There's a fundamental problem when one is forced to deny one's core truth

[Stinky The Clown]

We all have core truths. Things about ourselves that no amount of denial or celebration, no amount of obfuscation or wishing can change.

We are white, of European ancestry. We are black of indeterminate ancestry. We are straight and we are gay. We are blind and we are in a wheelchair. We are of Middle Eastern or Asian ancestry. We were born in the USA or we were born in Kuala Lampur. We are doctors because we're gifted and we are homeless because we're drug addicted. We are 17 and we are 83. We are men and we are women. We are in a nation with a Visa and we are there without benefit of legal status.

Every single one of us ..... is. We just are.

But we are, with frightening frequency, also caused by circumstance to deny who we are are.

The closeted gay man. The Egyptian family who claims to be French. The Democrat who does not fill out a party affiliation line on a voter registration form. The confirmed humanist who fails to engage the Neanderthal at work when he decries uppity Black women. The intellectually inclined child who simply avoids recess rather than be shamed by being the last one picked for the team. The rabid progressive who lives in Boise and fears putting a 'Peace' bumper sticker on his car.

The world in which we live is greatly diminished when we need to hide our core truth. The young - those who have yet to fully develop, those who we are *all* responsible for nurturing - are hurt most by this. The elderly come, in the evening of their lives, to simply stop caring who thinks what about them. Age renders a degree of freedom in this regard. But when we are young and vital and most precious we are afraid.

When I was young, I was made to fear "The Bomb' and 'communists'. Today, as then, and as it has been for eons, our young people are, institutionally and societally, made to fear something far more terrifying.

We fear people. Arabs and Mexicans this year. Germans and 'Japs' a half century ago.

Is this a struggle that mankind is doomed to deal with for the remainder of time? Or is this just another historical cycle.

I weep when I realize ........ I know the answer.

I change what I can change. I enlighten those who trust me. I speak to those who don't know me.

But in the end ...... I know the answer.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. And the answer is....

PM me if you don't want to publish and argue about it!

[Stinky The Clown]

2. Please post it here.

Some may call a difference of opinion an argument. Some may call it a discussion. Some may call it learning.

Besides, how would you know there'll be a difference?

[TallahasseeGrannie]

3. I thought YOU had the answer!

I have no idea!

[Stinky The Clown]

4. My view is ......

.... we're doomed as a species to fight these fears forever.

The fight will be with those who cause the fears ...... and the very fears themselves.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

5. I fear you are correct

because fear, the fight or flight instinct, is the prime cause of anxiety. Anxiety rules the world, unfortunately.

[The River]

9. I Beg To Dissagree

One fear at a time
One generation at a time
One by one the things we fear have been left
in evolutions wake.
One day we will, as a species, realize what
what more and more individuals are realizing;
Who and what we really are, prior to, outside of and
beyond the reach of "time".

[Stinky The Clown]

10. As long as there is a need to persuade, there will be fear

That fear will as often as not be manufacturered, or at a minimum, a small fear will be magnified.

Fear is a very effective means of persuasion.

[blondeatlast]

6. We can't beat them, but we desperately need to marginalize them.

As I've repeated so very often, PC is a tool they use to marginalize people who simply want civility in this world.

The hate-mongers want to force decent, respectful people to live by their rules--and with the PC meme they managed to succeed, although even Joe Six-Pack is waking up to the ploy.

We start by admitting that everyone has a good heart. Those that seem to be poisoned have one too; they've just been corrupted.

That alone can help to marginalize their power over us. I've worked closely with one, and when she'd start her daily rant about this group or that group or that awful bus driver, I'd simply tell her that I'm sorry she feels that way but I CAN'T sympathize and have work to do besides.

She simply had no way to deal with my response. Seh would have been exposed as a racist had she escalated the issue (we are both public servants, so that's an enormous no-no). to this day, few people know her as the racist I know her to be--that would giver power she didn't deserve.

They intend to put us on the defensive, that's how the weaker in numbers side gains power.

We must play a determined, but respectful, offense.

Go ahead, tell that racist joke. But if I tell you it's offensive and disrespectful, I'd very much appreciate it if the others whom I know were offended as well would support me--that hasn't been my experience lately, I'm afraid.

We gotta kill 'em with kindness, even if it kills us. they feed off anger--but are absolutely dumbfounded by respectful disagreement.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. My answer is

shatter your ideals upon the rock of Truth. This means that we create ideals, only to find that they are inadequate to describe That Which Is. And so our basic beliefs, our basic concepts, are shattered as we are confronted with what really is. Perhaps this is why, during this time, gays (and blacks, and Muslims, and all other groups described above) are more openly around-to confront and confound old perceptions. Science has shown us that there is really no seperation between us at a subatomic level. We are, indeed, One, and what effects one group eventually effects us all. This, I believe, is the big lesson to learn in this phase of our evolution of consciousness.

That being said, a wise person realizes that a change of this magnitude can be shattering to some.
There is time for discretion, there is time for speaking out. We can each know when that time comes by listening to your heart.

[xchrom]

8. the kingdom of god is here and now -- it is you who will not see.

gospel of st thomas.

obviously that didn't make it in the official and recognized version.

[applegrove]

11. It is adulthood the neocons seek to suppress. And you are right.

I'd rather be dead than deny who I am and bend to evil. They lost a lot of people to the shoddy, juvenile, mean responce to those hundreds of thousands of desperate americans who needed help during the Katrina flood. Seems lots of adults got back their souls and said "if this is what it means to be a Bush supporter - I'm out".

You cannot be fighting a war on billions of dollars under the myth it will save American lives.. and at the same time.. be letting people drown or die or be terrified and huminiliated inside your own country.. and at no fault of their own.

The hypocrysy is always there with them.. in the WH.. because they have actually no core. But it just showed that week.

And it shows itself again and again.

All they can do to try and overcome is a false attempt at compassion (Bush these last few speeches) and try and invoke fear in people to get them back to the fold "oh you will face years and years of impeachment trials if you vote dem". In point of fact.. when the dems get back some power.. they will actually govern to solve problems.. not to create more. They will bring the country together rather than engendering fear amongst groups that have no reason to hate or fear each other.

What you say about core values is very true.

[welshTerrier2]

12. a struggle? of course ... a struggle without progress? ... not at all ...

think of a boulder in a stream ... the stream never tires ... it is endless ... it brings its force to the boulder and wears it down and smooths away its finer edges ...

and some boulders are finally washed away and carried downstream ...

but not all ... some, based on the density through to their core, divert the stream and set it in a new direction ...

the world we live in, politically, physically or even metaphysically is constantly struggling to find balance between yin and yang, passiveness and aggressiveness, peace and war, selflessness and selfishness ... the interplay of opposing forces is natural; it transcends the human condition and is found everywhere ...

some may view this struggle between the forces with sadness; i do not ... it is not good; it is not bad; it just IS ...

there is more than enough darkness to go around; all we can do is try to light the next candle and then the next and the next after that ... until we can teach more of us to live cooperatively rather than competitively, many will suffer ... it need not be this way ... i'm optimistic that way ...