Let Us NOT Be Like the Monsters~Opinion

I've written the following opinion piece for this weeks Issue of The River Journal.  I am doing something a little different by sharing it here on my blog, in hopes to rally the voices of all the wonderful people I have encountered in my cyber-travels.  I am confident I am not the only one who feels this way, and I am beyond confident in the power of our voices, especially combined in the common goal of peaceful, nonviolent protest.  WE do need to lead by example, and we do need to be the change we want to see.  A big thank you to Steve at FracturedPhrases for letting me use his photo, which also appears in this weeks issue, along with a fantastic poem that speaks to our times.  Let's not let the media turn the protests into a circus...let our voices ring out in truth, in honesty, united against those that would call us unemployed deadbeats...I guarantee I'm not.  Don't give them the power to paint us as they want us to be seen.  Let's use our own power to make sure our voices are heard.

Let Us NOT be Like the Monsters

Growing up, I was taught to turn the other cheek.  I was taught that two wrongs don’t make a right.  Perhaps, that’s why, when the broadcasters who have chosen to belittle and ignore the protests that are occurring within their own countries, made the choice to air the video of Gaddafi being dragged and beaten through the dirt, I was, quite honestly, appalled.

When I watched politicians, presidents, prime ministers, step to their podiums to announce a great day for the world…I didn’t feel like celebrating.

Those videos, the comments, the celebrations, shook me to the very core.  How can civilized society celebrate this type of treatment to a living human being?  At the end of the day, that’s what it boils down to.  No matter the crimes against humanity this man has been accused of, no matter his own past actions…how in the world is it enough to justify our own? How can we hold our heads high, claiming to be something better, if this is the type of behaviour we are going to condone?

I do not proclaim to understand the suffering and terror the people of Libya have endured at the hands of this man. I have been blessed by being born into a nation where I am allowed to speak my mind (within reason) and this time I could not stay quiet.

Growing up, I was also taught another little lesson.  I know, for a fact, within my heart of hearts, we do not defeat the monsters by becoming like the monsters.  I have been accused, more than once; of wearing rose colored glasses…perhaps it’s one of the assumed risks you take, being born here in my country.  But, between you and me, I do believe we have the power to change the world.  And I do believe that very power that we as global citizens now hold is what is needed most in this world.

Let us not be like the monsters! Let the love, compassion, faith, and hope that only our human hearts are capable of, stand up for the rights of all, the well-being of all, and let the monsters cower in our light.

We have run the gauntlet of selfishness, greed, and destruction of our planet and our own future long enough. There have been enough lessons throughout all of our combined histories to show us how NOT to live.

Let us not be like the monsters.