WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE STAND BY AND DO NOTHING?

“Evil that arises out of ordinary thinking and is committed by ordinary people is the norm, not the exception.”

--Ervin Staub

Holocaust Survivor

Today Dr. Staub is a noted psychologist who is devoted to the study of bystander behavior both during the Holocaust and in everyday life. His work shows that bystanders who do nothing not only embolden the perpetrators, but also points out that the perpetrators will become more violent. 

What about the nations of the world who have become "bystanders" to some of the worst atrocities since Hitler's Nazi Germany? 

The United States, due to an environment during the 1930s and 1940s of anti-Semitism, isolationism, and xenophobia, was late in committing to help the plight of the Jews. They joined with the Allies in December 1942 in issuing a Proclamation condemning the extermination of the European Jews, and declaring that they would punish the perpetrators. It was not until the end of the war that the United States moved in to free the victims in the Nazi concentration camps, even though they knew of the gassings at Auschwitz-Berkenau since the spring of 1944.

The Nazis exterminated an estimated 11 million people, including 6 million of whom were Jews. The remaining 5 million consisted of Romanis, Slavs, homosexuals, various minorities and disabled people, as well as those considered Nazi political enemies. (Wikipedia)

We think of the United Nations as protecting the world from such criminal exterminations today. However, the U.N. failed to prevent:

-  genocide in Cambodia in the 1970s

-  a chemical attack on the Kurds by Saddam Hussein in the 1980s

-  the ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims in 1992 by the Serbians

- the 2003 attack on hundreds of Darfur villages and civilians by Sudanese and Janjaweed militia that resulted in 400,000 lives lost and over two and a half million people displaced. 

Who can forget the movie, "Hotel Rwanda"? It documented the 1994 Hutu slaughter in 100 days of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis, after the United Nations was warned of the impending genocide by a U.N. peace-keeping team. The U.N. withdrew resources and warned the team not to intervene.

Yes, I agree, the United States should not be "police" of the world. But how much more has to happen to the innocents in Syria before we, along with our Allies, agree that we must do something to put a stop to it? Is there something akin to anti-Semitism going on here? Maybe anti-Islam? Surely enough nations can come together and put pressure on this evil regime, so reminiscent of the worst dictatorships throughout history. If we do nothing, what will come next? The above-mentioned Ervin Staub has spelled out what happens to us as individuals when as bystanders we do nothing. Please read his study:
http://www.southerninstitute.info/holocaust_education/ds9.html

It will take brilliant minds to come up with a solution to the situation in Syria. It will take more than TWO nations to put a stop to the slaughter of innocents taking place there. So what if Russia, China, and Great Britain don't want to intervene? What about the rest of the world? If we all came together and were serious about intervention of some kind -- stricter sanctions.. blockades of arms for the Syrian government.. or even limited air strikes.. Maybe if it's strong enough, other countries who think of using weapons of mass destruction may realize they will have the wrath of the world upon them. We cannot wait until the chemical stockpiles in Syria fall into the hands of terrorists. And we can no longer wait for the United Nations Security Council members Russia and China  to block the taking of any action.

I cannot believe that our Congressional representatives who were hawking and blaming Obama for not taking a stand against the Syrian regime are now the same ones putting the brakes on and demanding that they have a say in the matter.  Poor President Obama. He's damned if he doesn't, now damned if he does!

Oh, Lord, let there be peace on earth.

Marilyn

P.S.
As I finished writing this, I got an email from the government that said President Obama has announced his decision to take targeted military action against Syrian regime targets. He has agreed that Congress should debate the actions he wishes to take. This will be done as soon as Congress reconvenes. I listened to his speech, and felt great emotions for this man who has such strong feelings about war, and wants to end the wars going on when he came into office. One can see him aging as the stress of this decision making wears on.

May God bless America through these difficult times, and help us to make wise decisions.

HOW IS IT IN YOUR WORLD?

Listening to and watching the news in recent months makes it difficult at times to concentrate on all the "good stuff" happening. Seeing these beautiful children and hearing their happy voices sing about the wonderful world we live in cannot help but lift one's spirit. Thoughts of blue skies, rainbows, friends, and loved ones resonate throughout the different cultures. The smiling faces on the children in this video remind us that even though we are also seeing the horrific massacres of children taking place in Syria on our television sets, there is hope for the children of the world.

According to UN officials, the war in Syria has created one million children refugees, three-fourths of which are under the age of 11. Only a year ago, this figure was 70,000 children. This does not account for the millions of children trapped in Syrian villages and cities. More than 3,000 of these children have crossed borders into neighboring countries unaccompanied by or separated from their families. And the latest atrocity of chemical warfare has now killed many of the children left behind.

Our visions and prayers for a peaceful world must also include immediate help for these poor little members of our earth family. When a child is in pain or suffering of any kind, we all suffer. And our future will suffer if something doesn't happen to stop the slaughter of so many innocent lives.

None of us -- well, almost none of us, wishes to have our military be involved in another war. The American people are war-weary. Too many of our troops are fighting in/for other countries. And the cost of war is astronomical. What can be done to help the Syrian people? The children? Are arming the rebels and sending them supplies enough?

Then there is Egypt. And another attempted school massacre in the United States. And multiple shootings of innocent people by juveniles in our midst. Kidnappings, rapes. It's hard to turn on the news or view it online without hearing of another horrendous happening. I long to hear more good news than bad. But that doesn't make for ratings, and ratings make for money, and money keeps societies going. I must look for more of the Good News websites I used to read.               (I found one I think you'll like.)

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Which reminds me that there was some "good stuff" happening this summer. I was cheering on our Democratic Texas State Senator Wendy Davis when she filibustered for 11-hours in June. She effectively (although only temporarily) blocked the passage of anti-abortion legislation, which would result in closing down all but a handful of the Planned Parenthood facilities in the state, denying many women much-needed care - not only abortion. Wearing a back brace and sneakers, this single mother from Fort Worth made women proud. I immediately sent her an email stating that if she ran for a higher office, she definitely has my vote! She hasn't decided whether or not to run for Governor, but I think she would be an improvement over the misogynistic, conservative governor we now have. Sadly, the front-runner Abbott has many big dollar donors backing him. There's that "money" thing again.

I like to think my son Craig is right when he said that Texas may not be a blue state yet, but it is definitely turning "purple". We need more progressive candidates like Wendy Davis to guarantee women's rights are protected in Texas.

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Grandson Tanner, who turned 14 this summer, stayed busy playing tournament tennis, winning a few matches and placing in others. He is quite the tennis player, taking after his Papaw Bob, who played on the tennis team in high school and later in the National Guard. His dad, Branch, entered into several competition swimming events in recent months. He won a few medals himself, and beat his own time over and over. In April I enjoyed watching him swim at one meet at the University of Texas. Branch is a "youngster" compared to some of the swimmers who were competing. Some were in their 70s and even 80s. Talk about being fit!

Youngest grandson Travis, age 11, is taking after his late grandfather Win, and has become a good golfer this summer. He entered a few tournaments, the largest one when they were on vacation at South Padre. It was held in McAllen, and Travis won second place. His dad loves to tell how many "birdies" this kid gets. The photo at right was taken when Matthew and Travis went to Pennsylvania in June to attend the U.S. Open. The trip of a lifetime for these two avid golfers. (I think Dad might have visions of another young Tiger Woods.)

(You may click on any of the photos in the blog to see a larger version.)

Granddaughter Audrey and her mother Carajean spent a week this month playing violin at a music camp in California, before Audrey moved to North Carolina to begin work at Duke University on her Master's degree in Environmental Science with a concentration on Ecosystem Science Conservation. Whew! That's a mouthful. Audrey also is really "into" birds, and participated in bird banding in May. 

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There are four more grandchildren to cover for the summer. After reading just this much, you know what? There may not be a lot of "good stuff" making headlines in the world at large, but in my little world it's all good!

May your world be full of love, peace, and lots of good stuff,

Marilyn

Dooh dooh dooh dooh, Dooh dooh dooh dooh...or...THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT

It has been a long time since I have written anything here. However, I do have an excuse - or excuses.  I moved to this little cottage in December. Since that time, I have been subject to ever-darkening mood swings and consequently, my health has been on a downward spiral as well. As some of you are aware, I have spent over a year dealing with the welfare of my nearly 95-year-old father. He is (unhappily) ensconced in a nursing home in his hometown, which is a three-hour drive from me. Going back and forth, getting all of his financial affairs in order and disposing of his house and belongings he no longer needed were demanding enough, but then four months into that pursuit I found out that I had to make a move myself. By the beginning of summer I was having more health challenges than he was! I was beginning to think I might wind up in the same health care facility.. and I did have a two-day stint in the hospital at the end of July. Luckily, all tests seemed to be normal other than a worsening of my breathing.

I have been believing all along that the physical and emotional stress of the past year was at fault. Of course, I'm sure it contributed to some of what I have been experiencing. My immune system has probably been at its lowest ebb in years. 

I have been privy to some information in the past week that leads me to believe there is more to my weakened condition than just accumulated stress. From time to time since I've lived here, I have had a sensation of a "presence" just out of my line of vision.. like something at the corner of my eye. When I would turn to look, of course, there was nothing there. This was not threatening at all, and I was not afraid. Now I believe that there really was (or is) something here. When a new friend and neighbor indicated that something dreadful had happened here, I pressured son Matthew to spill the beans! He had been keeping this from me. A previous female tenant committed suicide here. I cannot get more details other than it was some kind of overdose of pills after losing her elderly father, whom she was caring for.

Now I believe her saddened energy has permeated this little house. As I am something of an "empath", and very sensitive to emotional energy fields, this explains to me the disturbed dreams and the nearly depressed state I have had to struggle with in recent months. Which to me explains my lowered immune system, thus additional health challenges. But what to do? Of course, I am seeking medical assistance and doing everything my doctor advises. I am listening to healing Hz frequencies daily (thanks to another friend, Jack), and have some items from the health food store on my list of things to purchase. But I feel more needs to be done. Therefore, I turned to my friend, Mary, who is a shamanic healer/herbalist. Mary has given me instructions on how to carry out a "cleansing" of the energy here until she can make a trip down to help me.

Until I started doing a little online research, I was one who believed that some so-called spirits become earthbound, especially if there was a suicide or other guilt-producing emotion surrounding their death. I also believe that as humans we are bundles of energy, and that energy cannot be destroyed -- only transformed. If that is the case, it seems logical that the transformed energy (spirit?) could be located anywhere. I once read a little of something on a "parallel universe".. which I think I remember that Einstein subscribed to. If there is any truth to that, we are surrounded by other "entities" all the time, but we usually don't see them and they don't see us. But I digress. Whether there is the spirit of the suicidal woman or just the leftover energy of her depression that led to suicide, I want to change the atmosphere in here. If that means burning sage, making spirit bags of herbs, chanting or whatever it takes, I will do it! I am sending her love and prayers in my meditations until then. In the meantime, here is the website that I found most helpful in understanding what we think of as "ghosts". Mr. Bridges discusses our so-called ghosts in terms of quantum physics, as well as classifying them. I'm not certain what kind mine is -- maybe just a "residual ghost". Interesting reading:

                                              

Ghostly Legends and Mysteries

He had the following quote on his site. Thank goodness, my "presence" doesn't make a sound!!

I heard that kind of a sound that a ghost makes when it wants to tell about something that's on its mind and can't make itself understood, and so can't rest easy in its grave, and has to go about that way every night grieving.

 -- Mark Twain

Now that I have done away with my writer's block, I promise not to have such an esoteric subject in my next post! Unless something really, really spooky happens before we finish the "cleansing"!

Peace and sweet dreams,

Marilyn

P.S.