|
Recently
in the U.S., there has been a growing number of outrageous acts of violence
performed out of sheer hate. Last month someone walked into a Baptist church,
killing seven youths worshiping there. Before that, a man walked into the
hospital his mother had recently died in and began killing doctors and
nurses as though they were at fault. As it turns out, it was the wrong
hospital.
Not long before that, in August, a white supremacist walked into a Jewish daycare
center and began shooting at little kids. And, of course, who could forget
the ongoing occurrences of school shootings and violence?
Some would argue that we are moving towards the end; that the apocalypse is
upon us and reeling its ugly head. Others argue that it is simply a breakdown
of society that could easily be fixed if all children had perfect parents
and a microchip in the brain that made them serene and complaisant. And
there’s probably a small cult in Montana that believes all bad guys are
really aliens because they saw it on X-Files.
So
who’s right? Dozens of spiritual leaders and renowned psychics have told
all that the end is near, but they say that almost every year. Yet people
around the world seem to be sitting there...just waiting...and waiting.
If the end is near, shouldn’t we be trying to push it a little farther
away? Yet we sit, waiting for our sins to be judged, not trying to overcome
them and be saved or save others.
Before
you hysterical thinking that religion is being pushed upon you, think a
minute. All religions have at least one deity, and they all are aware that
someday, the Big Guy (or Girl?) up there is going to get ticked off, prompting
the going out party. If you don’t believe in a higher being, then you don’t
have anything to worry about; you’ll live a long scientifically composed
life with nature.
So the problem still hasn’t been addressed. What are we going to do
to save our souls? Or just body or maybe even sacred cow, depending
on what you believe. Well, the reason we, as humans, are different is due
to this funny little emotion in our brain called compassion. We can start
with that. How many times have you walked by a student who didn’t dress
quite as well as you and snarled at his or her appearance? My guess is
all of you—even the kids that get snarled at snarl at people; it’s a cycle.
Well, grow up! It’s not safe anymore to pick on each other, and it’s immature
and wrong besides that!
How many of you have walked by someone, noticing they’re depressed and alone,
but you pretend you don’t notice and keep walking because you don’t know
the person at all or not very well? Yet if one of your friends were
down, you’d virtually attack him and interrogate him until you found out
that it was just hunger. What are you so afraid of? That you’ll help a
stranger and make a new friend?
Sitting in a circle, holding hands, singing “Kumbaya” isn’t necessary, but we can
start watching out for each other, listening to each other, caring about
each other. Even the Constitution says all men (and WOMEN thank you very
much!) were created equal. Who are we to argue against a document that
guarantees our rights? None of us are any better than the next. We are
all completely different; no one on Earth is exactly like us (until they
start cloning anyway); we all come from different walks of life.Despite
these differences, we are all capable of love and equally deserving of
that love in return. Our society seriously needs to start recognizing and
respecting that fact. |
