Originally posted here:  http://nibahai.org:80/blogs/adrian-mckee/after-newtown-10100

In the aftermath of Newtown it can be frustrating when looking at the news.  And I'm sure my $.02 worth is not going to make that much difference, but we, as a nation need to make some difficult changes in order to do something about what is truly going on in a society where such carnage is becoming more and more commonplace.

Originally posted here:  http://nibahai.org:80/blogs/adrian-mckee/observation-now-election-over-1075

Now that the election is over I have a couple of observation/thoughts I wish to express.

The first of these is that as Bahá’ís we are encouraged to stay out of conflict and contention, which are the characteristics of our partisanship politics practiced in our current political system.   Being Bahá’í is about coming together, working together for the greater good of all humanity.

Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith also has told the Bahá’ís to be active and loyal to our government and here in the United States it means to vote our individual conscience when there is a local, state or national election and not to participate in the “which party is better, or this candidate is better” mudslinging that always seems to come up..

I am Adrian McKee, the Webmaster of the Northern Illinois Bahá’í Web Site. I became a Bahá’í in late August, 1971. It was the end of turbulent times, the end of the “Flower Power” movement, and the winding down of the “Black Power” movement. It was 3 years after the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and the summer of the Police Riots at the Democratic National Convention in the summer of 1968. Being a Black teen in the ‘burbs of Chicago was very troubling and very confusing. There was excitement of some of the gains that were being made in the Civil Rights movement, but the reality is that there is still a long way to go.