On Genocide and Hope: Part 2

Fear the Unseen

To recognize how, by nature, we have all been complicit in the holocausts of history is by no means to overlook the brutality of those who have situated themselves on their front lines. Rather, it is to have the courage to see what must be seen to create a future in which our shameful history is unable to repeat itself. We must abhor what has been done by evil people, not as hypocrites who use our abhorrence as a deferral away from our own complicity, but as those who see ourselves in the faces of the ones we sentence (i.e. The disciple Peter, not unlike Judas denied the Lord, and had his denial not been acknowledged and grieved, he too would have been susceptible to the legacy of Judas).

A weed in a garden, though identified as such when it emerges from the ground is not born at that moment, but is only then exposed. Its root system has already been established, and from the strength of this root structure it is driven to the surface of the earth. If left to grow, the weed will overtake the garden, but a good gardener will pull it, roots and all, from the ground before it reaches maturity. Too many weeds have been ignored in recent world history until it was too late, when much desirable life had already been lost to feed its roots. But in a sense, the weed that is exposed has lost much of its power for it can then be eliminated. Therefore, it should be not the weed that appears that is feared, but the weed that has not yet appeared, for this weed is free to develop its roots under the cover of earth. We have not looked deeply enough in our attempts to expose the causes of genocide, for that which we hope to uproot is hidden under the cover of our surface existence. It is not, therefore, some impersonal institution over society that is the cause of this evil, nor is it certain possessed personalities who dictate over society, these only summon the cause, but it is a voice deep within every human being which is to blame, holding its tongue until given permission to speak by the institution to which it submits.

We must then be even more keen than the good gardener and have our sights set on the eradication of not only that which is seen but also on that which is unseen.

On Genocide and Hope

How can a man emerge from the shadows, his voice from the silence, and his will from amidst the rubble of present obscurity? He must become a new creation, forged by recollection of the lucid past nightmares, and pointed towards a future glory not recorded by history but known by the blinding light illuminating the horizon of human hope. He must not forget the past, and his memory must surge him into a future of action.



Part One: Our Common Condition

The same evil institution which has gripped murderous men and which has revealed itself through the horrors of history has also concealed itself in man's desire to find his own peace, in hope that he might escape the reality of a systemic injustice starving for the blood of humanity and for the right to become its god. But this desire for peace serves merely as a cover over what lies beneath which is no less destructive than its mature self revealed in evil action. It is unto death that we should nurture in our hearts this child which is destined to grow up as one with hands ready to commit atrocity, for such hands are not built for nor able to do good.

We have sought satisfaction in the destruction of those perpetrators posessed with this evil, but beneath the surface of our perceived reality, it is not to rid the world of evil people that we seek, but to rid ourselves of our own guilt, for we know that the seed of this forbidden fruit is buried within our very hearts. Should we be surprised when upon the full ripening of the fruit it seems good for food and is a delight to the eye? If we could discern its poison, it would be not consumed but discarded as inedible. But our knowledge has failed, for those who have eaten of it were not mad as we suspect but men and women like us all.

How then is this defiled soil watered which has become the bed for evil seed determined to reach fruition?  We have sent to the gallows men already long dead, an ironic act intended to annihilate death itself, but as we've looked upon hanging corpses in anticipation of innocence to be born of their guilt now suffocated, we’ve found only the appearance of innocence blanketing our own guilt. We have driven the scapegoat from our camp with our iniquities piled upon it, but since birth the animal has survived on the scraps from our tables, and we must cover our eyes as it returns again and again to dwell among us.

Something!

Over the past month I haven’t posted anything on this blog, and if you’re reading this, it’s quite a miracle, considering it will be the only of many drafts written over the last 30 days to actually get published. Although I opened the blog not wanting it to be too introspective, I’ve decided that since it’s important that something be published, I should start writing via stream of consciousness, even if it results in a compromise of succinctness, order and/or interest.

I have a number of excuses for being slow to write, all of which may be found unnecessary to explain, but from my perspective which foresaw multiple entries per week, the excuses are both necessary and motivating. First, it’s always been difficult for me to complete any task, especially that which might expose my creative abilities and limitations. I’m a dreamer and an idealist, and to envision the product of my creativity as wonderful potentially renders the realization of my true capability frighteningly ordinary. Therefore, I rarely complete any creative pursuit that I begin, which is horribly frustrating for me. Second, as I’ve endeavored to embrace the mysteries of human existence and have chosen to situate myself in the midst of question rather than upon answer, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s impossible for me to address the havoc wreaked by common demons of human society without addressing how those demons wreak havoc in me. Not that I’ve believed myself to be above their influence, but I was not prepared for the shaking that would take place in my own being as I began to live in questions that are “unlawful” to ask. And that leads me to the third reason that I haven’t yet published this(?) post: I’m a people pleaser. As I’ve brainstormed ideas over the past weeks, there have been numerous sentences that I’ve closed with a grimace as I’ve considered the possible reactions of those who might be reading. I’m so programmed towards disclaimers and excuses (as is now made clear), but I’m convinced that if there does exist a safe public place to share my thoughts, it’s here, hidden in some shaded corner of the internet.

I hope this isn’t the last thing I write, especially since I haven’t yet written anything, but the stream of consciousness has run its course and this is all it had to offerJ

Welcome

To start, I thought it might be helpful to give the reader some insight into my motivation for starting a blog with a name and description that reeks of abstraction, or for even blogging at all for that matter.  It doesn’t take anyone long after meeting me to discover that I’m a verbal processor. This means that I say a lot of jumbled garbage before I finally spit out what I’m trying to say, and half the time I never even get around to saying what I had intended to. As I was considering this, I realized that if I write, I can easily delete the garbage and perhaps be left with some reasonably valuable content. I also thought that if I write like this for a certain length of time it may ultimately have a positive effect on the way I shape my verbal speech .

As for the name, I can’t seem to help the fact that my mind is always defying gravity and wandering to the furthest reaches of the cosmos. One might well assume that my head is just another planet, constantly spinning and circling the sun. As would be imagined, this is quite a challenging disability when it comes to managing a practical existence, but from what I’m told, there are others who think like this, and some of them have even found ways to positively impact the world through their disability. Now, whether or not these thinkers care to pay their mortgage, or to sit down to eat, or to visit their grandmother, I have no way of knowing. 

It’s important for the reader to understand that I approach this writing on the premises of certain ideological assumptions about the world and human existence for which I have no scientific proof. That being said, I am, at least at the present, convinced that my assumptions are good ones. (aren‘t we all). The only proof that I’m able to provide is that of a life sold out to my assumptions. My hope is that through these memoirs the reader might be confronted, not only with thoughts and ideas conceived through the intellect, but also by the out-workings of those thoughts through my own life journey. It’s also important that the reader is aware that I don’t really know anything when it comes to “known” knowledge concerning the things that I hope to address and express here. Anyone who knows something about anything will undoubtedly have no trouble taking a red pen to much of what I might assume or “theorize”. I’m sure that most of what I present as my own earth-shattering revelations will be found out to be ancient knowledge first discovered by the Milesian philosophers or some other early source. My aim is not so much to be correct in what I write, as it is to manage my thoughts in a manner that makes it possible for them to positively effect the way I live. My postings will probably raise far more questions than they will provide answers, they will most likely have more to say about what I doubt than what I believe, and if this blog is to enrich anyone’s life I can nearly guarantee that it won’t be through their gaining some new knowledge in a given area, but through the liberation that comes by admitting that life is too ambiguous to claim to know much of anything about it. At that you’re probably saying, “Enough already!”, and I promise not to waste your time with disclaimers in the future. Feel free to view this post simply as a sort of terms and conditions. (which I’m aware nobody actually reads).

Thanks for sticking with me, and I look forward to what’s to come!