Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Let's think about this...

So this is life? All of this madness is supposed to be the thing we cherish more than anything? Could the world be anymore crazy right now? I’m not sure anything short of it falling off its axis and colliding headfirst into Mars could make it crazier. But, oh well, I mean this is life. It’s literally what we live for, or at least what we live. I suppose we just adjust to whatever happens, and then hope that we never have to really question what the consequences may be.

For anyone that knows me, you know that I question most things in life. You also know that very rarely do I take what people say and not try to argue the point. Do I always think that people are wrong? Of course not, I just simply like to hear the reasoning behind the way people think. So this is the first installment of my new blog, “So this is Life?”, where I will regularly challenge things taken for granted, and encourage you to think about things and form your own opinions as well.

Recently we all heard the news the Osama Bin Laden (OBL) had been killed, a great day for America right? Well right and wrong. I was truly impressed with the show of Patriotism this news brought out, however the fact that a man lost his life to bring us together was disturbing to me. As Patriots shouldn’t we rejoice everyday that we are alive and in the United States of America? Shouldn’t we be more excited when blood isn’t being spilled than when we engage in firefights that result in not only OBL but also many others being killed? Why do we as Americans only choose to stand together and be united as Patriots when someone is killed? Think about it, how many times have we all come together as a country and truly been on one page and of one mindset other than when someone has been killed? It’s sick in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong, I am as loyal to this country as the next person, I just don’t think that someone’s life should have to end before we all decide to be united.

Our pledge of allegiance says, “One nation under God, indivisible…,” but that’s not true. In fact that may be one of the more blatant lies I have ever heard. We are probably the most divided country in the entire world. Think about it, we are divided along the lines of ethnicity, gender, income, residency, religion, careers, and even things as trivial as which football or baseball team we cheer for. It makes me think that we should rewrite that line in the pledge to say “One nation under God, divided by all…,” but we know that will never happen. Because to do that would mean that we admit we have a problem, and if there is one thing America will not do it is admit we have a problem. For the most part, I am happy with the way that America functions, yet to be so arrogant and to act like we never make mistakes, is that smart? What type of message does that send to others around the world? Does that sponsor civility, and peace among nations, or does this refusal to admit mistakes spawn ill feelings towards us? I am not saying that America regularly makes mistakes by any means, but when we do, shouldn’t we admit it? It’s something to think about.

I also noticed another trend when all of the news on OBL surfaced, and that was the insane way that people react to other cultures and religions. One of the principles that the United State of America was founded upon was religious freedom. Yet how freely do we let others practice their religion? If we see a group of Muslim men walking around, how often do we automatically assume that they are plotting to blow up something? How often do we assume that all Hispanic people are here illegally? How are African-Americans portrayed? Really, how are most other cultures accepted? Perhaps our lack of acceptance towards cultures makes us uncultured?

We think that Christianity is the only true religion and everyone else is a radical of some kind. But aren’t many of the other religions older than Christianity? I believe so. Therefore people must have had no religion before the coming of Christ, because we as good red blooded Americans know that Christianity is the only true religion. Everything else isn’t real, it’s all a hoax and dangerous. I agree that radical extremist are dangerous, but aren’t radicals in my own religion, Christianity, just as dangerous as a Muslim radical? I think so. It seems funny to me how these things work. During the days of Christ people were persecuted against, and often times even killed for believing in a new religion. Now the new religion is persecuting others, and demanding that they be killed for practicing their beliefs. I guess the cycle has come full circle.

I guess that through the OBL news I have come to a better realization on life. I now see just how narrow minded the citizens of these United States of America can be. I now see how stupid and ignorant these people can be. I now see how I was often wrong in the past. So perhaps I too am a sick person, because it took the death of a person for me to realize these things. A man, regardless of your thoughts on him, had to die before I started challenging the way I had always thought. Now I am challenging myself, and all who read this to not let that happen again. We need to constantly broaden our horizons, think a little deeper, talk a little softer, and be more United. Never again should we wait until someone dies to come together. I hope and pray every single day that we can fix these problems that are staring us in the face, but until then I suppose we will keep living in these United (yet divided) States of America and pretending we aren’t flawed when we know we are. Racism, prejudices, ignorance, all of these things exist, and it makes me ask “So this is Life?” Until next time, let’s not just settle for this being life, but let’s make this life better.

1 comment:

  1. Special thanks to Shelby McCollum for designing the header for this page! She is the greatest!

    ReplyDelete