The Scream by Edvard Munch
(Source: Wikipedia)
(Source: Wikipedia)
They walk among us.
They are our friends and neighbors, and even members of our
family. They look just like the rest of us. They smile and laugh with us, and
chat with us about inconsequential things. And they can be delightfully
charming. Unless you knew, you might
never know, not from just from looking at them, anyway. Most of them hide it
very well.
You all know some of them. You may even be one of them. They are the bigots, the haters. They hate those who are
unlike themselves. Whether the difference be that of color, race, religion, nationality,
sexual preference, political party, or economic status, anyone who wear that
difference so that it shows will be at risk of suffering their bigotry.
They breed and they raise their children to see the world as
they do, to hate as they do.
They vote for people who share their hatred.
It terrifies me.
When people I once respected open their mouths and
vitriol spews forth, I feel loss.
When my country's elected officials legislate based on
hate, I feel shame.
When I see the result of all this hate every day in the
newspaper, on the television, and on the streets, I feel fear.
As Goethe said, “There is nothing more frightful than
ignorance in action.”
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
*
I have always looked forward to living as long as I possibly can - 150 would be cool - if I still had my senses about me and I didn't drool. A lot.
ReplyDeleteLately, I don't think it would be so desirable a thing to be here that long. I don't like how things are going, I'm not comfortable with the direction things have taken, and I don't see how anyone can stop it. I hear friends and neighbors spewing the lies and disinformation you get from information sources like Fox, and the right wing radio, and all the web sites set up by who knows who - like "NewsMax", for example. Moderates and moderation are out of style - and being shoved out of the national dialog by well funded right wing voices that push harder and shout louder than everyone else.
It's disheartening. It's disgusting. When the time comes, I know I'm going to be glad to leave this stuff behind. Hopefully, that won't be for a long time yet - but that time WILL come, as it comes for all of us, and I, for one, will be happy to leave the din behind.
its a nasty world...and one we create by putting them in office..then again what choice are we really given....we vote who they put in front of us...and those in power will protect their own ideals an dhte ones that roll their bank roll...its disheartening for sure....we are rewriting the monikers that once made us a nation...
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree the cultural climate as it stands now is not the best it has ever been, there are some good things to look to. Hope has not left us, in fact there are many things to look to.
ReplyDeleteScience makes progress now in vast leaps. We can now print a replacement ear on a 3d printer. We have learned that we can flip genetic switches and may be able to eliminate autism completely.
More than one-quarter of American adults (28%) have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another religion - or no religion at all. LGBT Rights are on the rise nationally and across the globe.
When you watch these “news” shows you should notice that most of these people are old and white. The conservative base is aging and within the next three election cycles as the republican party stands now, it will be impossible for them to win the white house, which has huge ramifications for the aging Supreme Court.
We are in a rough spot now, nationally and globally, and it is easy to give in to fear. The better choice is to confront the lies with fact. There are those you will not reach, but if you can get just one person to listen and learn, then that is a victory for free thought and reason. Have faith in youth, and recycle, because there is a future.
While I agree with most of what the esteemed Mr. Mxwll (who, after all, has been well taught) says, I just wish science would find a cure for hatred and bigotry. They are pervasive, crossing generations.
ReplyDeleteSo well said, Patti. Rigid bigoted and fundamentalist thinking scares me more than just about anything.
ReplyDeleteI share your fears but love the hope expressed in Mxwll's comment. Old and white are on the way out...and it's about time.
ReplyDeleteI place a lot of hope in my children's generation. They seem to have more sense than we do.
ReplyDeleteA lot of those haters reveal themselves on Facebook. I've been quite surprised.
ReplyDelete