Our kids look to us
depending on our guidance,
and we’ve lost our way
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What’s Real
Keep them misinformed
Stir their emotions through lies
Fear means more than truth. ~ Sean King
I woke up, and against my better judgment I took a glimpse of the news this morning. As I suspected, the news was all about the suspect (the other suspect had already been killed) in the act of terror at the Boston Marathon.
What do I think? I think it’s time for me to read the Qur’an. To be clear, I believe in Christ, I believe in God, I have studied the bible end to end for understanding, I’m not a Muslim, and I don’t plan to become one. But all of these constant attempts to link every terrorists attack back to the Islamic faith has me wondering, what does does the Holy Book of Islam say on the matter. I suspect, like Christianity, Islam has people who have deviated from their faith and are no longer acting in accordance with the practices of their belief. If that is the case, it’s sad that the US government and many of the governments and media outlets of the western world describe these acts of terrorism as authentic acts of Islam.
It all makes me wonder, why isn’t every rape, every murder, every witch hunt, every act of violence against an abortion clinic, every cross burning, every lynching, every act of white supremacy, and every violent act committed by self proclaimed Christians also related back to the Christian faith. That is, if faith is truly the cause of all of these violent acts against humanity.
I say all of this to say, that I need to read the Qur’an, so that I can understand with my own eyes and own mind what is a component of the Islamic faith and what is propaganda.
Good morning family, today and everyday moving forward, we must be diligent about seeking truth everywhere where misinformation might be being disseminated and masqueraded as truth. The stakes are too high for us to continue accepting ignorance.
Where (A Haiku)
Imagine
Imagine, waking up and watching the national news where the lead story is about Shaquita getting a perfect 1600 on her SAT, and the decision of whether she should go to Harvard or Yale.
Imagine news that talks about the humanity of a 13 year old girl who’s volunteering at a convalescent home, or the 18 year old boy who spends his spare time helping at risk youth prepare for college while studying engineering, or the guy in the NYC who’s been feeding the homeless for 18 years straight with his own money without ever taking a day off, or the 40 year old brother working to help former criminals reenter society after they paid their debt.
Imagine waking up and hearing a feel good story first thing in the morning.
Imagine if murder was only talked about from the side of the victim. Imagine a world where the criminals remained nameless, were not newsworthy, weren’t provided a world stage by the media, and didn’t have anybody analyzing every detail of their lives including how they wiped the shit from their ass.
Imagine if the story was about how wonderful the victims were. Imagine if the story was about how resilient their families were in putting their lives back together in spite of the tragedy.
Imagine if we changed our views and quit speaking from the perspective of fear and death and instead highlighted courage and life, resilience and hope, love and humanity.
Imagine if we started our sporting events with a song telling everyone to lift their voice and sing instead of a war cry about rockets, bombs, war, and enemies.
Imagine what our world would look like if war was a last resort and not a first threat. Imagine how our world would be if the news were even a little bit balanced.
Imagine if we gravitated toward light instead of darkness. Just imagine, who and what we could be if we changed our perspective.
I point this out because in many respects training people is like training dogs. They learn what’s important by what we focus on and what you reward them for. Teach children for 30+ years and no one notices. Murder, rape, commit a heinous offensive act against someone, or even dunk a basketball, and they will immediately listen. They will make you famous beyond your wildest dreams. A spokesperson for this, a spokesperson for that. They will revere you.
Our kids are watching and starving for attention. By constantly showing them murder and violence, we are teaching them what we value. We are telling them if they want to make a name for themselves they need to be an entertainer, an athlete, or a criminal.
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