Love Thy Enemy

In my Digital Media class I was given a paper today, the first one for a long time. I haven't been given the piles of paper I was promised I would be given at the beginning of the year, as I always am told. I have always had a lack of paper given to me also. Maybe I just see it to be not so much paper. My Psychology class is given more paper, much more paper. On top of that we have to actually read it in most cases in this class; opposed to just note this go play with Photoshop.

We were given a green paper titled Love Thy Enemy, by Jacob Holdt. All credit for what will be quoted goes to him. I intend on typing this all out and once I get a chance I will reply to it all, paragraph by paragraph. I was not told to do this, but the reading caught my attention on my first look though. I hope by typing it out I will read it with more depth. Lets get started.

"It is easy to be kind to people who are kind to us, to people who radiate
surplus energy and good will and to people whom we like, but what would the
world look like if we were to try being kind to our enemies, to people who have
been deeply scarred or marginalized in their upbringing, to people who don't
like or who we have every reason to fear?"

It is easy to be kind to those who are kind to us, so instead of looking for the people who are kind just be kind yourself. Then you will not need to look for those who are kind, they will become apparent through your life. You will be sought after and due to your kindness others will appreciate you. By being kind yourself, you may have reason to dislike or fear others, however they may have no reason to dislike or fear you.

"As a traveler, I have had a chance to try that out through my long-standing
policy of saying yes to everyone I meet on my way - without exception, to say
"no" - to turn your back on even a single individual, is to participate in the
systematic marginalization of human beings."

I think not saying no would be an incredibly difficult activity, even in my daily life. The concept of refusal is there for a reason, and ignoring it could have negative results. If you say yes to everyone however, considering what they are asking of you, it would create a very positive environment. To be the person people count on for help you will help so many, and is that not one interpretation of life? By helping others you help yourself, for if you ignore others perhaps there is no reason to enhance your life.

"Saying yes to the people you meet can, on the face of it, resemble a kind of
selfless generosity of a neighbor, like the good Samaritan, but the starting
point is and should always be one's own selfish interest: you simply deny
yourself invaluable adventures by saying no to people who challenge you, you
deny yourself, perhaps out of a fear for your personal safety, but these are the
barriers that divide us."

The good Samaritan is a story of someone helping someone else because they had a need, despite prejudice between the nationality of the two individuals involved. It is a story of helping because someone needs help, not because they are of the same nationality as you (nationality could be replaced with any term relating to groupings or denominations of humans). To deny yourself for personal safety may be a good idea at times however if there is no risk to yourself that is great why say no? Step out, take a challenge. The concept of if it doesn't kill you, it will only make you stronger is perhaps not the best idea but if it is taken non-literally it may help you with this idea of not saying no. Your own selfish interests may help you, but you will find the victory of helping others is just as good as helping yourself (if not better) and will benefit the individual you are assisting.

"Displaying kindness and openness toward the very people who directly challenge
or frighten us is simply the best way to guarantee our own survival."

Another statement that should not be taken literally, however it does address confrontation. Confrontation is not a bad thing, it is an opportunity. How it unfolds is up to you. I didn't consider confronting those who frighten us in the previous paragraphs however it is just a case of facing your fears. As for this guaranteeing our own survival, perhaps this is looking at the human race as a whole. I think taking up all challenges may just weed out the weeker of our species, the natural selection look of things (however natural selection no longer applies to humans I beleive), though as for individuals it is a different story. There are many challenges that confront us every day and we choose to work through them or avoid them without conscious thought. If a challenge is not to monumental, why avoid it?

"There is not a single person in the world you need to be afraid of (cars you
need to watch out for, but not people). Early on my travels, I began to free
myself from a paralyzing fear of 'otherness.' Since then it has been a true
miracle to travel, all the positive time I spent with the many inhabitants of
ghettos has helped me to see the humanity behind the threat."

It's not the gun that kills you, it's not the drop that snaps your bones. It's the bullet, it's the fall. People don't kill you, the cars they are driving do? I think cars should be looked at as a metaphor for physical threats, not just cars. The concept of otherness could be the fear of the unfamiliar. In particular the fear of unfamiliar individuals and situations. Once you are past a fear of those who you do not know there is no reason to have a fear of traveling, there is only opportunity in the act.

"When you stop fearing others, the doors open up for you to a universe truly
without borders. To show people trust is to declare your love, all people are
starving for love and affection, even the most dangerous or threatening people
who are held captive by a hunger for love."

I can't say I have much to add to this. When I started typing I just thought,'hmm, see last reply' though it seemed to go off in a different direction.

"If we are to create a world without crime and terrorism, we must embrace the
anger behind it all, to try to be kind to the marginalized people of the world
rather than further marginalizing them with our unfounded fears of them."

I'm starting to enjoy the word marginalize, though I don't quite grasp what it means. I'll take a look in the nearest dictionary soon. To create a world without crime and terrorism means we all must have the same views, in specific the same views around what is crime and terrorism. I just can't see that being possible at the moment, or any time soon. What is right and wrong varies too much from culture to culture to say there is no crime in the world by every one's opinion. Crime is not put in place for its reasons, however there is reason to it being there (if that makes sense). The reason there is crime is because it is not needed for the whole of society but it is needed, used by the few. As for the marginalized, why are they as so? The unfounded fear that is mentioned is the prejudice that so many hold. To abolish this prejudice is to create a world closer to having no crime and terrorism, and have no fear of the unfamiliar. The unfamiliar being the marginalized, the discriminated, the minority.

View Jacob Holdts website, http://www.american-pictures.com. I have not ventured past the entry page, howeve I must warn it contains images possibly offensive to some.
View Jacob Holdts wikipedia page.