My most recent "Deep Thought" was on love, and I would really like to share it with everyone.
If you think about it, every great crime in history, can stem back to love. Maybe not the romantic love that everyone wants to associate the word with, but sometimes a type of devotion that supercedes what a romantic love would be in such a case. Hitler loved the Aryan race, so much so that he would have left entire ethnic groups as nothing more than pages in a history book. Some African countries have left their own tribes on the verge of genocide for the love of a certain particular group. Women have killed for love. Men have killed for women. Love of power, love of money, love of freedom, love of drugs, love of greed, love of self.... in the end, love really is what makes the world go round, what turns the pages and what drives us mad.
I thought of this after watching several "sappy chick flicks" that reminded me of how much love really matters, and after suffering from a break up (and reunion) of the most wonderful man I could choose to spend the rest of my life with (tho it hasn't been officially talked about yet, lol) i got to thinking about love. In the movie, a grandfather is giving his grandson advice on love. In the end, what the grandfather said that mattered most was not beauty or intelligence, but companionship. The quote from the movie stated "There are only 2 ways to know if she is your real companion. You either know it when you meet her, or know it when you lose her." I suppose the same thing goes with women, you either know that he is your "Penguin" - that special someone that you don't want to live without, when you meet him, or when he's no longer there. Through my break up, I realized something. I always knew that he was "the one" since that first full night that we spent getting to know eachother. It took him "losing me" (or breaking up with me) to realize that he didn't want to be without me. It doesn't matter to me that he broke up with me now, only that he realized that he doesn't want to be without me. He's my companion. When we broke up, I felt alone - literally, like I had lost my companion. I never want to be without him, he means that much to me.
But the topic of love got me thinking. I genuinely believe that everyone is born good. Everyone wants to be loved. Everyone wants to give love. It is through our life experiences and circumstances that cause us to misconstrue what love is, take advantage of it, abuse it, mistreat it, and sometimes kill for it, lie for it, steal for it and die for it.
Hate groups are centered around an external aspect. But what is the core of it all? Do people who are homophobic really HATE homosexuals? I would say that isn't where their intentions lie. I think that they are so blinded by their love of a "typical" or "normal" or "heterosexual" relationship, maybe their religion even, to accept what is considered "love" to someone of a same-sex relationship or sexual orientation. Do racial hate groups like the KKK the Black Panthers (tho originally not intended to be a Hate group, was classifyed as an "internal security risk" by the government) or other such groups really HATE other races? Perhaps. Or is it a fear of the downfall of their race, or racial oppression, or a sincere love (of the devotion kind) of the people they share a kinship with that causes them to fear and press for crimes against others?
Some people say they "love love". Some people say they "need love" and some say they are "devoted" to you if they love you. According to Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs, love and a sense of belonging are needs, just after air, food, water, shelter, clothing and safety. It is that next step that must take place before all of the rest of a persons psychological foundations can be built, a foundation for the next steps of development and personality. Following that need come the things that literally make a person who they are, such as self-esteem, respect, confidence, morality, creativity, and lack of prejudice. If you lack love of something, anything really, you can not progress. Depending upon what that love is based, is what will shape the rest of a persons existence.
What if that love is based in a street gang? To those that belong to a street gang, they would call it their family, they are those that they love. The gang is the code that they live by, if they don't have parents they could be close to, or siblings, the next best thing is a gang. It is by their morals that you are raised, their morals that you live, and die. If the gang can provide you with your basic needs, food, water, clothing, shelter, and give you security, it is with them that you will love. So based upon that love, it is from there that you will pull your self esteem, your confidence, and your respect, which is the 4th step in the Heirarchy, your Esteem. Following that step a person will find their self-actualization, or the 5th step, being morality, creativity, problem solving, and acceptance of the facts. If the fact is that the gang is all you have, then that is what your entire pyramid is based upon.
Of course, this model doesn't work for every situation. This is only one point that I would like to make - "Love is where your allegiance lies" - or maybe even, "Where your allegiance lies is where you have found love". It is where you have found something, according to your circumstances, that you can devote yourself to.
What about killing? What about death? What about wars? Could America say that our "War on Terror" is based upon the desire to eradicate terrorists in order to preserve freedom - but could we also just base it upon a love for freedom? We in America live our entire lives based upon the first amendment rights to all types of "God Given Freedoms". Is it really a hate for terrorism, or does that hate stem from nothing more than a love of freedom and our desire to share that and ensure that others have that opportunity?
Love of freedom. Some people exercise that right everyday. How many times have you heard "Freedom of speech" or "it's a free country" as an exuse for someone to be rude or tactless. Do they really love freedom of speech? Or really, do they love the power that they have to speak freely to others, no holding back, no reason for tact, no regards. Do they love freedom of speech, or do they really just love themselves more than they love others, so therefore they don't care who they offend? And after that, do they "love themselves" too much to hold their tounge and demand they speak their minds? Or do they love the power that "freedom of speech" gives them?
In which some cases could be that when one genuinely stops at "love of freedom", another would progress to "love of self", and yet another to "love of power". This in itself is why some people would call America's campaign against terrorism as a "Love of Freedom" and others as a "Power Trip". Does America love freedom? Or Does America love power?
Is it clear yet what I am getting at? Love is not just a one way track. Love is more like a maze. There is one way in, and one way out. But depending on the direction that you turn, you will either make it to the other side with a real, wholesome love, or hit a wall and never find your way out. Who is to say that one love is better than another? Who is to say that love of power is less than an agape love of another person. It is each according to ones perspective.
What I am finally trying to get at is that love is not just a deep, romantic, emotional attachment to someone, but it can have other meanings as well. Love is devotion. Love is a need, and Love is truly blind.
