For 14 years we have been together
I saved you from the shelter in Sanford
But since them you have saved me more
Through the Multitude of moves
To my marriage and divorce
You were there when I pushed everyone else a way
You showed me love when I did’t think I deserved it
I will miss the swirls of fur on your chest
To the way you twitch your nose when you smelt food
You have meant more too me than you know
I love you Bentley The Best Damn Friend a man could have
As a self proclaimed Humanist I do not believe in a God or gods. I believe in the power of humanity in and of itself. I have been to many churches and they all seemed strange to me, even the Catholic Church in which I was loosely raised in. The whole sit, stand and kneel ritual was quite irritating along with the sermons and the Bible. They all just rubbed me the wrong way. When I got in to my twenties I read the Bible from front to back and the contradictions within it drove me nut as well as the whole lineage stuff.
It was when I was introduced to Bruce Lee and his philosophy of martial arts that I started developing my own system of beliefs. I liked how he took the best parts of other martial arts and combined them together to create Jeet Kune Do. I liked this and wondered why no one had thought of doing this with religion or faith. So, over the years I started developing my own philosophies. I did not just stick to the ideas of religion though I also took from themes within fiction and movies where religion lacked. I try to live by a code that promotes peace and harmony without being hypocritical to my beliefs like many do with in religion. Some may think it is naive but I see the world as it is and I aspire to make changes with in myself, so that I may help change the course of humanity in a positive way.
I strive to eliminate hate from myself, for to hate I feel is to give power to that person or group over me. This is no easy task. I may get angry at someone but I will not hate them. Anger will only last as long as I let it. I do not hold grudges anymore, for this only hurts me. It darkens my heart and breeds discontent in those around me.
I remind myself fear can be both a good and bad thing. Fear can keep me safe from the dangers of the world. Remember not to let fear control me, for if I allow it to have control it can hinder my journey through this life and lead to hate. When fear becomes too strong I must face it by putting myself in uncomfortable situations, this way I understand what I am afraid of, henceforth stifling hate.
Be kind to those around me. This is can also be hard to do especially if I am angry. I am not perfect and will not claim to be. We all make mistakes so, we must own up to them and learn.
Love everyone no matter the race, religion, sexual orientation or any other way society deems to separate us. I have come to the realization that I may not be able to love in a romantic sense, because my heart is filled with love for all humankind. I am fine with that. In some ways it is lonely and I crave the affections of someone but this may hinder me from the mission I have taken on. I vowed to not be with anyone until I have finished my Bachelor’s Degree that was almost 3 years ago. I have almost allowed myself to fall back into the old routines, of mistaking sex for romantic love. I do not wish to do this again.
I put my heart into my goals. This is why I think I am so good at being an Educational Assistant and why I will be a good teacher. I put the kids I work with first, this is how I am. I want to make sure that children no matter where they are where they are from.
Do no harm is another principle I try to live by as well. This means I will make sure to exhaust all methods of nonviolence. I would rather die than to physically harm someone.
These are some of the principles I try to live by. But, I am not perfect and I will never claim to be. If I do please call me out on it.
Over the past few weeks I have been hearing and seeing people talk about want Mr. Trump calls “Shit Holes”. Did he even think about why these countries are the way they are or does he just assume like many others that it is just the people. Most of these countries were colonised by white european countries like Britain, France, Denmark and Spain, also the United States of America. Over the past 200 years or more the pure capitalization of the world have raped and pillaged these countries for their resources. Giving little regard for the people of these countries. We have built a world on the back of the less fortunate and people like Mr. Trump are personally responsible for these crimes against humanity.
They care little about anyone but themselves and how they can exploit people for their own personal gain. They destroy the potential of people who could help develop the next big enhancements to the human condition, all for the a piece of green paper that if we were not around would not contribute anything to this world.
So, why should we help out the people of these “Shit Hole Countries” and Mr. Trump puts it. We should help them out of the kindness of our hearts. But, the real people who need to help them are the extremely wealthy and those whose money has been handed down from generation to generation. If it were not for them exploiting these people they may have developed much differently. Hell, their quality of life could be much better and we may have actual peace in regions that are now in a state of perpetual conflict.
It is time for us to grow as not just a countries or continents, it is time for us to grow as a species. We must learn to not take advantage of each other and build a better world together. It can be done, maybe not in my lifetime, but it can start with in it. I am not naive to think it will happen overnight or it will be easy. It will be a long and hard change and there will be many who will die before we evolve to that level as a society. But as long as we push for the change and leave the world better than when we found it. We have a chance.
I wrote this poem after have a what at supposed to be a discussion but, devolved into that person insulting me and calling me names because I did not agree the them.
Hate Destroys the heart
Gives the person hated power over your feelings
Hate is easy and takes no real thought
Love heals the heart
Gives power power to those who love and those who are loved
Love is hard, it takes strength and encourages thought
Hate acts like a cancer
eating at your mind and body
Hate breeds more hate
Love cures all ailments
It fills the mind and body with hope
Love breeds more love
Why do we hate so much? Why can we not love more?
We should love the world
As we love ourselves
Spread the love to as many people as we can
Last week I was out in the smoking area at school, we were having a lively discussion about whether it is appropriate to hit someone if they do a NAZI salute or use racial slurs. There were a couple of people who said “If they saw someone doing the NAZI salute and saying ‘sieg heil’ or ‘blood and soil’ they would clock them.” I was trying to explain to them, that if you do through the first punch, you make yourself and others who also find bigotry offensive look almost as bad as the people you are standing up against. You fan the flames of hatred and it becomes a powerful force against a positive movement.
I know that some might think this attitude is naive or even cowardly. To me it takes a lot of strength to hold back that anger, when I hear stuff like that, not to just clock the person. I severely dislike bigotry and hatred, but I know the moment I give in to my feeling of disgust, I give them power over me. They want people who think like me to resort to violence to prove their point. It is like in “Batman The Dark Knight Returns” when the Joker is trying to get Batman to commit murder to bring him down to the Joker’s level. In this analogy of course the Joker is ultra violent and murderous, where as in the scenario I stated in the first paragraph using speech as a way to bring us down to their level. Unless the other person who is saying the vial and nasty things actually physically assaults me, I will not lift a finger to harm them physically.
See in the battle of ideas, this is a battle of words and of the mind. Those with the best ideas will rise to the top as long as they do not resort to violence. I will argue all day with a racist and try to show them the error of their thinking. Let’s be honest if i had to argue all day about the subject with that person, there is likely nothing I or anyone would say that could change their mind. Just like I could not convince this other person that kicking the crap out of a bigot is not the best way to trying to change their mind. I had help trying to convince the person too about 6 others tried to convince him as well. Some people just can not be reasoned with.
This is the same issue on a much larger scale that we have had with extremist in the Middle East. The U.S. has been trying to force our beliefs through violence and regime change. If we want to bring the region into the 21st century we are going to have to change our approach to the situation. First off STOP SELLING WEAPONS PERIOD, TO OTHER COUNTRIES! Second pull all our troops out of the region making sure we collect all the weapons we have brought over there. Third close down Guantanamo bay and make that if we try anyone there that it is done fairly and due diligence. For those we release we should try and help make sure that those people are taken care of, if they are innocent, they have been held there for a long time without trial and they deserve some sort of compensation. Four gradually as the tensions start to die down try and get food and medical supplies to the civilians. Though it will take a long time to earn the trust of the people in the region. This would be just the beginning of the healing process.
In order for us to have a lasting peace on this planet we must rise against the violence. We can not defeat an idea with violence it only strengthens their position eyes of those who would follow them. As I said before and I will say it again the only way to defeat an idea is with a better one. If you have to resort to violence to support your idea it probably is not worth a damn.
JJ's World Views 
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