A quote from a friend.

"What we withhold from others has everything to do with what believe about ourselves." - Jamie Lee Finch

"Down with Racism, Sexism, and the Idea of the Evil Other!"

"The worst thing in our world today is when we divide people based on their ideology, their nationality/culture and skin color, and even gender."

It's sad to say that whenever I express a viewpoint regarding true equality I am often told that I'm am unique and not everyone is like me. The real shame is that it's not saying I'm wrong or pointing out a flaw in my thinking. Instead I am relegated into a portion of intellectual idealism that is consider wishful thinking and thus it is pre decided that the world cannot follow suit and learn to truly unite like we were designed to do. Instead Europe, Africa, and Asia hold prejudice based on what country, county, or neighborhood you come from. Then there is the "shining light of freedom and equality" that is The USA which delves further down into the horrid prejudice bowl and will separate people based not only on where they were born, but on cultural heritage and worst of all, skin color. It has gotten so bad that certain slang and cultural norms seem to be directly derived from KKK and Nazi Youth doctrine. People, as a general whole, (as always there are a good number of outlying individuals that are dismissed by the mob as unique or unusual) now instead of trying to band together and show the world what can be accomplished with true unity, instead focus on being accepted by one group or another before ever really trying to work together. This Us or Them ideology has been historically proven to be catastrophically detrimental to whatever society embraces it. Now your cultural heritage and where you were born can help inform part of your personal history, but it isn't the basis for who you are entirely. And the idea that your skin color is significant is utterly false. In the course of my years being around people of many different cultures and nationalities. I never was given the impression that skin color made being intelligent/ wise/ successful/ strong any more or less a natural possibility, and thus I've found that the problem in terms of skin color is only found in a misguided social perception. Perception can be linked to too many issues. If we abandoned the idea that skin color is significant (therefore making the idea of white man and black man an irrelevant factor in many things) we are then forced to actually take the time to look into the life of the person we used to define with what their actual skin color is. Of course this issue, that of making skin color/cultural heritage/nationality an overly significant part of how we define ourselves, is just one of the Big Three perception based fallacies that I have picked up on.

The second is Gender, and for those who say this is no longer an issue I'll point out that we can look at many news events that alter wording based on the gender of the subject of the news or will make sure to incorporate their gender in the description of the person as if it made a difference. True these are a bit subtle compared to the sexism of years before, however the issue is, like with race and skin color, once the gender is used as a basis for a comment/ description/ compliment/ concern it becomes segrigatory in nature. We, particularly in American culture, are brought up by society to not even realize that we do this. We tend to not even realize that pointing out the gender, again like pointing out skin color or race, of whoever we are talking about makes the comment that it is either surprising/unusual/unique or stereotypical/assumed/factorial that someone of that particular gender would be/do/say/think in that particular way. The danger is very real that it can slip into  the "men and women are superior/inferior to each other" mindset that leads to what I call the meat-head/ultra-feminist perception. This perception is so flawed that it can actually take a genuinely kind action or non-sexism thing and make it hyperinsulting to them. The way I look at it, neither male or female is quintessentially superior to each other strength is a universally accessible trait, as is empathy and soft spokenness. To try to say you are defined as a strong woman, or an effeminate man, only further suggests that it is unnatural to be either, and that is simply not true. It has been proven as we look throughout not just history but the structure of any given society that humanity is a vastly unique collection with no two people truly like each other. Sadly this has lead to the Big Three, when it instead suggests that there is a collaborative design to the whole of the species. We are made to help each other. To be strong where others are weak. And so to divide based on gender is naturally insane and simplistic to the point of idiocy. There is too many outlying factors to the stereotypes that the only true outcome is a refusal to attempt to understand the individual. Any stereotype is inherently flawed in such a way to only spread ignorance. This leads us into the last of the Big Three.

Finally there comes the longest lasting of the Big Three, that of Ideology. The reason I consider this the longest lasting of the Prejudice issues is because it's the basis for the other two as well as the one that separates beyond the physical differences the other two are concerned with. Another way to describe this one is in the phrase "the Idea of the Evil Other". It's the prejudice that separates based on an individuals ideology, religion, beliefs, ethics, morals, and philosophy. Though it's true that most of the things listed offer very distinct and separate ways of looking at the world, the prejudice comes in the form of hatred for all who disagree, and an enemy building ignorance of the world around you. This is a separation that solidifies the fallacy of the Us versus Them. It puts up a "do not approach" sign. And has lead to not just one but several major conflicts in the world. We tend to view those who differ in ideology as evil, though it is often unspoken. Or we then look at the radical extremes for definitions of the whole. For many this has lead to a refusal to even attempt to truly understand each other, and even more terrifying, has lead to a simplistic vilification of whole societies, beliefs, and customs. This locks the world into a state of dread, where change is viewed as disaster and blame must be placed and shuffled to whoever isn't you. But it doesn't have to be this way. With patience and study, we can learn more about our differences. And if we stick with the learning process instead of stopping whenever we find one aspect that supports our theory or rather limited perception, then we may discover the apparently terrifying truth: We Aren't That Different. The things that make us unique... Everyone has their own things... Everyone is unique, that's part of our similarities. Everyone is Unique, but not everyone is special. The everyone is special garbage was a way to make kids not feel left out, but this was another idiotic notion. Not everyone is special. Everyone is Unique and capable in their own specific way. What makes someone Special is when they use their uniqueness for its intended purpose. See the difference? The everyone is special nonsense leads to selfentitlement, laziness, and a very destructive pride that isn't ready for the natural hardships in life. The everyone is unique and can work to become special ideology leads to a desire to learn, to work hard, to not give up, to imagine, and to excel without comparing yourself to anyone else. This is all a part of the same core thing. We need to let go of this Us versus Them mentality and even to go deeper the Me versus the World ideology that society has been trying to feed us. Instead we need to throw off the superficial differences that make up the Big Three and the other forms of prejudice, and show the world what people can truly accomplish.

The Truth about Love

"In our culture there are many differing notions about Love. Throughout my life I have delved into the midst of the storm in hopes of discovering what love really is. Here is the Truth I've found about Love. Love is not attraction, Love is not an emotion or feeling, Love is not something that can suddenly vanish or appear. Love is something you must choose. True Love is doesn't care about your imperfection but Chooses to move past. True love means you would choose to go through hell in order to see the one you care about go to heaven. Attraction and emotion have a part to play, but we mustn't rely too heavily on it. In the Greek there were 4 types of love... Romantic love, brotherly love, parental love, and unconditional love. In my search I realized something... There is only one definition of love and the others are expressions through various relationships. Real love is unconditional... And without it, romance is base lust, brotherhood is fair weather, and parental becomes abusive. There is only one Love... And it has no Conditions, no standards, no limits, and no comparison. I don't want to give any person a cheap imitation of Love... I am only interested in giving true unconditional love."

Change: Not by Show of Force, but by Show of Maturity and Wisdom

"In this current social climate, which has caused many to ask how far does someone need to go to bring change, I am reminded of an old philosophical joke,  'to make their point a member of the KKK will kill and burn the bodies of a black person, to make their point Islam extremists will attack non Muslims, to make their point Christian will go on crusade, but to make his point a Buddhist will light himself on fire.'

The joke is long and in rather poor taste but it has an interesting point... the question may be how far, but retaliation will never bring about change, the change is often brought about when self-sacrifice is considered over vengeance. Oddly enough this is something that Jesus taught, but is often forgotten within the rhetoric of Christianese... Our mindset shouldn't be how can we force others to change, as this just continues the current path of bondage to the wrongs or assumptions of the past, but rather how can we through how we choose to interact with the world convince people that change is possible and something to strive for."

What Kind of Friend You Should Strive to be

"Be the kind of friend who can be talked to about anything. Be open, understanding, kind, loving, and without agenda. Always be ready to compliment your friends... And never forget to be honest in your compliments. Strive for this, because then you will find how many amazing friends you truly have."

The Power of a Good Story Told by Someone Who Loves You.

"Never underestimate the power of stories. Especially those told by someone who loves the listener. A brother's little child fantasy bedtime story can be enough to ease the heart and mind of his beloved sister. The simplest sentences can be woven together to reveal the truest of Love and magic that still exist, even if only for that moment. Let's please never lose the power of such stories."

Action And Consequences

"Every action has a consequence, good or bad. Any decision you make during your life, will and can effect you until the day you die. With that being said, acknowledge your mistakes, learn from them, grow from them, rise above them, and go further in life than you ever thought you could."

                 - Charmaine