About Me

Roger Copple can be emailed at Roger.Copple@gmail.com 

 Op Ed News . com   has published 112 of my articles.   Here are other websites where my articles have been published:   

www.LewRockwell.com 

www.GreenSocialThought.com    

www.Truthout.org  

www.CounterCurrents.org

www.GlobalResearch.ca 

InformationClearingHouse.info 

www.Tikkun.org

 www.IntrepidReport.com

www.DemocracyChronicles.com

www.DissidentVoice.org 

www.WinterOak.org.UK


October 19, 2023

On September 17, 2023, I renewed my faith in Christianity after being enamored with yoga philosophy and Buddhism for 14 years. See recent documents or files that I have created on my homepage to learn more about this.  

February 11, 2023

I grew up in a church that said you had to speak in tongues to get saved and go to heaven.  I often prayed fervently starting at the age of 5 for the experience in the prayer room at church, where people would cry and wail, and roll on the floor.  One 80-year old lady would sometimes get happy in the spirit and run laps around the church during church services.  That was always entertaining.

About my sophomore year in college, I became transformed by the protest of the Vietnam War, the anti-nuclear movement, Eastern philosophy, the study of psychology, smoking reefer, and democratic socialism, which I started believing could save the world. However, the Covid crises that began in March 2020 caused me to become disillusioned with the Left, so now I would say I am more an anarchist or a libertarian, but I don't support corporate or crony capitalism.  Many libertarians think it is perfectly fine to aspire to be a millionaire or billionaire, but I think incomes above certain amounts should be taxed at much higher rates. Libertarian capitalists, like socialists, are against imperialism, and I will always resonate with that. 

Here is a definition of anarchy that I have always liked: Anarchy: a self-governed society in which people organize themselves from the bottom-up on an egalitarian basis; decisions made by those affected by them; direct democratic control of our workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, towns and bio-regions with coordination between differing groups as needed. A world where women and men are free and equal and all of us have power over our own lives, bodies and sexuality; where we cherish and live in balance with the earth and value diversity of cultures, races, and sexual orientations, where we work and live together cooperatively.   

Two times in my twenties and thirties, I had brief periods where I went back to being  a Christian fundamentalist or an evangelical Christian. Later going to a liberal seminary, where I studied the New Testament like a scientist, caused me to doubt believing in the virgin birth, the trinity, and the literal resurrection of Jesus in the way that evangelical Christians believe.  Now  I believe that Jesus could have been a highly evolved yogi to achieve the various things he allegedly achieved.     

Growing up in an anti-intellectual home, I had the most trouble with high school courses like U.S. history, which seemed like a boring subject that was a waste of time. Later in my life, European history would become an important and fascinating subject. Lately I have been interested in studying the history of Christianity again using the excellent textbook I read in seminary.   

Fascinated with yoga and meditation, I starting reading many of the books written by Swami Rama.  When I later met him in person and was initiated and given a mantra (which I never did repeat over and over as suggested), I remember that being in his presence was the most powerful spiritual experience I have ever had in my life: I felt rapturous love and indescribable bliss.  So I became convinced that meditation and spiritual disciplines can transform a person.  My ex-wife, by the way, thought there was nothing special about Swami Rama.  

In my mid 50s, I started advocating the integration of the Perennial Philosophy (that’s the term Aldous Huxley used;  it is also referred to as Ageless Wisdom, describing the nondual, mystical experience) with a democratic form of socialism as a way to save individuals and the world. I created a website called www.NowSaveTheWorld.com  because the website name "SaveTheWorld.com" had already been taken by somebody else. I created this website in 2010 right before I retired at age 60 from teaching.  I was a high school special education teacher of Algebra, English, and Social Studies, but during the last 6 years of my career I taught general elementary, mostly third grade.  In March 2020, I changed the name of my website to  WorldWithoutEmpire.com.  

Buddha said that desire is the cause of suffering, but sometimes individuals do not want to give up their attachments and desires--in romance, for example.  In mindfulness meditation, we temporarily disidentify with our  thoughts, beliefs,  and  memories, becoming detached and objective.  This gives us a fresh new insight and perspective about ourselves, others, and the world.  Yogis, Buddhists, and Christian mystics have found  a higher joy and inner peace that the world cannot comprehend.  But it is okay if we're not there yet because it may take several lifetimes before we lose our attraction for the charms and temptations of the world.  There is a part of us that is eternal, and it never dies when we leave this earth. I am becoming more and more convinced of this from meditating and learning about individuals who have had Near-Death Experiences.   

The human species will evolve and thrive when we desire to save every person on the planet, when we become concerned about the Self-actualization of every individual in every nation.  For about 10 years I supported a  democratic form of socialism in the articles that I had written.  But since  the vast majority of socialists  (and also capitalist liberals) support the official Covid narrative regarding the lockdowns, the wearing of face masks, and forced vaccination--I have become disillusioned with and disappointed with the Democratic Party and various socialist parties. As mentioned above I would say I am a libertarian now.   


The best solution for the nations of the world is to maximize democracy by leveling the playing field and taking all money out of politics.  We need to allow the 7 largest political parties to have an equal voice with proportionate control of the mainstream media and  of the federal legislatures of each nation.  See my latest article on January 25, 2022, entitled “The Resistance Movement Must Provide Solutions to Remake the World."


Opposed to the current New World Order that is increasingly being imposed on the world by global capitalists–I would, however, support a Democratic World Federal Government, when the 7 largest political parties can have a proportionate control of the federal legislature and mainstream media in each nation, and the majority of world citizens are allowed to disassemble a world government if they do not like it.  These measures would have to be established before I would support something like the  Earth Constitution 

Veganism is important for ethical,  ecological,  and  health  reasons. I have been a vegan since 2012 and a vegetarian for about 5 years before that.  

I have a file on my home page that shares videos of individuals who have had Near Death Experiences.  

For about 3 weeks in December of 2018, I deeply studied the research about aliens and UFOs, and though I rarely think about the subject now, I do believe the U.S. government has lied to us about what it knows.  See my file on  UFO Videos and Websites .  

I enjoy websites that interview individuals who are spiritually awakening such as Buddha at the Gas PumpConscious.TV, Soulproof.com ,  Science and NonDuality, and VictorZammit.com.  

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Here is an earlier autobiographical summary written January 2019:

Integrating the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, Buddhism, Yoga Sutras, mindfulness meditation, and Progressive Christianity with socialism, I personally think of myself as a spiritual socialist--a reformist, democratic socialist, not a revolutionary socialist.  If we use violence, it will create violent repercussions. 

The world, especially the United States, needs to give peace a chance.  I am a socialist because I value economic production for the good of all, always with an internationalist perspective.  I want to live in a carefully planned society and in an orderly world, built from the bottom-up, not the top down, from the neighborhood block club, to the elementary school district, voting precinct, township, county, state, national, and ultimately to the international level.   

The most spiritual and ethical thing I can do now is to understand history, political theory, and economics to help rid the world of U.S. imperialism, militarism, and the gross disparity between the rich and poor within countries and among countries. We have to be the change we want to see.  For me, mindfulness meditation helps me grow spiritually. 

 

The world can be saved as planetary citizens live with ecological wisdom, eat a vegetarian and ideally a vegan diet, remove nuclear weapons and nuclear energy, and gradually phase out fossil fuels. 

  

Regarding the public schools in the United States, I propose allowing the residents that live within the boundary of every elementary, middle, and high school to create their own school boards, which would then create their own educational philosophies and school curriculums.  This measure will promote neighborhood togetherness and local self-determination.  

 

We have to work to achieve both outer peace and inner peace. Meditation, or the calm and detached observation of thoughts, feelings, and sensations, a few times a day can create joy and serenity.

 

For world peace, a socialist world government, built from the bottom-up, is recommended. Created democratically, it could also be disassembled democratically too, if that is the will of world citizens.    

 

In the United States, I recommend getting a constitutional amendment passed that revises Article V of the constitution so that it would be easier to pass future amendments and also easier to have a future Constitutional Convention in a fair and democratic way to create a better national constitution.  I have written my own version of the ideal constitution, called the Third Constitution of the United States, after the Articles of Confederation and our current constitution.  

 

We should give a voice to every national political party that captures at least one percent of registered voters, and in the final stages of a presidential race, the debate could be restricted to the 7 largest political parties.  If we created a new constitution, there could be a system of proportional representation with a unicameral national legislature.  My constitution would be easier to abolish when a better one is conceived.