I even just read part two, really completed it, pulled together alot of the loose ends I was feeling in part one. I guess that's why it had two parts.
Great tolstoy quote in there, really underscored the whole thing. 'A people’s religion is “the principle by which they live.”'
I also really enjoyed the section about the foolishness of waiting for catastrophic events to necessitate change, a viewpoint that is really appealing to many who feel discouraged, disenfranchised and most of all frustrated with their inability to effect visible change in the modern world.
"Unfortunately, simply waiting for catastrophe doesn’t ensure that
anything good will follow from it, as Darfur has illustrated. It’s true
that there will be opportunities to create locally based and
sustainable communities, but it’s also true that fascism, barbarism,
and regression are possible."