The Divided States of Confusion

I am not one to publicly voice my opinion on situations such as these. However, the social media outcry and the media bias on both sides has reached a point that I feel as though I must speak my mind.

Violence is everywhere.

And it is not as we have been told.

But I’ll get to that.

Why is it that nearly every other week we are presented with a story about a violent shooting from either a hurting person or a policeman? Or why do we have to hear about yet another soldier’s life being taken because of terrorist attacks halfway around the globe? 

More importantly…

Why is it that the greatest country in the world is starting to mimic the nations we are trying to aid?

We are not just mimicing them by an increase in violence. The reason why the United States of America are starting to look more like “The Divided States of Confusion” is because we have changed our values. Where we once held firm in our beliefs and customs we now step back to allow other opinions and our more animalistic desires take over.

And now our most fundamental rights are being questioned completely:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”

Three very clear issues are seen between modern society and the Declaration of Independence.Yes, it is true that our nation was founded by white men. Yes it is true that there are some disparities amongst the races. I have no problem admitting that. I have no problem accepting that we all need to be more inclusive and understanding.

1. All Men are Created Equal

However, we are not a fruit salad.

We are- or rather were- “The Great Melting Pot.”

What do I mean by that? What I mean is that we can’t just throw ourselves in to some heterogenous mix and say that it is neccessary to stay that way. Because America has the blessing of having so many unique people within its borders, we have the opportunity to celebrate the uniqueness of each person. However, we do not do that. In fact, we make it very clear to distinguish between one another, as if it is neccssary to say “Oh yes, that is Sally, she’s white, and Josh over there is black. Both cool people. Just different.” 

By saying this, we are acting more like a fruit salad.

And it is killing our nation.

No one eats a fruit salad with everything mixed together. If anything, we choose to eat some fruit first and others later, and some we never eat.

One major issue that i have seen is that now that we are focusing so much on race that we are no longer looking at the facts. We look at qualitative results, facts that only have to do with our vision, instead of looking at statistics that reveal the real issues.

Here is a startling fact: 

Caucasians are the vicitms of the majority of violence.

Now, I am not too proud to say that many violent crimes that affect my minority brothers and sisters may not be reported, and that truly is a tragedy.

What I am saying is that these victims shown above are not put on media. No one mourns them, nor are they immortalized with a hashtag.

I am not saying I want that.

I am saying that we should stop focusing on one side of the population.

“All men are created equal,” and we should do everything in our power to celebrate each person, fight for the right for each life amongst us, and stop dividing ourselves solely to speak out.

Now, I know many of my Dear Readers may be outraged, “what is this priveledged white girl saying? She doesn’t understand. She’s the problem!”

I have more to say, and they are my faults just as much as they are everyone else’s.

Please continue.

2. Life

We no longer value life.

The fact is that we spend our days simply trying to make it through. We don’t really think of life as something to celebrate, and we certainly do not take the time to appreciate the beauty that is human life.

Our society has lost the value of life so much that death has actually become a joke to us.

There needs to be another plague

He needs to stop breathing my air

How about we just drop a bomb on them?

She should have been aborted

I’m just going to crawl in to a hole and die now.

I have heard each of those phrases in the past four days alone, and I know that there are many many more. It is awful, but the fact is that we do not see life as a beautiful thing anymore. We see the lives of those outside ourselves to be burdern, a confusion, something to be tossed aside.

Here is another statistic, one that would throw my previous one completely upside down.

African American babies are aborted more than any other race.

If Abortion were to be included as violent crime, African Americans would be the majority.

However, because we find life to be far less beautiful than it is, because life is not recognized, because life is feared on the outside, these lives are taken. And if these mothers wanted to bring forth these lives, if they could see past the apathy of the world, it would be nearly impossible for them.

We do not try to help the mothers.

We judge the single mothers

We judge victims of sexual abuse.

We judge every other part of their lives. We speak about these women as if they should “stop breathing my air” and we say that they “are sucking our tax money away.” Instead of recognizing their desperate need for help to live both their lives and bring another beautiful life in to this world, we discriminate and hate them.

This happens in all races, but with this statistic, we can see that there is a need for a melting pot, one that includes all cultures, that respects all lives, that sees another human being in need and serves them.

We have to stop joking about violence

We have to stop pretending that people do not hurt.

There are lives that cannot be lived, and it is all our fault.

For the longest time, I included myself on those jokes. I would laugh along with everyone, and I was hardly touched by the complete disregard Americans have for life these day. But as I grew older, and as I encountered numerous suicide attempt survivors, rape victims, and soldiers who defend our lives every day, I realized that life was far more beautiful than I could have ever known.

And we cannot throw it away by killing someone when they are a nuisance, an inconvenience, different than us, or for any reason at all.

There is no reason for a life to end.

No race, creed, profession, or American should see a reason for death to be taken lightly.

3. Creator

One last thing: the colonists came to America because they needed a place to practice their faith.

Otherwise they would die.

What these people were experiencing in England was very similar to what we are experiencing today. These people were outcasted for practicing their faith, they were different from others, and they had a different culture.

What happened to them?

They were arrested, killed, and persecuted on numerous levels.

So they came to a new land to change all of that.

The United States was not just made to exploit the Native Americans, search for Gold, or create grand plantations. The United States was made so that people who held values bestowed upon them by God could actually uphold those truths. They came to America to escape persecution, to live the lives that God intended for them, to work and be successful by their own right.

We were the land of misfit toys, designed by a group of people who had the solid conviction to live their faith, the thing that made them different, and to accept the lives of those around them. We were made to be different, to be strong because of our collective differences, to be the nation that served as “a city on a hill” that could show light to the world.

And we have.

Why else would so many people seek to live in our great nation?

But now that we are starting to give up on our beliefs, now that we are letting go of our values, we are falling apart.

People are dying.

People are depressed.

People do not know what to do.

We as Americans need to go back to our roots, not those of slavery and oppression that we so shamefully remember, but rather to the root of faith and values. We need to see that while the world has changed, God’s gift of life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness are never going to go away so long as we acknowledge them.

Pray for Dallas. 

Pray for America.

Pray for me brothers and sisters that I may not make these jokes anymore, that I may not see those sorts of crimes as political gain, that I may not see any life as less valuable than my own, that I see my priveledge and assist others to be able to live a life as blessed as my own, that I may never lose sight of God and the gifts He gives us.

I may not use the best words, but please know this: I know I am privileged. I know I am blessed. But I also know that we are dividing ourselves because we do not share in constructive dialogue. I know that I have been a part of the problem, but I also know that I am part of the change.

Let’s not hate.

Let’s not fight.

Let’s see that the person behind the profile picture is beautiful, loved, and part of the great chocolate fondue that is America.

Let’s try to change.

Let’s try to love.