Someone once wrote, "to every other species in the world, we are the Nazis." From our experiments to the way we eat, our brutality toward every other species on this planet is surpassed only by the hubris with which we believe we have every right to engage in such brutality in the first place, convinced as we are that it is all for us, and nothing but us, to do with as we see fit.
But what we ignore from this fact is how it is as much or more true of how we treat each other.
We are not simply the Nazis to each other, we are both the angels and the demons to each other. And often when we think we are being most like an angel, like when we are trying to tell someone they are a sinner for some reason or other, is when we are being most like a devil, without ever realizing it.
We are the angels and the demons that turn our earth into an Eden among the stars or a Golgotha, into a heaven or a hell, into a paradise where we can become whatever we wish or a purgatory where we must become what others claim "God" demands. We are the angels and demons, in other words, because we believe in things like angels and demons.
It's just a matter of deciding whether it is best to raise our own children into what we want them to be, or to encourage them to be what they are for themselves, despite what we may want. It's about whether we trust our children to decide for themselves who they want to be, or whether we should make that choice for them, in convincing them what to study, and what to "believe" about themselves or a "God."
It is the difference between forcing a child to become a doctor or a lawyer for the sake of their parents, which can only feel like the child has been thrown into hell, as was depicted in Dead Poet's Society, or becoming an actor, because it allows us to "become like a child," as Christ taught, and through a power of creativity thereby enter the kingdom of heaven.
But what we ignore from this fact is how it is as much or more true of how we treat each other.
We are not simply the Nazis to each other, we are both the angels and the demons to each other. And often when we think we are being most like an angel, like when we are trying to tell someone they are a sinner for some reason or other, is when we are being most like a devil, without ever realizing it.
We are the angels and the demons that turn our earth into an Eden among the stars or a Golgotha, into a heaven or a hell, into a paradise where we can become whatever we wish or a purgatory where we must become what others claim "God" demands. We are the angels and demons, in other words, because we believe in things like angels and demons.
It's just a matter of deciding whether it is best to raise our own children into what we want them to be, or to encourage them to be what they are for themselves, despite what we may want. It's about whether we trust our children to decide for themselves who they want to be, or whether we should make that choice for them, in convincing them what to study, and what to "believe" about themselves or a "God."
It is the difference between forcing a child to become a doctor or a lawyer for the sake of their parents, which can only feel like the child has been thrown into hell, as was depicted in Dead Poet's Society, or becoming an actor, because it allows us to "become like a child," as Christ taught, and through a power of creativity thereby enter the kingdom of heaven.
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