Look without flinching.
Posted on March 19th, 2007 by On a Limb w/ Claudia
Can you do it?
I can’t.
I can’t look without flinching at the list of men and women who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I don’t have the protection of feeling indignant (”This should not be happening”) or classism disguised as existentialism (”They made the choice”). I don’t believe that there is a God that would have reasons for people to die in painful, awful ways to support inexplicable politicians and their policies.
I feel stupid and, to quote Nirvana, contagious. Helpless. I feel too helpless to even form an opinion.
I flinch and pull away in pain.
Filed under: Going out on a limb, Thoughts on being human....
Yes. Just yes.
It makes me feel that I, too, am immoral.
I could go on and on. So could you. But I keep wondering why we are forced to witness what we cannot change. Where is the good in that?
It’s an unpleasant truth but we can’t blame God. It is humankind that cannot resolve issues peacefully. It is the greed of men for power, wealth and resources that fuels wars and we are all complicit by the life choices we make. The bible says “The love of money is the root of all evil”. I think it is absolutely true.
How else can we explain famine and starvation when there is more than enough food in the world? How else can we explain wars funded by diamonds and drugs? How else can we expalin that some nations refuse to ban landmines?
We need to keep trying to make a change or else we can’t sleep at night.
Heart in SF - The only thing I can come up with is that in witnessing, we can understand the decades it will take for our country, and their countries, to heal. So we watch, helplessly….
Squirrelly - It’s true that there is a lack of love in the world - not a lack of money, food, or power. It just doesn’t feel like focusing on love is enough. Maybe it is, it just doesn’t feel that way.