Every single day something happens that is way over the line. I believe this is because, in spite of the fact that most of us have lines, we don’t give them the attention and care they deserve. As a result our lines are blurry. Unfortunately, blurry lines open the door for things to happen that are morally reprehensible. Things that would never happen if our lines were deeply thought out and properly cultivated. 

We must stop blindly walking the lines that others have set. Think hard then decide where to set your own boundaries. Our individual lines are separate and personal. Even when identical to the lines of those around us, they are still distinct. This is because they are based on our personal experiences and our own decisions about right and wrong. Our experience of the world is unique and so is the architecture of our lines.

Lines are fundamental to our self identity and necessary for the health of our nation. The best chance we have of fixing the things that have gone so wrong is to acknowledge and respect our own lines and refuse to cross them. After all, we are our lines. 

So no matter what is happening outside, make the decision everyday to know where your lines are and stand on your own convictions.

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(War Again: It has got to stop)

War is marketed to us as a collective enterprise; a team effort, that boils down to good vs evil. No matter what team we align with, we are told that our team is good and the other team is evil. In some instances this may be true, but mostly it isn’t.

In war, being on the morally right side is a crap shoot, because the teams are rarely ideologically sorted. Instead, the teams (sides) are based on group identity; geographical, religious and ethnic. Group identity is the metric that the aggressors use to justify their violence. They perceive the enemy as an amorphous blob, instead of a loosely connected collection of individuals, where each one is valued. 

The aggressors of war try to convince us that their goals supersede the violence they inflict on the group. The horror of the murders they sponsor are marketed as necessity. Many of us seem to accept any excuse for the violence, even though it’s impossible to find even a snippet of reason in bombing hospitals or maiming and starving scores of people. Even to make a poorly defined point and achieve a  much too broadly defined goal.

It’s hard to speak against war, so we play along because we are gaslit into believing that loyalty to the home team means refraining from speech that is perceived as critical. Meanwhile, time keeps on rolling while the mass suffering endured by the victims of war, diminishes us all. 

War, as a way to resolve conflict is barbaric. We must eradicate the practice of war. The universal and complete rejection of war, is our best solution. We must amplify and advocate for rejection of war, at every opportunity. Upholding the rights of all people is more important than the difficulty of compromise and change.

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