One of my really good friends and I love to debate. This is a debate we had over an Abraham quote, “You can’t take sides against anything. If you would just leave the “against” part out; if you would just be one who is for things – you would live happily ever after…”
Friend: I swear to God I can’t make sense of a quote like this one. Tell that to 1 of a billion starving, homeless, misplaced Africans, Haitians, Iraqi citizens, etc etc etc. Tell that to the millions who die in needless propaganda based wars. That they cant be against anything and they should be happy to be treated like non-human beings. As if our right to be here is more valid than they’re rights. I call Bullshit.
Matthew: What you are against you give energy to. You attract to yourself what you give your attention to. The war on drugs has only made illegal drug trade stronger. In Amsterdam they have made drugs okay and now it has no power.
Friend: All I care about is World Peace. In the words of Jesus, “no human being on this planet should go without food, water or shelter”. (You know im non religious. Just quoting a messenger with a message for all of us to live by)
Matthew: Focus on peace and peace you will have. Focus on how war is wrong and you will experience the energies of war, “fear, anger etc”
Friend: I am focused on peace. While the majority is focused on hating people for no reason other than our propaganda controlled media mind games. Nothing is what it seems. Do you understand who the real terrorists are………White American men located in middle america.
Matthew: So you are against them?
Friend: I choose to never be around people or socialize with people who believe all the lies of the world and our country today. Lets take Muslims for example. I know a lot of Muslims. Not 1 of them ever says they hate anyone. Now lets take Christians. Over half the christians i know, 50% or more, hate Muslims and others for no reasons that contain any facts. These people hate people cause other people tell them too. I feel sorry for all of them.
Matthew: So are you against the white middle American Christians who hate? If so, you become what you resist.
Friend: Scenario: Your wife and kids walk into a store. The store explodes from a bomb. Everyone dies. The investigation finds white caucasion men who planted the bomb for a political reason. Question: Are you against the men who planted the bomb that destroyed your life?
Matthew: My life would not be destroyed. My wife and kids would no longer be living. I would feel extreme loss as I’ve grown accustomed to them being here and have made future plans to do with them. I can allow that circumstance to ruin my life or I can do the inner work to come to grips with the loss and start newly. I get to choose. Most people are living a choice-less existence because they react vs respond.
Friend: So according to your and Abrahams philosophy. The people in Libya and the middle east rising up against the dictators who have been in power for 40 & 50 years, appointed by the USA Government. You are for those dictators to stay in power? Since you cant be against them right? Isnt your philosophy really “out of site, out of mind”?
Matthew: My philosophy is to do what I can in the direction of what I’m committed to. I become what I resist. If I resist war, then I must fight which means I become war. I’m not against them, I’m for equality and opportunity. I would take the same approach as Ghandi or Martin Luther King. Be the change I want to see in the world. It’s a difficult choice.
Friend: I’m for peace.
6 Comments
Compromise. We must all learn to compromise. If we don’t agree with each other, I’m sure we can figure out a way to be in the same direction without.
Evil exists. It is my job to fight evil within myself and be a beacon of truth for others around me. No further than that. A war in Libya or anywhere else doesn’t bring truth, it just brings death & destruction.
Charity begins at home and so does faith. It spreads from there. “Come sit at my campfire so we may know one another.”
Very Insighful. By elavating to a higher Meta Level of being committed to equality and opportunity, you naturally put yourself in a position of a peace maker.
Mother Theresa, Ghandi and Martin Luther are peacemakers, opportunity creators and role models.
An individual need not be actually harmed in order to be discriminated against. If someone decides to donate to help orphan children but decides to donate less say to black children out of a racist attitude he or she will be acting in a discriminatory way even if he or she actually benefits the people he discriminates against by donating some money to them.
I really see the logic in your argument but I think you’ve painted your strokes
Maki…as always, great post here.