Growing up in the UK, I was taught in school about lots of different cultures and religions and embraced everyone around me. Of course as a child you notice that people are different from you, and having that childhood innocence you ask questions about those differences. It's how those questions are answered that creates the divide between people. As children we don't understand what it is to literally hate something. We might not always like something, but not liking and hating are vastly different, and it is how our parents teach us as children that shapes how we become as adults. For example, as a child I did not like Brussel Sprouts, but my Mum always put them on my plate and told me to try them - "your taste buds change" she would say, along with "they're really good for you", and as a child I would keep trying them. Brussel Sprouts are my favourite veggie now, I love them. Equally, when learning about different cultures and religions I was fascinated. My family wasn't really religious, my Dad always said he was an Atheist, although I think Agnostic would be more apt. My Mum believes in God but doesn't go to church every week and doesn't read the bible over and over. Neither of my parents ever tried to force any form of religion on my sisters and I, preferring to let us find our own way when it came to religious choice. I did the same thing with own children. I guess that complete lack of having any religion forced upon me, left me completely open to view all religion with complete unbias. But thats another post.
So I have grown up in a world where I have always embraced everyone around me. People are just people, some of us are richer, some of us are poorer, some of us fall somewhere in the middle. We all have different beliefs, different dreams and desires. Some of us work hard and some of us not so hard. Some of us need a really good kick in the ass to get us moving, but at the end of the day we are all just people. We all need each other to get by in this crazy world, and it is a crazy world. People do horrendous things to other people, and why? The craziness and hatred in this world isn't just about colour, its about culture and religion too, and why, I don't get it? Does it really matter if someone believes in something that doesn't totally align with what you believe in? As long as we believe in something, isn't that what matters? As long as we believe that LIFE is the most important factor I personally don't care what religion a person is, or what colour a person is, or what their culture is. I care about people, I want to learn about people. I want to learn from people. I want to share my world with people.
I totally get that people are angry about the way in which George Floyd died. It was so very wrong. No one should have to die that way. I will repeat that, no one should have to die that way! However, is George Floyd really a man who should be made a martyr for the BLM movement? A career criminal who served prison time for Agg Assault, a man who held a pregnant woman at gunpoint while she was robbed. A man who was a drug addict, a man who's children didn't even know it was their father on the news because he hadn't been in their lives since they were tiny? People are rioting in his name, people are using violence to make a point against violence. Protesting has a voice, a strong and powerful one, but violence only breeds more violence, and people are destroying their own neighbourhoods. The message is being lost. All I see around me is people lashing out at other people, regardless of their colour. What is actually being achieved here? People need to come together and see beyond their differences, they need to stop teaching children to hate, and teach them to embrace each other. Seriously if the grown-ups cant stop the fighting how will the children learn what is right? All anyone is doing is teaching our children that it is ok to fight and destroy people and property. This is moving forwards, it's taking giant strides backwards. It's breeding fear and destruction. Surely there is a better way. Yes, what happened to George Floyd was wrong, it should never have happened. Yes, bad cops need to be weeded out of the force, but the majority of cops are not bad, they are dedicated to the communities they serve and they value human life and want to preserve it - they don't go out seeking people to kill. They don't go out seeking black people to kill. The majority go out seeking to keep people safe, to protect, regardless of your skin colour, regardless of your religion and regardless of your culture. They have respect for the job they do and they honor the badge they wear. In exactly the same way that the majority of people don't go out looking to break the law. Criminals are in the minority of the population and bad cops are in the minority as well. We all need to work together not tear each other apart - we need to ensure that as parents we are teaching our children to embrace our differences not segregate because of them. We need to ensure our teachers are doing the same thing, because the way forward is through our children. If we as adults teach hatred of everything that is unknown to us, we will ultimately implode.
As my parents always taught me "Treat everyone the way you expect to be treated. Don't ask anyone to do something you are not prepared to do yourself". I really do believe it's that simple. Be honest, be fair - never lose your integrity!
