I do not like to watch the news. Sometimes it feels like nothing good ever
happens any more. We have one story of
death and destruction after another dominating the headlines. It makes me depressed to think about it for
too long. I prefer to tuck my head back
into my shell so I can pretend that everything is well in the world. This week though has had several rather
horrific news stories push their way onto my radar, so I feel the need to poke
out of my protective cover for a minute and put some thoughts down.
Why are we so intolerant of each other? There are so many people on this planet. I would like to think that most of us are
generally good. However, it is hard to
ignore the evidence, both big and small, that tells me every day that we are
not as nice as we seem. It seems like we
go out of our way to hurt anyone who is different from us, who does not believe
the same things as us, who takes a different path in life from us. It does not matter if we are talking about
terrorist attacks like those in Beirut on November 12, 2015, or hate crimes
like the attack on the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston
on June 17, 2015, or children driven to suicide because of bullying in the
schools. It is all horrible stuff that I
do not want to see in my newsfeed.
The aftermath of these events is almost as bad. People pick certain stories and run wild with
them on social media, claiming support but not really understanding what
happened or doing anything to make changes around them. Political activists use the incidents to
promote social policies that would have little effect on the root cause of the
problem. Groups organize to seek revenge
against the original perpetrators and often expand to a hateful outcry against
whole groups of people who only superficially resemble those responsible. People point fingers at each other, but no
one does anything to fix the problem.
Even if one or two people do actually step up to try to make an actual
difference for the better, they are drowned out by the bullshit around them.
Why cannot we just learn to live with each other? I certainly do not like everyone that I meet,
that I work with, that I am related to, etc.
I doubt most of the people I dislike even know it though, because I do not
advertise the fact. I am not talking
about letting other people hurt me in any way, but just stepping back when they
come into disagreement with me. Just
because they have opposing political views from me, or believe a different
religion than me, or are of a culture I do not like being around, does not mean
they do not have the right to be who they are.
As long as they are not infringing on my right to be myself, then I have
no reason to infringe on their right to be themselves. I am definitely not perfect, but I do my best
to stay out of other people’s personal freedoms.
I just want us all to stop being so intolerant of people who are different than us. I
understand I probably cannot have much impact on international terrorism, but I
can certainly treat those around me with respect and understanding. If we all start giving each other a little
courtesy in our day to day interactions, and stop focusing on trying to
change people who are different than us, then maybe we eventually can stop
seeing so much hatred pour forth from the media. Then, it will not be so depressing to hear
the news.
See you next week!
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