As the end of another year approaches, and we prepare to celebrate yet another Holiday Season when we are harkened back to old family traditions that include taking time to prepare old fashioned homemade meals, getting reacquainted and basking in the comfort of family and friends, it is unlikely that we will be able to totally escape the sense of unease, and disconnectedness we feel about the times we live in today in the United States and the world.
A real sense of unease and disconnectedness pervades our psyche about the global civilized world we thought was emerging in its fullest sense, as we embraced the dawn of the 21st century just over a decade ago, to one that seems today rifted with cultural, religious, and economic chasms so wide that they appear to be permanent divides.
Where has the pre-eminent tenet, of always working to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number, and the notion that civility should rule the day, gone?
The forces, evil and otherwise, that brought us to this point in human civilization have been brewing for a long, long time. And unfortunately, many of us still may not have gotten the message.
During the last decade, we have been attacked on our own soil. We seem to be in the grip of an economic downturn with no immediate relief in site. We have been subjected to pillage and rape by corporate greed and phantom investment practices that have gone unchecked. We have managed to send representatives, of the people to Washington, who have been unable to get the people’s agenda done because of personal agendas of their own.
Where has fighting for the common good and practicing civility gone?
It is little wonder that we long for the way things used to be. We wish we could go on with our lives, working to fulfill our dreams and making the world better than we found it just as we always have in the sovereign American way.
But could it be, that amidst all the political impasse, economic uncertainty, and compromised sense of safety, there is greater opportunity to reconnect with some fundamental and inescapable tenets of a healthy society that we may have lost sight of?
It really boils down to some serious reflections. Each of us needs to rid ourselves of those thoughts and habits that may not foster positive societal outcomes like:
As much as we may have been told or would like to believe, no individual, race, or country is the center of the universe. We all occupy space. We all have purpose and roles to play. Why can’t we find more mutual respect and more common ground to address common challenges and problems that could advance all society?- The sustained quality of one’s life need not be built on the backs of other human beings. The oppressed eventually rise. History is replete with examples and the Occupy Movement, occurring all across America and in many places across the globe, is just another.
- One does not have to go about his or her daily affairs with utter, even partial, disregard for their neighbor, colleague, friend, relative, or a stranger.
- Ignorance, perhaps, is bliss, only in love and only for a time. Ignorance generally is the breeding ground for vulnerability, and remaining at a costly disadvantage.
- Burying one’s head in the sand solves nothing. We learned that from the ostrich.
As we come to the close of another year, celebrate another holiday season, perhaps it should be more than tradition as usual. Tradition as usual may have allowed us to become complacent and accepting of the human degradation and atrocities right here on American soil and abroad.
We have either not paid very much attention or we have been totally oblivious to the many ugly forces — religious fanaticism, ethnic cleansing, racial discrimination, and economic exploitation — that reign in our immediate and distant world.
Religious intolerance and racial hatred are not new. Unfortunately, they occupy too many pages in the history of too many countries. They are the ties of human nature that bind us — the ugly equalizer.
Understand that being different doesn’t automatically mean better or worse, it simply means different. How you view being different can be enlightening or enslaving.
How much longer can we afford to refuse to see, acknowledge, and try to understand the different among us, rather than shun, alienate, or exploit them?
The misuse of money, power, and ingenuity has often made it easy for us to ignore an age old premise: It is the kinship, and mutual respect afforded to and by each of us around the table of humanity which will ultimately save us, or the lack thereof will bring our own demise. Perhaps we have omitted these realizations in our conversations.
When we look around us, in our homes, in our religious, educational, and political institutions, discussing the need to return to civility should be as much apart of any dialogue or discussion as the subject at hand.
If not, how can we expect things to get better?
Comments
A Tradition of Change
The holiday season has always meant a great deal to me becuase, to me, it represents a time of unity. As I grew older I realized that the holiday season was not only about Christmas, but other holidays that coincide with other cultures. The more I learned about these cultures, the more I learned about oppression. As a nation, I see America trying to make room for non-Christian cultures, and people who don't celebrate Christmas. This, to me, is a natural thing to do. However, many people think that, by doing this, the government is trying to obliterate Christianity. I do not belive this. As this article says, we must find a way to unite all of humanity. We cannot do that by making people of other religions and cultures think they are not welcome. We must learn to accept their beliefs, even if that means saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." America was founded on the desire for religious freedom, and we need to keep that foundation alive, or else we lose everything our nation stands for.