American the Land of the Fearful ? True Hope for Change?
by Sheila Perez on Monday, February 8, 2010 at 1:35pm
The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave? I am not sure! Now don't get me wrong, it is not that I believe that America does not have heroes, does not have brave men and women. But if you listen to any news, weather TV, radio or computer info there seems to be nothing but fear propagation.
Do you stop to think about the reason behind it? Do you stop to think about the why?
It seems that fear is serving someone well and it is not the American people. Who then is it and why? Why would any true American want to do it?
Why are we so easily led into it unthinking, like sheep to the slaughter? What is the slaughter any way?
It is the murder of our peace. The murder of our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
We have a piece of paper in this country and a government that is supposed to support us in this, but do they? Can they? I find no comfort in the state of our Nation, the state of the economy or the state of the world. If I listen to the media I find no clear hope for the future of my children. Again, don't get me wrong. There are people working hard to keep the laws, make more laws and change the ones that they feel are dysfunctional. But the very laws that give us freedom seem to also, take them.
The Second Amendment for one, is a good example. It seems we have more and more freedom to say whatever we want to whom ever we want but verbal abuse abounds. We have more freedom but what is the cost? The things I hear mothers and fathers shout at their children make me sick, never mind the racial slurs that have increased in the last 20 years. With no clear guide lines language soon becomes a freedom to abuse. Why have we brought freedom down to a criminal level? Why do we think that oppressing others is freedom?
Fear is an oppressor. What is it that your oppressors would profit from if you fear? Maybe, you have too much liberty. Or maybe your very freedom oppresses those who oppress you because they are afraid of something.
It seems that the oppressed and the oppressor function the same way in this country. They use the same means to fight, the same weapons. A word for a word. An eye for an eye. A law for a law. My peace for your peace.
Is there a way to rise above the react reaction phase, the fight and flight stage, the sit and do nothing dilemma? How can we restore peace to the human heart and mind, to the nation, to the world by picking up the same weapons (fear and control) our enemies have chosen to wield and not see the same oppressor in ourselves and our neighbors?
Their needs to be a new paradigm. A simplified analogy for paradigm is a habit of reasoning, or "the box" in the commonly used phrase "thinking outside the box". Thinking inside the box is analogous with normal science. The box encompasses the thinking of normal science and thus the box is analogous with paradigm. "Thinking outside the box". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradigm
Obviously thinking in the current "box" has not been, and is not being, profitable to us as citizens or humans regardless of our races or religions.
We are ripe for a new form of education in all areas. And why do I say education? Why do I not say, leadership? Because the oppression is at the root of OUR PERSONAL thinking. Do you want a leader to think for you? Is that how we as humans have become, dumb sheep that only need a guide? And where and to what are we being guided? Not even God thinks for us, though some may believe He does and I guess at the root of that belief system you are looking for complete control and thus no self freedom at all. It is obvious that God limits his involvement so that you are required to think and learn. (I am not dissing Sovereignty but we all have our own lines to draw with our beliefs, think for yourself!)
To educate is not to dictate. People are not trash receptacles for the dumping of processed knowledge. Thinking is an experience you have to do for yourself. No thinking adult likes their food chewed never mind pre-digested. But that is the very kind of Religions, Schools, political systems and news media we have. It is a chewed up, used up, spat out kind of information and it often breeds fear not freedom. Fear seems to sell well, in fact, we seem to take it up quite freely. What has brought us to this point? Religion, Schools, political systems? Maybe, God knows they try! Or maybe, just maybe, it is our own fault. Maybe, thinking that we have to know it all, with out really experiencing any of it, without hunting, without getting our hands dirty digging, without kicking up some dust and rocking some boats, being taught all our lives, that if we do not know XYZ in ABC format by 123 then we are stupid and worthless containers. But we are never taught to reason, to ask questions and to keep asking, outside the current box, until we find the answers. We are only given words and told to fill in the blanks with the answers supplied by the current institutions. Then we blame the institutions, the people, God.
Well, how then do you truly educate yourself or another? By coming along side of each other, not as an adult to child, teacher to student. Not as class to class or my need to your need but brother to brother and sister, mankind to mankind, learner to learner, sharing in each others hopes, dreams and needs, loves. The higher archery of learning should not be about controlling information and methods to shape the mind for our own purpose, so that we all think the same or can be under the same control and influence. That does not breed peace. It is not liberty. As long as this higher archery exists true learning, loving, peace will never take place, only replication and /or oppression.
When we give up our rights to think for ourselves, we give up our rights to peace, and eventually, freedom. When we replace freedom with the bondage of fear, because of a taught belief system, our oppressor become our ONLY hope for change. We look to them, internalizing their belief system and ways of oppressing ( because they are all we know after all). We use their tools and they become our own even when they are the very things we fight against. Our minds are given over. Once our minds have been given over, we fear everything, including our own freedom, especially our freedom to think.
But it would seem the very way to freedom, this new paradigm offers, we have been trained to reject. For in order to put it into place, their would have to be a revolution. Revolution of this kind is always considered an act of rebellion. We are afraid of what rebellion implies to us, as well as the hierarchies we all either hold to or despise. Anything that would contradict the very foundations of our great edifice would bring our own little world crashing down. Why? Because we have been trained by our oppressors to oppress. It has become, by training, our very nature. Can a rebellion be without oppression? Yes, it can. It is called reeducation. I am not talking about passiveness. But I am talking about peace. Peace of mind in a troubled world, because it will take time for the world to change, because the oppressors who would work against the New Paradigm are in our own thoughts and minds.
Change will not come by a react, reaction phase, the fight and flight stage, the sit and do nothing dilemma. Change will not come by continuing in the fears of the state of our Nation, the state of the economy, the state of the world, the state of religion, or buy repeating the acts of our oppressors.
"HOPE FOR CHANGE" starts in you! You, the mind, the body, the spirit not the receptacle. It is by changing the way you think, you educate, you see God. It is by pulling out the lies in the very "corner stone" of our thinking and replacing them with our own thoughts, our own "found" truth. It is by seeing in every man an eternal spirit, the very image of God. For me it has been seeing the very image of God in my Spirit and aligning with it and for this reason knowing I should have no fear of the truth. Truth is Love. Love holds grace. Love is not what people tell you it is. It is what you imagine it to be. If your image of love is distorted, you will be and your actions will show it.
Whether or not you believe in a God, you believe that Power, Love and a Sound mind exists or you would live without any morals or empathy. You can find it in yourself because it has always existed in you, and you have no need to be taught what that is. You were born with it. To reject those things is not only to reject God's love but your own self love. You have no reason to live, to hope, or even, to fear. Love is not getting to give to your self or others. Love is being able to be who you were created to be and using the power of Love in your self, in the absence of fear, and condemnation, to make the world a better place.
I and many of my friends have begun to make those changes. In ourselves, and in our institutions, in our thoughts of God, and the universe. We have found Peace and safety, not in the institutions, but in ourselves. If you are interested in learning more about this peace please contact me on face book.
I guarantee if you are willing to crumble the castles built for you, you will begin to rebuild your own life, and it will not just be highly affective for you, but also for everyone you meet who is willing to do the same. I am not saying that changing the world is easy, or possible, or sane. I'm not even saying that changing yourself is easy. But I can guarantee it is worth it. Yes, I do believe in God and that is who I am centered in. I won't hide that fact. We all have belief systems. But that does not mean that we can not educate each other in love. No one can force their beliefs on you. I can only offer you mine and we can prove together what works and what does not. If you are not open to me because of religious views just teach yourself to be open minded and I would recommend a book. "Pedagogy of the oppressed" Paulo Freire, not a simple read. It is about freedom to think (which many are against because of fear) Freedom to think is truly,education, no, it is life!
God Bless you and keep you free from fear,
Sheila Perez
