Yay! A post that has nothing to do with my anxiety (that I can tell). This is a blessing that makes me so happy I thought it was worth noting.
Last night the family opted to stay in and watch a movie. This is another picture based on a teen novel
where the population is divided into segments and the unlikely young heroine is
tasked with saving them all. What I find
interesting about these types of movies is that they take place in a future
society where war and disease have riddled the world so much so that people are
willing to allow this type of segregation just to survive, no matter how poor
the quality of life might be. It’s almost like we become so desperate to
be alive that we choose to hand over our free will to anyone or anything that
can offer us a day – despite how miserable that day is.* (Ah!
There it is.) In these stories, separation
and conformity is a key objective of governance and survival. The city is apparently the only civilization
left, so of course they build a wall to keep themselves inside. The population is separated into groups based
on some arbitrary criteria, however there is always a lesser class and there is
always an upper class which governs all the others. And yes, even the lower classes manage to
look down upon any class that is lower than their own. I usually start these movies thinking, “Well,
that’s not so bad, I mean if your alternative is a barren world outside of this
last remaining piece of civilization.”
But let’s be honest, give any human that much control over another and
inevitably they themselves will be tempted to promote their lives over the
lives of others. At the end of the day,
it will take a rebellious and intuitive hero to look beyond the “fences” and
see that in order for the world to not just survive, but to prosper, everyone
must risk it all -break the chains of conformity and join forces in order to
restore balance to their world.
Whew. While that
makes for good a good story line, I couldn’t help but recognize the parallels
to our own world. You see we are
constantly reminded how different we are as people. Turn on the television or click on the
internet and you’ll see stories about wars in other parts of the world, you’ll
hear about riots in our own back yards.
Race, religion, economic status, sex, political affiliation, education
and many other things that make us unique are all topics to not only pronounce
our differences to each other, but also to divide us as a society. When I listen to talk radio, I’m supposed to
become enraged at someone who has a different political perspective than my
own. I watch the news and I’m told that
people in another country hate me because I was born an American. On
social media I see debates boasting levels of “rightness” based on levels of
education. The paper has stories of people
fighting over rights based on sexual orientation. I can even walk into a church and here chuckles
about other religions! (In church! Really, people?) It’s like a giant war brewing, being stirred
up. WHO would do that?
In fact, here’s what I know of my own experience: I know people from other parts of the world,
of those they could care less what country I was born in or live in. I know soldiers that have been in some of
these other countries and they were greeted with warmth and appreciation. I know poor people. Some are crappy, some are cool. I know rich people. Some are crappy, some are cool. I know doctors. Some are brilliant, some are idiots. I know drop-outs, again some are brilliant
while others are idiots. I know heterosexuals. Some care who you sleep with, some don’t care
who you sleep with. I know
homosexuals. Some care if you care who
they sleep with, some don’t care if you care who they sleep with. I know blacks, whites, brownies (I’m “Latina”
“Mexican” “Mexican-American”… I can call
myself a brownie if I’d like. And for
the record I think it’s dumb that I have to list several acceptable Latino names. I know what someone means when they say
Mexican and if they aren’t trying to be offensive then I’m just not offended.),
Asians, Italians, Germans and I’m sure many other –ans. There are racists, non-racists, liars, honest
people, thieves and givers among them all, true story. I know Democrats. Some are good, others are
not. I know Republicans. Some are good, others are not. I know non-Christians. Some are understanding, some are thoughtful, some
are stubborn, some are mean and I think some are nuts. I know Christians – Catholics, Baptists,
Non-denominational, Lutheran, Methodists, and then some. Some are understanding, some are thoughtful,
some are stubborn, some are mean and yes, I think some are nuts.
I don’t blame the media, solely. At the end of any day, I have to take responsibility
for what I’m willing to believe. I have
to take ownership of my own willingness to be separated from my brothers and
sisters on this planet. If I allow
someone to fence me off from my neighbors, that’s on me. If I decide to take someone else’s word over
my own personal experience and use that to determine how I view and treat
others, it’s my fault. If I decide it’s
easier to conform to these types of evolving rules than to buck the system and
question what I don’t agree with, ultimately I’m to blame. I was given free will, we all were, long
before I was given anything else and I’d like to use mine.
I don’t throw knives or shoot arrows (although I’ve always
thought I’d enjoy that very much), but I do have a talent or two of my
own. So, I’d like to exercise my free
will right now. I’ve always been a tad
rebellious, and I’d certainly like to think I’m intuitive. I’ve told you what I see personally when I
look past the fences of other people and I encourage you to do the same. I choose not to conform to what anyone else
thinks I should think about other people or how I should treat them and I
invite you to consider that as well. I
choose not to conform to the idea of a diseased and war-ready human population. I refuse to believe that everyone but me is cool
just surviving in a world like that too.
And I’m definitely not handing over my free will to Satan and his sneaky
ways.
*Many times when I write, I will have an idea of what I need
to get into text. However, sometimes I
really have no clue and I just pray for guidance in what direction to take off
into. I just thought it would be cool to
show you when the light came on for me today and give a little shout out and praise to our Heavenly Father. Woohoo!
