Maximum Hate - Minimum Reason

Maximum Hate - Minimum Reason

Hello again ATS.

As I sit to write this thread, I find myself with a heavy heart and a mind filled with thoughts that have no business at all being in my head - nor anyone elses for that matter. Thoughts that have been placed there by a constant stream of media manipulation and opportunism - Thoughts placed there because for all we seem to be achieving in this world as a species - we keep coming back to this one silly little subject. It's like a scab that we never let heal. Somebody is always picking at this scab and opening up old wounds - wounds that surely should be healed by this point in our evolution as a species and as a culture. But I cannot blame media entirely because there is also a seemingly endless stream of con artists and hate mongers who are more than willing to fuel - and feed off of - the media frenzy. There is absolutely no shortage of stupidity to be found when this subject is tabled.

So tell me folks. Why is it that we can put men on the moon, we can see the far points of the universe, we can send an object to the edge of our own solar system, we can cure diseases, communicate - globally - in real time, we can split the atom, and are beginning to understand the very building blocks of time, space, and creation... We can do all of this and so much more that is beyond amazing and yet we still cannot get past looking at others and making judgements based upon something as meaningless as the color of their skin? That we cannot, as a whole, get beyond such a superficial, external and slight genetic difference is beyond silly. It is absolutely stupid and ignorant.

As I began this OP I thought about including a lot of external content - to illustrate just how amazingly slight the genetic differences between the races really are. I finally decided that this one small paragraph is enough to communicate the idea effectively and plainly:

In fact, several scientists said, the new work shows just how small a biological difference is reflected by skin color. The newly found mutation involves a change of just one letter of DNA code out of the 3.1 billion letters in the human genome -- the complete instructions for making a human being.

Source

And just to make a handful of folks uncomfortable ( because I think it is high time that they be made to feel uncomfortable ):

Rare DNA previously found only in people from West Africa has turned up in white males from northern England, a new study reports.

This sex-determining chromosome is copied from father to son, providing a record of male ancestry.

The uncommon DNA, a chromosome called hgA1, had previously been detected only in a region of West Africa that includes Mali, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau, the team says (Africa map).

"It's a really special chromosome, one that's only been reported before in a handful of men in Africa," said Mark Jobling, a genetics professor from the University of Leicester who led the research team.

The hgA1 chromosome lies near the root of the family tree of Y chromosomes in Africa, Jobling added.

"It's an ancient type that's African specific."

But the team found hgA1 in one white British male who took part in the survey, despite the man having no known African family connection.

Source

To be honest - there's really no point to simply run off and copy dry facts about the history of human migration out of Africa, nor the development of the races being a relatively new development in history ( less than a blink of an eye in relation to the history of life on this planet ). Such facts always meet with argument and invariably are refuted with some poppycock psuedo-science or bastardized religious propaganda. When it is all said and done, sadly, there are people who will refuse to let go of their hate no matter what we do. They are addicted to it. They feed upon it and allow it to feed upon them.

Moreover I put it to you bluntly. Even if there were endless reams of peer reviewed proof that the races were extremely genetically varied: What difference would it make? What would it matter? What would it change? We would all still be here, stuck on the same planet with one another and facing the ultimate choice that overrides all others...

Do we choose to coexist or do we choose to destroy one another without any better reason than the pigmentation of our skin?

I ask because when it is all said and done, I have never met a racist, of any color, who could quantify why they were racists. Their answers always involve such disjointed and broken logic as to be nearly impossible to follow. Some do develop fairly detailed and even somewhat compelling wrappings to clothe their hatred in. But at the core it is always the same thing... Fear.

Racism is fear and nothing more. The most disgusting, base, ignorant and ugly sort of fear that we, human animals, are capable of.

For the record - I do not personally limit this assessment to just racists either. I also see religious intolerance, homophobia, sexism, classism, Nationalism, and just about any and all other biases as equally as ignorant. Having said that, however, I do tend to hold a special disdain in my heart for those who hate others based upon something that the other party has no control whatsoever over. Nobody chooses to be born male or female. Nobody chooses ( IMO ) to be gay or straight. Nobody chooses where they were born... Nobody chooses their ethnicity.

I did not choose to be an American. I was born one. And I certainly did not choose to be white. I had no say in the matter at all. And no matter the color of your skin... Neither did you.

Yet, click on any news or discussion forum right now. Heck, just turn on your TV and chances are the very first thing you will be exposed to is a discussion about race - complete with a ton of unspoken, implied, backwards racism meant to incite and prod your fears... Meant to pick that scab.

They want for it all to rise back up in the back of your mind. They want to intice us all into a place of fear and indignation. They want to bring us to such a violent boil that we will act out and fulfill their ratings baiting prophecies.

They want us to riot, to rage, to murder one another in the name of this ignorance they want so desperate to cash in upon. They want to sell us our own deaths even as they hand us the killing tools and whisper temptations into our ears.

Are we going to fall for it? Are we truly that naive and ignorant?

Before you answer, take a look around. You see racism is an ironic thing in some ways... One of which is that we tend to say one thing and then do another. Even in the best of us, shades of it lurk right beneath the surface. We feel safer when we are those who look like us. We feel threatened by those who do not. We all know that sometimes the person screaming the loudest that race is not an issue turns out to be the one with the most biases. In our modern world where political correctness is run amok sometimes the most vitriolic racism we see is couched in talk of tolerance and love. We all know it when we see it... but we don't often point it out because to do so is to invite the whirlwind of hatred to become directed at us.

These things, and so many more, are the hard truths that we must learn to discuss if we are to grow beyond these archaic views and behaviors.

Earlier I said, bluntly, that racism is nothing more than fear. I stand firm in that belief and take it one step further. Being afraid is normal. It is human. We are all afraid of things and we are wired in such a way as to make it very difficult for us to own up to those fears. We seem to have a genetic flaw that makes us more comfortable worrying about the monster under the bed - than to actually just get up and confront it. Instead we steel ourselves with false courage couched in angry and offensive words... we armor ourselves with irrational mantras - chanting empty rhetoric, half truths, and lies... making loud noises in the darkness that we think will scare the bogeyman away. We engage in pointless bravado and puff ourselves up with hot air seeking to appear more dangerous than we truly are.

All out of fear.

The problem with the issue of race and the way we deal with it as a society is absolutely and instantly apparent. No matter how much noise we make - our DNA... our genetic differences... are not going to heed our empty threats. We cannot make people change the color of their skin through hatred. Just the act of seeking to do so shows that we've got problems, as a species, much much much more troublesome than the color of our skin.

I apologize if I am coming across preachy. It is not my intention, at all, to speak as though I am outside of the human condition or immune to the problems I am discussing. I am very much right in the tempest with all of the rest of you. I have my good moments and my less than noble ones as well. If I have any advantage at all it lay within age and the fact that I wish for this world to be better for my children than it has been for me.

That, I think, is a desire universal enough to transcend pigmentation and hatred. That is something that we can all, I think, agree upon. And that makes it seem like a good place to start.

It's time for constructive dialogue to begin. It's time for us to quit buying into divisive media manipulation. WE are the People... each and every one of us.

Thanks ATS!

“Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.”

Abraham J. Heschel
Quote that inspired thread title

reply to post by Hefficide


WELL DONE HEFF!!!!

Very well thought out and very well written. Shook me out of my hermit hut to log on and give you

So much truth in what you wrote!

Hate is embedded through raising and education by the parents . I have a friend who hate gypsies, somehow through his life through situations he got his hate.Experiences and education are crucial here ...not race of the skin.

reply to post by Hefficide


A timely thread,with a timely message. Probably will end up being a big roller coaster ride of a thread.

Well written.....

S&F

Des

reply to post by Hefficide


Beautiful post once again, Heff. There are really only two things that get me heated, racism (or just blind intolerance of other people/species in general) and politics. I left this site a while back for both reasons, only to come back and see the same ignorance being cheered on like a Roman Colosseum full of blood thirsty lunatics. It's post's like these that make it all better though.

Right now I am living by this Gandhi quote:

"The truth can never hurt a cause that is just."

Great Thread.

I would like to send out Big Hugs to the White Community, the Hispanic Community, the African American Community, the Asian Community, and the Sky Blue Pink Community - We are all One.

Turn off your televisions, they program people to Fear and Hate. It's much better to feel Love and Respect - It makes you feel all Warm and Fuzzy Inside.

reply to post by Hefficide


I've noticed the MSM pushing the race card a lot lately, can't figure out why they harp on it when it's not called for.

And the Pres. and Holder are not helping.
I thought a Man who is elected President should be a leader first regardless of his race and unite this country as a whole.
But sadly we're not seeing it with this administration.
There is more divisiveness now then ever before IMO.
Politically as well as racially.

From my own personal experience, I spent my early youth years up north but after my Dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease [I was 14 at the time] he was forced to retire and moved the family down South.
Like you stated, I had no choice.
And the views regarding the South by some of the posters here are just ignorant and stupid.

Long story short, my husband and I travel due to work. Many years ago we did a Festival up in Michigan and I was being harassed by a group of adults because of my southern accent. Well back then, I was shy and didn't cuss [can't say that now 27 yrs. later LOL] any way they had the audacity to ask me if Michigan people were nicer than Indiana people.

And my reply was this:
'People are the same where ever you go. Some are tall, some are short, some are fat, some are skinny, some are light skinned, some are dark skinned, some are rich, some are poor, and some are nice and then you have your A-holes. We all just talk differently.'

Needless to say my husband was proud of me.

But as to your thread, I don't understand the amount of hatred that is being spent, especially by our leaders and the MSM.

Life is too short to hate so much.

Great thread BTW......

Much respect~
snarky


S&F

Very well said and absolutely true.Racism is completely irrational and what you said about asking a racist to justify their position is also well observed.

I remember starting primary school at age 5 where half the class was white,half black,brown,yellow etc,etc.It never struck me or even occured to me that this was in anyway a negative thing; cars come in different colours,so do people.Big deal !!!

It's only as I got older n heard the remarks some of my uncles n others made that I became aware of racism but I could never fathom the reason for it,people are people in the end of the day.

I suppose it's some form of herd mentality,tribalism.Weak people wanting to show they belong by demonstrating their difference to people they think don't belong.Typical weak minded behaviour.

reply to post by Hefficide


I would agree.
When I judge people I try not to be so critical, because we are all human and subject to error.
I would not presume that anyone who yells a racial term is a racist, because as humans when we are hurt or upset we all say hurtfull things. How many times have children said they hate their parents ?
How many people argue with their spouse or partner and say things we don't really mean ?
There are things we should not say in public, but sometimes in the heat of the moment our emotions get away from us . I'm not saying it is ok, we all know the racial terms and sometimes they slip out, after all, we are all human.
Even from those who are not racist.

reply to post by Hefficide

Why is it that we can put men on the moon

Ha Ha ha.

We can't put men on the moon. We haven't walked on the moon but one day we will walk on the moon. We've sent machines to the moon and beyond, but not men.

I did read most of what you wrote and it was great. Thank you for that.

There is a reason different colored people were placed on seperate continents. Your god planned it that way.

It's sad that color means so much. It's not only color it's also religion, customs, cultural beliefs, politics and a whole host of differences.

Stop trying to assimilate everyone and embrace our differences.

reply to post by Hefficide


Seems like the only time that people unite without fear and hate is during a disaster, whether caused by Mother Nature or other forces [terrorists].

Sad and pathetic really.....
Just an observation and of course, my opinion.

It seems that this whole thing is kind of blown out of proportion.

The people I know don't even care about this.
And yes,some of my friends which I do not distinguish by the color of their skin,are brown or black .
They are more worried about taking care of they're family,keeping they're job and putting food on the table.

People get killed everyday for some reason or another.

This case is really a non-issue.

Numbers for the media so they can make more money.

And you all feed on it like a bunch of cattle ,but they added honey to the feed to make it taste better......

Are you full yet?

Of course you are,but like going to the chinese buffet,soon afterwards,you are hungry again.

Why,because you were feed a bunch of tasty non-fulfilling fluff that left you feeling empty inside after the entertainment of it died down.
So,now what do you do?
Do you keep going to the buffet,or get take out.

We can do all of this and so much more that is beyond amazing and yet we still cannot get past looking at others and making judgements based upon something as meaningless as the color of their skin?

Because religion is washed away from your hearts. You just care living in this world.and you have blood of other nations on your hands.

So , no matter how much progress you make , you are falling in that direction.

It is simple.

you are falling because the more you discover , instead of understanding that this universe has being kept in order by the creator , you get into the illusion that you can control this universe and be god yourselves.

I believe that the people who crucified Jesus were less arrogant and ignorant.

But I doubt people in west believe in him anymore. And if they believe in him is because of a tool that will wash all the sins and blood off their hands.

pease

People hate that which is different.

No specific different...just different.

Worship differently. Live differently. Speak differently. Some will automatically hate that which is different.

It's fear.

Fear of the different.

Lose that fear? And the hate will follow it. Until that happens? There will still be those who hate, and those who will manipulate that hate.

reply to post by mideast


Tell me, do you always stereotype people you don't know?

You are, and rightfully so, upset about actions taken in other countries by the West... That's fine, you should be. But don't fall into the trap of doing the same thing.

Originally posted by hephalump
reply to post by mideast

 

Tell me, do you always stereotype people you don't know?

You are, and rightfully so, upset about actions taken in other countries by the West... That's fine, you should be. But don't fall into the trap of doing the same thing.

So why are you offended if I am not right about you ?

What I see is that American people are doing what they were doing in 50 years ago , in WW2 , in Vietnam ,...

And they don't show much reaction when they see their govt invades countries with no reason and retreats with no reason. They don't react when they see their military forces act such as this

Military court finds Calvin Gibbs guilty of murdering Afghan civilians, but decides against automatic life sentence.

Least power of movement and change and revolution is seen in general view of general American people.

Like I said , the most revolutionary action is that you (your military in general) take your gun and try to invade least developed countries and kill and rape them.

reply to post by mideast


I can absolutely agree that people tend to be arrogant. What I am about to type, I hope you can take at face value and as it is meant... not as judgement or insult... but as an observation...

In judging others for their arrogance - you, yourself, are being arrogant.

It is a trap? No?