Today's MOZEN: Take A Stand! 11/29/2014

Words by F LoBuono

People ask me all of the time, why bother? You are always on that damned soap box. You'll never change any ones mind anyway. You're just wasting your time.  Perhaps, they are right. Even to me, at times, it seems futile. People are so entrenched in their thinking that there is not enough dynamite in the world that can shake their foundations. Yes, they certainly have a point. So, why, indeed, bother?
Well, here is your answer:

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.*

I will not stay silent in the face of oppression, poverty, ignorance, racism, hate, and cruelty. No, I will not stand idly by. When I see abuse, I will speak against it. When I encounter violence, I will work to stem it. When I experience prejudice, I will use all my power to eliminate it. It takes effort. It involves commitment. It is not easy. But, all things of value come to us only through challenge. It is the way of the world. However, shame falls on those who turn away from, rather than confront, evil.

The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by good people. *

And one needn't look far to find oppression and cruelty. Just open a newspaper or turn on the TV News. It is ubiquitous. Young black men are being murdered on the streets in startling numbers. Too many have been incarcerated. Religious fundamentalists wage brutal war on those who will not conform to their beliefs. Women are kidnapped and raped with impunity. Children and animals are slaughtered with cruel and callous indifference. As humans we may never eliminate these things entirely. They are as part of being human as is love and kindness. We, as a species, have a great capacity for both. Therefore, we must CHOOSE and then WORK towards the goal of increasing loving kindness and eliminating violence and cruelty across the board!

People have also expressed fear to me that this latest round of violence seems to be so extreme as to have them thinking this may be the so-called Apocalypse. Well, if we sit idly by on our hands, with our mouths shut, then it just may be. But, to quote Shakespeare, we must decide "whether it is nobler to take arms against a sea of trouble and by opposing, end them". Well, it IS nobler. It is honest, right, just, AND necessary to do so!! If you want the world to change, change for the better, well, then get involved. Speak up. Act up, if you must. But, do something. Do everything you can to eliminate cruelty. It is your sacred duty. The world will not change itself. The answer is right in front of us:

Be the change you want to see in the world. **

* Martin Luther King
** Mahatma Gandhi