Blogging for human rights awareness

Blog Catalog has set aside today as a day to raise awareness about human rights, and has asked bloggers to participate by blogging on this topic today. I am happy to be a part of this campaign because this is a topic which is of tremendous importance to me.

I was just going to let myself go off on a rant about the Patriot Act, but then I watched "10 Questions for the Dalai Lama" and since then have been thinking about the struggles of Tibet and the continued efforts of the Dalai Lama to improve the condition of the people of Tibet through peaceful dialogue, even though for decades now China has not been willing to listen. You have to respect a person who lives by his principles and walks his own talk. When asked in this film if the political situation could ever become bad enough to justify a violent response, the Dalai Lama said "Everything is interdependent. Therefore destruciton of your neighbor, destruction of yoru so-called enemy, is actually destruction of yourself." Brilliant and profound, and oh so true.

“Ten thousand fools proclaim themselves into obscurity, while one wise man forgets himself into immortality.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

Prior to watching this film I didn't know much about the situation between Tibet and China. Now I understand what all the uproar over the Olympics is about, and why people want the US to boycott the Olympics. Sorry, I wish it would happen but I know it won't. The US government really doesn't care about human rights anymore, especially since we became a nation that tortures and illegally detains prisoners, since we turned our backs on the Geneva Convention, since we desecrated our own Bill of Rights in the name of false security... I knew I couldn't stay away from dumping all over the Patriot Act. Way too tempting.

“One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

Back to the Dalai Lama: even though he lives in a very isolated, rural area, the best way to contact the Dalai Lama is by e-mail. We truly do live in a global society. And no, I don't have his e-mail address, wish I did, sorry.

The more I learn about the Dalai Lama, the more annoyed I am at myself for passing up a chance to see him speak a couple of years ago. He was in Denver for PeaceJam, and at the time I was still working full-time and there was some really rational reason I couldn't go, but I wish I'd thrown rationality to the wind and gone with my intuition to go see him. Would've been great. You better believe I won't pass that up if the opportunity arises again.

Peace,
AuntieM