Others and Truth

"Who is more important, you or others? The conclusion is clear; even if minor suffering happens to all other, its range is infinite, wheras when something happens to me, it is limited to just one person. When we look at others in this way, oneself is not so important." Dalai Lama

One of the signs of maturity is going from me oriented to you oriented. A baby knows of no one other then themselves and what their needs and wants are. When a child starts maturing s/he starts to recognize that their are other beings who have wants and needs also and everything isn't all about themselves any more.

I come from a culture where I was taught that we are on this earth to help others and that is how I have always lived my life. It doesn't mean that I neglect my own needs it just means that I also think about the needs of others. I have to take care of myself if I am to be of any use to any one else. My main concern these days is my aged mother. Her health is poor and since the loss of her husband, my Dad, she has come to rely on me to help her through difficulties. She has done so much for me over the years that I am happy to be able to help her any way I can. She needs me and I will be here for her as long as she is alive.

One of my deep dissatisfaction with politics these days is the viscous smear campaigns that go on all the time. I was a champion debater in high school and I know how a topic should be debated so that all sides are presented in order that an informed opinion is arrived at. You need facts and most of all you need verifiable facts and the truth.

The recent smear campaign against Senator Barak Obama as perpetrated by an ultra conservative magazine and the biased Fox News is the sort of dirty politics that I abhor. Senator Obama makes no secret of the fact that he is a Christian and a member of a Christian Church in Illinois. Recently the shrill right has jumped on the fact that the Senator's middle name is Hussein and that he attended a school in Indonesia that they mistakenly called a school on Muslim radical teachings. It would have taken very little research to find out that his father was named Barak Hussein Obama, Sr. He was named after his father how hard is that to figure out. One phone call to the school was all it took to debunk the Muslin radical teachings. It is a lie plain and simple. Fox News, fair and balanced, in a pig's eye!

I was living in Illinois during the campaign for the senate and the thing I remember most was that during the Democratic primary there were no negative ads for the Democratic candidates. During the Senate race itself Senator Obama maintained that practice. He debated the issues not personalities.

Is it too much to ask the press that they check the facts before running with a story? Are we forever going to be subjected to the hatred for all things Muslim? Is no one going to check and find out that the majority of Muslims do NOT believe in the radical jihad and that they denounce the terrorism being perpetrated by the few that do?

If we are truly to care for our fellow human beings then we need to get past the prejudice and stop spreading lies. The American people deserve the truth in our political campaigns. We are intelligent enough to debate the facts and make up our minds. A little respect is in order.