Alienating Aliens
So I was at a party the other night. There were a lot of military men there and one was a husband of a friend of mine. He starts telling us how he was asked(at work) what one object he would send to an advanced alien civilization to represent the human race. He says a sword because humans are the best at killing each other. I was shocked but even more shocking was the round of support he got from the other military men there.
I don't know if this is a male thing or a military thing but I thought it was horrible thing to say. Yes, humans kill each other and yes, we've gotten so good at it that we're afraid to use our best weapons for fear of destroying the whole world. Also, I admit that there was a moment, while watching the movie 2012, that when LA fell into the sea, I internally applauded a bit. But I found two things wrong with advertising this to an alien species. Number one, it's probably not the best idea to tell an advanced race that all humans are good for is killing. Unless you want aliens to come to our planet and wipe us out for the greater good. Number two, although humans can be some of the most evil creatures ever made, we can also be some of the most generous, kind, enlightened beings who are prone to great acts of kindness and sacrifice. However, when I mentioned this I was summarily shot down. I recalled the plane brought down by the passengers on 9/11 and you know what I was told? That it was actually brought down by the government. Evidently, the mass amount of phone calls people made to their loved ones telling them goodbye, that they loved them, and that that they were taking down the plane to save lives was all just a huge conspiracy to make the people into heroes. This was from my friend, not her military husband by the way. How cynical have we become that it's easier to believe the government shot down a plane full of innocent people and then covered it up, rather than believe that people can be heroic?
If you know me, you'll know I can be very cynical and I choose not to watch the news because it makes me more so, but still I believe that Love will always outweigh Hate and that people are born with an innate sense of what is right and wrong, and they generally want to do the right thing. I don't believe for one second that we're born killers or that the human race's best accomplishment is the act of warfare. Yes, our history is full of war and we have many men in it who are esteemed for their leadership abilities during battle but the history books focus on things like that, just like the news. Maybe we should start writing new history books, chronicles of the good things humans do. I know that personally, I could contribute a great many stories of acts of kindness, self-sacrifice, and love that I've witnessed(no government conspiracies there). Like when Sacred Falls(a waterfall valley on Oahu) caved in and several men went running back into the still falling rubble to try to save people who were stuck in the rocks. Some of those guys didn't make it back out.
We are capable of great love, not just great hate, and I think people would be much happier if they remembered that. They challenged me the other night to come up with a list of non-war related people who are historic figures and before i could even answer, I was cut off with a "And don't tell me Ghandi and Mother Teresa cause that's all there is." Since I wasn't given a chance to give my list then, I'd like to offer it to my readers now, in the hope that you may focus on this in the future instead of the violent heroes others tend to promote. So here it is, and just to get them out of the way, I'll start with the two previously mentioned:
Mahatma Ghandi
Mother Teresa
John Lennon
Dalai Lama
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nelson Mandela
Siddhartha Gautama
Confucius
Jesus Christ(This one was actually mentioned by my friend's husband who said "Jesus Christ, look at all our heroes, they're all violent men" I thought that was particularly funny and I pointed out that he just mentioned a great man who was not violent in that very sentence)
The list could go on and on, I'm sure I could find a lot just by googling Nobel Peace Prize winners but I think I've made my point. There are a great many respected people who are not known for acts of war. Let's stop promoting hate and in the words of the great John Lennon let's "Give peace a chance". Because I really don't want to be killed by aliens.
I don't know if this is a male thing or a military thing but I thought it was horrible thing to say. Yes, humans kill each other and yes, we've gotten so good at it that we're afraid to use our best weapons for fear of destroying the whole world. Also, I admit that there was a moment, while watching the movie 2012, that when LA fell into the sea, I internally applauded a bit. But I found two things wrong with advertising this to an alien species. Number one, it's probably not the best idea to tell an advanced race that all humans are good for is killing. Unless you want aliens to come to our planet and wipe us out for the greater good. Number two, although humans can be some of the most evil creatures ever made, we can also be some of the most generous, kind, enlightened beings who are prone to great acts of kindness and sacrifice. However, when I mentioned this I was summarily shot down. I recalled the plane brought down by the passengers on 9/11 and you know what I was told? That it was actually brought down by the government. Evidently, the mass amount of phone calls people made to their loved ones telling them goodbye, that they loved them, and that that they were taking down the plane to save lives was all just a huge conspiracy to make the people into heroes. This was from my friend, not her military husband by the way. How cynical have we become that it's easier to believe the government shot down a plane full of innocent people and then covered it up, rather than believe that people can be heroic?
If you know me, you'll know I can be very cynical and I choose not to watch the news because it makes me more so, but still I believe that Love will always outweigh Hate and that people are born with an innate sense of what is right and wrong, and they generally want to do the right thing. I don't believe for one second that we're born killers or that the human race's best accomplishment is the act of warfare. Yes, our history is full of war and we have many men in it who are esteemed for their leadership abilities during battle but the history books focus on things like that, just like the news. Maybe we should start writing new history books, chronicles of the good things humans do. I know that personally, I could contribute a great many stories of acts of kindness, self-sacrifice, and love that I've witnessed(no government conspiracies there). Like when Sacred Falls(a waterfall valley on Oahu) caved in and several men went running back into the still falling rubble to try to save people who were stuck in the rocks. Some of those guys didn't make it back out.
We are capable of great love, not just great hate, and I think people would be much happier if they remembered that. They challenged me the other night to come up with a list of non-war related people who are historic figures and before i could even answer, I was cut off with a "And don't tell me Ghandi and Mother Teresa cause that's all there is." Since I wasn't given a chance to give my list then, I'd like to offer it to my readers now, in the hope that you may focus on this in the future instead of the violent heroes others tend to promote. So here it is, and just to get them out of the way, I'll start with the two previously mentioned:
Mahatma Ghandi
Mother Teresa
John Lennon
Dalai Lama
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nelson Mandela
Siddhartha Gautama
Confucius
Jesus Christ(This one was actually mentioned by my friend's husband who said "Jesus Christ, look at all our heroes, they're all violent men" I thought that was particularly funny and I pointed out that he just mentioned a great man who was not violent in that very sentence)
The list could go on and on, I'm sure I could find a lot just by googling Nobel Peace Prize winners but I think I've made my point. There are a great many respected people who are not known for acts of war. Let's stop promoting hate and in the words of the great John Lennon let's "Give peace a chance". Because I really don't want to be killed by aliens.
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