Sunday, November 13, 2016

The peace promotion conundrum

Quite often, I have people question me as to why or how I can say I promote peace when I get so fired up about injustice. The thing is you guys, you cannot truly stand for peace without standing against hatred. Yin/Yang etc. You see, it's much like those in the army who fight for freedom. (Not that I'm comparing their sacrifice to mine in any way.) I am constantly fighting for peace, love and compassion.

Ironic, yes? (Fighting for peace, that is.)

Couldn't I simply exude sunshine and rainbows all day and hope people follow my lead? Not really. Because, while I'm doing that, others are busy learning to sway good people to their evil and not so well intended line of thinking. The squeaky, noisy, rusty wheel gets the oil every time, my friends. Nobody cares about that quiet wheel at the back of the cart just calmly turning in a dignified manner and saying nothing.

I believe we just saw that principle in action, didn't we?

Leading exclusively by quiet example doesn't work because human nature doesn't work that way. We want fire in our leaders. We want them to have the courage to speak up and speak out. Loudly. And yes, we want a good example to follow. However, if nothing is said or dealt with, example just doesn't cut it. In fact, if history is any indication, leading by example alone is a death sentence.

It doesn't even matter what they're saying, we want our leaders to sound off.

Once again, we just saw that last bit proven. Am I right?

Ladies and gentleman, this is my conundrum.

I want people to exude peace, love, compassion and all that's good. I want people to love and care for each other. I want the world to be filled with random kindness and unselfish sacrifices for the greater good. I try my best to do that every day myself.

Unfortunately, in order for peace to happen, we must first squelch the nastiness. And in order to do that, we can't just wait and hope. We have to take action. We have to fight for a better world. Because, let's face it, no-one is going to hand it to us on a silver platter. The powers that be like being the powers that be. It's working for them.

And oh boy, do they love it when we roll over and do nothing. In fact, they love it so much that they have spent decades studying us so that they can make us do just exactly that without us even realizing it. They're so good at it that we think there is actually a good side and an evil side, no matter which “side” we're on, we think they other “side” is brainwashed, when actually, we all are!

Societal manipulation is a science, my friends and they have got it down pat.

So, I'm not always nice. I'm not always peaceful, either. Sometimes, I give evil exactly what it deserves. Call it a kick in the pants, a punch in the face or just a good talking to. But in any case, if you want peace, you have to rise up against oppression, bigotry, bullying and general hatred. You have to speak up and speak out. You have to hit it right where it lives.

The powers that be don't understand peace. It's not in their repertoire. If you want to get through to them, sometimes you have to speak their language. Sad, but true. Still, I'd rather fight for peace, freedom and justice than lose them forever. (Or worse, fight for hatred and exclusion in disguise.) So there you go. There's your answer. Why do I come off so mean and intolerant when I claim to represent peace, love and compassion?

Because I have to, that's why.
Because someone has to take that stand.
Because someone has to make people aware of injustice.
Because someone has to point it out so people will notice.
Because if we aren't aware of the problem, how can we address it?

But most of all:

Because if no one does anything.... If we all sit back, wait and see and take things as they come, well, nothing will ever change.

So, you see, I can be the sweetest, kindest, most tolerant, most compassionate person in the universe and usually, I am. But unless I occasionally stand up and make that wheel squeal, nothing will ever change. So, ya, it may be a bit ironic. But I will fight for peace, freedom, compassion and justice, tooth and nail every day of my life. I will not calmly wait and see while the world falls apart around me.

Actions speak louder than silence.

And there is nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with being enemies with hatred.

Get it?

No comments:

Post a Comment