intervention.

"whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect."
- Mark Twain

i've grown more and more aware each day of the fact that people are relentlessly obstinate in their vision of how things should be, and what ways are better than others. we seem to have this thought that what we think first is what is correct, as though error has never had its place in our judgment. i think what allows the majority to continue on with this false sense of righteousness is that most do not act alone. most individuals surround themselves with other individuals who believe the exact same things. are we this weak? are we this afraid of growth?

a prime example of this state of mind resides within the churches of all denominations, the one i've been most associated with being that of Christians. i don't mean that spirituality is wrong, for i myself am a firm believer in the Lord, but i've not been around many church groups that haven't instilled in me a deep-seated choler. i think modern organized religion is the demise of the soul. it's more common for groups to try and force their beliefs on others than to accept and love them. it's as much a form of peer pressure as anything else. these people also congregate and feed off each other's mindset that everything they do for the church is right, no questions asked. the point has been missed. you're working for the church while your family dies.*

my indignation festers.

one of the most important things one can do is question oneself. we must never stop questioning our every move. it is vital that we immerse ourselves in people that believe differently than we do, to challenge our thoughts and make them stronger and more educated. i grow frustrated thinking about how birds can see more colors than we can. now, imagine if everything were one color. how awful that would be, would you agree? what we are doing is trying to make this happen by "cleansing," scouring all that differs from ourselves from the world. what if YOU are who is wrong? just because everyone around you is on your side, doesn't mean you're doing what's right.

example? look at what our history books have neglected to include about Columbus's exploration of the new world. Bartolomew De Las Casas recorded horrific events, such as stealing natives' infants by the feet and continuously bashing their heads into rocks, and hanging thirteen at a time just low enough for their toes to find ground. thirteen, they said, in honor of Christ and the twelve apostles. they were treated so tremendously terrible that when a chief, Hatuey, was captured and was to be burned alive, was being tied down as a friar tried to convert him and convince him to take Jesus into his heart so that he would go to heaven, the chief simply asked if all christians went to heaven. when he received an affirmative answer, he replied that he would rather go to hell. and we would rather pretend this never happened.

this, of course, is a much more recognizable fault in judgment nowadays. but it's not hard to see that we (myself included, seeing as i've not done anything to stop it) are allowing the same thing to happen, on a more socially acceptable level, which is much more dangerous because the virus can spread without appearing to be a threat until it's far too late. you won't get anywhere trying to make everyone else just like you. that's not love.

singing "hallelujah" with the fear in your heart.
every spark of friendship and love will die without a home.*

you cannot blindly follow any person, no matter how correct they may tend to be. you cannot march in line with them and numbly succumb to the customs they are throwing at you. that everyone is throwing at you. you cannot listen to the words they say and automatically believe them to be true.

but you MUST listen. you must listen to other views in order for your own to be expanded, in order for us to continue in the right direction. you must accept, even embrace, diversity in order to grow. you can't trap yourself in a box of things that are just like you. no one wants a box of all grey crayons. i don't see why God would, either. the hatred that comes with the walls between differences, religion being my main focus, is due to the fact that we've BUILT UP these walls and can no longer see the people on the other side. we cannot see their beauty because we shut them out.

we can't afford to limit ourselves this way.





-c.





soundtrack: *arcade fire.