BEDLAM Inc.

By

JOHN ROBERTS (2002)

(Being more of the same)

I lay in bed this morning, (l2 Nov 02) and sang the first verse of an old fundamentalist Christian Children’s hymn:

“Jesus bids us shine, with a pure, clear light.

Like a little candle, burning in the night.

He looks down from Heaven, to see us shine

You in your small corner and I in mine.”

I reminded myself that this hymn paraphrases the scriptural text:

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in Heaven.” Matthew Ch 5, v 16.

I also thought of the advice given by Jesus to his Disciples prior to his crucifixion:

“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples: if ye have love, one to another.” (John Ch 13, v 35).

These two texts embody the spiritual teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Even though other enlightened individuals had taught principles of non-violence and spirituality, the particular teachings embodied in the “Sermon on the Mount” were unique. From a strictly historical perspective, it does not matter who made the initial pronouncement of these truths: it is the re-affirmation of their validity that is important to us today.

That there is, indeed, within each human being on this planet, and who has ever lived thereon, an “Inner Light”, is a valid, spiritual truth, which can really only be understood from a spiritual viewpoint. One does not switch-on this light for all to see. Its nature is directly proportionate to the degree of evolution of the individual personality and can only be perceived spiritually. What can be seen by the ordinary person, are the physical characteristics of a given individual. It is a valid proposition to suggest that a person’s character can often, though not invariably, be determined by observing his facial appearance, speech and mannerisms. Thus, a coarse, loud, foul-mannered speech accompanied by a “vulgar” physiognomy, might indicate a lack of “breeding” or an ignorant, selfish temperament. In fact, it is my conviction that it is possible to quickly make a reasonably accurate assessment of character from observation of a person for just a few minutes. Such an assessment would be assisted by a short conversation with the individual in question. In short, one generally recognizes character and responds, accordingly. A person’s “light” does, indeed, shine brightly or not at all. Having thus had an opportunity to speak to another person, one is often in a position to perceive the nature of the personality thus revealed. One decides whether or not to approve of a new acquaintance.

The Commandment to “Love one another” is a beautiful precept. The Christians were to be recognized by this capacity for mutual love. The fact that they failed to live up to this ideal does not, in the least degree, invalidate the truth of the concept. It merely demonstrates the weakness inherent in the human psyche. Had the Disciples of Jesus loved each other, as suggested by their founder, then Christianity must, surely, have flourished even more rapidly and comprehensibly. It is a matter for speculation as to what our world would have been like today, had they adhered to the teachings of Jesus. There is no doubt that it would have been a better place for everyone living in it. The Christian “Call to Perfection” was a wonderful but hardly attainable dream. Two-thousand years down the track, it remains a pointer of the direction that we must follow, if our lives are to be worth-while. At the height of the power of Rome: the lst Century AD, humanity had barely entered upon the evolutionary process. Nor are we more greatly advanced today.

There have been periodic attempts at reform that have only met with temporary or spasmodic improvement in the lot of the majority of mankind. They have either been crushed by a materialistic and autocratic system or fallen by the wayside from inevitable corruption.

In the light of the foregoing, it will be evident that the teachings of Jesus, indeed, represented an important progressive impulse in the evolution of mankind. At a moment of crisis in the history of humanity, we are called-upon to proclaim the truth of his assertions:

1) That we can all evolve in a beneficial and enlightening way. That the degree of individual spirituality is perceptible in each individual.

2) That we attain this by applying the principle of love in our own lives. (By having a deep concern for the happiness of our fellow men and women.)

In spite of the fact of the failure of progressive movements, a residue remains and marks a step ahead for mankind. Regrettably, the more we progress, the more complicated life becomes for all of us. At the commencement of the 21st Century, we find ourselves immersed in a world so evolved, physically, as to be unbelievably complex: a world of scientific excellence, beyond the comprehension of the non-technical layman. Our living standards, transportation, communication, housing, clothing, education, health, hygiene, food-standards, working conditions and physical comfort generally: every aspect of our modern existence is so superlatively different from all the accumulated experience of former generations of humankind, as to constitute an entirely different world., Well! It is not so very different from the world of our grandfathers: the world of the late 19th Century, or that of the 10th Century, AD.

It may be true to affirm, that we have evolved in some ways, but it is equally valid to assert that in certain essential respects, we are strangely retrogressive. At the present moment in our history, we are, truly, as barbarous as we have ever been. We are embroiled in an outpouring of hate and belligerent vituperation, unparalleled in human experience. Wars and rumours of wars are as much a part of our modern lives as they were for a Europe overrun by the Barbarian Hordes of the fifth Century. The propaganda machinery of the Western Powers (and particularly that of the United States) is continuously generating a barrage of hate towards those groups (communities or States) which are seen as opposed to the Politico-Economic system practised by themselves. This propaganda has been extremely effective in recent years, being uncontradicted by any other medium of mass-communication. As a result, ordinary and unthinking citizens of privileged Western Nations, such as those of the USA, Great Britain, Germany and one or two other minor communities, have been convinced that their own political system is the only acceptable one. People living lifestyles not conforming or subservient to their own are perceived to be enemies of their system.

At this point, what formal religious or moral training they have absorbed becomes modified and distorted. They still feel the correctness of their own views and opinions on the subject of Political Philosophy. Hence, there is no room in this world for people who hold other opinions. As these opinions are reinforced with the aid of massive military capacity, they are irrefutable. Such unbounded and irresistible moral superiority results in an entirely blinkered and myopic view of reality. US leaders see themselves as pioneers and leaders of a new World Order, dominated by vast military power and controlled by themselves, with the essential support of Trans-National Corporations, whose tentacles extend into every corner of the Globe. Thus the shopkeeper or Teacher in any mid-Western Community or the Southern Negro of the Deep South, glow with National Pride, when they consider the tremendous military capacity of their own Nation and its limitless Commercial and Economic power over the people of the whole world.

The vast majority of the people of the United States are, as we have remarked in earlier notes, good-natured, law-abiding and peace-loving members of Society, whose hearts are, generally, receptacles of good-will to other people, of whatever nationality or Race. This is as it should be and bodes well for the ultimate wellbeing and happiness of the world. Yet there is an hysterical and isolationist tendency, which reveals a certain irrational fear and suspicion, relating to the motives and actions of other, necessarily, weaker sections of humankind. Particularly as a result of the Sep ll, 200l, massacre, these fears have materialised. Suddenly, the threat to the security of the people of North America becomes very real indeed. Both the commercial and military centres of US power were assailed, with horrifying consequences. The response was uncertain but determined: the enemy suspected but not directly accessible. The might of the USA was harnessed and defence turned into attack. A veritable barrage of hate and fury is directed against the unknown and largely innocent people of Afghanistan, who become an object of vengeance, pure and simple. This gratifies but does not satiate the need for blood. It aggravates and greatly multiplies the number of the enemies of the USA. These enemies are often penniless and ignorant folk, whose loved ones have been butchered by the military power of the rich and powerful foreigners. They are not, individually, in any position to respond aggressively against the United States. However, in organized groups and funded by wealthy and fanatical supporters, they may be transformed into formidable foes.

Thus, a pattern of violence is generated, which will plague the Earth for many years. Thousands will die prematurely on both sides but principally on the side of the penurious and the weak. These people have nothing to lose, whereas, those who possess the World, love what is theirs and ardently cling to life and to their worldly goods and chattels. This environment of wickedness will, very possibly, continue for half a century or more, in a rising crescendo of turmoil. Who will enjoy peace in a world racked by suspicion and racial and religious intolerance?

What madness now infects humanity? There will be nothing new. Men have made their world: a place of infinite loveliness and variety in form, both animate and inanimate; into a veritable desert of evil and destruction. We have abandoned all sense of values and live in a madhouse: a Bedlam of all those vices, so often displayed in the Lunatic Asylums of the past. There is nothing but overweening pride and conceit, overriding lust for power and dominion of our fellows: and unlimited and insatiable greed and avarice. Like the Miser of Cowper”s “The Task”: “Hoards upon hoards his rising raptures fill, yet still he sighs, for hoards are wanting still!” These shortcomings are capped by an utter disregard for the interests and wellbeing of his fellows and an inability to comprehend certain spiritual truths. These are, inter alia, the fundamental equality of Man, the duty of care towards our fellows, the duty of the strong to support the weak and the duty of sharing what we possess with others.

Thus, we observe that wealth begets wealth and privilege maintains itself, regardless of these fundamental truths, entrenched, as they are within the written Constitutions of these “enlightened” peoples. The result, at the commencement of a new Millennium, is a system of injustice and inequity, directly proportionate to the degree of material progress made during the 20th Century. The greater the abundance and variety of “goods” enjoyed by the Few, the greater the imposition of intolerable burdens upon the weak and under-privileged. Thus, we perceive the continuing injustice and inequity of the Social systems prevailing within those Nations adjacent to and specifically under the “influence” of the USA: the Nations of South America.

In spite of the proximity and the measure of influence exercised by the United States, in relation to those independent States, they remain in precisely the same condition now, as at the beginning of the 20th Century. They are, invariably, plagued by wars, rebellion, chaos, gross inequality, injustice and poverty upon a massive scale. This in spite of the billions of US Dollars poured into these countries. This cash is readily available, either directly via the State Department or via those instruments of Global manipulation, the IMF and the World Bank, wherever a corrupt and rotten, dictatorial or Fascist system needs propping-up, or a democratic society destroyed. Witness, particularly, Chile, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Argentina, Mexico, etc., etc..

What a benign and truly beneficial influence has the USA, via its International Agencies, exerted upon these people! The same influence has been brought to bear repeatedly, throughout the 20th Century, with similar disastrous consequences. Disastrous not, indeed, for the USA itself, but for those unfortunates who have been at the receiving end of the “good intentions” of the All-Wise, All-Powerful United States of America.

And so it continues: a saga of sorrow and deceit. The world today is truly, Bedlam Inc., registered-in and with its HQ in Washington, DC.

Those few and fabulously wealthy (and correspondingly) influential people, who dominate the social and political life of the USA, are also they who control all the organs of Mass Media, to the exclusion of any rational, dissenting voice. The people are fed a diet of undiluted propaganda of a most pernicious and damaging nature. It is propaganda designed to maintain and preserve the status quo. It seems to me that it is only in the Universities of the United States, that thinkers are able to give expression to honest opinions. Even there, they are in the minority.

All we impotent observers can do at this juncture, is to raise our weak voices, in protest: and PROTEST we do, indeed. We have had enough of American Blabber, of the refined hypocrisy of US Christians, who attend church regularly and seek to impose their formal and piously false standards upon the people of the world: who yearly become more obviously degenerate, as they shed the trappings of “respectability” and stand, glaringly and so, so obviously: vain, weak, coarse and pathologically self-indulgent individuals.

“Every Dog has its day!” It is true that the US is at the moment at its zenith. It will not last: not even like Adolf Hitler’s Thousand-Year Reich. The soundness of its foundation is about as firm as the latter and just as rotten, if not quite so spectacular. China, with a population of twelve-hundred million, many of them highly intelligent, is not so far behind the USA. A resurgent Russia may yet assert itself economically, if not militarily, and, in any event cannot be ignored forever by the USA. A nuclear conflict with either of these two nations would mean the end of civilization, even if the United States managed to release a goodly number of its stock-in-hand of twenty-thousand Nuclear weapons. It would really be the “War to end all Wars!”

Given the mentality of the political leaders of the United States for the past fifty years, it is a miracle that there are any of us left to give expression to our feelings.

I do not believe for one moment that these random thoughts of mine will induce one individual in the USA to pause and consider just what a wreckage they are making of this poor old world of ours. Yet it is a matter of such importance for the continuing existence of life on this Earth, that I feel compelled to speak out, even if the rest of the Western World is silent.

I grant that the USA has achieved its object of world dominion and that there is nothing we can do about it. But we don’t like what we see: the monstrous military and technological power, devoted to the enslavement of humanity. Do what you will, George Bush and your Bully Boys, the thinking people of the Western world and of the Eastern, together with millions of your own folk, recognize a thug when they see one. We don’t agree that the “culture” of the USA is the only desirable thing in this life. It is grossly repellent to all decent, peace-loving people: it is decadent, loud, ignorant and rapacious. We want no part of it.

We are all, ultimately, responsible for our actions and are, ourselves, the product of that action. Jesus made a profound and valid statement when he affirmed: “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matthew Ch. 6, verse 21.

Finis

John Roberts

Sydney, Australia.

20th November 2002.

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