Pilgrimage Statistics
Cumulative Days Riding: 167 Cumulative Days Blogging: 152
Today’s Mileage: 4 Total Trip Mileage: 1120
Your choice!
As I ride the bike this evening I am appreciative of the supportive comments made by my fellow pilgrims concerning yesterday’s posting. It is always nice to find out that you are not alone, especially when faced with the growing chorus of negative voices that surround us. At times like these it is easy to feel a tinge of hopelessness at the magnitude of the task that we face, in somehow turning back these negative, divisive forces.
I believe it is possible to turn around our nation’s slow decline into hatred and uncivil society, but it is not going to be easy. I believe that a desire to make this change is part of what has brought so many of us together networking to find “like minded” individuals, as I am fond of saying: Add enough small ripples together and you have a large wave, a wave for positive change!
Many people are familiar with the Humanistic Psychologist Abraham Maslow and his theory about the Hierarchy of Needs. At the bottom of the pyramid are the deficiency needs: Physical Needs, Safety Needs, Belonging Needs, and Esteem Needs. These needs are powerful and often demand our attention. If they are not being filled we feel an emptiness/deficiency until they are met. Appealing to these needs is often accomplished with emotional messages which may include: calls toward anger and resentment, threatening messages, heightening fears, announcements of scarcity, threats of banishment, questioning an individual’s values and motives, challenging their patriotism. We have seen some sad examples of these needs playing out in people’s lives like the young Irish girl who was bullied and badgered to the point of committing suicide. If you study the various signs and angry shouts of the Tea Party activist seen at televised rallies you see many blatant examples of these appeals.
At the top of Maslow’s hierarchy are the Being or Self-Actualized Needs. These are a diverse set of needs that differ for each person. They represent things like: Compassion, Beauty, Creativity, and Justice. These needs have a very subtle voice and are only heard when one quiets the deficiency needs or looks past these lower level needs. When someone asks: What would Jesus or Buddha do? When you hear or read the thoughts of the Dali Lama, Gandhi or Mother Theresa you are hearing a call toward an all embracing love and compassion for all people, these are the voices of the Being Needs.
I know I am not alone when I cringe at the loud emotional voices screaming at us from the papers, the radio, TV and internet. They call others names (e.g., socialists, baby killers, liars, illegal aliens, Islamofacists, etc.) and are not talking about finding common ground or solving the problems that face us. They present “Us versus Them” and/or “Win or Lose” scenarios that only divide peoples and communities, along racial, religious and economic lines.
I have included the Peanuts cartoon tonight because I think it points to a sad fact concerning these heightened emotional appeals. Some, perhaps many, people in fact enjoy being mad and angry. They do not wish to rise above their egotistical selfish needs. They may like the sense of immediate energy and power that strong negative emotions infuse them with. They may find meaning in the causes tied to these emotional statements (e.g., antiabortion, gun rights, anti-immigration).
A challenging Puzzle, but a solution is possible!
How do we turn this situation around? I think we need to speak up with our opposing views and not let ourselves be shouted down. We need to challenge our churches to stand up for the positive loving values espoused by all of the faiths (e.g., follow the Golden Rule or better still the Platinum Rule). We need to engage independent/undecided citizen and educate them to our position. We need to work at making our lives, our relationships and our social movements shining lights and beacons for the Being Needs!
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I totally agree with your conclusions in relation to the Peanuts strip. I think people in this state, in this country, in this world enjoy being different.
Given, we must belong to a group yet maintain individuality as a member of the group and furthermore maintain that individuality as a group in and of itself. What this leads to, for me, is the contentment we get from being different and heavily acknowleding those differences – most importantly our group based differences (since we all can’t be wrong, so if we stand together we’re right.) I wouldn’t suggest being different is bad (unless, as in this case, part of being different means not being able to agree with others.)
I can’t count how many times I debate with conservatives (just as an example) and words are used straight from Fox news (their in-group source of information) and these comments are almost always things like (socialist, jamming it down our throats, baby-killer, etc.) all of which have a huge negative connotation which perpetuates the divide on social solutions to issues that have a huge potential to benefit mankind. [Disclaimer here: this isn’t a conservative issue, some conservatives don’t do this, and some liberals do the same damn thing.]
This emotional feeling/reaction noticced, again to me, seems like a means to perpetuate group ideology and individual ideology within the group. I don’t know, maybe just rambling… but perhaps to me is evidence that identity and meaning might sustain the issue you’ve noted
Linus certainly nails it. “Just say you were wrong.” Being as we all know Lucy we are sure he is right. However he too is pointing to someone else’s sin not his own, which isn’t that hard to do. It has always been easier to identify the splinter in someone else’s eye rather than the plank in your own.
Maslow believes that man is intrinsically good and that if you just meet all his needs that goodness will shine forth.
Would throwing Lucy an affirming birthday party solve the problem?
Or, as Linus points out, does she need a change of heart?
” We need to challenge our churches to stand up for the positive loving values espoused by all of the faiths (e.g., follow the Golden Rule or better still the…..”
I like to point out the constant barrage (In the media) of what’s being taught in a typical Islamic school as a “Hot bed of Terrorism”.
I wonder what is being taught/preached in our Christian Church’s as nothing short of Maddrassah’s in Islamic countries. One would tend to argue that well Christians are not blowing themselves up or commiting individual/group terrorism it is Them! Not US!
These dichotomous outlook promotes injustice/instability a Case in point would be the so called the “Chosen People” versus the Not so Chosen. Seems like Religous Apartheid in action. Decades ago the promotion of Segregation based on some flawed understanding of Scriptures and thus promotion of hate groups. If these Religous institutions are busy promoting Dichotomous /divisive thinking then we are not much different than our enemies.
Competing in Good work’s or what I am calling as Religous Chivalry should be the Driving force not bigotry.
Syed- The rawness of your pain touches me. As I understand, “the Book” the “Chosen”, can and often do, choose to opt out, and the “Not so Chosen” find ready entrance on knocking.
“Love your enemies, do good to those hate you, pray for those who treat you badly”- that command strikes me as Religious Chivalry. A divine command disobeyed, always brings tragic results.
In the absence of iniquities/transgressions , I guess there would’nt be a need for all these Religions.
In an ideal world which has transcended all of their religous labels and see their respective religion as a Vehicle to something common to all of us and greater than us – which unites us.
I dont think Angel’s have any particular Religion- They just obey the Divine- It’s only
Man’s need.
Chosen or not chosen does’nt mean one is superior/ inferior to one another, but unfortunately that is what is portrayed!
Wisely said- close to the kernel, in fact.
Thank you Adisa! Are you back in Canada or still in Africa?
I am gratefully in Canada- watching the plume of Icelandic Ash, and thinking that had it spewed two weeks earlier I could have been stranded in Ghana ( not so bad ) or in the Amsterdam airport (less exciting).
And I have a new grand-daughter- born three hours after I lifted from the Accra Airport.
My heart never leaves Africa.
We are glad to have you back as a part of our internet community!
Adisa – Thanks for your insight and
understanding.