To become Human(e) … (07/10/16)
Things have gotten so “manly” these days. In response to the chaos and anger of the times, I see so many people acting out in ways that are so aggressive — ways that are understandable, yes, and yet also ways which have been proven time & time & time again not to work. All this aggression and machismo and revenge and toughness; all this fighting for “self-defense” and fighting to “defend our country” and fighting to “destroy terrorism” — cops killing peaceful black men because they have been taught to fear dying themselves (and because everyone & his uncle in the U.S. is indeed often armed — and thus is indeed per se dangerous); black men killing well-intended & often peaceful white cops to avenge the same … Anger for anger; Fear for fear; Violence for violence; Death for death … It makes no sense and it clearly only makes things far worse, and yet we continue on as though we have heard of nothing esle — as if aggression and force are the only weapons we have against terror and ignorance and hatred.
But I understand it all, I guess. We men (and indeed you women as well) have been taught over & over & over again that violence is a noble response to danger: that war will somehow bring peace — that punishment will somehow bring “rehabilitation” — that physical assault is the way to safety — that vicious gossip &/or overt bullying are ways to gain self-esteem — even that yelling at others is a way to be heard … We have even been taught the most destructive lie of all — that killing & eating others is necessary for us to live.
How sad that the exact opposite is true in every single case — that “defending” self & country by overlty attacking terrorists actually makes those enemies both more numerous and more motivated to do us harm in the future … that physical violence shown to others is actually a sign of weakness, never of strength … that harshly punishing “criminals” only encourages them to commit future crimes … that speaking loudly & negatively towards those we do not like actually brings forths deep-eated feelings of regret & shame — never Love or self-worth … that raising our voices in anger only ensures that the other closes his or her ears to what we have to say … that eating animals to live is the surest way to a painful death of the body & a premature death of the Soul.
And yet we HAVE already been given an alternative, my Friends … It is an alternative that takes real Courage to engage, I will admit, and yet it is an alternative that works just we well as violence does not … This alternative is the most powerful sociologiocal force and the most potent psychological “weapon” in existence … It functions perfectly (always in direct proportion to how humbly & how courageously it is used) and it functions every single time it is employed … It is an alternative that always bears the Fruits of Joy & Peace & Harmony — ultimately the results that each & every one of us desire above all others.
This alternative, my dear Friends, is Kindness — especially the Kindness given when we have little else to give; especially the Kindness given when we least wish to give it; and especially the Kindness given to those “least deserving” of the same.
Indeed, giving others radical acts of irrational Kindness is the only way we will ever defeat any of our enemies in life … It is the only way we ourselves will ever know Peace, and it is the only way our species as a whole (your children and your children’s children) will ultimately survive.
Each & every one of us lives a life literally filled with “enemies” — loved ones who betray us; family members who judge us; friends who neglect us; strangers who frighten us; religious zealots who condemn us; political opponents who ridicule us … And yet the solution to these conflicts is not to attack them or berate them or gossip about them or ignore them … The only solution — the only response that will ever ever bring Peace & Joy back into our world so often riddled with conflict and sandess — is to loudly & ludicrously LOVE them.
Amen … Let it be so.
“One of the most acute problems with our world is that men & women both are taught to destroy and not to protect. The best use of our strength is caring for and protecting the vulnerable; caring for and protecting those least like ourselves; and especially caring for and protecting those who are seemingly bent on doing us harm … For there is no way to Peace, unless Peace becomes the way.” ~ inspired by Moby & Gandhi
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