Of George W. Bush, Oliver Cromwell and the Ghost Dance

George W. Bush owes his political success to the mobilization of the evangelical Christian right. We are currently engaged in a power struggle in Washington between the newly empowered evangelical Christian right and just about everyone else. At risk is the future of the republic.

The root of the founding fathers views regarding separation of church and state are derived from the history of England. 1776 was only a five generation span from the era of Oliver Cromwell. In 1776 the oral history of the past was in sharper focus for individuals than history in our times; for family stories and the accounts transcribed in family bibles and papers where not overwhelmed by modern media.

The conflicts between Protestants and Catholics in the 17th century gave rise to the Enlightenment views on religion. It was Enlightenment views on religion that dominated the philosophies of the founding fathers when they crafted the US Constitution. The knew full well the lessons of Cromwell.

The lessons of Cromwell are the lessons of a nation engaged in an evangelical Christian maelstrom. The model of pluralism and tolerance broke down and the government of England became the tool of Puritan christians. A professional army, called the New Model Army, was created. Here was an army that would sing psalms and march into battle convinced that God was on its side. Here was an army that attacked Anglican, Catholics, Anabaptists, Quakers and Congregationalists. Here was an army that created ten years of bloodshed in Ireland which led to the death of nearly a third of the Irish population.

To claim that the modern evangelical movement in America could lead to the type of disaster the befell England in the middle of the 17th Century would be a bit of a stretch. Yet, it is important the lessons of Cromwell’s time be applied to our current time.

Perhaps what is most disturbing in our time is the growth in political power of conservative evangelical christian groups that believe that now is the end of time and that the Rapture is emanate.

The political domination of this country by groups that are intolerant of non christians, and groups that have no belief in future of humanities’ corporal existence on planet earth, should be viewed as a threat to all.

Can any rational non evangelical Christian human being think of worse scenario than the worlds greatest military power and the worlds largest consumer of resources being controlled by people who are intolerant of others and who don’t care about the future of the planet?

Blind allegiance to ideologies of intolerance combined with disregard for the future of the planet, are for me, examples of evil. It is the same type of evil religious attitude that fueled the Soviet Union that today fuels both the extreme element of the evangelical right and Islamic Radicals.

When groups are convinced that God or history is at their side all limits are off. Some right wing evangelicals in this country have gone so far as to fund radical right wing jewish groups in Israel in hopes of provoking the Armageddon. Some of these groups have been linked to plots to destroy the Dome of the Rock on the temple mound.

The advancement of science and technology as well as the advancement of environmental agendas, depends of a belief in a future corporeal existence on the earth and future generations of humanity. We need faith in the future of humanity in order to face the problems of overpopulation, pollution and sustainable agriculture. We can not build a better world for future generations unless we believe in humanities future.

The right wing evangelical christian movement, in my humble opinion, is a reactionary movement of a society that perceives itself under attack.

The evangelical Christians, who have embraced the eminency of the Rapture rather than facing the need to change our society for the betterment of future generations, remind me of another religion that developed as the result of a society under attack. They remind me off the Ghost Dance movement of the American Plains Indians. The believers of the Ghost Dance held that wearing Ghost Dance shirts would protect them from the white man’s bullets. At Wounded Knee on December 29th 1890 they found out how effective belief was against ballistic projectiles. The faith system that disregards the physical reality of the world leads to the destruction of the society that embraces it.

Like the Ghost Dancers, the evangelical right disregards the science that warns of our need to change our lifestyles. Who needs to care about { environmental disaster / white man’s bullets } when we will be saved by the { Ghost Dance / Rapture }.

State should explore algae based bio-diesel

A recent article on C-Net discuses a venture funded start-up called Green Fuels Technologies Corporation. Green Fuels has develop an algae bio-reactor that extracts harmful emissions from power plants and can be used to produce bio-diesel as well as fertilizer and animal feed. We should be looking at ways to bring innovative technologies such as this to Milwaukee. We should be encouraging We Energies to build bio-reactors on its coal and fuel-oil power plants.

Quoting from one of Green Fuel's white papers:

"In October 2004, a report from the testing firm CK Environmental indicated that during a measuringperiod of 7 days, the bioreactors reduced nitrogen oxides by 85.9% (+/-2.1%); the bioreactors reduced CO2 by 82.3% (+/-12.5%) on sunny days, and by 50.1% (+/-6.5%)on overcast or rainydays. The test method used conforms to the standards imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Previous systems using algae managed to reduce CO2 emissions by 5% and NOxemissions by 70%. The system can be used in latitudes where solar exposure is weak, albeit with relatively reduced efficiency."

Here is an example of how technology can be harnessed to build a sustainable society. Political leadership should encourage technologies that can create a clean and sustainable economy for future generations.

Think globally. Act Locally.