The Internet Peace Movement Takes Shape

Only 2 months in to President Obama's first term and people were already grumbling because he wasn't able to snap his fingers and end the war in Iraq and turn around the economic decline. His election did have a slowing effect on the economic slide, however, most pundits feel it was a reaction to the shock most of the free world was in that the United States had finally elected an African-American President. One would have hoped that the rest of the world would have been buoyed by America's return to economic form. The fact that anyone thought Obama would be able to pull the troops out of Iraq right away is almost as shocking as if he'd actually tried. It's the thought that counts. He and his staffers were working tirelessly to establish bi-partisan support for some sort of troop withdrawal measures. What comes as no surprise is that partisan politics of Washington still abide by the status quo. It's business as usual in the nations capital.

However, in the country at large another movement is taking place. More and more people are engaging in ways to use the internet for spiritual sustenance and guidance on a mass scale. Spirituality and religion has gone global. Joel Olsteen, who's Lakewood Church holds the record for the largest mega church on land, now has the largest congregation in cyberspace. He and President Bush's spiritual advisor, Kirby John Caldwell joined forces and cornered the market with the Lakewood - Windsor Village Online Christian Experience. With 1 billion actual tithing members at last count, they are taking the word into the high-ways and byways of cyberspace.

On the peace front, meditation groups, whose goal is to meditate for peace have sprang up all over the internet and aligned themselves on one accord. They are not meditating against war, as that has proven to simply draw more war. They consider themselves a peace alliance and subscribe to Mother Teresa's view. Mother Teresa did not attend or support anti-war rallies. She believed that working towards peace was far more effective then fighting against war. This came about as a response to the ferocity of the battle for Iraq in the last months of 2008. As President Bush prepared to leave office and the shift of power was imminent, instability arose on the battle front. The insurgents redoubled their efforts to oust the occupying forces.

Many remembered the meditating experiments that had taken place in Washington, DC as an effort to help curtail crime. While no one really wanted to give credence to a bunch of airy fairy meditation gurus, no one could argue with the fact that crime statistics had been affected during the periods of prolonged meditation. However, something had to be done and nuking people off the face of the earth was no longer a suitable solution. Even reinstating the draft only assured that larger numbers of American servicemen would return home draped in the flag.

No one is sure who made the decision to start the peace initiative. However, the speed with which it took on a life of its own was astounding. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation had finally bridged the digital divide. Anyone who wanted a laptop was able to get one. With streaming video and world wide free access to wireless internet, people were more technologically in tune than ever. The peace meditations started with a few internet groups meeting daily at the same time to meditate for peace and one of those meditation practitioners was the CEO of a large computer company. He offered all of his employess who wanted to the option of meditating with the peace alliance if they chose too. He was astonished by the response and engaged his partners who in turn gave the same option to their employees. Before long almost every major corporation had employees signing on. Many teachers who taught computer classes noticed a surge in their students who were logging in of their own accord to take part in the meditations.

The meditation is all free form which means there are no preset ways to meditate. Some people pray, some sit in silent reflection, while others chant, however, the single goal is towards peace. As videos and blogging about the mediation filtered onto the net, many in foreign countries began their own mediations. This global phenomenon has taken the world by storm. Now six months into his term, Obama and the congress and senate are finally making headway towards hammering out plans for troop withdrawals. The world has not become a utopia by any means but crime, strife and turmoil have lessened tremendously. This seems to be owing to the fact that many of the workers and students, who are taking time out to pray and meditate, are themselves, less stressed. No one can say what will happen as the 2009 comes to a close but the wind of global accord seems to be blowing.