Firstly I'd just like to say how distressed and upset I am over the recent terror attacks in Manchester. And so, I do what I always do when something affects me, I write about it. Most people actually get up and do something, but I always preferred to think of myself as the person who inspires rather than achieves. This could also be loosely translated as lazy, but I like to find a more creative way of thinking about it.
Anyways.
Kids.
Are you kidding me?
I can't say I understand violence. I would never hurt a fly. Mostly because the fly would probably win but that's neither here nor there. But violence against kids? Surely this is a new low for us as a species.
Here's the problem with violence. The very act is triggered by evolutionary responses to outside threats and disturbances. I get that, we had to survive during the early stages of humanity and we could clearly never get along. You engage with someone to neutralize or combat a threat. Problem is, whether the threat is real or not, you have still picked a way of dealing with the situation which will only make matters worse. The funny thing in movies is how often the hero wins simply by putting a bullet into the bad guy's skull, never taking into account the friends and family Mr Bad Guy had who will now be seeking revenge. And this cycle of revenge just continues.
Here's something else which no one else really thinks about. When you attack a species, you bring out the strongest in them. You unite them and give them something to live and die for. This is the exact opposite of what you would want when trying to subdue a nation/race/group and ensures that your goal becomes impossible. So will invading other countries and killing more people actually help make your own country safer or will it do the exact opposite?
The thing that really gets me is that those who refrain from violence and aggression are perceived as weak. What some don't understand that it actually takes a much more different type of strength to be able to resist those evolutionary impulses and rise above what makes you human. Because the most beautiful thing about being human is the fact that we are the only species with the ability to choose to override their very nature. And to forgive someone that has caused you pain takes a strength that is simply not natural and it is a mystery as to how it comes about in the first place.
Now to those who act in violence in the name of a God. I'm not religious, but I'm pretty sure that if I was a God and created every single human, I'd be pissed off with anyone running around killing people in my name. He's a damned God, for Christ's sake. He can do his own bloody killing if he wants it. Mic drop.
What about those who confuse extremists with religious people? It would be like sifting through a barrel of nails, finding a bent one, and even though the bent nail is completely out of character with the rest of the barrel, deciding that all the other nails must be bad too. And with any race, group or society, you'll find a few good, a few bad and a few messed up beyond hope. And that's because we are all human, yet the classifications (race, religion, creed) that we cling to in our struggle to find identity don't define us as individuals or a species. What really defines us are the choices we make. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you will never know more than what you see on the surface if that's the only place you'll look. To be more blunt, do you want to characterize the undesirable traits of an individual as based on the surface classifications that you can observe, such as race, religion or creed...or maybe see that the individual is simply afflicted by the human condition in a way that you will never understand?
Maybe all it takes to save the human race from imploding on itself is for someone to put their hand up and take responsibility. To ask for forgiveness. And to forgive. To be the better person.
Now could somebody else please do this.
I am far too lazy.
I hope you've been inspired.
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