Glen's Parallax Perspectives

Right-Wing Christianity is the OPPOSITE of what Jesus taught and practiced!

March 1, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Americans claim they love Jesus, but actually they hate his politics. See this article: https://www.opednews.com/articles/Though-Americans-Claim-to-by-Mike-Rivage-Seul-American-Capitalism_American-Culture_American-Foreign-Policy_American-Terror-190223-511.html Mike Pence, the Dominionists, and their theology of power pervert authentic Christianity. See this article: https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/01/30/a-theology-of-power-mike-pence-and-the-dominionists/ Jerry Falwell Jr. says Jesus’ teachings don’t apply to politics. A great progressive non-profit organization, Faithful America (www.faithfulamerica.org) sends smart, conscientious e-mails. In early January 2019 they sent this: “In a Washington Post interview this week, Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University, said that a poor person never gave anyone a job or gave anybody charity “in any real volume.” He argued that Jesus’ teachings […]

NEWS — DANGER — OPPORTUNITY re: Military Draft

March 1, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

A federal judge rules it’s unconstitutional to register ONLY men for the military draft. For a long time before that decision, the federal government had been studying what to do about the draft: — Register women too — Require mandatory “national service” in military or civilian jobs — Abolish the draft altogether. I’ve been following this closely, and there is no indication yet what decision the federal inquiry will propose. Now that a federal judge has ruled it unconstitutional to register only men, this forces the issue into one of the options listed above. See this article: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/24/military-draft-judge-rules-male-only-registration-unconstitutional/2968872002/ MORE […]

Good news from Olympia on nuclear weapons!

February 25, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

I’m happy about what we accomplished on Friday February 22, 2019, at a Washington State Senate committee. Our statewide coalition, Washington Against Nuclear Weapons (www.wanwcoalition.org) convinced the State Senate’s Committee on Government, Tribal Relations & Elections to pass our proposal for the Washington State Legislature to call upon Congress to reduce the likelihood of nuclear war. In June 2018 Olympia’s Bob Zeigler suggested that we write and promote such legislation in the form of a “Memorial to Congress” that would make nuclear weapons an issue needing state legislative action and pressuring our state’s congressional delegation to know that the public […]

TUES FEB 26: Speakers with short film about “Golden Rule” sailboat opposing nuclear weapons

February 25, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The “Golden Rule” is a famous sailboat that has a long history of opposing nuclear weapons. Watch a short film about it and hear speakers. TUESDAY FEBRUARY 26, 7:00 pm at Traditions Café, 5th & Water, downtown Olympia. Jim Woods <jimandvelma1981@gmail.com>, a local member of Veterans for Peace chapter #109, is Olympia’s organizer of this event. See information from Zoe Byrd zoe2byrdz@gmail.com below: The tour starts tomorrow in Chico, so I will be able to get you all of the promo materials on Saturday or Sunday. Along with the screening of “Making Waves,” we will be 2 speakers: myself, Zoe […]

Sharply reduce militarism and guns. Schools should teach PEACE and NONVIOLENCE instead of Junior ROTC.

February 6, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

A few days ago I posted to my blog this information about the fact that the mass-murderer at the high school in Parkland, Florida, had learned how to become an expert marksman because he actually attended that same high school and was enrolled in its Junior ROTC program: http://parallaxperspectives.org/the-mass-murderer-at-parkland-florida-was-trained-by-junior-rotc-at-that-school This tragedy shows that BOTH militarism AND guns are out of control. Schools with Junior ROTC programs are training their students to commit mass murder — in the military against people in other countries — and perhaps also in their own local schools. WE MUST STOP THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE! […]

Urge Congress to keep U.S. in the nuclear INF Treaty, despite Trump’s withdrawal.

February 6, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Trump has actually — and stupidly and recklessly — decided to withdraw from a treaty that Reagan and Gorbachev signed in 1987 to reduce the likelihood of nuclear war. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty reduced the dangerous nuclear confrontation in Europe. See information here: https://thebulletin.org/2019/02/trump-makes-it-official-the-united-states-will-pull-out-of-the-inf-treaty/?utm_source=Bulletin%20Newsletter&utm_medium=iContact%20email&utm_campaign=INFwithdrawal_February2 I posted to my blog some information about this already. See this link: http://parallaxperspectives.org/trump-provokes-new-nuclear-arms-race-and-war-by-pulling-out-of-the-1987-inf-treaty-that-reagan-gorbachev-signed Now Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) has introduced S.312, which is described as “a bill to prevent a nuclear arms race resulting from weakened international restrictions on the proliferation of intermediate- and shorter-range missiles, and for other purposes.” It would ill […]

The U.S. should NEVER start a nuclear war! Urge Congress to support the “No First Use” legislation. HOUSE: H.R. 669 and H.R. 921. SENATE: S. 200 and S. 272.

February 6, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The U.S. Constitution EXPLICITLY REQUIRES that ONLY Congress can declare war. However, since 1945 presidents have claimed the de facto power to start the most horribly destructive war possible WITHOUT the congressional approval that the Constitution REQUIRES. Furthermore, Congress has been VIOLATING THE CONSTITUTION since 1945 by allowing that unconstitutional power to persist. We must restore the Constitution – especially now during the Trump era. Two “No First Use” bills were introduced in the previous congressional session, and they have been reintroduced now with the same bill numbers. PLEASE URGE CONGRESS TO SUPPORT S. 200 and H.R. 669. These are […]

Anti-abortion laws oppress women. Now put the shoe on the other foot?

February 6, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

In recent years the U.S. government has restricted abortion rights, especially related to our international aid programs. Within the U.S., states have passed more than 400 restrictions to reduce abortion access and rights since 2010. (Source: Page 56 of The American Prospect’s Winter 2019 issue.) See www.prospect.org for a very informative article on pages 56-60. Some states that severely restrict abortion are inadvertently CAUSING UNWANTED PREGNANCIES by failing to provide accurate sex education courses in schools. Then when pregnancies occur, the women are denied a reasonable remedy. This seems counter-productive. Why don’t we REQUIRE that EVERY school provide ACCURATE sex […]

Trump will start a war against Iran UNLESS we STOP him!

February 4, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Trump has been laying out the steps for starting a war against Iran: He has been lying about Iran. He pulled out from the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA), which had been working well. He hired John Bolton to be his National Security Advisor. For many years Bolton has vigorously urged war against Iran. He hired John Pompeo, an anti-Iran hawk, to be his Secretary of State. He ordered the Pentagon to develop plans for a war against Iran. He is subservient to Israel and Saudi Arabia, both of which want a war against Iran. Congress has failed to take strong […]

“Spiritual and Conscientious Groundings for Doing Good Work”

February 3, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The February 2019 interview on “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV series (see below for info about watching it through your computer or TCTV channel 22) provides insights and examples for different spiritual and conscientious paths people can take throughout their lives that inspire and motivate them to do good work for peace, social justice, and other meaningful purposes. We can make our world a better place – and improve our local communities too – by drawing upon intangible motivations to inspire and guide our efforts. Many people do good work because they are moved by motivations grounded far below the merely […]

Remove Washington State’s death penalty law altogether.

January 31, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

In October 2018, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled our state’s death penalty unconstitutional because of pervasive, systemic racial bias. Now in February 2019 the State Senate is considering Senate Bill 5339 to remove the law altogether. I will testify to the State Senate’s Committee on Law and Justice at 10:00 a.m. February 5, 2019. Here is a longer version of what I will say. The time for each person’s testimony is short, so I will mention only the main points, but the document at this link includes supporting information. I hope you will find it useful. TESTIMONY 2019.02.05 […]

The mass-murderer at Parkland, Florida, was trained by Junior ROTC at that school

January 30, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The Establishment keeps telling us that militarism and military training will make us safe. The gun lobby and some politicians keep telling us that more guns in schools will make us safe. Those are lies! Here is the truth: The February 2018 a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, was a former student who had been enrolled in the school’s Junior ROTC (JROTC) program, including its marksmanship program. The military-school partnership trained him to shoot and to be an expert marksman. The JROTC’s curriculum teaches that military violence solves problems. The mass-murderer was wearing his JROTC shirt […]

Urge Congress to pass “No First Use” legislation to restrict nuclear war

January 30, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

SUPPORT the “No First Use” bills. S.200 and H.R. 669 are companions. Senator Markey and Rep. Lieu introduced Senate and House legislation that would limit Trump’s (or any subsequent president’s) ability to launch nuclear weapons. Their legislation would prohibit any U.S. President from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress. The U.S. Constitution explicitly states that only Congress can declare war, but since 1945 presidents have claimed the de facto power to start the most horribly destructive war possible without any congressional approval, and Congress has allowed that unconstitutional power to persist. We must restore […]

Insights and strategies for opposing right-wing extremists, fascists, etc.

January 25, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

We know that NONVIOLENCE is MORE POWERFUL than violence. We know that DIPLOMACY WORKS BETTER than war. These truths are very well documented. See the “Nonviolence” and “Peace” parts of my blog, www.parallaxperspectives.org Here are some insights and strategies for opposing right-wing extremists, fascists, etc.: The “white nationalism” that has become popular lately really is a form of racism: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/15/1826385/-Why-White-Nationalism-is-Bigoted-A-Primer-for-Congressional-Representatives-from-Iowa-Others?detail=emaildkre Nazis design their rallies and rhetoric to fool mainstream journalists into thinking Nazis are reasonable folks: https://truthout.org/articles/those-nazi-rallies-are-not-for-the-left-theyre-for-centrist-journalists/ George Lakey wrote this article, “How to take on fascism without getting played” — https://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/how-to-take-on-fascism-without-getting-played/ Use these eight lessons of history to help […]

Why the U.S. House must push for VERY BOLD changes, not merely bi-partisan deals

January 25, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Moderates want House Democrats to settle for bi-partisan deals with the Republican-dominated Senate. If the House Democrats do that, they will be rebuffing the voters who gave them a mandate for VERY BOLD changes. They also will FAIL TO IDENTIFY how progressive Democrats are much better than conservative Republicans. Even if the Senate fails to pass VERY BOLD House legislation, the points will be made, and 2020’s voters will see who is really on their side, vs. who is on the side of the oppressors. https://www.thenation.com/article/democrats-congress-fundamental-reforms/?link_id=7&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-pledge-update-for-bold-reforms-naacp-protest-yemen-vote-populism-wins-roma&email_referrer=email_468235&email_subject=pledge-update-for-bold-reforms-naacp-protest-yemen-vote-populism-wins-roma