After reading the post, I Googled the television program and watched a few clips.  As I am not into reality television, it really wouldn’t be a program I would watch regularly.  However, as it is a reality television show, I found it to be quite enlightening.  People will spend hours watching others humiliate themselves in the various reality television shows that seem to consume the digital air ways these days.  But a show that wants to educate and enlighten the general population is hit with bigotry and hatred.

I didn’t stop with just looking at the website for All American Muslim, I also Googled the controversy with Lowe’s.  It seems that not all American’s are bigots like Lowe’s and their new-found supporters for pulling their advertising.  It seems there are many who are now boycotting Lowe’s because of this.

It is true that this is a country with the freedom of choice.  I choose not to hate.  I choose to look at everyone as human beings, until they (as in this case with some who posted their support in a very ugly manner on Lowe’s FB page) prove that they have the mannerisms of wild animals.

The month of December is for many a holy month with the celebration of Chanukah, Ramadan, Kwanza and Christmas.  All of these promote peace and good will toward others.  Apparently not all who keep these holidays believe in what they stand for.

A couple centuries ago some Native Americans went up against the new comers to their land and the hatred of the Native American began.  Some were savages so the settlers decided that ALL were savages.

Decades ago, blacks fought back because of the ill treatment they received due to the fact that their ancestors were brought here as slaves.  They were hated because they were different and fought back.

Today, a handful of people who happen to be Muslim become radical and turn their rage on Americans, therefore Americans hate ALL Muslims.

Hatred, bigotry, prejudice; whatever name you give it, it is a disease worse than the black plague.  An idea is planted and begins to fester and grow until it is full blown and violence ensues.  We must end this or we will not have a future world for those who come after us.

I had intended to write a post today to include my latest piece of writing.  It fits perfectly here.  Many of you know the song by John Lennon War Is Over.  It is only played during this time of year.  I only came to know this song a few years ago and I cry every time I hear it.  This is the biggest mistake of Mr. Lennon (I have blogged this before).  This song needs to be heard year round.

Since I keep Chanukah, many are surprised that I spend hours listening to a supposed Christmas song, but I do.  Tuesday night, trying to get into the Chanukah spirit, I put on some music and forgot I added War Is Over to the mix.

I was resting and listening when the song began to play.  I found myself sitting up and my pen was in my hand with a note pad.  The following words found their way to my page as a re-write of Mr. Lennon’s song.  I do give him credit on this one as well, this is just my version to make it more universal to be heard year-round.

War Is Over (Look To The Future)

Look to the future
and what you have done
one life is over
a new one just begun

Just look to the future
I hope you had fun
with your near ones and dear ones
your old and your young

Here’s to your future
and every New Year
can you make them good ones
without any fear

Here’s to the future
for the weak and the strong
for the rich and the poor ones
the road is very long

Let’s look to the future
for black and for white
for the yellow and red ones
we must end all the fights

Here’s to the future
and every New Year
can you make them good ones
without any fear

Look to the future
what have you done?
One life is over
a new one just begun

Just look to the future
I hope you had fun
with your near ones and dear ones
your old and your young

Here’s to our future
and every New Year
can we make them good ones
without any fear?

War IS over
IF you want it
War IS over
NOW!!!

December 13, 2011

© John Lennon & DL Bach

The supermarket can be a bit of a challenge as it is so big and I must make my way around, staggering with my cane and a buggy.  Occasionally I am met with smiles and nods from the front end employees and then by other employees as I make my way around.  Today, it was as if I was invisible.  Not just invisible to employees, but to other customers as well.  I couldn’t help but think as I was struggling in the dairy isle to get an item lower than what I could safely reach.  I saw via peripheral vision a man walk past me as I struggled to keep my balance and remain standing.  Clearly, he had to notice my difficulties, but kept on walking. 

There were others as well that seemed to do this.  It was as if they made eye contact they would be obliged to assist me and they were far too busy to show compassion or kindness to a fellow human being.  I just couldn’t help but think about the myth of the ostrich burying his head in the sand.  Pliny the Elder once wrote, “imagine, when they have thrust their head and neck into a bush, that the whole of their body is concealed.”  This is to believe to be the source of the myth regarding the ostrich.  Humans are a lot like this though.   Not that by hiding their heads they believe their entire body is hidden, but if they cover their eyes, then the ugliness and ailments of their fellow human beings does not exist.

Too often, we cover our eyes or put on blinders to the outside world hoping that what is wrong with it will just go away and cease to exist.  We hope that the poor soul struggling to keep herself on her feet to finish her shopping will just disappear because we are too busy and too important to stop for just 30 seconds to assist someone else.  Or by putting a blindfold on the bruises and cuts on the child next door will fade and never return because we just can’t take a minute of our own time to at least look that child in the eye and show them that there is something other than the pain they feel.  Our own lives and families are far more important than to get involved with the likes of that.

Sometimes just one moment is all it takes to show another human being the kindness and compassion we all deserve.  After I left the supermarket and was driving home I continued to let this subject twirl in my mind.  I knew I was already worn out and didn’t feel like preparing food upon arriving home.  I stopped by my local Hardee’s (yes, the same one where I called the employees a bunch of plebeians) to pick up a burger, fries and a lemonade.  It was 1040 and I knew they were already serving lunch.  My order was taken at the drive-thru and I pulled up.  There were two vehicles in front of me.  The car ahead of me stopped briefly at the window and then pulled up to a space apparently to await a staff member bringing his food to him.

Being hearing impaired I watch the window till someone arrives.  I saw two employees pointing at a monitor and eventually the young girl I saw there came to the window and asked if I was the one who ordered the two sausage biscuits.  I said no and advised I ordered a burger.  She apologized and left the window.  Upon returning she opened the window and I could hear a female voice verbally assaulting her.  She said it would be a few minutes and asked if I could pull up or she could just return my money.  I asked how long and she went to check.  She returned to tell me one minute and thirty seconds would be my wait.  At that moment a very rude woman pushed into the window demanding to know what the problem was.  The young girl told her I was waiting for my burger and trying to decide if I wanted my money back due to the wait.  The other woman snapped at the girl and said my order was ready.

Due to the other woman’s behavior I was ready to just ask for my money back.  When the girl returned with my food I asked who the woman was and was advised she was the General Manager of the store and the girl said she just got into trouble due to my order.  I was not happy at this point and asked if that woman’s supervisor was around, however seeing she was the General Manager, she was the top of the food chain here.  I told the girl that she was the only reason I was not asking for my money back.  If it had just been for the other person, I would ask for my money in a heartbeat and leave.  I further told this girl that she remained calm and reasonable even though it was apparent the manager was losing her self-control.

Normally I would praise someone like this in front of them to their supervisor.  This time, I knew that was not an option.  This manager seemed the type who would retaliate against the girl.   As I praised her, I saw her demeanor change.  She felt much better than when I first pulled up.

It only takes thirty seconds to make someone’s day.  It takes just a short amount of time to help a person who needs it.  Human compassion and kindness should be demonstrated, not only to those we know and feel have earned it, it is something that should be part of our daily lives toward strangers who may never cross our paths again.  Burying your head in the sand or putting blinders on does not make life’s ugly struggles go away.  Taking a few meager moments of your valuable time, however, can make it go away, or at the very least make things easier.

I do not make it a habit of watching reality television.  Real life is reality enough for me.  However, there are times I am flipping through and land on one or two and may pause for a moment to see what is on that channel.  Doing this I have landed on DWTS several times.  Before I got sick, I loved to dance and especially ballroom dances.  So I pause longer at times if the pair dancing is dancing well.  There have been times in doing this that I have regretted my decision to pause.  It seems more and more that DWTS gets away from the dancing and focuses on the costuming, or lack thereof.  Dancing should be about dancing and NOT about the lack of clothing, unless of course it is striptease.  It is my understanding that DWTS was designed to showcase ballroom dancing and not tawdry stripping.

That said, back to the issue at hand.  So-called Christians all over the United States are saying they are going to boycott DWTS if Caz Bono is not removed from the cast.  This morning on the news they were claiming it would cause confusion for children.  I don’t understand how a man dancing with a woman on a television show is going to cause confusion for anyone especially children.  These same people don’t have an issue with their children watching strippers so why should they have a problem with their children watching a person who is very happy and healthy dancing and enjoying life.

Chaz Bono did not feel happy in his own body and like many people decided to do something about it.  The only difference between Mr. Bono and the rest of the celebrities is that he didn’t just have cosmetic surgery, he changed his gender.   I have heard arguments regarding transgender from the churches where they use a statement that God doesn’t make mistakes.  This implies that we should accept our bodies as they were given.  If I were a gambler, I would lay bets on the mass majority of those protesting Mr. Bono have and do attempt to change themselves on a daily basis through dieting, exercising, potions and lotions for anti-aging and so forth.  In my opinion, their claims hold nothing more than a lot of hot air.

Humans have difficulty looking within and how the festering hatred they harbor is worse for them than anyone else.  I never rally considered the reality of transgender until I met someone who is in the process to transgender.  I accepted this dear sweet soul as a human being long before I learned of what they were going through.  When I learned of my friends’ decision I could have deserted and forsaken the friendship formed to latch onto hatred toward the decision.  Had I done that I would have missed out on further getting to know one of the most gentle souls I have ever met with a heart bigger than the state of Texas.

It seems to me that as a whole, the christian sect is full of even more hatred that white supremacists and other radical groups.  These outcries only serve to add even more tarnish to their group and those who are part of the group and don’t harbor such hatred have to endure the ugliness heaped upon them due to those who go too far.

Hatred causes even more pain.  Acceptance of each other on the grounds that we are all human beings is what will go the distance to bring about peace.

Borrowed From Mr. Bono's Website http://www.chazbono.net/

**NOTE:  This is not meant to say that all Christians are haters.  I personally know some Christians who have very good and kind souls.

I spent last night in and out of sleep.  When I was out of sleep I was thinking about everything that still has to be done.  I woke up thinking about this post.

There are those who will wonder why I didn’t come to them with all of this.  Well, how could I bring you my tears when you didn’t want to share in my laughter?  In my life I have had one thing in my heart that I have striven to bring forth to the world in my meager words and that is peace through understanding and acceptance.  The world has not listened.  My heart is not to be heard.  The world is not ready to hear what is in my heart, for it would rather hold onto its anger and hatred.

Perhaps in my next life, the world will be ready to hear what is in my heart.  I believe that the intent of the heart follows you into your next life, so perhaps I have been trying to get the world to hear my heart for generations.  Not this life, but hopefully the next.  If you desire to me honor after I am gone, then remember the message of my heart and learn to accept others no matter the differences and understand that everyone is a human being above all else.

True peace will come when people move beyond the fears of what is different and accept everyone as individual human beings without the anger and hatred that continues to bind this world through ignorance.

To keep the peace is not just a purpose of law enforcement.  Peace has been sought by groups and individuals alike for generations.  Many times these people are labeled “peacemakers” and “dreamers”.  I stand before you accused.  I can only hope you find me guilty as charged.

Growing up, my kinfolk would speak derogatorily and make fun of other groups of people they deemed lesser.  This broke my heart and cut me to the core. Especially when they would speak differently in the open.

All through school and college when studying history, my heart broke.  From the torture of the Native Americans to the inhumane treatment of Negros to the mass murder of Jews and other “undesirables” in Nazi concentration camps the pain I felt was wretched.  But this was nowhere near what these others suffered at the hands of terrorists.

I grew up hearing music by John Lennon, Bob Dylan and others who wrote and performed songs laden with the message of peace.  This message was not specific to any particular genre and had no boundaries.

Recently, I sat in awe and watched as the Egyptian people stood and fought back against their oppressive government.  We are still watching as other nations are following the same path.

For some time now I have been writing poems about peace.  In December 2010, a friend in Second Life ® asked me to come to her group and read my poems of peace and then perhaps stay around and DJ a gig so they could dance and have a party.  I agreed.  As I pondered this event, I decided instead to do something never done in Second Life ® before, I interlaced my poems into a special playlist of music with one theme.

I dubbed this setup to be the genre of peace and began my research for appropriate music.  I wanted my listeners to be surprised not only by my poetry, but by the selection of music as well.  I was extremely surprised throughout my research and included music from a variety of genres including jazz, blues, rock and even Celtic.

Keeping the peace and being a peacemaker should not be left to police officers and dreamers.  This is a right and a privilege of every human being.  Learning to accept people is the first step in co-existing on this tiny planet.  The way I end my peace program is to charge all my listeners to go out, walk up to someone they don’t know (and probably wouldn’t befriend) and hug them.  Then tell them you are glad they are alive.  I so charge each of you now.

What is the verdict?  Am I guilty?

Not being awake at that hour, I received the news as soon as I got up and turned on the television for my morning news fix.  I sat on my couch with my tea watching in stunned quasi-awareness while the reporters provided information as if a mama bird feeding her hungry hatchlings.  I could not believe that Mr. Bin Laden’s reign of terror was finally over.  Still in the back of my mind, I knew his people would pick up the torch and carry on in his ways.

It has now been six days and everyone keeps saying that justice has been served and this is a United States victory.  I beg to differ.

Don’t get me wrong, I was completely devastated on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 when the announcements came through my radio speakers telling of the planes crashing into the towers in New York City.  I spent days watching in horror as all the details began coming to the surface.  Being as patriotic as I am, I finally had to shut everything off. I could not watch the news or even read my newspaper.  In fact, I saved those papers to read at a later date.  I still have not been able to read them.  I felt as if someone reached in and ripped out my heart and left me bleeding on the inside.  I cried every night after coming home from work knowing that someone came in and hurt the country that I love.  On September 16, 2001 I finally finished the song I wrote about it called Unity.

But, has justice really been served?  I cannot say that it has, in my opinion.  To me having justice served means the perpetrator, in this case Usama Bin Laden, will be arrested, stand trial, be found guilty and then be sentenced and serve that sentence.  There are many who are disputing the reports that Mr. Bin Laden is in fact deceased.  They feel seeing photos will provide the needed proof of his demise.  Photos have been faked since photography came to be.  However, a trial and much witnessed sentencing would have been true justice providing more belief throughout the world.

Speaking of the world….My other issue in all of this as it being a United States victory.  Yes, Usama Bin Laden was at the top of the FBI most wanted, but he was also at the top of the world’s most wanted.  This man did not just terrorize the United States, he terrorized every country in the world.  It may have been an American that pulled the trigger, but the victory belongs to the world.  Furthermore, this is only a minor victory.  The head has been cut off, but this species of snake has a way of continuing on and growing a new head.

True victory will come in the form of real world peace.  This will only come when we, as human beings (and yes the terrorists are also human beings) begin to accept each other and our differences and find common ground.  There are those who may say there is no common ground between Al Qaeda and the rest of the world.  But there is one thing we all have in common, WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS.  Just because we have different skin color and beliefs doesn’t mean we are unworthy of each other.

There was a line in a song in the movie Oklahoma that keeps running through my mind, “I’m not saying that I’m better than anybody else, but I’ll be danged if I ain’t just as good”.

True justice isn’t necessarily served when one man (even if sanctioned by the leader of a nation) takes the life of the one being sought.  And one nation has no right to claim personal victory when the capture (or killing) of a terrorist belongs to the entire world.

This morning I was watching Good Morning America and took a breath to sip coffee whilst Robin was interviewing Gayle King regarding the upcoming issue of O Magazine.  This made me think of recent news casts on my local stations and how segregation still exists in the United States.

Hit the Pause button before you snap my head off.

In the recent past here in the south there have been some semi-major issues regarding the flying and wearing of the confederate rebel flag also known as Stars And Bars.  While it is not necessarily displayed as a racial evince, there are those who do take offense with it because of historical connotations.  I can understand this as I have issues with the swastika.  I am not making an attempt to get inside the mind of anyone else and try to figure out why they do the things they do.  I just want to look at blatant segregation that is usually not viewed as such.

When the word segregation is used, most people think about the Civil Rights movement regarding the segregating of blacks and whites.  The word segregation means to separate, usually with regard to race, class or ethnic group.  So where is my mind going?  Walk this way, please…..

There is  new segregation in the United States to go along with the obvious racial segregation I have already alluded to.  I want to bring this up before I move further into the heart of the motivation for this post.  Homosexuality is the new racial issue.  I grew up being told that homosexuality is wrong and I should have nothing to do with anyone who practices this. (Mind you I was also told that I should have nothing to do with anyone who was black other than allowing them to breath the same air I breath)

I have a good number of those I claim as associate, acquaintance and even friend who are homosexual.  I am proud to claim these relationships and know in my heart that they are some of the best human beings I know.  So why is the United States trying to segregate them?

Human beings are human beings.  You have those who are downright wicked and evil and you have those who are everything good and kind and then there are those who reside in the middle.

Back to segregation.

I have noticed, mostly on local news casts, that it seems to be okay for a black reported to cover the occasional “white” story, but only black reporters cover “black” stories.  What’s with this?  Robin Roberts was the one to interview Gayle King.  This is national news coverage.  Is a white reporter incapable of interviewing a black person?  It has become predictable on my local news.  If there is a story about to air regarding a black person, church, etc I am assured that a black reporter will cover it.  However, I rarely see the same black reporters covering local stories about white people, churches, etc.

This is blatant segregation.  The back reporters are just as qualified as the white reports and perhaps more so.  They should be able to cover every story as well. I am not saying this is what happened this morning on GMA as I am sure the story would have been covered just as well had George conducted the interview, it is just that it drew my attention to the more local issue.

Homosexual couples are more and more in the news and how the “church” is trying to keep them from having rights that are afforded to all other couples.  This is a form of segregation.  We are separating these vital people and telling them they are not allowed to exist in this country the way everyone else does.  They have to conform to what we want them to be or they have to leave.  As a country we did this to the Indians and blacks in a major way.

This is also being done to other “minority” groups in the form of bullying.  Living peaceful means we accept all other human being for the sheer reason that they are human beings.  Every person is different and deserves the same respect as everyone else.  Segregation needs to be abolished, not the people that are segregated.  Stop hating and start imagining everyone else as if their insides were on their outside.  Then there are no differences except the heart of the person with their loves.

Those who live in what is known as the “free world” don’t always have an understanding of how others around the world live.  Visiting a third-world country can only give  a brief surface visual of how people live day-to-day.  Things that are taken for granted in many parts of the world are but a dream in these countries.  While many juggle two and tree smart phones there are millions who can’t even afford a land-line that could ultimately save their life.  There are many who sit within the comfort and protection of their locked doors while so many can’t even lock their door to the government who can go in at will and have what they desire.

A young man in Egypt had the notion to use modern technology in a way that no one had ever seen.  He began posting in a social network to gather Egyptians to rally and move in a peaceful demonstration to bring change in their country.  Eighteen days later, Mr. Mubarak resigned after a 30 year reign.   While there were those who took advantage of the movement to loot and wreak havoc, the ones rallying for change remained as peaceful as they could.  There are still many days to come that will be venturing into the unknown for the Egyptian’s, but they are on their way as long as they do not lose focus of why and how this all began.

Since this success there have been other countries following the same route; Libya, Yemen, Iran, and still other Arab countries.  These are not covered by the media as well as the Egyptian rally was covered, but it should by no means be swept under the carpet.  While it seems that many of these rallies are more violent it is difficult to tell by the lack of coverage if the violence is coming from the protesters or the government.

The writing was on the wall as eyes were glued to see the outcome of the Egyptian rallies.  It was only a matter of time before others followed through and began their own demonstrations for decency and dignity.   History is being made in the world as we become spectators within the virtual realm watching and waiting.  The dominoes were set up many years ago and last month a young Egyptian man tipped the first one and brought light onto the darkened stage and now we watch the dominoes fall and land as they will.

No one has the right to berate and cause another person to live in a manner that is less than the same dignity that he would have for himself.

There are those who will watch a movie and see a dog get injured in the film and cry.  However, those same people will see a human being beaten and either walk on by or take out their cellphones and video the incident to put on YouTube later.  The evolution of humanity.

Last week I made a trip to the library.  I have been doing that more and more to check out audio/video items to amuse myself.  I had a bout of Meniere’s  the beginning of the week and was still pretty shaky so I was taking things even slower going in.  A woman in her mid to late sixties approached me and asked if she could assist me.  I stopped to chat with her and thanked her for her kindness.  I told her I just had to take things very slow.  We chatted for a while and I gave her one of my business cards which labels me a freelance writer.  She said she has no phone, no e-mail, no nothing and that she was a nothing.  She felt lonely and cast out.  She had had a hip replacement and it didn’t take so it had to be redone.  She has her dogs, but her 20-something son thinks she is crazy and doesn’t come around often.

I leaned against the wall of the library and looked at her when she said she was ‘nothing’.  I said that isn’t true, you are a human being and that is more important than anything else.

Being a human being, I mean a real human being where you care about your fellow humans is far more important than any job or position that anyone could have.  If you do not have compassion and empathy for others than you can’t be truly successful at anything else.  We must accept others as they are especially when they are so unlike us.  It is in doing this that we prove we can rise above the so-called human factor and become truly exceptional human beings.