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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

OBSCENITY

We keep the lights on, the TV or radio always playing, for we sense and fear it.

The old gods are coming back ... if ever they left ... which, of course, they did not.

But their voices are growing stronger:

Hate calls to hate, blood calls for more blood, and the world is blind though all claim both their eyes can see.

Blood, lust, intolerance plot in desert village, in cosmopolitan apartment ... aided by the latest in the science of death.

Evil is no faceless stranger, living in a distant neighborhood.

Evil has a wholesome, hometown face, with merry eyes and an open smile. Evil walks among us, wearing a mask which looks like all our faces.

Yes, we keep the lights on.  But how do we keep the lights on inside ourselves?

The Darkness in us climbs closer to possession of our minds during the night, for the moon sings to it,

and the endless depths between the stars speaks its language.

To that shadowy self, evil looks lovely in too little light, and it murmurs, "Why not? You know you want to."

We yearn for tomorrow and the progress that it represents.

But yesterday was once tomorrow, and where was the progress in it?

Or we yearn for yesterday, for what was or what might have been.

But as we are yearning, the present is becoming the past, so the past is nothing but our yearning for second chances.

There will be no second chances for Malala Yousafzai.

In a place of hate and intolerance, the 14 year old girl spoke out for the rights of all living to achieve all they can, to become all they are able to become.

On Tuesday, masked Taliban gunmen answered Ms. Yousafzai’s courage with bullets,

singling out the 14-year-old on a bus filled with terrified schoolchildren, then shooting her in the head and neck.

A Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, confirmed by phone that Ms. Yousafzai had been the target, calling her crusade for education rights an “obscenity.”
      
“She has become a symbol of Western culture in the area; she was openly propagating it,” Mr. Ehsan said,
 
adding that if she survived, the militants would certainly try to kill her again. “Let this be a lesson.”
 
A lesson?
 
Hitler taught us that lesson decades ago.  Tyrants from Cain to now repeat it over and over and over.
 
What lesson did Malala teach us with her life?
 
Evil is ever present. But love is ever-present too. Courage finds voice in the frailest of vessels. Faith sings it song most hauntingly in the darkest night.
 
The human spirit is indominable, and the human heart outlasts - and can defeat - even the most self-defeating force of all, which is hate.

10 comments:

  1. Where does anyone get the right to decide who lives and who dies?

    Why is anyone afraid of education? The answer to that reveals a lot. Education shows the gaps in one's beliefs.

    Women have just as much right as men for having control over their lives. Why is this a hard lesson for some cultures?

    A thought provoking post, Roland, which reminds me of the intolerance that women and children still endure. It's sickening.

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  2. D.G.:
    It is worldwide. THE NEW YORK TIMES today had an article on the terrible obstacles to education that women in China face daily.

    The old gods are strong. In the end, they will wash this world in blood. Very sad.

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  3. The more you feed the beast, the more it eats. "We keep the lights on, the TV or radio always playing, for we sense and fear it." No Roland, I do not. I am constantly told to turn the lights on, but I prefer the dark. The only music a listen to is the one I choose, when I choose to hear it. There are terrible things happening all over the world all the time! Media gets fat and rich from it. I choose not to feed that beast. I will leave the slaying of beasts to those better suited than I.

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  4. "Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." ---Dale Carnegie

    I feel the darkness in the world around me most days. In small things like a man's scowl on a sunny day or larger displays of proof such as what you post here. I agree that evil never leaves and is strong, but I believe good is stronger, for how could good hold off evil from ruling for so long and still stay strong enough to light our way and show us the wonders in this world and in ourselves.

    The world feels dark now, but I believe the fight for good is still viable and worth fighting for. Call me a dreamer.

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  5. What a terrible thing to happen to a young girl trying to bring about positive changes in her world.

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  6. She's a hero and an inspiration to all of us. What courage she showed to stand up to such hate and intolerance and archaic attitudes.

    Jai

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  7. Such a tragedy. Humans think they have all the right answers to everything; and unfortunately that ends up being oppression and violence.

    ......dhole

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  8. Siv:
    I, too, am not afraid of the silence, but not many are like you and me. Although when I heard a body slam into the wall from the apartment next to me, and a terrified woman's voice, "Please don't hit me anymore", I had to knock on the door, telling the man he was better than he was acting and giving his girl friend a ride away to safety.

    Life is filled with beasts. Sometimes I can do something about it. Sometimes I cannot.

    I think you and I like similar music, Siv. Did you enjoy the NIGHTWISH video in Faulkner's post beneath this one?

    Nicole:
    You're right: Darkness wins if we do nothing. It's good to see you back in the blogverse. I've missed you.

    Alex:
    Ignorance feels threatened by the light of tolerance and education. Sad but true.

    Jai Joshi:
    Last I read there is some hope for her recovery ... if the Taliban allows it.

    Donna:
    We keep forgetting that most of the world still has the mindset of the middle ages. Women and those with the wrong color skin or beliefs are cattle. Sigh.

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  9. So sad, but it makes me thankful that we have our freedoms here. I can't imagine not having freedom of expression

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  10. Heather:
    But even here, our freedoms could wither if we do not vote correctly. Yes, being denied freedom of expression would be terrible!

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