Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible to be kind.
- Dalai Lama
Given what I do, I spend a lot of time on the Internet…and I gotta say, if you’re looking to be inspired, the Internet is guaran-damn-teed to be a huge disappoinment. It seems the World Wide Web is where the world’s freaks, geeks, miscreants, and uneducated, hyper-religious zealots go to get their ugly, mean-spirited schwerve on. Sometimes, it’s enough to make me despair for the future of mankind…because truth be told, mankind appears to be a pretty freakin’ warped collection of astonishingly ignorant, hate-driven bipeds.
Naive soul that I am, I still wonder why and how it is that we devote so much collective energy to destroying and/or killing one another. We may have different skin colors, but if you cut any human being, they bleed the same as anyone else. I’ve lived and worked in three different war zones (not an experience I’d recommend), and while things weren’t always pleasant- such is the nature of war- I managed to learn a lot about humanity. The truth is that we have far more in common than you might think. Sure, we may look different, have different customs, eat different foods, and/or speak different languages, but there are certain things that cross all boundaries. People want to be safe, they want to be able to provide for their families, and they want to be able to peacefully lead the life they wish for. People want to love and be loved, to celebrate rites of passage with those they love, and to live life to the fullest surrounded by people who add meaning to their lives. None of this has ANYTHING to do with the color of your skin, your political beliefs, and/or the flavor of Imaginary Friend you happen to worship.
There are those who, instead of looking for commonality, for reasons to peacefully coexist with other, latch onto the things that can be used to divide us one from another. Whether it be politics, religion, sexuality, or a toxic admixture of all or some of the above, the results are seldom positive. When someone is so consumed by hatred and rage that they’d threaten those who pose no threat to them, one has to wonder what’s happened to turn them so bitter and hateful. Carrying around those sorts of heavy, corrosive emotions is exhausting, especially when contrasted with the reality that love is easy, it costs nothing, and it weighs even less. Hating someone because of who they are, how they live or worship, and/or who they love is nonsensical. Being different doesn’t mean being “less than,” and it certainly shouldn’t be an invitation to treat those whose lifestyle, sexuality, and/or beliefs you find abhorrent with disrespect or disdain.
I’m not trying to be a Pollyanna and ignore the realities of living in a complex and complicated world, but how we deal with that world is a choice…and too often we choose poorly. We’re not born hating; that’s a learned behavior. Somehow humanity never seems to grasp that conflict need not be the natural order of things. Sure, sometimes we run up against scarce resources, unfairness, or other stressors that can make life difficult and unpleasant. That doesn’t mean the proper response is to meet anger and conflict with violence and destruction.
Mahatma Gandhi drove the British Empire out of India without firing a shot. It’s perhaps the single most astonishing display of the effectiveness of nonviolence mankind has ever seen. Now we live in a world (well, we always have, really) where people kill one another simply because they choose to believe differently…and I have to wonder why it has to be thus.
This may sound horribly naive to those steeped in the reality of the world we live in…but can’t we all find a way to get along?
