He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice~Albert Einstein
Everything always have some kind of disclaimer or 'special circumstances' that permit it to be overruled. Truth and righteousness, it seem to me to never stay at one place. Doing the right thing is such a dynamic thing to do that it is no wonder that it is not so universally appealing: it takes too much of the brain's capacity to weigh out the options and to be honest enough to really understand opposing views.
A step back to look at a situation as a whole takes a lot of courage and real effort to not be trapped by stereotype thinking. Our world view now is shaped much by what we hear in the news, what we read in the internet, what we see in front of our eyes. A dangerous shortcut would be to sum all this up and to reach our own conclusion without reserving some reasonable doubt upon our own perceived truths and be flexible if mounting evidence point to an alternate direction. Get it? Ok, cutting out all the fancy wordplay all I want to convey is for us to be open and flexible when approaching all things because your truth may not be the ONLY truth.
It is sad that the burning of sacred texts like the Quran and Bible by are being used as a weapon to blackmail people of faith into submission. Plus, they are rationalizing their idiotic acts by saying that they are entitled to do so due to the freedom of expression bestowed on them as free citizens. And what about the resistance toward the Islamic center at Ground Zero? Why does the mob act as they do? Two groups battling it out to the end, based on what? Is the blame put in the right place? Has it ever been verified? Why can't they differentiate between the belief and the believer? Why are they fighting in a cowardly way by not trying to understand, but by condemning instead? And why, oh why is one group's hurt bigger and mean more than another's hurt?
Another thing is the authorities who are supposed to nip this in the bud: Why are all hands tied because of the upholding of this single person's idiotic wants or a small minority of radicals? Why are we buying into their twisted rationalization? Why is still so called "freedom of speech" is guarded so viciously even as it tramples on a thousand other rights like the right to practice one's belief and the right to be safe and have peace? Maybe it is just me but why is the individual put before the whole population? Ultimately, why are these people again refusing to think?
So frustrating!
Sometimes, I wish all the world have an ISA-like regulation that is used with wisdom and care.
A degree of flexibility is a necessity if there is a conscious desire to be true and right. If you only hold a set of unyielding principles and be dogmatic about upholding them you'll just be another number to add to the blind fanatic statistic. Give it some thought, change positions to see things in a different light. Understanding something doesn't mean you agree with them. Siding with the truth doesn't make you a fool. Search for the truth! Strive to do right!
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Haih...the world is so full with injustice. My lectures here will not get me anywhere. There will never be worldwide peace, someday we will all kill each other or pollute everything and kill ourselves. What a sad waste of potential greatness.
And because of the truth that never sits at one place, I hope I am making the right choices. I hope we are electing the right leaders. I hope our leaders make the right choices and I hope they care enough to care whether they are making the right choices. Making choices is a very big and serious thing you know. I think this is the reason why we must pray for guidance from Allah: only He knows what and where the truth is. We can only guess.
