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- From Miami, Florida
Ignorance is the belief that anything can truly become better without us changing our approach or behavior.
We have now had two American generations over the past thirty years which have set in motion a pattern of action which has led us to our present state of confusion. For the first fifteen years, we were pummeled with the notion of our differences, uniqueness and individuality. We were told that everybody has a solitary personality and that each of us has our own little space in the great warehouse of life. Then for the past fifteen years, we have been inundated with the gospel of self-esteem, which insists that people cannot find value in their journey unless they completely believe in themselves and avoid the danger of too much critique of their person.
Let’s blend the two approaches: we’re all individuals and we should take our differences into a corner and protect them as sacred against the onslaughts of other people who might want to force us to adapt. It is a formula for class warfare. It is a set-up for alienation. It is a devious plan to separate us off from one another, creating mistrust, which lends itself to suspicion, which welcomes antagonism, ending in war.
We have sat idly by like sheep on our way to the slaughter, looking at the tail of the creature ahead of us, marching in step to the drumming of repetition. Now we lament our economic situation. We are suddenly concerned about the needs of the poor and the excesses of the rich. No one stopped thirty years ago to question the antics of a society that was trying to differentiate personality types and box us all up into units for storage. No one objected to the doctrine of self-esteem, which placed each one of us as lord and master of our own perception.
So what do we have? We have a generation of people thoroughly convinced that they are so unique that they must fight and argue to maintain their self-worth because others are certainly out to nab their value. It’s pathetic. It will take Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, agnostic and atheist getting together on one principle, although they may disagree on many others, to shake us out of this lethargy of self-indulgence. Yes, we need to make a call to the whole world to submit to a singular purpose: NoOne is better than anyone else.
Let the cynics find the contradictions in the concept. Let the jaded mock such simplicity. And let the religionists attempt to segregate us into camps of “saved” and “unsaved.” NoOne is better than anyone else.
It requires the embracing of three precepts:
1. God is no respecter of persons. I didn’t make that up. It’s in the Bible. It means that whatever used to be the foundational philosophy of the universe, or if there was a time when there notion of “chosen people” was acceptable, that era has gone the way of the dodo bird. It’s over. God does not prefer anyone over anyone else. Which means:
2. I can love my neighbor as myself without looking like a jackass. At a recent rally, a public speaker, who brought up the concept of the golden rule, was booed by the crowd. Why? Because we have taught that love is weakness. It is not. I am not out of the loop when I keep my feelings on the highway of compassion. If I like to be free, it only seems right that others enjoy the same. If I like to escape the judgment of others, certainly they might desire the same treatment. If God is no respecter of persons, I can go ahead and love my neighbor as myself and know that I have the Creator anointing my efforts. Therefore:
3. My family is the entire human family. It doesn’t detract from my immediate loved ones that I expand my vision to include all Homo Sapiens. This is not an attempt to reject the animal kingdom–but it is much easier to love a bear when you can bear loving a human. Until the religions, non-religions, organizations, politicians, preachers and business people of our world accept these three principles–if only in theory–then we will languish in this mediocrity of self-deception.
I am not different. I am so similar to the people I meet that it’s frightening. I do not gain self-esteem by making a stand, but rather, define my created being by standing up for others.
This is the theory of revolution.
I could not vote for anyone who did not believe in it–not because I hate him or her. It is because the lack of a philosophy of inclusion makes them “haters in training.” Humans do not becomes more loving by thinking they are different and by insisting on their own self-worth. That is the formula for paranoia and frustration.
So I am thirty days into my Six Words Tour: NoOne is Better Than Anyone Else.
What have I learned so far? I have discovered that when you speak the words out loud, people at first embrace the sentiment–until it sinks into them that they lose their bubble of difference and their sword of self-esteem. It scares them. So I will tell you–it will take brave people to relinquish the stupidity of two generations and inhale the freedom of not needing to be superior or unique.
Because God is no respecter of persons, I can love my neighbor as myself, opening the door to all of humanity being my family.
I welcome your input–but make sure that what you think and feel is universal rather than just fits of discouragement. Nothing becomes easy until we accept that it’s needed. This is needed.
Welcome to the revolution … right now, only a theory.
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Jonathan wrote the gospel/blues anthem, Spent This Time, in 1985, in Guaymas, Mexico. Take a listen:
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