Let Your Inner Freedom Ring

The practice of meditation makes it possible for us to have a glimpse of inner freedom, our own true nature. Meditation makes us see things in ways we have not done so before. We become more keen about the ways and reasons which makes it difficult for us to live our lives in a manner that is fulfilling. It spells to us the difference between inner and outer freedom.

Meditation is the most radical kind of political action. It challenges us to step outside the conventional value system and view things from a different standpoint. We are not likely to remain uncritical supporters of the status quo.

Meditation is not the kind of activism as we are familiar of, but it fits the definition perfectly. It is an action that fundamentally aims to make you be more critical of your view of the world.

Meditation brings out the best in us, our own intelligence and insights. It challenges our own individuality to emerge, our sense of compassion, and our sense of outrage as we gradually reveal our own true nature.

Nope! It Doesn't Degrade Women At All

Degradation is in the eye of the beholder. In some religious cultures, a woman whose uncovered face or skin is shown is over-the top. For others, a woman wearing a string bikini pouring suntan lotion all over herself, is normal fare. Certainly, American advertising appealing to sex is relatively provincial compared to more "liberal" attitudes toward sex and nudity in Europe. Consequently, the action being depicted and the cultural context have much to do with societal impressions of what constitutes degradation.

But for the sake of discussion, let's focus on the average Westerner to answer the degradation question. It is safe to assume any advertising that depicts physical violence or abuse of women is degradation. However the hint or suggestion of a women as a sexual being is not. For example, ads for erectile dysfunction overtly promote sexual conduct between consenting adults. The "come-hither" I am ready for sex look of a women is oftentimes part of such a commercial's story line. Yet, hardly anyone could reasonably contend that the associated sales pitch is degrading unless the women is not a voluntary participant in that scenario.

A good rule of thumb would be whether women are displayed solely as sex objects under the control of men. Clearly, if a woman uses her beauty or sexiness to sell a products where she is a willing participant and is not presented or treated as powerless and obedient to men, she cannot be deemed degraded. If she is voluntarily participating in a portrayal of a women who is in control of her body and not presented as inferior to men, the question of degradation doesn't really exist.

Another factor would be the intended effect of the ad on the viewer. Does that ad promote disdain, disrespect or domination of a woman? If it does, then the ad demeans or degrades the woman, whether or not that was the intended effect. But what about a beer commercial during a football games that features big-breasted, curvaceous women promoting drinking as a cool and sexy in a flirtatious manner. Again, there is nothing degrading about women promoting beer to male sports fanatics unless the ads correlate beer and woman as a recipe for men having sex with women.

Perhaps the most iconic use of women as sex objects is the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. Obviously, men buy that issue to look at scantily clad women. While the pictures are extremely sexy and almost completely reveal a woman's body, the photos are taken in an artistic and respectful way. Sure, the idea is to capture some of the most beautiful women in the world in provocative swimsuits and poses, but there is no hint that the woman are being subjugated in any way to participate in the photo shoot, nor are they shown in photos being controlled or subservient to men.

In sum, the use of sex in ads to sell products does not degrade women so long as they are not presented as objectified beings under the control or domination of men.

by Michael Golde

From The Camp That Says Women Are Degraded

Yes, they do. A woman's sexuality cannot be divorced from her humanity, yet Madison Avenue earns huge amounts of money using it to deliver secular messages to specifically targeted markets. At the same time, they subliminally promote the idea that a woman's worth resides in her physical attributes, and in her ability to successfully use those attributes to entice consumers into buying what she is selling. That, in essence, puts women on the same level as socket wrenches and fish bait.

The burden these advertisements place on women to conform to unrealistic standards contributes to their degradation, especially on a personal level. The public in general has been brainwashed into believing that the women shown in commercials or print ads embody perfection, and as that lie begins to burrow its way into her psyche, the school secretary or soccer mom becomes convinced she is inadequate by comparison. She eventually succumbs to a deeper belief that she cannot be what she believes her husband desires. Not only is she not pretty or sexy enough to make him happy, but her personality is as dull as her looks. She does not have the ability, nor the resources, to create with him a life more exciting than PTA meetings or movie nights. As a result, she soon feels devalued because of who and what she is not. Through the dissemination of this kind of propaganda, the advertisers of Madison Avenue create for themselves a huge market where women will buy whatever it takes to make them feel wanted and worthy.

It is disconcerting to think that our culture propagates (and apparently endorses) this philosophy. One cannot pick up a magazine or watch a television program without being assaulted with images of young, scantily-clad women with flat tummies and perfectly rounded breasts. There is high demand for "how-to" articles and infomercials that explain how to prevent wrinkles, get poutier lips, thicker eyelashes, and thinner thighs. Face-lifts, breast augmentation, and tummy tucks are becoming routine procedures, and are openly marketed to the general population.

Competition for consumers' discretionary dollars is fierce, and using sex to hawk merchandise has become the norm in the industry. Perhaps our sensitivity to the issue has been dulled as a result of over-exposure. If so, how do we stop it? This type of exploitation will continue unless we decide that women are equal members of society, and that their sexuality (like their humanity) is intrinsically valuable and too precious to be used for commercial purposes. Only then will our daughters and grand-daughters be able to reap the benefits inherent and accessible in an enlightened society.

by Cindy Thrasher

Do ads that use sex to sell their products degrade women?

It must be one very effective marketing tool? I mean the use of sex to sell products. There is almost no commodity pushed in the market that does not use sex to get the attention it badly needs. Even bloggers use it to sell their blogs. Since every ad that uses sex takes the face of a woman, this raises the question on whether or not this does not degrade women. Does it or does it not? What is your take?

A Closer Look At Life

Am I living my life consciously? 

That is one question, we should all be asking ourselves. There is much more that each one of us could do than we think possible. We have left the industrial age and moved to the age of the mind. Each tick of the minute, scientists and philosophers are discovering the incredible powers that man possess. This new age opened to us an immense opportunity to create a better world for us. Sadly, it could also lead us to our decimation as a human race.

But there is great hope in the horizons. Never before in man’s history have there been massive movements of people seeking to be more critically aware of the life that they are living. The question of  the sustainability of our lifestyle and the kind of development we are pushing ourselves into continues to permeate the minds of more and more people. 

Through the centuries great minds have tried to drum into our consciousness the great potential within ourselves to effect change. Not many listened. Not until today when it is beginning to dawn to many of us that our survival as a people depends on how we could harness that potential within each of us to make the necessary changes first within ourselves and then in the world we live in. But while there is much that we can do by ourselves, there is more we could achieve if we learn to do things together. Our lives are interconnected. That we should never forget. To think that the way we live our lives does not have anything to do with the life of one emaciated child somewhere in Somalia is one sad refrain we ought to stop singing. We must trace the connection and when we find it, together we must examine where it went wrong  and take a conscious action to make it right.

It is imperative if we are to live our lives consciously to give thought to issues such as:

• How we are living our lives and how this is affecting others;
• Our whole philosophy of development, both at the personal and community level,  and how this impacts on the planet and all that live on it,
• Reexamining our traditions, our beliefs and our behaviors and how they affect our results in life. 

Living consciously is a must if we are to survive as a people. It is time we take a critical look into our lives and ask the question we posed at the onset. Am I living my life consciously?

Abraham Lincoln On Ethics

An article on Lincoln's personal code of ethics and his view of business ethics, based on an excerpt from the one-man play “Lincoln Live”
by Gene Griessman

“What does it mean to be ethical?

 As far as I’m concerned, it means treating others the way you’d want to be treated.  

 I never joined a church because the churches of my day required you to subscribe to a particular doctrine or creed.  I told a minister who was trying to recruit me that if I ever found a church that would inscribe over its altar only two requirements, I would join that church with all my heart: The first requirement would be, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.’ The second requirement would be, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’

I reckon that anyone who keeps those two commandments will never have a problem with any legitimate code of ethics.  The second great commandment is really the basis of the Golden Rule—loving your neighbor as yourself.

Being ethical means being honest.   Perhaps the greatest asset was being known as Honest Abe.  It was a good name, and I believe that a good name is more to be desired than great riches.  

I made it a practice to be so clear that no honest man could misunderstand me and no dishonest one could successfully misrepresent me

As you know, I’m a lawyer; and, yes, there were lawyer jokes back in the 1800s.  I remember a story about a preacher back in Indiana who was conducting a funeral service for a prominent lawyer.  At one point in his eulogy, the minister said, “Here lies a successful lawyer and an honest man.”  A woman in the audience whispered to her friend:  “We need to take a peek to see if there are two bodies in the casket?”

I happen to believe that a lawyer can be honest.  In fact I found that clients often had more trouble telling the truth than lawyers did.  

Here’s some advice I gave young lawyers:  “Resolve to be honest at all events.  If, in your own judgment, you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer.   Choose some other occupation, rather than one in the choosing of which you do, in advance, consent to be a knave.”

If you’re ethical, you’ll strive to be knowledgeable.  In the 1800s it was common for people to talk about “living up to the light” that one had.  It was an excellent way of admitting in advance that one could be mistaken because of lack of knowledge.   I like that concept, and used it in my Second Inaugural Address: “With firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right” is the way I said it in my second inaugural address.

But there's something more important than knowing the truth, and that’s knowing what to do with the truth.  A village idiot might stumble upon the truth, tell everybody in sight, and do irreparable damage. Being wise involves knowing when to tell the truth, knowing how to tell the truth, knowing who to tell it to, and even deciding if you should tell it at all.   Some truth should never be told--like when my wife Mary asked me what I thought of one of her ridiculous-looking new hats.  

Being ethical doesn’t mean that you be suicidal. 

If you’re ethical, you’ll strive to use good judgment.  The true rule in determining to accept or reject any thing is not whether it has any evil in it; but whether it has more of evil than of good.   There are few things wholly evil or wholly good.  Almost every thing…is an inseparable compound of the two so that our best judgment of the preponderance between them is continually demanded."

1986 Time Woman Of The Year Takes A Final Bow

Former Philippine President Corazon Aquino, named 1986 Time Woman Of The Year for leading the People Power Revolution which ended the decades of Marcos tyranny and restoring back to the Filipino people their freedom and dignity, is dead.

Long live Cory Aquino!

Time Woman Of The Year 

People Power's Philippine Saint (Time Magazine)