thank you thank you thank you, Lapis!!! Thanks for clearing this up for me, as I was getting confused about wanting to make positive changes without being blind to what is happening out in the world. "We must become the change we want to see": that's what was written on the e-mail I received as well--it really irked me to see this, as New Agers are always quoting Gandhi. Yes, he used non-violent protest but as you said, his eyes were very open to the atrocities the British were committing in India, and his nonviolent protests put the spotlight on them; he didn't tell his followers to "focus on what the British are doing right"!

I also believe it is OK to be angry over injustice. To take action does not mean one has to be violent; for me, anger is a very useful emotion in fueling positive action.

And I very much agree with Mother Theresa. Before the U.S invaded Iraq, I attended a couple of anti-war rallies. I found the speakers to be expressing a lot of hostility. Some of the speakers were in favor of taking violent action. I didn't attend any more "anti-war" rallies. I did attend a "pro-Peace" rally sponsored by some church groups-it was a very beautiful experience. In Santa Monica, the attendees sat on the beach and formed a huge Dove Of Peace adapted from a Picasso painting. An aerial photographer snapped pictures. Photos from this rally appeared in a lot of newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. I met some folks who were veteran peace activists from the Vietnam War days--"Another Mother for Peace" was the organization they were involved in at the time, one my own mother had been a member of. The entire mentality and feeling of this event was so positive, in comparison to the "anti-war" rallies I had attended. It was also spiritually based. This kind of gathering, if multiplied in large enough numbers, could very well influence, in a positive manner, government policy. Unfortunately, once the invasion of Iraq started, the pro-peace movement lost its momentum.

Anyway, I digress. Thank you again for your comments, Lapis!

Liora Leah