Silencer of the Lambs

I'm always surprised at mans' capacity for inhumanity towards his fellow man...

When we think about the tragedies of life that humans have suffered, it seems the tendency is to consider those we read about in history books and headlines. It's big and dramatic and the aftermath is obvious. It's on a collective large scale.

If cruelty could be quantified however, I have to wonder if the collective less obvious cruelty inflicted between individuals in the mere course of everyday relationships would be greater if we took into consideration the subtle aftermath over time that spans across generations.

Our thoughts become our words, our words become our actions and our actions become reinforcement to our thoughts, and so it begins all over again.

It is the everyday actions of living without considering the impact of our actions and words to our own well being, and the impact on those we know that seems to desensitize us and thus prepares us to inflict evil on an even greater scale toward those we don't.

These are the sorts of small, simple actions spawned from things like not giving others the benefit of the doubt, assuming the worst possible motive foremost, responding in kind to unkindness, cruel words followed by the suggestion that we were "joking", these and many more small things that wear people down and give them cause to rise only to their lowest possible level since doing otherwise seems to reap very little reward among our peers. It perpetuates itself and it is a sad cycle that is difficult to break.

Not to suggest we might all become tyrants with the power of life and death over millions, but we do have some measure of the power in the exercise of our social, religious and political worldviews that cannot be disregarded either. If we have relationships then we have the daily choice to build others up or tear them down with our words and actions.

We live in a sensitive, volatile time and we often avoid personal conflict at all costs, but what of the cost of not speaking up against wrong doing even on such a small scale when we consider its larger impact? Perhaps only overlooking the small personal offenses that have been caused to us is a good place to start. Then maybe others will begin to overlook those offenses caused by us so we may begin to move forward.

Regardless of the commonality of our world views, our sense of right and wrong bears more in common than it does in difference. Though it may be our motivator religion does not have to be the ground on which we stand in terms of making a case for wrong doing.

It is better to pull weeds than mow over them so gentle correction at the outset is as I see it, is the best course of action in avoiding the later consequences of a generation of people who would rather have avoided offense over correcting wrong doing and so remain silent.

Thoughts?