Over the entirety of the evolution of the human race and the justice system in the United States we have found ourselves at odds with the very governance that rules the land.
(Via 123RF)
As I type this today: Muslim Ban 3.0 goes into effect in the United States - this has been fought tooth and nail and continues to be fought by entities such as the ACLU; the US is also the most jailed population where 716 of every 100K are in prison, while only have 4% of the World's population, the US houses 22% of the World's prisoners (Land of the Free, indeed); and harassment by individuals across the internet still goes largely unchecked (my post today is inspired by such harassment).
Why do we feel the need to accuse people without having the right amount of information? We sit in our "ivory towers" and dole out our version of justice without getting to the root of any issues. The problem with this is that we are as blind as lady justice herself.
(Via Pinterest)
If no man can judge me but God (that is if you believe in that higher being), then why do we continue to do it. My friend Reza Aslan who has been studying religions his entire life puts it in really good perspective.
He starts out in a recent video: "God doesn't hate gay people. You hate gay people." And he's right, if we are made in his image, then not just a few of us are - we all are. But are we? Or is it the other way around. Certainly makes mores sense when you break it down.
"God doesn't love America. You love America." And I do love America, but I love humans first and foremost.
(Via YouTube)
Throughout our history on this planet, humans and by proxy religion has been a force for the unbridled good and atrocities mounting to be unspeakable evils.
How about that time when the KKK was defeated by a Nun
(Via Ave Maria Radio)
Everything that is good or bad about our religions are merely a reflection of everything that is good or bad about us as human beings. We create our reality and within that reality we pervert situations to fit the mold we seek. When we seek answers to fit our narratives, this is known as confirmation bias. We are all guilty of it and we must work to stop the effects as they can spiral in to very negative consequences. It entrenches people in their positions and dangerously leads us astray down dark paths.
Whether we are aware of it or not or we even want to believe it or not, what the large majority of us think about when it comes to crime, justice, God, etc. is a reflection of what we think of ourselves. Crime and punishment is a reflection of how we were raised and it is engrained in us to react to stimuli accordingly.
(Via Crime and Punishment)
We simply cannot help ourselves. This is how our brain works. Let's take for instance the very notion of God and how we process God. The concept of God arose from human evolution compels us consciously or not, to make God into our own image. Jesus was not a white man, with blue eyes but was for some. And for others, they like to picture Jesus in a tuxedo t-shirt! But I digress.
It is how we make sense of God and in fact the World. We implant in God our own emotions and our personalities, our virtues and vices. We hold nothing back. One of my favorite quotes of all time is by Socrates:
I know nothing but the fact of my own ignorance.
(Via History.com)
We put faith in God and the systems that have been built over time. But what if those systems need an overhaul? What if those systems are no longer working for all but only a general few? Our capacity for love, our empathy, our compassion seems to be trampled by all that is vile in human nature: our aggression and greed, our bias and bigotries and our ability to commit extreme acts of violence.
These trends are moving us in the wrong direction. We are fashioning the World where we presume people are guilty until you prove yourself innocent. The very notion of Christianity assumes that we are all born in sin. And here I thought we were all born of light. We don't come out sinful, have you ever looked at a baby and said this thing is evil? Seriously? No, because they aren't - and yet the largest religion already starts with that premise. And it is exactly why we need an awakening and an overhaul. The same faith and the following of the same God can inspire on the one hand compassion and on the other hatred. It really depends on what side of the coin you are on.
If you look around the World, most of our conflicts come from an unconscious desire to make God work for us and only us. What God wants and what he/she desires and who he/she loves and who he/she hates. The very fact that I ascribe both a he/she to God is the very image I wish to seek in God. The jury is still out for me as I do believe in a higher power, may it be the force or the universal wave that binds us all.
(Via Planet Minecraft)
The simple truth as Reza puts it is "God is not rooting for your team," nor does God care who you marry. God is not a Republican or a Democrat. He isn't American, Jewish, Arab, Indian, or even a monkey.
(Via Flickr)
God doesn't care what car you drive, or who you voted for, and God certainly doesn't care if you are acting in accordance with your higher self. You know who should care, YOU. "So stop foisting your human compulsions on God." Whatever you believe in this World, it is am image of yourself. Period. That is why no Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, Christian are alike. We all have our thoughts of how things should be.
And for goodness sake, if you can just come to the truth of the matter - take responsibility for your thoughts, actions, prayers, and everything that you think and do in this World - basically having radical awareness then you can take the first step to a more mature, more expansive, more meaningful spiritual life and a more calm existence.
To see Reza's full video, see here.
Lastly, this isn't the only post I intend to do on this subject. There is so much to peel back and in the future I would like to engage in meaningful discussions that give us the power of awareness and allow us to fight back against those that use their righteousness before God to prove their point and inflate their Ego.