Why Are We Killing Each Other…?

Hola,

How are you all doing today? I wish for you that life is treating you with much kindness and blessings. As for me, I feel disheartened today and not because of anything going on in my life but because of what is going on around us all. Tonight I was going to write a post on beauty but instead I want to focus on something that should interest us all. I want to focus on all the violence going on in our country, hell around the world that is so heartbreaking and scary. This time I did not want to stay silent after last night’s horrible actions by one person.

If you live in the US, I’m sure you’ve seen and heard the news about the deadly massacre that happened at the hands of one person in South Carolina. A group of people gathered in a church for a bible study group, a place of worship, of peace, of prayer, of welcoming anyone in need of a good word was turned into a horrific place where nine people were killed. Nine INNOCENT people who had nothing to do with whatever the shooter’s issues were. It was apparent that his issues were related to race so I guess the only thing those INNOCENT bystanders were guilty of was the color of their skin. What a shame that in this day and age we STILL cannot get past that. The shooter, so young at 21 years of age, capable of such violence went as far as to leave a woman alive so that she could tell the world what happened there and why. This just gives me chills.

WHY? Why are we killing each other? Why has the world turned so violent? Why do we hate each other so? Why do we seem to only focus on the differences that separate us like physical appearances, religious beliefs, where we come from? Do we not realize that all these differences are what make up this wonderful universe? Isn’t diversity and variety something that we crave? Yet diversity and variety are held against so many people these days to the point where one will not think twice to kill over this. Should we all think, look and act the same in order for acceptance to win? Can anyone enlighten me because I just don’t understand why the careless regard for life? Where have empathy, compassion and respect gone?

Over the past 13 years there have been quite a few horrible events that will stay forever in our minds. The September 11, 2001 attacks, innocent children being killed at an elementary school in Connecticut, the deadly shooting in a movie theater in Colorado. How about a number of unarmed people being shot and killed, choked to death or mysteriously injured and later dying while in police custody? By the same token, police are being shot in the name of “payback.” If you look at all of these incidents, they are all in the name of religion, race, somebody’s profession or somebody taking out their problems or beliefs on innocent bystanders. Again I ask the question WHY?!

When did our world become so anti-everyone? Why is it that we cannot accept each other as we are? With all our differences, with our own beliefs, with whatever religion we choose to practice, with our physical perfections and imperfections? All of this is what makes each and every one of us unique, beautiful and interesting. Instead of killing each other let’s ACCEPT! Let’s talk, communicate, and learn each other’s cultures, language, thoughts and feelings. What a wonderful world it would be then.

What are we teaching our children with these actions? That it’s okay to hate someone who is different than we are. That if somebody doesn’t believe in the same God, then something is wrong with them. That if we’re going through major problems perhaps emotional, that it’s okay to take those out on our innocent neighbor because THAT will help our situation. That it’s perfectly fine to judge somebody by their appearance and in turn it’s just as okay to take violent action against them…

Come on! PLEASE stop this madness! Stop the hate, the thoughts that one is superior than someone else for whatever fucked up reason you may have in your head, stop solving everything with killing, stop justifying these killings with excuses of “I thought he had a gun” because wake the fuck up, not every black man carries one. Each and every person on earth has a right to live WITHOUT fear of oppression, fear that just because one looks or dresses a certain way they’re automatically a thug, fear of hate, fear of walking down the street and getting killed, raped or beaten just because. What does anybody gain with all this hatred and violence? In my opinion, they gain absolutely nothing because in the end they either end up in jail (or maybe not, if we go by the outcomes lately in our justice system) or they end up losing their own life at the hands of authorities or their own and then what did that prove? What was the point that they were trying to make to begin with? It makes no sense.

Is it too much to plea to the world to choose acceptance over violence, hatred and fear of somebody else’s differences? Unfortunately, I think it IS too much to ask for because I realize that no matter how much I and those who are also fed up beg and plea, it seems that this is our reality. This is the new way of life and none of us will do a damn thing about it. The world around us is going to shit and we remain in denial. We’d rather look the other way or say that hatred and racism do not exist because if we admit it, that means we’d have to DO something about it. This is the way we live now. This is the new “normal” and sadly, there is always somebody out there plotting the next horrific act. There is always someone out there who refuses to accept somebody who looks different than they do. There is always that somebody…

Today I’m so sad because it hit home that we as a people aren’t even safe in a house of worship. A place where safety and peace are a given, no longer feels that way. I know that this isn’t the first time a church has seen violence but just the thought that Dylann Roof spent one hour around his victims is shocking to me. He was welcomed into the group, probably prayed with them, introduced himself, read the bible with them and then committed such a senseless act. This hurts my heart. It baffles me and prompts me to ask WHY! WTF goes through a person’s mind to make them capable of doing such a thing? I don’t know my loves… I just don’t know.

What I do know is that the families of these victims (all victims not just from this massacre) will never recover from the pain and loss. What I do know is that we all live in fear of being caught in this type of crossfire. What I do know is that sadly, hatred and racism still exist in this day and age. We may have broken many barriers but with the state of the world today, it is my opinion that we have taken many steps back. We cannot close our eyes to this truth no matter how much most of us want to. However, we MUST all join in and end this for the sake and good of our world. We must come together on this if only to leave our children a better place to live in. Let’s not stay silent. Let’s not turn a blind eye. I’m just one person who has no idea how to end this but is willing to try. What are you willing to do? Do we all not want a better world to live in? Don’t we want a world where rather than disliking diversity we come together with these differences and create something beautiful? A world where there is no fear of these types of violence against our human race. That is the world I hope for. It can happen if we all just unite, understand and ACCEPT each other as we are.

What do you think? What do you want for your world? What are you willing to do to obtain it? Are you willing to set aside your beliefs and be open-minded and accept everyone around you? Are you willing?

I leave you with these questions. My heart is heavy tonight so I’ll just say good night and thank you for reading and for commenting respectfully if you wish. Please open your eyes to the truths that we are living with and do your part to end the violence!

Gracias,

AnnaCris ❤