US VS THEM
This idea of Us and Them keeps us gripped in an emotional battle. It's deep and it's primal. Humans have been doing this division thing since before we stood upright. As the stars and galaxies sweep by in the passage of time, we emerge in an ethereal time slot called the age of Aquarius. And if nothing else it is a call to challenge our long-held beliefs and reactions.
We are, on so many levels, breaking up the Us-Them consciousness. You can see it displayed in the multiracial city environment, for behind hate and mistrust, there is a fascination with ‘other’. This leads to the proliferation of multiracial couples and children in this 21st century.
But the great ‘Othering’ that is happening within America is truly disturbing to everyone. Let’s take a journey into the minds of Trump and his followers. They believe that the government is not representing them enough and that it’s holding them back from true freedom (to have nationalized religion, racial segregation, no abortions, no environmental regulation, and no taxation for social services). As all Americans feel, and indeed it is within the ethos of the Constitution, if the government doesn’t represent the people, it is the people’s right to bring it down or change it.
The US -people who want a just democracy with social services, and equality are pointing fingers at the uprising and storming the White House. But let us remember that if the coin was flipped and Trump did manage to steal the elections or even win a second term, it would have been Us storming the white house. And indeed, history has shown that it has been mostly liberals who’ve been subjugated as political prisoners. How ironic it is to have the far right get a taste of the system coming down on them.
We are in an ideological war and unlikely to find common ground. Yet, we must try to reach across the line. The healer of all divides is love. Interracial friends and couples can attest to that. And who doesn’t have a family or friend on the other side? Keeping isolated in our groups and railing against the other intensifies the divide. We will never agree, but seeing the face of the Other and trying to understand and love the Other for their humanness Is the way to dismantle the ideological war.
This is not easy. To elicit love when one is faced with ugliness feels impossible. Even with ourselves, when we have hurt someone or behaved badly, we can come down on ourselves and condemn ourselves to depression. It is difficult to be loving and forgiving.
Hence our spiritual leaders seem otherworldly for their ability to love in the face of evil. Thich Nhat Hanh in the middle of the Vietnam war, Jesus during the Jewish persecution, Buddha within his own family with a jealous cousin, and tribal wars, and in the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna was in a civil war with his clan.
Mata Amritanandamayi or Amma, the hugging mother, is an Indian Guru who was persecuted by her own impoverished family until she broke free at twenty. Her message she whispers in your ear as she hugs you is - God loves you. It sounds simple but it strips away our judgments, disatisfactions, and hardened defences.
These inspiring role models keep reminding us what we can be. As we move forward with the mantra of God loves me, or if you don’t do the God thing try replacing God with Nature or the Earth. So, we keep in mind that Earth loves us - all of us. We are blessed to just be alive. As American corporate fascism and its followers attack democracy, we must be wide awake and look into the eyes of all of US.
That is why we are Hip; we have stars in our eyes and hearts that float.