Some years ago, when I was more into New Age and believed a lot of things I'm not sure I believe in now, people spoke a lot about The Era of Aquarius. Simply put, mankind was leaving an age of darkness of thought and action, associated with the impulsive behaviour of a teenager (I don't think teenagers are stupid, though. But that's a thought for another post, one of these days...).
The beginning of the new millenium would mean the end of a cycle where we had the blind rationality of the Greeks, the cruelty of the Romans, the ignorance of the Dark Ages, the European despotism, the two World Wars and a number of other negative atittudes and reactions. In this sort of second chance, people would globally become aware of the self, and consequently, of the global consciousness, starting to make gradual positive changes. The Era of Aquarius symbolizes the growth of Humanity as a whole and, surprinsingly, as an adult civilization on its way to a better world.

Well, then it happened: the two towers fell (and this is a too serious a sentence for any associations with The Lord of The Rings) and hell broke loose. A group of badly influenced people hijacked a couple of commercial aeroplanes, with people inside, and thought it was an Allah-recognizable sacrifice to crash them against two legendary skyscrapers, also full of people, and kill them all in the name of God.
After this, I really can't say as a proper human being that I have much faith in the concept of The Era of Aquarius; I'm more inclined, unfortunately, to go for the Nostradamus predictions of chaos and destruction. Or perhaps, more inclined into the catastrophic scientific possibility that we, human beasts, are more likely to self-destruct than to do anything good on this Earth.

You can look at this from almost any point of view: social, economical, political, geographical, etc...
I think about all these changes in the past six-and-so years from a religious point of view, because what blind rationality, cruelty, ignorance, despotism, occupation, poverty, rage and aggressiveness all have in common is one simple concept: guilt.
Do you really think it was one nation's fault that led to a massacre? Or that religion is to blame?
Do you really think that Islam is wrong, and you are right?
I don't know, but in my humble opinion, maybe you should think again...

This simple word "religion" comes from the Latin re + ligare, which means "to connect" or "to bind". It can be interpreted as a set of beliefs that, connected, form a core of values and rules to worship the Divine; it can define a group of people who follow a specific core of values and rules, not only in terms of worship, but also in terms of the way those people choose to live their lives.
I like to think that "religion" is a reminder that, no matter what those values are, that we are connected to the Divine (regardless of that Divine) and, therefore, we are all connected.
In a more basic way, as I like to put it, we all have two legs, two arms, two eyes, brains and the ability to talk. In the absence of making a point, we all have souls. That should be more than enough to connect us all somehow, don't you think?

The big issue with world religions doesn't have a thing to do with the god people revere to, in any case. That's not even the point. The point is how the appointed people to guard and preserve the religion interpret their set of beliefs and the correspondent values and rules.

Take the Christian "Thou shall not kill". This is an order: you will not kill, because it's wrong to take another human life in an unnatural way. You can imagine it like this: "Thou shall not kill, because then you'll be punished. You'll be arrested, convicted, rot in jail, burn in hell, etc...". I guess that, at the very least, you'd get a very heavy conscience, and that suits you very well.
But... if I kill an animal, even if it is to eat it, will I be punished?
The general answer to this would be "no", for a series of reasons: because you need to eat animals to survive; because animals don't have souls (only people who never had, or don't like, pets would go for this...); because it was an accident, bla bla bla...

Most people don't think about this. They don't have time, they think it's a good enough interpretation, or they don't dare to question themselves too much with religion, because it might crack their brains... or they can't, because someone will kick their asses for questioning God.

The same problem with interpretation arises from Islam, from Judaism, from Buddhism and neo-pagan and modern religious movements.
The Divine doesn't interpret anything: humans do. And being the interpreter doesn't automatically make him/her a good person. Actually, the world is filled with terrible interpreters, who forget that the Divine is inside us all, and that it would never lead people into disgrace, on the contrary.
Communicating with the Divine, on our own, without interpreters, is an extraordinary and easy experience.
When you are walking by the sea, and you listen to the waves and feel good about that moment, you are communicating with the Divine.
When you are helping someone in need, selflessly, like listening to a friend talking, you are communicating with the Divine.
When you are with your friends, and you feel happy having drinks, that's also communicating with the Divine.
When you are committed to becoming a better person, on your own, and for yourself, you are connecting with the Divine and coming closer to that form of consciousness.
And all of this, with or without a religion, it doesn't matter.

Now, do you really think the enemy is the muslim dude sitting next to you, or that nation full of them? Or those people who call themselves witches?
Do you really think that the bad-guy-whose-name-I'm-not-writing-who-says-we're-on-a-holy-war did it and influenced others to do it in the name of religion and of Allah?

We should be fighting to become better people; we should be fighting guilt and ignorance; we should be fighting for fairness and unity; we should be fighting for our planet and for a positive future, for knowledge and for peace.
Instead, I guess the Era of Aquarius is becoming the Era of the Dumb Roaches, because that's what we are, running around and hitting our heads against each other.
And God is not to blame for this mess we're in. None of the Gods, by the way.

I was reading an article on Publico.es yesterday about the socio-cultural situation of EMO’s, punks and other subcultures in Mexico City. Seems it’s not very good to dress in black and dye your hair green there, because chances are you’ll get beaten up, just like that. Also, if you are gay, you may be also beaten up, or worse.
These groups have all united and held a demonstration in Mexico DF, criticising the government, the police, and the general population about this discriminatory attitude.
They never made it to their destination; a club in the city where these people are free to meet and listen to alternative music. There were confrontations between their popular opposers and the police, which was supposed to hold a protection chord between them and the angry mob. However, the police was obviously pro-angry mob and didn’t avoid the street battle that ensued.

One can argue about the general socio-cultural situation in Mexico, and in other Latin American countries, not to mention other nations not in South America where free expression is a serious issue. In Spain, legislation has been passed recently which allows gay and lesbians to live in quite a safe country: the proof is there, if you take a walk through the streets of Madrid, or any other city in the country. I suppose that in Europe, in general, these are not extraordinarily hot issues. Discrimination exists, but I guess that the likelihood of someone being beaten up and left to die on the streets of – say, Paris – because he/she is an EMO, or a goth, is not significant. I mean, everybody will stare at something that seems to be out of the norm, but there is a big distance to insulting and assaulting…

And here comes the cliché: people should dress how they feel, and be whomever they choose to be. And, obviously, they should be prepared to handle the consequences of such a responsible choice, be it a stare or a laugh, or even an insult. I mean, women going by a construction site shouldn’t wear skirts, because then they will be harassed?! Believe me; it takes less than a skirt to be harassed by construction workers…
However, when an angry mob chases you with the intent of skinning you out of you jeans and violet hair, then something is very, very wrong. That’s messing with your free will and your civil freedom. You won’t see the same angry mob lynching someone who has no taste in clothing (I’m thinking Posh Spice now…).

Subcultures such as EMOs, punks, hippies, rockabillies, etc..., emerge as a reaction to the status quo of a specific society, usually supported by music and other forms of art. These subcultures end up becoming the backbone of the social upbringing of teenagers, something which is sometimes good, and sometimes bad. I mean, when you add political and religious factors that incite to violence and hatred, and you expose teenagers to it, I can imagine what kind of adults they will become. But, these subcultures also end up being the motor of evolution for societies, and these “impressionable” teenagers also have the power to separate what is good and what is bad for them and their society, either by themselves, or with the help of the proper guidance – parents and, if necessary, the Police (ugh!).