All You Need is Love...
John Lennon sang it in 1967, and I used to think it was just a silly song from a bygone time. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Beatles fan and never passed over this tune when listening to Sgt. Pepper. However, I must admit I found it a bit simple. As I grow older, I realize more every day that John (and George, Paul, and even Ringo) was right. It saddens me to see how far this country has drifted in just three decades. In a time of great turmoil including Vietnam, the assissinations of JFK, RFK and Dr. Martin Luther King, and violent clashes over Civil Rights, the youth of the day chose love over hate. They chose peace over war. They chose tolerance over bigotry. The youth of today seem to chose either self pity or self righteousness. Where did all the hippies go? There were over 500,000 people at Woodstock in 1969. Are none of them still around? Did all the flower children and hippie chicks turn into Nascar Dads and Volvo Driving Soccer Moms? I don't necessarily want a return to the days of tuning in, turning on, and dropping out. I'm just saying we could use a lot more Love in the world today. May 8 was V.E. day - 60 years to the day that the Nazi's formerly surrendered and one of the greatest examples of hatred and intolerance was finally put to rest. The question before us now is - Are we closer to 1933 (the rise of Hitler) than 1969 and the Summer of Love...
posted by Axis of Evil @ 10:31 PM
1 Comments:
At 7:26 PM,
ahsirt said…
Hate is like an infectious disease. It spreads from person to person - generation to generation. When a child enters this world, he knows nothing of hate, only love. A child loves its mother...often unconditionally. Love comes naturally. Hate is taught. Children have to be taught to hate - and they are. They're taught to hate Catholics, Protestants, African Americans, American Indians, Arabs, Jews, homosexuals, etc. African Americans have been fighting for equality in this nation since 1865. Lincoln freed the slaves, but he couldn't give them equality. Martin Luther King, Jr. died trying to earn equality and stop the hate. Are they any closer to equality today? I'm not so sure. The KKK and the Aryan Nation are outspoken racial groups. Their numbers are weaker today than they were 40 years ago - but their still present. I think there are quite a few klan members hanging out in our hometown. However, I don't think it's them spreading all the hate. I think it's closet racists - the ones that don't put on a white robe at night and wear a three piece suit by day. Love is a dieing thing in this country. Even our religions are teaching us to hate. We hate Muslims because of 9/11. This is ludicrous. Do we hate the people that share the same faith as Timothy McVeigh? Hell no - we use 9/11 as an EXCUSE to hate Muslims. Christians hate people that are homosexual because they are "deviants." I think Pat Robertson is more "deviant" than any gay person I have ever met.
When I was a teenager, I used to fight with a member of our family quite often about hatred of people because of their race. He would throw the "N" word around like it was nothing. When I would ask him why he felt this way, he would reply, "I see them every day in their true colors." Funny - I don't think prison is anyone's true color. I fought this racism as hard as I could. It's easy to get caught in a trap like that. I went to a city high school and found myself developing racist thoughts and feelings. I kept reminding myself, idiots come in all colors. You can't stereotype or hate an entire race because of a couple idiots. If that was the case, I'd hate white people!
Some days I feel like I am up to my neck in hate. The world in general is so full of hate. We're willing to kill each other over hate. I have two questions - 1)Where is the love? and 2) Can we ever get it back?
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