It amazes me how different and how similar some people are, in words and actions. Put any two people in one room and you will see how they click and clash in a variety of ways. Life is made interesting and beautiful because of the intricacies of each individual creature. Humans are especially unique- no two people are the exact same.
There are those who try to shut out and stop diversity for their selfish reasons, Hitler for example was one. But, even "good" people are working on ways to strain out the supposed faults and negativities of other cultures. Some Christians believe that their mission is to go out into the world and tell the world about the good news. It's hard for me sometimes, as a Christian, to tell what the "right" way to live and think is. What I do know is that there is a fine line between lovingly telling others what you believe, and converting others against their will. Looking back to the Crusaders, they abused the power they had in weapons in order to clean the land and make a holy race. Killing in the name of anything is very unsettling to me. It's also hard for me to think that other religions are fundamentally wrong, only because I believe something different. A lot of beauty can be found in the practices of Middle Eastern religions and in the traditions of the Jewish people. Somewhere inside of me, I want to believe that it is all the same God and that people of other cultures are trying to reach Him in a different way than me. I really do pray that this is the case and I believe that in the end, God will be merciful and loving towards all of his people. He has a plan. I do feel blessed to have a personal relationship with God and I'm so thankful to live where no one is trying to murder me for what I believe.
A lot of people living in the US have a certain pride about themselves because they live in such a country- one with freedom, American food, and the ability to live without worry of safety issues, for the most part- which is wonderful unless things are taken too far. It is not okay for any race, religion, or human being to believe that they are superior to another just because of lifestyle or circumstance or whatever. It's an attitude issue that has been deeply rooted into Americans from the time of the country's birth. Colonizers wanted to escape the constrains of the British Empire and live more freely, which is fine, but the superiority attitude started to surface when the new immigrants decided to "take over" all of the land. The land they claimed was not entirely theirs but they pressed on, exiling the Native Americans completely. Instead of sharing what wasn't even rightly theirs, the new Americans took over without even considering the possibility of embracing their fellow man and learning the ways in which their culture lives; they could have learned a lot from the Natives. The irony in this is that America is the supposed "Melting Pot" of all cultures, so in the end, the US people should be honoring and thanking others around the world who have helped them to get to where they are today.
The land issue is one that strikes home for me for some reason. It just doesn't make sense that one type of person deserves to claim land, when the earth belongs to all of God's creatures- including the wildlife. Americans should open their eyes to how they are seen by the countries in the rest of the world and try to paint a better picture of America with their actions when they are at home and abroad. Stifling diversity, in the environmental sense, is widespread today. I understand that humans have a more developed brain than any other animal, but I don't believe that this should determine our superiority. Inherent behavior has a lot to do with intelligence in my opinion. No human can fully grasp the ways and workings of Nature, although many have devoted their lives to taking samples and conducting research to decipher it. Only the creatures that have a smaller brain capacity have the innate capability to understand. We should all learn to respect that.
"I got a question mark
You got a need to always take some shot in the dark.
I don't have to make pretend the picture I'm in is totally clear
You think that all things have a way they ought to appear.
Cause you know you know you know you know
You know you know you know you know
You know I don't
I dream.
Don't know what you mean.
Panic called you out and took you in
Giving you an easy game and letting you win.
Giving back a little hatred now to the world
Cause it treated you bad
Cause you couldn't keep the great unknown from making you mad.
Cause you know you know you know you know
You know you know you know you know
You know I don't
I dream.
Don't know what you mean."
-Elliott Smith