Heartbroken
Jan. 23rd, 2017 05:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
strangeI'm completely and utterly heartbroken by the hatred and contempt and abject cruelty I see in my fellow humans lately. I don't care what is going on politically, why does it entitle you to be so fucking rude and horrible to everyone around you who happens to not share your opinions. Are we not all human? Are we not all sat here on this ship, together? Sink or sail, we're all right here next to each other.
When you're insulting someone because they don't share your views, you are part of the problem. When you use violence in the face of peace, you are part of the problem. When you allow yourself to become so angry that you lash out, despite what you stand for? You are part of the problem.
Remember that for every insult you post on facebook or twitter or tumblr or anywhere, every time you say "people with such and such an opinion are stupid/lame/whatever" you're insulting someone you supposedly love. Because I guarantee there are people in your immediate circle who have the opinion you just belittled so cruelly, people you're close to. People who you just hurt very very deeply with your thoughtless hate-mongering.
Trust me, I'm one of the people you love who you just brought to tears. I've been viciously attacked indirectly numerous times each and every time I even glance at (not only, but especially) Facebook over the last few months. Because I believe in peace. I believe in equality. I believe that no one has the right to tell another person how to live their lives. I believe that religious myth should never be put into law. I believe that primary and higher education should be available without debting your entire life away. I believe that love is love and love is never wrong. I believe in basic human rights for everyone. I believe in turning our backs on hatred and bigotry and closing our hearts to fear of difference and diversity. I believe that LGBTQ folk have every bit as much right to marry and publicly snog their partners as hetero folk. I believe that sexual assault is never ok, and is never the fault of the victim. I believe in standing up peacefully if you think there's an injustice that needs righting. I believe that the only way forward is to get over ourselves and stop trying to be the biggest most powerful bully on the playground. Try just being kind for once.
Sadly, the majority of the people in this country right now seem to believe that you should sit down and shut-up and do what the rich man in the tower says. That you shouldn't have any opinions if they differ from theirs. That segregating ourselves from the world is how to solve our problems.
Let me just say that it's not strength or fear or hatred that made America great. It was that acceptance, that diversity that made America great. That ability to open our hearts to others and help them. That's what made this country great. Kindness and the desire to help each other. The tired, the poor, the huddled masses. Not the wealthy, the spiteful, the charismatic.
You and me will all go down in history with a
sad statue of Liberty
And a generation that didn't agree.
When you're insulting someone because they don't share your views, you are part of the problem. When you use violence in the face of peace, you are part of the problem. When you allow yourself to become so angry that you lash out, despite what you stand for? You are part of the problem.
Remember that for every insult you post on facebook or twitter or tumblr or anywhere, every time you say "people with such and such an opinion are stupid/lame/whatever" you're insulting someone you supposedly love. Because I guarantee there are people in your immediate circle who have the opinion you just belittled so cruelly, people you're close to. People who you just hurt very very deeply with your thoughtless hate-mongering.
Trust me, I'm one of the people you love who you just brought to tears. I've been viciously attacked indirectly numerous times each and every time I even glance at (not only, but especially) Facebook over the last few months. Because I believe in peace. I believe in equality. I believe that no one has the right to tell another person how to live their lives. I believe that religious myth should never be put into law. I believe that primary and higher education should be available without debting your entire life away. I believe that love is love and love is never wrong. I believe in basic human rights for everyone. I believe in turning our backs on hatred and bigotry and closing our hearts to fear of difference and diversity. I believe that LGBTQ folk have every bit as much right to marry and publicly snog their partners as hetero folk. I believe that sexual assault is never ok, and is never the fault of the victim. I believe in standing up peacefully if you think there's an injustice that needs righting. I believe that the only way forward is to get over ourselves and stop trying to be the biggest most powerful bully on the playground. Try just being kind for once.
Sadly, the majority of the people in this country right now seem to believe that you should sit down and shut-up and do what the rich man in the tower says. That you shouldn't have any opinions if they differ from theirs. That segregating ourselves from the world is how to solve our problems.
Let me just say that it's not strength or fear or hatred that made America great. It was that acceptance, that diversity that made America great. That ability to open our hearts to others and help them. That's what made this country great. Kindness and the desire to help each other. The tired, the poor, the huddled masses. Not the wealthy, the spiteful, the charismatic.
You and me will all go down in history with a
sad statue of Liberty
And a generation that didn't agree.
