Have you seen this?
First of all let me commend this organization for taking full advantage of their ability to speak loudly under the laws created for them in our countries constitution. Now please allow me to do the same:
I must admit that my initial knee jerk reaction here was to lash back to what I read here. Rather than weigh the merits and demerits of the type of thinking shown on that site I was going to simply to say that they are wrong and I am correct and go on with my day. Instead I think it does me better to study this group and their words used under the same standard that I study others and myself.
As usual vocabulary plays an important part when trying to understand. The word regime does not in itself have a negative definition:
re·gime n.
-
- A form of government: a fascist regime.
- A government in power; administration: suffered under the new regime.
- A prevailing social system or pattern.
- The period during which a particular administration or system prevails.
- A regulated system, as of diet and exercise; a regimen.
The understood meanings and feelings that come to our minds when we hear the word however paint a much darker picture. It is impossible to communicate our own opinions without somehow stimulating thought in the listener. We choose words that either properly describes how we ourselves feel or we choose words that will inspire a thought or emotion in others. I don't know yet how to describe when one might happen and when the other is the goal, but I think that one basic “rule” is in public writing.
The reason I do my writing here is because I know that in public writing I am kept to a more honest standard. To be honest if this were not a public area my initial “knee jerk” reaction would have won and these writings would have a much darker tone.
The writing on the above listed page uses a desperate tone meant to instill desperation in the reader. I am desperate enough as it is and I can easily understand how many Americans can feel like this. My question however what solutions do they offer? I myself criticize here. I feel in my heart that I know what it would take to get to a better world. I just don't think those things are possible.
We can all agree that something is wrong, but to say that ousting Bush will solve the problem is like saying that putting cream on your Herpes will be a cure for AIDS. The two problems are loosely related at best.
Where does “freedom of speech” guarantee that we will be listened too? We can cry all we want to when we get cut but it is not until we understand the safest way to handle a knife that we can stop the problem from happening again. It is unfortunate that popularity can give weight to opinions where understanding and wisdom should be the only tools allowed to build our new world.
Looking at the Middle East we see that there are many organizations which our soldiers are called upon to think of as an enemy. They vary in their beliefs and therefore they vary their methods. Some groups there are quite benign, but it is the extremists that get the attention. It is the extremist that is the mark by which all others are judged. It is the extremist who yells so loudly that he “drowns out” ALL beliefs other than their own.
It is unfortunate that most children do not have the tools to properly argue a point well enough to change a parent’s opinion. It is unfortunate that some parents feel a need to do things in there own way regardless of the wisdom our children might inadvertently give us. I love all children, I try to understand all children, and I think that all children have wisdom to offer us, but I only respect those who can convey that wisdom through either dialect or action. These children are rare, but they are out there.
When is “being heard” not enough?
I think that what follows is more concerning the problems behind The World Can't Wait and less about the actual site.
It is hard for me to stay on just one angle here.
I will quietly say here that this type of organization offends me personally. I can not say that they are right or wrong for anyone else. I am trying here to weigh the good and bad, but I personally believe those who do have a voice (not me) who are trying to work within the system for honest change and growth are going to be hurt by this type of thing. In a world where things are judged as right and wrong this presents a whole new definition of wrong for all in the grey area to be placed in.
A new superpower is defining itself in our countries political forum. More and more people are prepared to misuse the “Weapon of Mass Persuasion.” Some could argue that like the WMD’s, the WMP could be used as a terrorist tool as much as way to avert violence.
Like it or not, the fear of WMD is what defines the credibility of a country on the world’s stage. Will it logically follow that fear of WMP will be expected to define the credibility of our nations stage?
If we allow celebrity status to become our moral compass then we are to be victims of the most vicious type of peer pressure ever put before us. The “cool kids” are doing it, so it must be the right thing to do? We attempt to instill on our children the need to make rational decisions based on reasonable definitions of right and wrong. We expect somehow that they will be able to do this without to much input by us, because they are inherently good. How often do we find that those who say “we can make our own decisions” are the ones working hardest to influence us to agree with their opinions?
I ask myself while standing under the bleachers: “Why should I listen to my parents?”, when the question should be: “Why should I listen to the cool kid?” The cool kid knows how to let you make your own decisions without “telling” you what decision to make. The cool kid is not in the business of giving explanations.
So few people are willing to let there be any neutral parties in this war of public opinion.
In my world of truth and facts I have to look at things this way:
I admit that I don't know.
If it is truth that everything happens for a reason then the things we witness are a small part of a plan and therefore out of our control. If it is truth that all things are reactions to a previous reaction then we are only small parts of the chaos and therefore we should understand that these things are out of our control.
History is full if those whose message lasted throughout time. Few have made it through the rise and falls of Empires to be considered wisdom for generations to come. Of those who have survived and have become respected, none have advocated radical fundamental changes, and all have advocated tolerance.
