time for reflection
Sep. 21st, 2006 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lavendersparkI wrote this back in Nov of ’02, but thought I would share it.
The ego of mankind once made him think the Earth was the center, that everything revolved around this small planet. Eventually of course, he was proven wrong. Just as man is not the center, Earth is not the center. It is simply another piece, a part of the whole. Then somewhere along the line man became lonely so he created God(s); someone to watch over him, protect him from the harshness of reality. That is enough for some, but in this technological society today it is not enough for all. So some are searching for more life, something out there. Shooting themselves into space to explore. Like Columbus proving the Earth was round and discovering new land and new people. Yet when (if) someone finds life will they again be like Columbus and force their views on the new-found [people] and therefore kill off another life? Create more just like us and have to search again for something new? Just keep searching until there is nothing left.
Now of course, I know my history, and I know that Columbus himself did not kill off all the Indians, but he is the first widely credited person that discovered this land we now live on and told others about it, bringing in people who then did kill off or scare off all the Indians. See the strange thing about us humans as a whole and in general, we seek for something new, something different, but at the same time we fear it. When groups of English broke away from England and their king, they came here to make a new start. What they started was the mass killing of young girls and anyone they didn’t like, that wasn’t like them. Yes people, I’m talking about the Spanish Inquisition.
There was actually a book published that taught these “inquisitors” how to properly question and relinquish a witch. Mostly just torture. Very gruesome torture. Being burned at the stake was not the worst way to die. What I find most horrid about this sick side of our nature, is the fact that it draws crowds. People actually came out of their houses to watch people be executed. Not because they knew them and wanted to say their last farewell, or even because they had been a victim and wished to watch them suffer in turn. No. People just came to watch others die. It was entertainment. People would come from miles around and camp out and feast all the next day while some poor person died. Now, there were some that deserved it. Not everyone is innocent.
Sadly this is only one part of our history that sickens me. Is this really something to be proud of? Are we truly proud that we stole this land from people that didn’t understand us while we raped and killed their women? Are these things we really want to pass on? Do we really want to put another race through this suffering? Do we have a right to tell other countries how to govern their people when we can’t even govern our own? We are one of the youngest nations in the world. Who do we think we are to tell everyone else what to do?
The ego of mankind once made him think the Earth was the center, that everything revolved around this small planet. Eventually of course, he was proven wrong. Just as man is not the center, Earth is not the center. It is simply another piece, a part of the whole. Then somewhere along the line man became lonely so he created God(s); someone to watch over him, protect him from the harshness of reality. That is enough for some, but in this technological society today it is not enough for all. So some are searching for more life, something out there. Shooting themselves into space to explore. Like Columbus proving the Earth was round and discovering new land and new people. Yet when (if) someone finds life will they again be like Columbus and force their views on the new-found [people] and therefore kill off another life? Create more just like us and have to search again for something new? Just keep searching until there is nothing left.
Now of course, I know my history, and I know that Columbus himself did not kill off all the Indians, but he is the first widely credited person that discovered this land we now live on and told others about it, bringing in people who then did kill off or scare off all the Indians. See the strange thing about us humans as a whole and in general, we seek for something new, something different, but at the same time we fear it. When groups of English broke away from England and their king, they came here to make a new start. What they started was the mass killing of young girls and anyone they didn’t like, that wasn’t like them. Yes people, I’m talking about the Spanish Inquisition.
There was actually a book published that taught these “inquisitors” how to properly question and relinquish a witch. Mostly just torture. Very gruesome torture. Being burned at the stake was not the worst way to die. What I find most horrid about this sick side of our nature, is the fact that it draws crowds. People actually came out of their houses to watch people be executed. Not because they knew them and wanted to say their last farewell, or even because they had been a victim and wished to watch them suffer in turn. No. People just came to watch others die. It was entertainment. People would come from miles around and camp out and feast all the next day while some poor person died. Now, there were some that deserved it. Not everyone is innocent.
Sadly this is only one part of our history that sickens me. Is this really something to be proud of? Are we truly proud that we stole this land from people that didn’t understand us while we raped and killed their women? Are these things we really want to pass on? Do we really want to put another race through this suffering? Do we have a right to tell other countries how to govern their people when we can’t even govern our own? We are one of the youngest nations in the world. Who do we think we are to tell everyone else what to do?
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no subject
on 2006-09-22 02:04 am (UTC)Salem Witch Trials, not the Spanish Inquisition, is the event I think you are talking about when you say "Mass Killing of Young Girls" (there were 14 women, not all necessarily "young" and 6 men killed)
The Spanish Inquisition was Mass torture and killing of Jews (and anyone who wasn't catholic... but mainly Jews...) by agents of the Spanish monarchy to help maintain control of the people.
and the Native Americans were "raped and killed" separate from these two incidents entirely... granted, around the same times... but not for the same reasons (unless you look at big picture, in which most EVERYTHING in those times, and ours to a point, was done for religious power.)
I think you seem to be intertwining these 3 events when talking about your general theme, (which I took as) the killing and/or converting of everything which is new or different (a good point overall). I really liked the paragraph from '02 :)
no subject
on 2006-09-22 06:25 am (UTC)no subject
on 2006-09-22 12:51 pm (UTC)and yes i know the two did not happen at the same time, they are simply two events where we have tried to kill and entire people simply because they are/were different from us.
i'm simply trying to make a point that maybe we should just leave well enough alone. sure, i'd like to know if there is life outside of our planet, but i fear for the lives of those "people". let's face it, we don't exactly have the greatest track record.
no subject
on 2006-09-22 04:54 pm (UTC)