Something is so very wrong in this world that I'm almost sick. Front page of the Seattle Times: a man in his early twenties kills seven in a shooting at a house party. Further down: Cops discover plan by four junior high students to go on a shooting spree at school. I continue reading: terrorism.
I know that the experts will attribute such behavior to violent video games, or drugs or school bullying. Others reactionaries will say that teaching evolution or taking prayer out of schools explains it. And even further, entertainers will make movies such a V for Vendetta in a an effort to intellectually justify such atrocities. We will all talk about it, maybe argue about it at the office, around the dinner table, or on the porch, but tomorrow and the next day and the day after that the same damn things will happen and still we'll have excuses and fantasy explanations.
I don't know if I'm qualified to answer questions about people's behavior and maybe I don't have to. After all it is Sunday morning, I'm entitled to relax in my kitchen with a cup of coffee, a bowl of Grapenuts cereal while pretending to live in Middle Earth, right? I'm just an ordinary citizen. Those guys with beards and degrees hanging on their walls should take care of it.
Something isn't quite right in the world today and we all know it and we all pretend it's ok. The robots will save us. Christ will return. Diversity training...
Ha. Diversity training.
I don't have answers and that is what makes me feel so sick. But who can't see that what we are doing isn't working? How long must we pussy foot around with political correctness and sensitivity training? When will we acknowledge evil? I think that at least is a first step.
I've got suggestions from there.
3 comments:
What has mankind done since the beginning of time? Kill each other.
If you think the earth was only around for 5000 years or 5 billion years its the same: Man finds something about another man different, so he kills him. Man wants something another man has, so he kills him.
People will place the blame on religion, video games, movies, and everything else under the sun. The truth is, humans aren't humane. We can be violent creatures.
All we can do is try to be good to one another, and hope our example rubs off on a few others. Maybe after a few more millenia, mankind will become just that: kind.
Ann, I've thought about your question for two days now. It is a hard question. And after reading Micheal's response, I have come up with a answer for you.
I wish I could make people kind and smart and forgiving and humble and virtious in all ways. But I guess to do that I'd have to become Darth Vader and build a Death Star and have an army of sin police shooting ray guns at people every time they slipped up. I guess I can't change the world. I can only change myself, and like Micheal says, hope my efforts will rub off on others. I guess it all comes down to free will in the end. We either choose to walk a virtuious path or we choose to wander off into tangled brush.
But:
If you mean how would I change the world outside of having God power and changing peoples hearts and such, I would lobby for a huge construction project. A giant stone pyramid reaching to the heavens. On this Giant pyramid which would cover the entire state of Wyoming, would be carved the collected knowledge of mankind. In this way, our library would not be digital but stone and it would survive hacker attacks and the fall of civilization. Inside the pyramid would be a crew of worker mummies digging down to the center of the earth and always inscribing the latest knowledge on the cavern walls.
matt, sometimes i think are thoughts are close friends and they have dinner parties together without telling us to come along and enjoy the wine and cheese...
i had a conversation along these lines with someone at work the other day, and he said something that baffled me... not everyone thinks there's something wrong with the world... some people call it survival of the fittest... and more blah blah blah, i left work feeling emotionally drained, battered, i was crushed...
the problems with humanity are too great for any one person to fix but mr t is right, we have to keep trying...
in sunday school the kids are learning about the lord's prayer, and when we say thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven... well, the kingdom coming to earth, that's what it's all about, and when the kids are asked, is it here? my gut response is always no! but yes it is, not everywhere, or all the time, but everytime that the will of god is being done, that people are loving one another, turning swords into ploughshares, feeding each other, clothing each other, serving one another, treating everyone they come across as a beloved child of god... that's the kingdom...
it's too much to think you can fix the whole world, but god has gifted you in way that you can bring glimpses of the kingdom to light in this world, you can't change anyone but yourself, so love that man in the mirror and go out and love everyone else, even when they are creeps and assholes.
i've come to that point where i just have to have faith that it's making a difference somehow, and that butterfly effect will keep it going... sometimes the state of the world really is overwhelming and depressing though, so i feel your pain, and i love you, even if i don't technically know you, and i believe your heart is in the right place to effect change in the world.
i'll stop babbling now...
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