is a common goal. In the world so far we have seen a perversion of these principles.

An interesting aside is the idea of the return of a savior. In the past couple hundred years we humans have many very exceptional people among us. Martin Luther King could easily have been the messiah but he probably did not fit with the little pictures in people’s heads. Ghandi, Mother Theresa, Che Guevara, etc. etc. could also have been what folks have been waiting for but who was looking their way? Dogmatic religion narrowed the focus.

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Chapter One

On Contradiction

Since I am a product of the culture of the USA, I am most concerned with the conduct of this culture. I am most familiar with that history and its evolving relationship with mankind, the planet and life itself. From its emergence this history has been one of hope and progress, yet one of theft and genocide. Following the wars with Great Britain, USA foreign policy behavior turned to savage aggression toward its own indigenous peoples, and toward Latin America. Oddly, it was a we verses them relationship even against the descendents of those who nurtured the original visitors from Europe beginning in the sixteenth century.

People seem to forget that the last time (hostile) foreign