Norma Rae and the Sheep of the World

Happy Mother's Day.
She just lost her hearing from the factory noise.

If the world was stripped of all illusion and facade, and all things and all people revealed to be as they truly are, what we'd see is a vast vortex of love around which our lives are centered. And how we deal with that vortex defines our lives. If we could see our lives truly, we'd see our actions for what they are: expressions of our need for love, that love is at the center of all of life's issues. Money, religion, war, sex, suicide, dreams, politics, debating - whatever issue you want to bring up is really about our struggle for love.

Of course, we rarely admit that. I mused on my last post why we accept without challenge throwing people out into the street. We see it, we shrug, we move on. I asked why but I already know why: most of us don't see ourselves as worthy - but since we all need love and therefore need to feel valuable - we build value systems to make us feel valuable regardless. Assholes say assholes are the way to be. Lovers say lovers are the way to be. But if your values aren't true you still won't actually feel valuable. That is how sheep come to be.

"The way to despair
is to refuse to have any kind of experience"

It is commonly said Hitler killed six million Jews. Technically, that is a lie. That's way too much work for one person to do, especially a quitter like him. No, he ordered the deaths for sheep to carry out and obey they certainly did. We love to praise those who blindly follow orders but that is just another example of creating false values - there is no value to being a sheep! And since a sheep can never feel good about itself, the sheep never fights back - even when it's in the sheep's best interest.

Would a nation of lovers followed Hitler? Would a nation of truth-seekers followed our previous President into a false war? Do dreamers ask the state to control their lives? We like to blame our leaders for the state of the world - and certainly words of evil flow from their lips - but we determine which voices to praise or deny. And that is why we accept the injustices inflicted upon us - we figure we really aren't worth much anyway and who are we to question anything? But the real question is: who are you NOT to question anything!

"Are you sure I'm allowed to dream?"

So I can't imagine the role of a union organizer in a conservative southern town where people pretty much don't care about themselves and don't much care to hear life should be anything than what it already is. Me, I'm a negative person and would swear it could never be done - but that's why my counsel is so often unwise. It takes a certain kind of self-love to pull off a feat like that and I too often resist the vortex of love to have that virtue. You see, you can't fight for the rights of others without also fighting for your own right to love - I often despair on that count.

Jesus came to divide, not to unite. And standing up for your rights will certainly cause people to part like the Red sea - it's a person's value you're truly questioning, a matter of life and death. Some rush to your side, emboldened by the strength you show while some depart your side, threatened by that same strength. The more you stick to your guns, the more bullets come flying your way. You're told in no uncertain terms you are no one to make waves, you are a destroyer of lives, you are unworthy of love. For the most part, you're out on that limb alone and the thought of "What the hell have I done?" will surely come to pass.

Copper says: "I enforce the rule of self-hate."

So while in one sense it's a battle for union rights, the true warfare is the one for self-love, of finding your worth. A conservative person resists the call for change - he fears change more than the company's abuses. A liberal person faces the need for change, embracing it as much as one's bravery allows. Tell me, is there any greater oxymoron than the phrase "conservative philosophy"?

There's a commandment that says not to take the Lord's name in vain. What that means is you are not to say you are without worth. You may do things that have no worth, or take a path that has no worth - but no matter what you do there's still an inherent value in every soul, that piece of God within you. The more we recognize the value of our soul, the less injustices we tolerate.

So yeah, I know why people don't stick up for their rights - but being a sheep won't save you.