Mary Magdalene Was Not A Prostitute ~ Women, Do You Know Your Place In Life?

About 30 years ago, I took a Biblical Andragogy course through the Worcester Diocese. This was a deep study into the Old Testament taught by a Jesuit priest. I wanted to throw the book at him. It seemed to me that Jesuits pulled apart everything I ever learned about the Bible in all my previous Bible Studies and whatever was left, well, that was what was left of my faith.

This concept was echoed by another well respected priest when I confided in him that the Jesuit approach was disheveling my faith. This priest went on further to say that with the multiplication of the loaves and fishes on the mountain when Jesus fed 5,000 people, that it was possible that the people had anticipated being gone for the day and took their own loaves and fish along with them. Was this humanly possible? Yes, but it was eroding my understanding of Jesus and the Bible.

Today, I can appreciate pulling apart what was spoon fed to me as a child.

Yesterday I mentioned that the first eleven verses of John 8 were a story added later for effect. There was a reason for this.

Remember in the Gospel of Philip, that he writes that Jesus loved Mary Magdalene more than the other disciples. This infuriated Peter and some of the others. Also remember that for the first 364 years after Jesus walked among us, women were allowed to be priests, preach and teach, AND hold the breaking of the bread ceremony, along with being able to baptize people.

It was not until the numerous Councils of Nicaea, Laodicea, Trent, among others, that the voice of women was suppressed in the fledgling church. It seems it began with changing the rules to hold sacred services, by not allowing women to bathe with men, nor could they all of a sudden approach the alter as they had been doing since the time of Jesus. Rules were added later by men with definite agendas.

Also do not forget that at that time, the bishops were working very closely with the patriarchal rulers of Rome. Women were not allowed in Roman leadership positions, other positions women were relegated to, but not public service in any capacity, religious or otherwise.

Suddenly women were expected to know their place, which was behind men. Jesus never sanctioned this change, nor did God, Father of Jesus Christ, nor the Holy Spirit. Rome did not rule all the known world but wanted to. Women had known times of matriarchal society.

Jesus never taught that women were above men, nor that men were above women. He taught mutual respect for every individual, even those people not of Jewish background, such as the Samaritan woman at the well.

The addition of verses 1-11 in John 8 came later, I have discovered in my Bible studies spanning 50 years, to emphasize and place women in a negative light, in the role of the constant sinner, unworthy of equality and religious public service.

Men wrote the story in Genesis, blaming women for what is called Original Sin. The actual Original Sin is the fault of the fallen angels raping women, of Genesis 6:1 fame, then blaming women for “eating the fruit of the tree in the Garden of Eden.” Sound familiar?

Being raped by the is not the fault of any woman, then or now. History has been repeating itself ever since.

Equality is the key point that Jesus Christ was revolutionizing the thought of his time. It is just as poignant today.

Women, you are worthy, worthy of love, life, liberty, and equality in this world. You are not less than a man. You are not more than a man. Women, you are equal to men. This is the teaching of Jesus.

Many religions claiming to be the Religious Right, or in the right, are not following the teachings of Jesus, which they proclaim that they do. They are picking and choosing which words of Jesus and the other apostles to follow. If you research this, you will see it is the writings of Paul, who was trained as a patriarchal Pharisee, who changed the words and intention of Jesus, not Jesus himself.

Why is this important today?

The role of women is still under attack 2022 years after Jesus Christ walked among us. Jesus taught everyone to continue to teach, preach, and hold public service, public and otherwise.

Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute. She was the closest, faithful companion of Jesus. She is a shining example to all women of how to breathe, walk, and talk with dignity, respect, honor, valor, peace and love without conditions, rules, and regulations placed as restrictions to Universal Life. It is the quiet, sincere presence of Mary Magdalene, who stood valiantly at the foot of the cross, alongside of Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

You are worthy. You are worthy of life, love, and abundance.

If personal safety is an issue, CALL someone. With staying home, abusive situations can escalate. No one has a right to harm you.

What are the signs we need to watch out for?

• The other person always criticizing you.
• The other person always telling you what to do.
• Having to answer to the other person.
• Having to keep to the time schedule of the other person.
• Always having to ask for permission to think, say or do anything.
• Having the other person always manipulating you.
• We all have the God-given right to life. We all have the right to live our lives the best way we see fit. We do not need to live our lives under someone’s thumb.

We do not need to live our lives in debilitating fear, obligation and guilt of someone else injuring ourselves or themselves in some way.

There are suicide prevention hotlines. There are abuse hotlines. There are mental health providers.

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-8255

National Domestic Abuse Hotline: 800-799-7233

Rape Abuse Incest National Network (RAINN): 800-656-4673

National Sexual Violence Resource Center: http://www.nsvrc.org

Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline: 800-422-4453  http://www.childhelphotline.org

US Department of Health and Human Services: 800-994-9662 http://www.womenshealth.gov/relationships-and-safety/get-help

You and I, unless we are specially trained with degrees in these mental health fields, are not trained to deal with these real life and death matters. Yes, we care about the people in our lives. We serve no one when we shut ourselves down along with the manipulating and/or mentally sick person. That is not helping.

What will lift us out of despair?

1. Acknowledge your feelings. Feelings are not right or wrong, they just are.

2. Decide to change your feelings from those of despair, depression, helplessness or any other dysfunctional negative feelings that are binding you into fear and immobilization. You can do this.

3. Realize that deciding not to stay stuck with despair, depression, helplessness or any other dysfunctional negative feeling does not invalidate the feelings, nor you.

4. Make a conscious choice as to what feeling you want to have, the next lighter feeling in freedom which you can think.

5. Focus only on the feeling you are planning to achieve. Notice I did not say “trying” to achieve. The words “trying” is an open door to failure. It is a way out for you to be able to say, “At least I tried.” Do not “try” to do anything. DO IT. Realize that you can be happy, right where you are, in a line waiting for food, and speaking with others in life-affirming statements on the streets, which bring about other possibilities and opportunities not yet realized.

6. Organize your thoughts, words and actions. Be the change you wish to see in the world around you. By encouraging others in positive ways, you encourage yourself. As long as you are living, breathing and moving, you have the ability to change despair into functional conversations with positive plans to help yourself and others. Make sure you use your voice to VOTE. No one can take away your human rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

7. Know that you are not alone. Even if you remain wearing masks and social distancing, we can reach out by cell phones and social media, zoom, Skype and many other current ways to build each other up, support noble ideas for the common good of all people; and change ignorance into intelligence. Where there is darkness, shine your light of a smile, encouraging words to yourself and your family and friends, and be the Light on the hill for all to see by.

I only chose 7 suggestions out of a thousand I could mention. Perhaps one of these triggers another thought, which then brings you to an even better thought. Go with the next highest vibration of thought to lift you out of despair.

It all begins with a DECISION to feel better. These times are tough, but they are not the end. You are stronger than you realize. We grow in character when we face tough times.

I used to pray for patience, a lot, until I realized one day that by praying for patience, I was inviting in adversity, so I could practice my patience! That is when I DECIDED to claim and fully realize, that I had all the patience I needed. It worked! I simply needed to act on that realization in order to move forward and create abundance of all good things in my life, compared to only witnessing the adversity.

We can re-build our lives. We cannot bring back those who have lost their lives, of course, but we can take the necessary next steps forward in our healing process. Now is not forever. There is so much we can do to help ourselves, and others, in this time of uncertainty.

Choose only thoughts, words and actions based on LOVE and LIGHT. All else harms you and the whole of humanity.

Namaste

Mexico And The United States Are Joined In A Binational State Of Grief

Mexico and the United States of America are nations in mourning over the hate-filled shooting rampages in Gilroy, CA; El Paso, TX; and Dayton, OH. It is not only the USA that is grief stricken, but our neighbors in Mexico as well. To help these and other nations in the world who are struggling with overwhelming grief at this time, this post may offer some words of comfort for broken hearts, and hope for peaceful and Christ-like solutions for a world broken by ignorance and hate. Some of the victims’ names are mentioned here for additional prayers that could be sent their way by loving hearts from all over the world who are also grieving at a showing of the worst humanity has to offer to its brothers and sisters.

One fact that might help Americans realize that “Mexicans are not invading our country,” is to understand, first of all, that not all who look like Mexicans are illegal aliens, but have family roots here in the USA longer than the white folk who later settled here. Look at the map showing the 13 colonies compared to what is really going on in the country and who owns most of the land. They were always here. We are the newcomers.

Another fact is that El Paso, Texas and its sister city of Juarez in Mexico have a daily stream of people who drive and walk across the bridge in the border states to shop. This relationship has existed for years. It is not only Americans who are grieving the loss of God-given life.

In Gilroy, CA, the mother of Kayla Salazar, 13, said, “She took my hand and looked up at the sky.” Stephen Romero age 6, and Trevor Irby age 25 also lost their lives to gun violence. The shooter, 19-year old Santino Legan was later shot and killed by police.

In El Paso, 22 people have now lost their lives to the largest mass shooting in Texas, and 24 more were injured. Jordan Anchondo, 24, gave birth to her baby boy, Paul Gilbert, two months ago. At an El Paso Walmart, she gave her life to save his. She shielded the baby as she was being shot. Her husband tried to shield them both. Both she and her husband were both killed, but the baby, now a mass-shooting victim, had two broken fingers and was grazed by a bullet.

GoFund Me pages have been set up since no one expected their lives to be lost so early in their lives. Grammy-nominated singer Khalid, not forgetting his El Paso roots, plans on having a benefit for the families of this mass shooting.

El Paso victims also included Arturo Benavides age 60, an Army veteran; and Javier Amir Rodríguez age 15, a high school student and avid soccer player with Express Futbol Club, an El Paso soccer club for boys and girls. On Sunday the soccer club announced they are organizing a charity game to help with the Rodríguez family as well as for the soccer coaches who were also victims.

Elsa Mendoza Marquez age 57, was gunned down and killed. She was an elementary school teacher from Juarez, Mexico and mother of two adult children.

Juan Velazquez age 78, became the 22nd victim of the El Paso shooting.

El Paso shooter, Patrick Crusius, age 21, is arrested and being held with possible additional charges of hate crimes and federal firearms charges.

In Dayton, Ohio, Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said that Megan Betts, age 22, was the first to be gunned down by her brother, Connor Betts who carried out the massacre. He was killed by a police officer prior to continuing this horror shooting as he was attempting to enter an extremely filled pub last Sunday.

Names of other shooting victims include:
Derrick Fudge, 57
Lois Oglesby, 27
Logan Turner, 30
Nicholas Cumer, 25
Thomas McNichols, 25
Beatrice Warren-Curtis, 36
Seed Sale, 38
Minicab Brickhouse, 39

We mourn these deaths and all those who have died needlessly from gun violence. Let us take a moment to remember the lives of these people, young and old, who have themselves given joy, love and hope to others during their lives.

Whenever there is a tragedy such as this, and the loss of loved ones, we ask over and over, WHY? Why Now?

In the Book of Ecclesiastes we read:
“To everything there is a season,
And a time to every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die …”

The deceased among us have made an abrupt turn in their journey and left us wondering. In our uncertainty, we seek comfort from one another and in that comfort we find strength, and in that strength, we share our healing love.

It can help to gather with family and friends at this time, to share the this loss and the losses in your lives that these situations bring up, even if the deaths you have experienced in your lives have been by natural causes and/or by illness. All of this seems untimely.

We are born into a life not of our own making. The Good God above, Father of Jesus Christ, send us his Holy Spirit if we ask for it, to help us through this life. Let us continue to pray for one another.

* I continue to extend a warm invitation to the worldwide meditation and prayer effort currently underway through July and August 2019. This is an international, concerted effort specifically addressing the inhumane conditions at the southern border of the United States of America and Mexico, as well as inhumane conditions globally. I extend this prayer to include all the mass shooting victims and their families affected in the Gilroy, CA; El Paso, TX; and Dayton, Ohio mass shootings. I also extend this prayer, asking the Good God above, Father of Jesus Christ, to send his Holy Spirit to be with the countries of Mexico and the United States as the necessary steps of healing and peaceful resolution can begin to take place. I also pray for sensible gun regulations in the United States of America so the country can move past willful ignorance and financial greed that has resulted in so many needless deaths. I am inviting all churches in all denominations in the world to invite all their parishioners to take part; and include all people without any church affiliation to participate. Scroll down to see how meditation and prayer reduced crime in Washington, D.C. by 48 percent.

Meditation And Prayer Intervention July-August 2019 ~ Repost

The Meditation and Prayer Intervention July – August 2019 worldwide effort has begun.

I extend a warm invitation to the worldwide meditation and prayer effort currently underway through July and August 2019. This is an international, concerted effort specifically addressing the inhumane conditions at the southern border of the United States of America and Mexico. I am inviting all churches in all denominations in the world to invite all their parishioners to take part; and include all people without any church affiliation to participate.

If such positive results from the 1993 controlled study mentioned below were achieved then, similar results from sustained meditation and prayer can happen again. Meditation and prayer works, as those of us who have tried know, especially when all else fails. Now is the time to take a moment out of your day to join this worldwide effort to raise the consciousness of the inhumane conditions we find ourselves. With the various time zones all over the world, we can have a sustained meditation and prayer effort round the clock. Everyone is invited to meditate and/or pray as time allows these summer months.

Does prayer and meditation reduce crime in inner cities? Yes, according to the 1993 controlled study done in Washington, reducing the crime rate in the District of Columbia by 48 percent. This study has been written about many times before, but given what is happening at the United States of America’s Mexican border and in the inner cities of the United States, as well as cities all over the world, now is a good time to remember this study, and how prayer and meditation can benefit us, and the cities and countries we live in. Washington, D.C. is again sorely in need of meditation and prayer.

The inhumane treatment of putting people, and babies and children who have been separated from their parents in overcrowded cages, without adequate care for hygiene, food and water, and ordinary care is not only barbaric, it is criminal. Kidnapping men, women and children; physical and sexual abuse, as well as mental and spiritual abuse are not communication skills to be used between people nor countries. There is a wide variety of solutions to the self-inflicted immigration situation of human beings coming to our country through our southern border for a better life, just like our parents and grandparents did, that do not involve kidnapping, rape, and unjust and inhumane incarceration. Crimes against humanity are not necessary to solve this problem, nor doing nothing to stop crimes against humanity an answer.

Effects of Group Practice of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Preventing Violent Crime in Washington, DC: Results of the National Demonstration Project, June-July 1993

John S. Hagelin, Maxwell V. Rainforth, David W. Orme-Johnson, Kenneth L. Cavanaugh, Charles N. Alexander, Susan F. Shatkin, John L. Davies, Anne O. Hughes, and Emanuel Ross

This study presented the final results of a two-month prospective experiment to reduce violent crime in Washington, DC. On the basis of previous research it was hypothesized that the level of violent crime in the District of Columbia would drop significantly with the creation of a large group of participants in the Transcendental Meditation® and TM-Sidhi® programs to increase coherence and reduce stress in the District.

This National Demonstration Project to Reduce Violent Crime and Improve Governmental Effectiveness brought approximately 4,000 participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs to the United States national capital from June 7 to July 30, 1993. A 27-member independent Project Review Board consisting of sociologists and criminologists from leading universities, representatives from the police department and government of the District of Columbia, and civic leaders approved in advance the research protocol for the project and monitored its progress.

The dependent variable in the research was weekly violent crime, as measured by the Uniform Crime Report program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; violent crimes include homicide, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery. This data was obtained from the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department for 1993 as well as for the preceding five years (1988-1992). Additional data used for control purposes included weather variables (temperature, precipitation, humidity), daylight hours, changes in police and community anti-crime activities, prior crime trends in the District of Columbia, and concurrent crime trends in neighboring cities. Average weekly temperature was significantly correlated with homicides, rapes and assaults (HRA crimes), as has also been found in previous research; therefore temperature was used as a control variable in the main analysis of HRA crimes. Using time series analysis, violent crimes were analyzed separately in terms of HRA crimes (crimes against the person) and robbery (monetary crimes), as well as together.

The following is a graph pictured:

Analysis of 1993 data, controlling for temperature, revealed that there was a highly significant decrease in HRA crimes associated with increases in the size of the group during the Demonstration Project. The maximum decrease was 23.3% when the size of the group was largest during the final week of the project. The statistical probability that this result could reflect chance variation in crime levels was less than 2 in 1 billion (p < .000000002). When a longer baseline is used (1988-1993 data), the maximum decrease was 24.6% during this period (p < .00003). When analyzed as a separate variable, robberies did not decrease significantly, but a joint analysis of both HRA crimes and robberies indicated that violent crimes as a whole decreased significantly to a maximum amount of 15.6% during the final week of the project (p = .0008). Analysis of 1993 data, controlling for temperature, revealed that there was a highly significant decrease in HRA crimes associated with increases in the size of the group during the Demonstration Project.

Several additional analyses were performed on HRA crimes to further assess the strength of the main findings. These indicated that the reduction of HRA crimes associated with the group of participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs could not be attributed to changes in police staffing. These secondary analyses also found that the reduction of HRA crimes was highly robust to alternative specifications of the statistical model-that is, the effect is independent of the isolated details of the models used to assess seasonal cycles and trends. No significant decrease was found in any of the prior five years during this period of time, indicating that this effect was not due to the specific time of year. Furthermore, the intervention parameters for the group size revealed that the effect of the group was not only cumulative with the increase in group size, but also continued for some time after the end of the project.

Based on the results of the study, the steady state gain (long-term effect) associated with a permanent group of 4,000 participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs was calculated as a 48% reduction in HRA crimes in the District of Columbia.

Given the strength of these results, their consistency with the positive results of previous research, the grave human and financial costs of violent crime, and the lack of other effective and scientific methods to reduce crime, policy makers are urged to apply this approach on a large scale for the benefit of society.

It is again time to practice meditation and prayer, this time through July and August 2019, for the specific goal of reducing the inhumane of human beings at the United States border, stopping the separation of children from their parents, eliminating locking up children and adults in deplorable conditions, putting an end to raping females who cross the border, and all other inhumane treatment not mentioned here.

People from all over the world are affected by this embarrassing and inhumane treatment of all human beings born with the same God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is not just individuals who are white, Caucasian humans who deserve the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

This blog is read by 196 countries worldwide. Please join me in meditation and prayer each day in July and August 2019 for an end to human cruelty and misery inflicted by inhuman current policies in the United States of America, as well as worldwide.

Reference: Hagelin, J.S., Rainforth, M.V., Orme-Johnson, D.W., Cavanaugh, K. L., Alexander, C.N., Shatkin, S.F., Davies, J.L, Hughes, A.O, and Ross, E. 1999. Effects of group practice of the Transcendental Meditation program on preventing violent crime in Washington D.C.: Results of the National Demonstration Project, June-July, 1993. Social Indicators Research, 47(2): 153-201.

Meditation And Prayer Intervention July-August 2019

The Meditation and Prayer Intervention July – August 2019 worldwide effort has begun.

I extend a warm invitation to the worldwide meditation and prayer effort currently underway through July and August 2019. This is an international, interfaith, concerted effort specifically addressing the inhumane conditions at the southern border of the United States of America and Mexico. I am inviting all churches in all denominations in the world to invite all their parishioners to take part; and include all people without any church affiliation to participate.

If such positive results from the 1993 controlled study mentioned below were achieved then, similar results from sustained meditation and prayer can happen again. Meditation and prayer works, as those of us who have tried know, especially when all else fails. Now is the time to take a moment out of your day to join this worldwide effort to raise the consciousness of the inhumane conditions we find ourselves. With the various time zones all over the world, we can have a sustained meditation and prayer effort round the clock. Everyone is invited to meditate and/or pray as time allows these summer months.

Does prayer and meditation reduce crime in inner cities? Yes, according to the 1993 controlled study done in Washington, reducing the crime rate in the District of Columbia by 48 percent. This study has been written about many times before, but given what is happening at the United States of America’s Mexican border and in the inner cities of the United States, as well as cities all over the world, now is a good time to remember this study, and how prayer and meditation can benefit us, and the cities and countries we live in. Washington, D.C. is again sorely in need of meditation and prayer.

The inhumane treatment of putting people, and babies and children who have been separated from their parents in overcrowded cages, without adequate care for hygiene, food and water, and ordinary care is not only barbaric, it is criminal. Kidnapping men, women and children; physical and sexual abuse, as well as mental and spiritual abuse are not communication skills to be used between people nor countries. There is a wide variety of solutions to the self-inflicted immigration situation of human beings coming to our country through our southern border for a better life, just like our parents and grandparents did, that do not involve kidnapping, rape, and unjust and inhumane incarceration. Crimes against humanity are not necessary to solve this problem, nor doing nothing to stop crimes against humanity an answer.

Effects of Group Practice of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Preventing Violent Crime in Washington, DC: Results of the National Demonstration Project, June-July 1993

John S. Hagelin, Maxwell V. Rainforth, David W. Orme-Johnson, Kenneth L. Cavanaugh, Charles N. Alexander, Susan F. Shatkin, John L. Davies, Anne O. Hughes, and Emanuel Ross

This study presented the final results of a two-month prospective experiment to reduce violent crime in Washington, DC. On the basis of previous research it was hypothesized that the level of violent crime in the District of Columbia would drop significantly with the creation of a large group of participants in the Transcendental Meditation® and TM-Sidhi® programs to increase coherence and reduce stress in the District.

This National Demonstration Project to Reduce Violent Crime and Improve Governmental Effectiveness brought approximately 4,000 participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs to the United States national capital from June 7 to July 30, 1993. A 27-member independent Project Review Board consisting of sociologists and criminologists from leading universities, representatives from the police department and government of the District of Columbia, and civic leaders approved in advance the research protocol for the project and monitored its progress.

The dependent variable in the research was weekly violent crime, as measured by the Uniform Crime Report program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; violent crimes include homicide, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery. This data was obtained from the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department for 1993 as well as for the preceding five years (1988-1992). Additional data used for control purposes included weather variables (temperature, precipitation, humidity), daylight hours, changes in police and community anti-crime activities, prior crime trends in the District of Columbia, and concurrent crime trends in neighboring cities. Average weekly temperature was significantly correlated with homicides, rapes and assaults (HRA crimes), as has also been found in previous research; therefore temperature was used as a control variable in the main analysis of HRA crimes. Using time series analysis, violent crimes were analyzed separately in terms of HRA crimes (crimes against the person) and robbery (monetary crimes), as well as together.

The following is a graph pictured:

Analysis of 1993 data, controlling for temperature, revealed that there was a highly significant decrease in HRA crimes associated with increases in the size of the group during the Demonstration Project. The maximum decrease was 23.3% when the size of the group was largest during the final week of the project. The statistical probability that this result could reflect chance variation in crime levels was less than 2 in 1 billion (p < .000000002). When a longer baseline is used (1988-1993 data), the maximum decrease was 24.6% during this period (p < .00003). When analyzed as a separate variable, robberies did not decrease significantly, but a joint analysis of both HRA crimes and robberies indicated that violent crimes as a whole decreased significantly to a maximum amount of 15.6% during the final week of the project (p = .0008). Analysis of 1993 data, controlling for temperature, revealed that there was a highly significant decrease in HRA crimes associated with increases in the size of the group during the Demonstration Project.

Several additional analyses were performed on HRA crimes to further assess the strength of the main findings. These indicated that the reduction of HRA crimes associated with the group of participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs could not be attributed to changes in police staffing. These secondary analyses also found that the reduction of HRA crimes was highly robust to alternative specifications of the statistical model-that is, the effect is independent of the isolated details of the models used to assess seasonal cycles and trends. No significant decrease was found in any of the prior five years during this period of time, indicating that this effect was not due to the specific time of year. Furthermore, the intervention parameters for the group size revealed that the effect of the group was not only cumulative with the increase in group size, but also continued for some time after the end of the project.

Based on the results of the study, the steady state gain (long-term effect) associated with a permanent group of 4,000 participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs was calculated as a 48% reduction in HRA crimes in the District of Columbia.

Given the strength of these results, their consistency with the positive results of previous research, the grave human and financial costs of violent crime, and the lack of other effective and scientific methods to reduce crime, policy makers are urged to apply this approach on a large scale for the benefit of society.

It is again time to practice meditation and prayer, this time through July and August 2019, for the specific goal of reducing the inhumane of human beings at the United States border, stopping the separation of children from their parents, eliminating locking up children and adults in deplorable conditions, putting an end to raping females who cross the border, and all other inhumane treatment not mentioned here.

People from all over the world are affected by this embarrassing and inhumane treatment of all human beings born with the same God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is not just individuals who are white, Caucasian humans who deserve the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

This blog is read by 196 countries worldwide. Please join me in meditation and prayer each day in July and August 2019 for an end to human cruelty and misery inflicted by inhuman current policies in the United States of America, as well as worldwide.

Reference: Hagelin, J.S., Rainforth, M.V., Orme-Johnson, D.W., Cavanaugh, K. L., Alexander, C.N., Shatkin, S.F., Davies, J.L, Hughes, A.O, and Ross, E. 1999. Effects of group practice of the Transcendental Meditation program on preventing violent crime in Washington D.C.: Results of the National Demonstration Project, June-July, 1993. Social Indicators Research, 47(2): 153-201.

Namaste

Meditation And Prayer Reduced Crime In Inner Cities ~ District of Columbia Reduced Crime By 48 Percent ~ It’s Time For Another Meditation And Prayer Intervention ~ July And August 2019

The Meditation and Prayer Intervention July – August 2019 worldwide effort has begun.

I extend a warm invitation to the worldwide meditation and prayer effort currently underway through July and August 2019. This is an interfaith, concerted effort specifically addressing the inhumane conditions at the southern border of the United States of America and Mexico. I am inviting all churches in all denominations in the world to invite all their parishioners to take part; and include all people without any church affiliation to participate.

If such positive results from the 1993 controlled study mentioned below were achieved then, similar results from sustained meditation and prayer can happen again. Meditation and prayer works when all else fails. Now is the time to take a moment out of your day to join this worldwide effort to raise the consciousness of the inhumane conditions we find ourselves. With the various time zones all over the world, we can have a sustained meditation and prayer effort round the clock. Everyone is invited to meditate and/or pray as time allows these summer months.

Does prayer and meditation reduce crime in inner cities? Yes, according to the 1993 controlled study done in Washington, reducing the crime rate in the District of Columbia by 48 percent. This study has been written about many times before, but given what is happening at the United States of America’s Mexican border and in the inner cities of the United States, as well as cities all over the world, now is a good time to remember this study, and how prayer and meditation can benefit us, and the cities and countries we live in. Washington, D.C. is again sorely in need of meditation and prayer.

The inhumane treatment of putting people, and babies and children who have been separated from their parents in overcrowded cages, without adequate care for hygiene, food and water, and ordinary care is not only barbaric, it is criminal. Kidnapping men, women and children; physical and sexual abuse, as well as mental and spiritual abuse are not communication skills to be used between people nor countries. There is a wide variety of solutions to the self-inflicted immigration situation of human beings coming to our country through our southern border for a better life, just like our parents and grandparents did, that do not involve kidnapping, rape, and unjust and inhumane incarceration. Crimes against humanity are not necessary to solve this problem, nor doing nothing to stop crimes against humanity an answer.

Effects of Group Practice of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Preventing Violent Crime in Washington, DC: Results of the National Demonstration Project, June-July 1993

John S. Hagelin, Maxwell V. Rainforth, David W. Orme-Johnson, Kenneth L. Cavanaugh, Charles N. Alexander, Susan F. Shatkin, John L. Davies, Anne O. Hughes, and Emanuel Ross

This study presented the final results of a two-month prospective experiment to reduce violent crime in Washington, DC. On the basis of previous research it was hypothesized that the level of violent crime in the District of Columbia would drop significantly with the creation of a large group of participants in the Transcendental Meditation® and TM-Sidhi® programs to increase coherence and reduce stress in the District.

This National Demonstration Project to Reduce Violent Crime and Improve Governmental Effectiveness brought approximately 4,000 participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs to the United States national capital from June 7 to July 30, 1993. A 27-member independent Project Review Board consisting of sociologists and criminologists from leading universities, representatives from the police department and government of the District of Columbia, and civic leaders approved in advance the research protocol for the project and monitored its progress.

The dependent variable in the research was weekly violent crime, as measured by the Uniform Crime Report program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; violent crimes include homicide, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery. This data was obtained from the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department for 1993 as well as for the preceding five years (1988-1992). Additional data used for control purposes included weather variables (temperature, precipitation, humidity), daylight hours, changes in police and community anti-crime activities, prior crime trends in the District of Columbia, and concurrent crime trends in neighboring cities. Average weekly temperature was significantly correlated with homicides, rapes and assaults (HRA crimes), as has also been found in previous research; therefore temperature was used as a control variable in the main analysis of HRA crimes. Using time series analysis, violent crimes were analyzed separately in terms of HRA crimes (crimes against the person) and robbery (monetary crimes), as well as together.

The following is a graph pictured:

Analysis of 1993 data, controlling for temperature, revealed that there was a highly significant decrease in HRA crimes associated with increases in the size of the group during the Demonstration Project. The maximum decrease was 23.3% when the size of the group was largest during the final week of the project. The statistical probability that this result could reflect chance variation in crime levels was less than 2 in 1 billion (p < .000000002). When a longer baseline is used (1988-1993 data), the maximum decrease was 24.6% during this period (p < .00003). When analyzed as a separate variable, robberies did not decrease significantly, but a joint analysis of both HRA crimes and robberies indicated that violent crimes as a whole decreased significantly to a maximum amount of 15.6% during the final week of the project (p = .0008). Analysis of 1993 data, controlling for temperature, revealed that there was a highly significant decrease in HRA crimes associated with increases in the size of the group during the Demonstration Project.

Several additional analyses were performed on HRA crimes to further assess the strength of the main findings. These indicated that the reduction of HRA crimes associated with the group of participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs could not be attributed to changes in police staffing. These secondary analyses also found that the reduction of HRA crimes was highly robust to alternative specifications of the statistical model-that is, the effect is independent of the isolated details of the models used to assess seasonal cycles and trends. No significant decrease was found in any of the prior five years during this period of time, indicating that this effect was not due to the specific time of year. Furthermore, the intervention parameters for the group size revealed that the effect of the group was not only cumulative with the increase in group size, but also continued for some time after the end of the project.

Based on the results of the study, the steady state gain (long-term effect) associated with a permanent group of 4,000 participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs was calculated as a 48% reduction in HRA crimes in the District of Columbia.

Given the strength of these results, their consistency with the positive results of previous research, the grave human and financial costs of violent crime, and the lack of other effective and scientific methods to reduce crime, policy makers are urged to apply this approach on a large scale for the benefit of society.

It is again time to practice meditation and prayer, this time through July and August 2019, for the specific goal of reducing the inhumane of human beings at the United States border, stopping the separation of children from their parents, eliminating locking up children and adults in deplorable conditions, putting an end to raping females who cross the border, and all other inhumane treatment not mentioned here.

People from all over the world are affected by this embarrassing and inhumane treatment of all human beings born with the same God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is not just individuals who are white, Caucasian humans who deserve the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

This blog is read by 196 countries worldwide. Please join me in meditation and prayer each day in July and August 2019 for an end to human cruelty and misery inflicted by inhuman current policies in the United States of America, as well as worldwide.

Reference: Hagelin, J.S., Rainforth, M.V., Orme-Johnson, D.W., Cavanaugh, K. L., Alexander, C.N., Shatkin, S.F., Davies, J.L, Hughes, A.O, and Ross, E. 1999. Effects of group practice of the Transcendental Meditation program on preventing violent crime in Washington D.C.: Results of the National Demonstration Project, June-July, 1993. Social Indicators Research, 47(2): 153-201.

Namaste

Sweden’s Prostitution Solution: Why Hasn’t Anyone Tried This Before?

Esnoticia!co has published an innovative solution to the sex trafficking of women and children that has met with success in Sweden. The twist is that female prostitutes are treated as victims, and the male purchasers of women are the ones who get arrested.

In a centuries deep sea of clichés despairing that ‘prostitution will always be with us’, one country’s success stands out as a solitary beacon lighting the way. In just five years Sweden has dramatically reduced the number of its women in prostitution. In the capital city of Stockholm the number of women in street prostitution has been reduced by two thirds, and the number of johns has been reduced by 80%. There are other major Swedish cities where street prostitution has all but disappeared. Gone too, for the most part, are the renowned Swedish brothels and massage parlors which proliferated during the last three decades of the twentieth century when prostitution in Sweden was legal.

In addition, the number of foreign women now being trafficked into Sweden for sex is nil. The Swedish government estimates that in the last few years only 200 to 400 women and girls have been annually sex trafficked into Sweden, a figure that’s negligible compared to the 15,000 to 17,000 females yearly sex trafficked into neighboring Finland. No other country, nor any other social experiment, has come anywhere near Sweden’s promising results.

By what complex formula has Sweden managed this feat? Amazingly, Sweden’s strategy isn’t complex at all. It’s tenets, in fact, seem so simple and so firmly anchored in common sense as to immediately spark the question, “Why hasn’t anyone tried this before?”

Sweden’s Groundbreaking 1999 Legislation

In 1999, after years of research and study, Sweden passed legislation that a) criminalizes the buying of sex, and b) decriminalizes the selling of sex. The novel rationale behind this legislation is clearly stated in the government’s literature on the law:

“In Sweden prostitution is regarded as an aspect of male violence against women and children. It is officially acknowledged as a form of exploitation of women and children and constitutes a significant social problem… gender equality will remain unattainable so long as men buy, sell and exploit women and children by prostituting them.”

In addition to the two pronged legal strategy, a third and essential element of Sweden’s prostitution legislation provides for ample and comprehensive social service funds aimed at helping any prostitute who wants to get out, and additional funds to educate the public. As such, Sweden’s unique strategy treats prostitution as a form of violence against women in which the men who exploit by buying sex are criminalized, the mostly female prostitutes are treated as victims who need help, and the public is educated in order to counteract the historical male bias that has long stultified thinking on prostitution. To securely anchor their view in firm legal ground, Sweden’s prostitution legislation was passed as part and parcel of the country’s 1999 omnibus violence against women legislation.

An Early Obstacle in the Path

Interestingly, despite the country’s extensive planning prior to passing the legislation, the first couple years into this novel project nothing much happened at all. Police made very few arrests of johns and prostitution in Sweden, which had previously been legalized, went on pretty much as it had gone on before. Naysayers the world over responded to the much publicized failure with raucous heckling, “See? Prostitution always has been, and it always will be.”

But eminently secure in the thinking behind their plan, the Swedes paid no heed. They quickly identified, then solved the problem. The hang-up, the place where their best efforts had snagged, was that law enforcement wasn’t doing it’s part. The police themselves, it was determined, needed in-depth training and orientation to what the Swedish public and legislature already understood profoundly. Prostitution is a form of male violence against women. The exploiter/buyers need to be punished, and the victim/prostitutes need to be helped. The Swedish government put up extensive funds and the country’s police and prosecutors, from the top ranks down to the officer on the beat, were given intensive training and a clear message that the country meant business. It was then that the country quickly began to see the unequaled results.

Today, not only do the Swedish people continue to overwhelming support their country’s approach to prostitution (80% of people in favor according to national opinion polls), but the country’s police and prosecutors have also come around to be among the legislation’s staunchest supporters. Sweden’s law enforcement has found that the prostitution legislation benefits them in dealing with all sex crimes, particularly in enabling them to virtually wipe out the organized crime element that plagues other countries where prostitution has been legalized or regulated.

The Failure of Legalization and/or Regulation Strategies

This Swedish experiment is the single, solitary example in a significant sized population of a prostitution policy that works. In 2003, the Scottish government in looking to revamp its own approach to prostitution enlisted the University of London to do a comprehensive analysis of outcomes of prostitution policies in other countries. In addition to reviewing Sweden’s program, the researchers chose Australia, Ireland, and the Netherlands to represent various strategies of legalizing and/or regulating prostitution. The researchers did not review the situation where prostitution is criminalized across the board as it is in the US. The outcome of that approach is already well known. The failures and futility of the revolving door of arresting and rearresting prostitutes is all too familiar the world over.

But the outcomes, as revealed in the Univ. of London study, in the states under review that had legalized or regulated prostitution were found to be just as discouraging or even more discouraging than the traditional all round criminalization. In each case the results were dramatic in the negative.

Legalization and/or regulation of prostitution, according to the study, led to:

A dramatic increase in all facets of the sex industry,
A dramatic increase in the involvement of organized crime in the sex industry,
A dramatic increase in child prostitution,
An explosion in the number of foreign women and girls trafficked into the region, and
Indications of an increase in violence against women.
In the state of Victoria, Australia, where a system of legalized, regulated brothels was established, there was such an explosion in the number of brothels that it immediately overwhelmed the system’s ability to regulate them, and just as quickly these brothels became a mire of organized crime, corruption, and related crimes. In addition, surveys of the prostitutes working under systems of legalization and regulation find that the prostitutes themselves continue to feel coerced, forced, and unsafe in the business.

A survey of legal prostitutes under the showcase Netherlands legalization policy finds that 79% say they want to get out of the sex business. And though each of the legalization/regulation programs promised help for prostitutes who want to leave prostitution, that help never materialized to any meaningful degree. In contrast, in Sweden the government followed through with ample social services funds to help those prostitutes who wanted to get out. 60% of the prostitutes in Sweden took advantage of the well funded programs and succeeded in exiting prostitution.*

* The full Scottish government report on prostitution policies can be seen at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk
So Why Hasn’t Anyone Tried This Before?

Why, then, with Sweden’s success so clearly lighting the way, aren’t others quickly adopting the plan? Well, some are. Both Finland and Norway are on the verge of making the move. And if Scotland takes the advise of its own study, it will go in that direction too. But, the answer to the question of why other countries aren’t jumping to adopt Sweden’s plan is probably the same as the answer to the question of why governments haven’t tried Sweden’s solution before.

In order to see prostitutes as victims of male coercion and violence it requires that a government first switch from seeing prostitution from the male point of view to the female point of view. And most, if not virtually all, countries of the world still see prostitution and every other issue from a predominantly male point of view.

Sweden, in contrast, has led the way in promoting equality for women for a very long time. In 1965, for example, Sweden criminalized rape in marriage. Even by the 1980’s there were states in the United States that still hadn’t made that fundamental recognition of women’s rights to control her own body. The Swedish government also stands out in having the highest proportion of women at all levels of government. In 1999, when Sweden passed its groundbreaking prostitution legislation, the Swedish Parliament was composed of nearly 50% women.

Sweden’s prostitution policy was first designed and lobbied for by Sweden’s organization of women’s shelters and was then fostered and fought for by a bipartisan effort of Sweden’s uniquely powerful and numerous female parliamentarians. Nor has Sweden stopped there. In 2002, Sweden passed additional legislation bolstering the original prostitution legislation. The 2002 Act Prohibiting Human Trafficking for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation closed some of the loopholes in the earlier legislation and further strengthened the government’s ability to go after the network of persons that surround and support prostitution, such as the recruiters, the transporters, and the hosts.

And Why Can’t We Copy Sweden’s Success Here?

While it’s probably true that we and other countries are still much more steeped in patriarchal darkness than Sweden, there’s no reason we can’t push now for the policy changes that Sweden has made. The beauty of it is that once the ground has been broken and the proof of success has been established, it should be ever much easier to convince others to go down that path.

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Copyright © Marie De Santis,
Women’s Justice Center,
justicewomen.com