The division of the spiritual from the political has been a great failing of Western society. Where other civilizations have been able to call forth their greatest spiritual minds in times of manifest political crises "” Gandhi amongst the people of South Asia, the Dalai Lama amongst the people of Tibet, Chief Joseph amongst the Nez Perce, to name only a few examples "” the trembling earthquakes of destruction which loom heavy over Western civilization have called few men or women of spirit into action. In other cultures, those individuals who must remind the people of their duties to each other and to the Earth become the first warriors for the cause of the common good, their righteousness a product of the sanctified union of truth and compassion; but in the West, such men and women "” from the pope to the sidewalk preacher "” remain silent or (perhaps more fairly) unheard through the jungle of distraction contained in our computers and televisions.

And when such giants of faith have appeared, we in the West have not treated them with the respect they ought to have commanded. The Western warriors of faith who walked this Earth in the 20th century "” people like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, John Lennon, and others who were able to inspire in others a universal vision of peace "” were quickly gunned down and then later memorialized. We kill our prophets then remorsefully worship them out of guilt. It is a silly and perhaps disgusting archetype that extends even to the main figure of adoration in the West, Jesus. The Shawnee leader Tecumseh once wryly noted to his oppressors, "When Jesus Christ came upon the earth, you killed him, the son of your own God, you nailed him up! You thought he was dead, but you were mistaken. And only after you thought you killed him did you worship him, and start killing those who would not worship him. What kind of a people is this for us to trust?"

Now we live at a time when there is a deep need for men and women of all languages, religious beliefs and cultures to look past beyond the convenient illusions produced by modern life and call for a tectonic shift in our attitudes and values. We need a new generation of spiritual warrior who shines amongst the fearful, the anxious, the depressed and the ambivalent, and sets an example for others to follow. We need people who have discovered their own path to freedom and who can showcase this lifestyle to others interested in their own freedom "” for in the end, a person is only liberated when all others have found that same liberation as well.

Read the entire post: http://www.demandmore.org/2006/12/22/faith/