Requiem for bridges to peace
Apr. 23rd, 2004 11:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sophiaserpentiaOver the past several years I have expended a lot of energy dedicated to the idea that no matter what opinions or beliefs there are which separate people, we are all human underneath, and that it is possible even in spite of differing beliefs to appeal to that common humanity and in so doing begin to build a bridge to peace.
After all, we all face the same fears, the same hopes, the same needs, the same disappointments. We live in the same world, we watch the same terrifying events unfold, and if we cannot find a path to peace, then how can we come together when we need to, to face a common threat?
But it is so much easier for people to destroy and to foment discord, than to build bridges of peace.
I fear it is impossible to build a bridge to peace with someone who hates me so much he will write a mean-spirited law such as the one just passed in Virginia. Such a person has never met me, but he already hates me because of the way I love, which is something that doesn't affect him in the least. He is afraid and wants to have an enemy to destroy, because in his mind surely someone must be to blame for the ills of life. He has made me into that person.
At some point, one must just draw a line and say, "No, I do not have the energy to continue building a bridge that you are just going to tear down again."
To the fomenters of discord and hate, I say congratulations. Because of you I no longer have the energy to be reasonable. Now you will find out what my mind is capable of when I am being UNreasonable.
Edit. The hatemongers have been up to it in Michigan, too, passing a law that would allow doctors and pharmacists to deny care to someone on the basis of faith. If you are queer and live in Michigan, you may now have a harder time finding proper healthcare.
After all, we all face the same fears, the same hopes, the same needs, the same disappointments. We live in the same world, we watch the same terrifying events unfold, and if we cannot find a path to peace, then how can we come together when we need to, to face a common threat?
But it is so much easier for people to destroy and to foment discord, than to build bridges of peace.
I fear it is impossible to build a bridge to peace with someone who hates me so much he will write a mean-spirited law such as the one just passed in Virginia. Such a person has never met me, but he already hates me because of the way I love, which is something that doesn't affect him in the least. He is afraid and wants to have an enemy to destroy, because in his mind surely someone must be to blame for the ills of life. He has made me into that person.
At some point, one must just draw a line and say, "No, I do not have the energy to continue building a bridge that you are just going to tear down again."
To the fomenters of discord and hate, I say congratulations. Because of you I no longer have the energy to be reasonable. Now you will find out what my mind is capable of when I am being UNreasonable.
Edit. The hatemongers have been up to it in Michigan, too, passing a law that would allow doctors and pharmacists to deny care to someone on the basis of faith. If you are queer and live in Michigan, you may now have a harder time finding proper healthcare.
