On Prison Reform

To the editor: 

 Thank you so much for sending us a copy of New Renaissance, Vol. 5, No. 3. I found the magazine very informative and interesting especially the articles of Bo Lozoff and P.R. Sarkar. 

 I've worked with the ex-convicts at the Provincial Jail before and I believe that we should not punish the criminals, but society must find ways to correct them. Putting these people in prison to pay the crimes they have committed is not the solution. 

 May I take this opportunity to ask if you could find a sponsor for our organization so that we can continue receiving New Renaissance because we are not able to pay the subscription rate at this time. 

Ferdinand P. Gonzales 
Executive Director 
Peoples Organization for Social Transformation 
P.O. Box 831, Baguio City 2600, Philippines 

Animal rights?

To the editor: 

 Please take me off your mailing list! I learned about New Renaissance via the Internet, and it mentioned that you supported animal rights as well as human rights. This is obviously not the case. For example, what does the article New Food Laws Prevent Consumer Criticism (Vol. 6, No. 1 - Eco-Notes) have to do with animal rights? It treats animals like things or commodities, not as living beings. The same is the case with Joanne Bower's Animals in Agriculture (Vol. 6, No.2) which fully accepts the specie-ist paradigm and still treats non-humans like things for human use. This has nothing to do with animal rights. 

 If you say you support animal rights then stand for it, if you don t then don t say it. 

 Hrvoje Nezic 
10410 Velika Gorka Croatia 

Both articles which you refer to speak about alleviating the plight of farm animals. It is true that both articles accept the fact that animals will be slaughtered for food by some humans. Can we really expect that 100% of the human race will become vegetarians overnight? And if this does not happen should animal rights advocates support efforts to eliminate the oppressive conditions of factory farming as Ms. Bower argued for, or will they, like you, condemn these pleas as being disgusting. --The Editor

Inspiring

To the editor: I have been privileged to come across the spring edition (Vol. 6, No. 1) of New Renaissance. It was really inspiring, thought provoking and interesting. Renaissance Universal seems to open new frontiers of opportunities for me to contribute to the service of humanity. Thanks for thinking of humanity and universality. 

 Charlie J. Hughes 
Sierra Leone 

Commendations

To the editor: My commendations go to you all on a fine magazine with a wide variety of issues addressed. I particularly enjoyed the issue (Vol. 6, No. 1) which focuses on overcoming racism. Thanks again. 

 Sharon Joy 
SJoy@uh.edu 

Eco-Communities

To the editor: We need to establish places for the sole purpose of creating space. Spiritual figures such as Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, and more recently the Dalai Lama, have stated that the forms of the past have largely fulfilled their purpose, and that new forms must come into being. In this time of great changes, experimental communities such as Auroville in India and Scotland's Findhorn have been established by those who understand that the future must revolve around spiritual consciousness and ecologically sustainable living. But there is something greater happening than meditation and permaculture. The more important reason for eco-communitarian villages is to insure that there are places for the Divine, the magical, the incredible to be concentrated. 

 The real problem is that there is a lack of spiritually centred eco-communitarian places to live, where we may sit together in a circle, do rituals in harmony with the cycles of the earth, live in a cooperative, sharing way, as all spiritual traditions recommend, and create an environment where the spiritual will permeate and guide. 

 Craig Stehr 
greenmac@pacific.net 
296 Gardens Ave. 
Ukiah, CA 95482 

Global or Local

I just received my second issue of New Renaissance. The first one had already made it clear, however, that the periodical is not my cup of tea. To start with, your intellectual tastes, as reflected in your terminology, are very different from mine. "Progressive" and "(neo-) humanism" e.g. are terms of abuse to me, not labels I would be willing to use in order to refer to my own ideas. 

 I consider myself a conservative, a reactionary even, in the sense that I think we must go back to earlier, more stable structures and ways of living, thereby reversing whatever "progress" we have made from our earlier, more nature-related situation. "Humanism" on the other hand is etymologically not much different from what is nowadays often called "anthropocentrism", precisely the thing from which we should try to detach ourselves (I know you use the word in a different sense, but I am talking about terminology so far). 

 More importantly, I see a contradiction between your emphasis on "the fundamental oneness of humanity" and your wish to "remove all artificial barriers keeping people apart" on the one hand, and your defence of "local languages, cultures, history and traditions" on the other hand. The globalism, internationalism and cosmopolitism implicit in the first part of this dichotomy, and the melting pot syndrome resulting from it, are precisely what increasingly destroys the local languages, etc. 

 What we need, in my view, is a healthy respect for the NATURAL barriers keeping people apart, preservation of (where they still exist) or return to (where we have destroyed them) small, simple, self-contained vernacular communities: the village and the tribe. Conservatism, tribalism, disinterest in technology and innovation, separatism are the catchwords for ecological restoration as I see it, not progressiveness, humanism, oneness and planetary citizenship. 

Guy de Maertelaere 
Begonialaan 6A 
9840 De Pinte 
Belgium 

 You are right, there is a tension between globalization and the maintenance of local traditions. But, due to irreversible developments in technology and other changes in human life, the natural barriers which used to keep people apart have been made less significant. Whether we like it or not, we have to learn how to live together on this planet. In our coming issue on the "Challenges of Globalization" our contributing writers will explore various aspects of this question and see if it is possible to reconcile the local with the global. --The Editor 

Thanks for the Gift

Your magazine is absolutely wonderful, with  well-written, informative articles on  issues that are absolutely essential to all of us. I would like to add a link to your internet site on my "Gifts from the Web page" at http://sageplace.com .   Keep up the terrific work.    Thanks for the gift! 

Tammie Fowles 
http://sageplace.com

Change of Diet
 

Thank you for sending your very interesting magazine. As I can see our goals are similar and I have also sent you our EVU News whose main concern is to lead people to a plant based diet. 
It became evident to me through years of observation that a change in diet leads to a change in one's attitude towards life and one's mentality. This may be observed particularly in children. Sometimes a radical change takes place only within a few days.  Troubled, aggressive children, become quiet,  and sensitive towards other people and fellow beings after a change in diet. Being a teacher I have been able to observe this again and again. 
Therefore, we should pay much attention to changing  food habits, otherwise all effort  for creating open-mindedness for meditation and spirituality (as discussed in your issue on Spirituality, Vol. 7, No. 4) may not be possible. 

Sigrid De Leo 
Secretary,  European Vegetarian Union 
Bluetschwitzerweg 5 
Ch-9443 Widnau 
Switzerland 
sdeleo@openoffice.ch

Ravi Batra's Predictions

Mr. Batra has been predicting a great crash for a while now.  (see his article in Volume 8, No. 1)  While I tend to agree with some of  the general themes of his arguments. I guess if some one predicts something often enough it will end up happening.

M. Glazer
mglazer@home.com

The True Self

I just read your article (The Power of Silence by Steven Taylor, NR Vol. 8, No. 2), and I liked it a lot. It is a message I tried to tell many people, but they don't understand it. I live at the moment without a TV and even though I feel lonely sometimes, it helps me to concentrate on myself. It is hard not to think about yourself, in quiet times like that, specially if you are a women, you always ask "Why".

I think what you say is right, but I would include, that people need to listen to their selves. They can not think, that if they don't think anything that they are once with themselves, and that they get to know themselves better. I think we need to find our inner self, and listen to it. it is a voice that answers without being asked. Still, external voices and obligations make it hard to stay focused on this voice. Especially, if it comes to love, my inner voice, and my brain seem to split. Thanks for listening,

Nathalie Baron
nbaroo002@email.msn.com

I Am Amazed!

First, let me express my total dismay  at your publication.   You  are advocating a society that my people have lived for  well over 3,000 years. It pre-dates both Islam and Christianity, and in many  respects it pre-dates the foundation of  both  religions, Judaism.  It is a fact of life with people who follow the Druid path that the world is our  domain, not bound  by governments, or national boundaries.  We have acted in peace and believe in total harmony, yet you do not bother  to address the main issue standing in the way of any form of world government.  Let us face facts, as long as Islam and Christianity are present in this world, and the two dominant religions in the world, we will never ever achieve world unity.  It is impractical and a complete waste of time,  effort and money, to address the issue of world solidarity without first relieving the world of its  burden of Christianity and Islam.

Thank you,
Rev. R  Mikkall Bowers, Jr.
ULC Minister and Arch-Druid

Happy to Find New Renaissance

I have just surfed into your website, and I want to express my appreciation and respect. I might not know all the magazines on the net about these subjects, but I have read at least 20-30 of them and yours is the first that seems to have a really deep and wide approach to to deal with the subjects. Looking into your back issues just made me convinced that I was right and I am really happy to be able to find a magazine like yours.

Saar Herman
Manila, Philippines
saar_h@hotmail.com