A look into humanity ::: Responsibility To Bring Peace
“It takes a deep commitment to change and an even deeper commitment to grow”.
-Ralph Ellison
Coming to terms with the person inside is the first step to peace and responsibility in all of man kind. We must take responsibility for our selves and must respect our image as men and women. Not for what we look like on the outside but for what we are on the inside, that eternal truth is our humanity, and it is something that we share. We all require the air provided by God.
Misguided religion has been the scourge upon man for far too long. No matter our beliefs, in our journeys to truth, we should not impose on another persons right to breath and believe. The thoughts of God are to create a balance and to bring light to a world that has been dark for far too long. To fight in the name of religion is to smack God in the face with lies and self interest. This is an injustice to the value of the written word and what it entails. As human beings who pray, we should not prey on the weak, the different, or the misunderstood. As practitioners of truth we should remain true, to the word and the wishes of our God. Peace begets peace, as the same goes for violence!
The journey of life is a long one, no matter how short we deem it to be. Each and every man is placed upon this planet to carry on the truths we all share. To enlighten the grain that feeds each and every man and women that sits at the table, no matter their age, race, or practice, this is a food of righteousness.
War has been a plague on mankind and has taken from us all of that in which we love. Harmony is no longer a place in our hearts world but a place we seek and that is not a positive attribute to pass on to our children who shall walk down the same road we have traveled just to protect themselves against the legacy of misguided ideology that we have created amongst one another.
American poet Nikki Giovanni once stated, “In the name of peace they wage wars. Ain't they got no shame”? When I first read this, something came over me that has caused me to wonder, and then wander amongst man observing our faults and our greatness. It is this lack of stability that cause man to attack another, the fear of being overcome by another that causes man to draw first blood. Once this begins, justification of ones actions become inevitable, although justice and a just heart is out of the equation, the flock that the lies are told to, tend to believe because of tribal similarity whether it be country, religion, race, or another classification that can be identified to breed such injustice in the form of the spoken word, which leads to more lies and perpetuated evils.
Why is it that the Muslim and the Jew, must carry on this hatred for centuries, when war is the one evil that causes more pain and suffering to both parties? Why is it that the White and the Black divide exist in the first place in a country that is so great? Well I have learned that the stronger the engine the more the exhaust stinks. The diet of hatred, defecates and leaves an foul stench that resonates throughout the decades and in some cases the centuries. We must stop eating the lies, and begin eating the truth. The energy that it takes to eat the lies is far more exhausting that the energy it takes to eat the truth. “No matter how big a nation is, it is no stronger than its weakest people, and as long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you might otherwise.” Those words from Marian Anderson, rings true in all aspects of life not only is it true for nations, it is true for the people.
“I have been true to the principles of nonviolence, developing a stronger and stronger aversion to the ideologies of both the far right and the far left and a deeper sense of rage and sorrow over the suffering they continue to produce all over the world”. These are not my words but they are my feelings towards the matter and Joan Baez could not have been more right. Although we must keep in mind that the rage can not manifest actions of violence but actions of peace. We must put rage in its rightful place. If we are too feel rage we must utilize our feelings in a more positive way. A way that takes our social findings and manifest something greater in the realm of peace. The human heart has the strength to make war, and fight war, but it is how we fight the war that has come upon us, that determines the peace in its aftermath. The lack of peace after war is the sure sign that the war has done nothing but to shift power, and this is the essence of the evil that war is. If we are to change the essence of war, we must first change our methods of war, and in turn do away with it once and for all.
The irony in life is that we are taught history to never repeat this history. However it seems that we are not enlightened by this history but more so empowered by it to repeat and to perpetuate the same crimes against humanity or to live as its victims depending on the historical point of view. I say this to point out a ugly truth, man wants to retain history for his own purpose. It is to remind the new generation their birth right, I have yet to see the majority use history for change, it is the minority that has been fighting this tireless war against humanity. This minority can be a race, a tribe, or some pseudo form or power structure in a classes society and so on.
For example you teach a kid in school that his race is powerful through subliminal messages then his mind stated is to grow into manhood thinking his privilege is the nation and his birth right is its throne. Whether he becomes racist or not, he is misguided and therefore more likely to commit race crimes without effort or thought. This is the worst form of racism known to mind, I call it blind racism, its shooting without aim, and that is as deadly as a gangland drive by shooting, it takes out anyone in the way, whether man, women, child, or elder. This example rings true for religion as it does for sexism, and as mush as it does for the classification of a people. Entitlement is the root to evils that has burned mankind. The soul of the torturer is deemed bright when the tortured is deemed dark. There is no sense in that when man has no place to judge the next man.
Is a blond better than a brunette? Is a Jew better than a Muslim a Christian greater than a Buddhist? Tall better than short? Black better than White? Rich or poor? I think not, for the being is the value and not the belief or appearance. Because ones knowledge is greater on a particular matter does this make you greater than that person who's knowledge of the same subject is lesser? I think not, and believe not, but do you? Are you willing to teach your ways if the interest is there or would you rather feel superior? If history teaches us anything the top is lonely for a reason. Do not isolate your ideas for power, share in your ideas, and if those ideas are not positive then you do away with them and find individuals that can breed positive light into you mind and heart. We do learn from history but history should be a tool to strengthen everyone not just some.
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn”, now Alvin Toffler, identified this problem we must see to it that we eliminate it from remaining so. What are we going to do in order to make sure that those who think they know are shown the right path to truth, and what are we going to do to burn the lies, even from history?
No foundation built on a lack of fundamental interest in all parties within its structure can remain strong.
Humans tend to stay on a line so that it is easy for them to choose a side. Now I know that this seem to be a strong statement but I have come to learn that man is more likely to choose a winning team even if it bites at the core of ethical values from within. In some cases remaining without action to ones ethical opinions has been a great crime to humanity. A moral compass swings in the center depending on your position it may swing further to one side than the other. But if you are center with your actions and is is against your so called conviction, then you are on the side of the system in place to keep you down or those who you care to lifted up. Talking about a matter in your home does nothing but make you look good to your friends but it does not change the world around you. Bishop Tutu stated, “ If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality”.
It is written; “ If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men”, Romans 12:18.
Now Bump Forward, and go out into the world and do for other as you wish for them to do unto you. Give your hearts to men and women, to child, to elder, to friend, and to foe. For it must be so in order to destroy the cycle of pain. This is not about eternity but about peace on earth, eternal homes are built on the foundation of our earthly actions. If you build your reputations and lives on earth by destroying and conquering others, then that is what becomes of your eternal soul. Destruction is now in your heart and your heart is the book that your soul reads.
If eternity is of no interest to you, then take heed to this. Earth is the home of your child, your brothers child, your sisters child, do you want to leave your house dirty when you are on vacation? Do you want to be remembered as the one who left the house dirty? Who cared very little for others safety, and well being? Those around you are affected every day by you, and those you breed lies to.
So no matter your religion, your race, your goals, you class, neighborhood, city, states, high country or low country, nation, ethnicity, skin tone, creed, ideas, and/or education, you must begin or continue to treat others with respect and live your life with true dignity, but a dignity that thinks itself higher than that of another.
As we approach 2009, we welcome a new change in our world. We have a president that can represent the people(all people) and has done so thus far. We must support him as if he is the catalyst but not the solution, but as a conduit to the solution, as someone who can take our positive ideas and create a new world for everyone to live in. His mind and his body is Americas and within this nation we know that means he belongs to the well being of the world, with this nations power, a legacy can shift, and should shift for the betterment of all man kind. The eyes of the world is upon us, whether you are black or white, dark or light, standing up to hate with peace and perseverance will grant the future the power to thwart the evil that has plagued humanity for far too long.
Malcolm X said, “ You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has freedom”. This is true for all, and on the grand scale we must thrive towards a world that breeds peace no matter the dangers we face. This generation has chance to rewrite the patterns of our history and bring to the globe a change that has been due for centuries, in every corner, within every home, every cave and every place of worship and learning. We must unify our ideas and our goals as one people, one blood, with one life, that can change the ones to follow for the better of the planet and the unification of a planet.
Pride is death to all who believe in it, and too all, who fear those who carry it as a brandished weapon for a position of power. No matter the setting we are in, power is a force that can be destructive or constructive, it is something that must be controlled. Oppressed or oppressor must not use power in a negative way, but must utilize its positives and kill off its negatives, in order for mankind to continue existence in true harmony.
I want to leave this with a quote from Rachel Carlson. “ Until we have the courage to recognize cruelty for what it is – whether its victim in human or animal – we cannot expect things to be much better in this world... We cannot have peace among men whose hearts delight in killing any living creature. By every act that glorifies or even tolerates such moronic delight in killing we set back progress of humanity”. Now you must realize that inhumanity is that which places precedence over that which it deems lesser than it is. Another human can suffer just as much as a fish caught for pure game and tossed back wounded with no line of defense in its natural order of survival. Until it heals it is forever watching its back for tragedy, and in most cases the pain inflicted never leaves the soul of the creature. This rings true for animals and humans alike.
Now Bump Forward and begin to envision a world where your brother and sister, looks different but is not different in virtue. When this come to be, the world can begin to heal, and as time passes the moments that inflicted trauma will die in the time-line. Then the brother will no longer appear any different than your sister, we are all one blood and we all have one life.
Before we all begin this journey towards a better tomorrow here are some links that will aid you in your journey. The following links will lead you to the information and a clip of the documentary that I watched that spawned these ideas to come to light.
Bill Moyers Journal : Beyond our differences
IMDB spot for docufilm
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