Actions Speak Louder Ben Jonson said, “Speak, that I may know thee!” True, to a degree. Yet actions tend more to belief than words. How many people and politicians have mastered the acrobatics of saying one thing and doing another. There are few dictators fond of declaring their mistakes and turning from them. Belief, the center of the soul, is most evident in action. In the Middle East, beliefs are as pronounced as action. Words do little to paper over the spasms of action gripping the region. And what do these actions say of belief? There seems little to indicate a desire to turn around and follow a different, more peaceful way. American politicians are prodded to beadle about the area, accomplishing at best a splattering of cease-fires, during which rearmament occurs. European politicians, fond of prodding American politicians to do something, can’t get an audience with anyone who matters. No one believes in them. Western belief tends to flame itself out in attempts to avoid violent conflict. Hence America is infested with lawyers, as Dickens describes them “lying like maggots in nuts,” who transmute base violence into litigation. Still, America is better off with congested courts than blood-clotted streets. But what happens when the violent beliefs of others spill over into postmodern, litigious America? Our beliefs come to the fore. We search our own souls, confronting the beliefs of others, which evoke from us actions. May these actions arise from those beliefs among us that are best. James Clark ============================================================== (c) 2002 Millennium Relief & Development Services, vol. 2 no. 18 'Insight' is a publication of MRDS to interpret current events in light of the experience of members of our international network. 'Insight' archives and other information can be found on our website. 'Insight' may be freely copied with this citation. If you wish to be removed from this mailing list, simply reply and request to be removed. Millennium RDS, 5116 Bissonnet #358, Bellaire, TX 77401-4007 Tel: (713)961-5645 Fax: (713)961-5735 www.mrds.org insight@mrds.org. ==============================================================