You're the only person you have to live with the rest of your life
After we finished reading and watching a video about them, I asked the children in my class how they felt about what these people did. I asked them if they thought that people have the right to be able to tell their King or government no and do what they believe. I wasn't sure how they would answer.
In one camp there are the people who will never forgive. "Those *fill in expletive* don't deserve my forgiveness", people. The ones who every time a name is mentioned, even if it's not the actual person, just the name in common, this one gets a knot in their stomach. This one has been hurt so badly they will never forget, and never give anyone else a chance to hurt them like that either. They will take that pain to the grave, and to whatever afterlife may come.
I'm not sure how teaching kids particularly that they are some how incapable of merit based accomplishments eliminates oppression, but that is the point. The people who talk so much about caring about and helping the oppressed don't actually care about oppression. They only care about who is getting, making, or having more than they are. The goal is not to end oppression, but to oppress the successful in order to steal more power for themselves.
Yet every generation becomes more and more depressed. More and more dependent on drugs and alcohol. More and more suicidal. All anyone ever does anymore is complain about how miserable they are. How lonely they are. How broken they are. But when you suggest that maybe that is because they have nothing to believe in or goals to accomplish, or real relationships to depend on they just respond with something about the patriarchy and "ok Boomer".
I remember it became very popular for people to say, "You don't have to be religious to be moral" and I agreed. I was particularly religious. I had gone to church a handful of times since my parents had split when I was a baby. I didn't follow any doctrine or worship at any specific alter. I just knew what was right and what was wrong. I knew it was wrong to lie, cheat, steal, kill.. I knew it was wrong to be disrespectful to my dad or my grams. I knew that it wouldn't do me any good to be envious of those with more or to be spiteful to those with less. I knew the Golden Rule was Golden not because some God told me so, but because it made sense and it felt right.
Today we all see the police, fire, and military presence memorializing those lost, and a great deal of them were armed forces and emergency services, but a lot of them were just everyday people who smiled at the front desk girl every morning. Today is about them and their families.
I hope no one ever has to have this conversation with their child, but if you do I just want to let you know how I explained it.. the best way I could think.
With Valentine's Day right around the corner it's time to really think about love.. and not just the romantic kind. People who claim to be Christian seem to forget Jesus's biggest message was to love everyone the same
This world is full of billions of people and billions of different beliefs. What I believe about God and the Universe really helps me through my life... but you don't have to believe the same.. and that's ok.
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.