We were all just one. I can't even say "Americans" because across the vast majority of the world there was such an outpouring of support and love that we as a nation hadn't experienced - or needed up until that point. We were One Nation. Indivisible. Seemingly across the world.
Since those first few days, in the last 14 years, we've fragmented. Instead of strengthening our resolve and finding our best through unspeakable tragedy, we've slowly turned on each other. We have run toward our like-minded and mirror-imaged selves and huddled, drawing the play that doesn't exist to come out on top. We've allowed our thought process to be "whatever category we defined ourselves as"... vs. the world. Instead of being empathetic, we are judgmental. Instead of trying to understand differences, we shame. When tragedy happens now, we group people together and make them the bad guy. It didn't happen before that day and it doesn't need to happen now.
It is so easy to hate and to judge and to allow our lack of understanding of a faith, of a race, of a belief to distort. When people with bad intentions band together under the guise of a religion, race representative or as a false prophet; they use that group as a shield or defense against our ability to single them out for what they are and their true intentions. We then make the mistake of not singling those people out. Instead, we lump in all the good people whose beliefs or appearance that small segment is falsely representing and make that whole group the enemy instead of pulling those people closer and acknowledging they are not the same. We run to our corner yet again and push further away. By doing this - we let the perpetrators of that day win. They wanted to tear us down. Looking back, we tore ourselves apart.
Be empathetic. Care. Love. Draw towards hidden similarities instead of repelling against obvious differences. Focus on the human aspect first. We can have differences without hate. We can have love without repercussion. We can do this. One Nation. One World. Indivisible. #neverforget
It is so easy to hate and to judge and to allow our lack of understanding of a faith, of a race, of a belief to distort. When people with bad intentions band together under the guise of a religion, race representative or as a false prophet; they use that group as a shield or defense against our ability to single them out for what they are and their true intentions. We then make the mistake of not singling those people out. Instead, we lump in all the good people whose beliefs or appearance that small segment is falsely representing and make that whole group the enemy instead of pulling those people closer and acknowledging they are not the same. We run to our corner yet again and push further away. By doing this - we let the perpetrators of that day win. They wanted to tear us down. Looking back, we tore ourselves apart.
Be empathetic. Care. Love. Draw towards hidden similarities instead of repelling against obvious differences. Focus on the human aspect first. We can have differences without hate. We can have love without repercussion. We can do this. One Nation. One World. Indivisible. #neverforget
1 comment:
I love this, Tony!
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