George Graham

We Have the Perfect Manifesto; We Don’t Follow it

OK, Grace and Bill, I’ll take a shot at a “manifesto” for those kids who are occupying Wall Street. But it won’t contain anything new. It will be much the same as an essay I wrote when I was 16, which won me a Youth Forum scholarship.  That was 61 years ago, and I guess I haven’t learned anything since then.

You know I am not “religious.” I rarely go to church and I can’t stand those holier-than-thou “religious” people who applaud the death penalty, oppress pregnant girls, boo gay soldiers and sneer at any kind of compassion or decency.

But my personal belief is that Jesus gave mankind a prescription for the perfect life.

Here is His manifesto:

Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you.

It’s called the Golden Rule, and if you think about it, you will recognize it’s the opposite of the “conservative” agenda, which has blighted America’s society and economy and caused vast pain and injustice throughout the world.

They do not treat others the way they would like others to treat them. They take when they should be giving; they pass by on the other side when they see someone else suffering; they suck up to the rich and powerful and despise the poor and unfortunate; they trash the world God gave us in the pursuit of money; they loot and lie and – worst of all – they profess to be Christians doing God’s work while they pursue their grubby ends.

I know that advocating the Golden Rule is not politically correct. I know that the U.S. Constitution calls for the separation of church and state.   Perhaps that is what Jesus meant when He told us to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.”

So here’s a secular start to changing the way things work in America:

GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS.

There’s a proposed Constitutional Amendment that could do just that. Here it is:

No person, corporation or business entity of any type, domestic or foreign, shall be allowed to contribute money, directly or indirectly, to any candidate for Federal office or to contribute money on behalf of or opposed to any type of campaign for Federal office. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, campaign contributions to candidates for Federal office shall not constitute speech of any kind as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution or any amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Congress shall set forth a federal holiday for the purposes of voting for candidates for Federal office.

I heard on Dylan Ratigan’s show yesterday that more than 100,000 supporters have backed the amendment so far. Naturally, I am one of them.

To add your name, click here.

About the author

gwgraeme

I am a Jamaican-born writer who has lived and worked in Canada and the United States. I live in Lakeland, Florida with my wife, Sandra, our three cats and two dogs. I like to play golf and enjoy our garden, even though it's a lot of work. Since retiring from newspaper reporting I've written a few books. I also write a monthly column for Jamaicans.com