It occurred to me the other day, as I watched yet another Black Lives Matter group protesting. It was not clear what they were protesting but one could guess that it was against white people, the police, the government or maybe even slavery, or what they consider to be “oppression” by any of these groups. Slavery, when practiced, is a terrible life for the slave. People that are conquered, stolen or rounded up by whatever group is doing it, might just as well be dead, given the life that they will lead. Now that the picture has been presented, here comes the kicker…most of the slavery practiced in the world today is done by Muslims. In the unadulterated Quran one can find mention of slavery, in that any conquered people, any infidel, almost anyone, is subject to being captured and sold into slavery. If the Black Lives Matter folks are really interested in bettering their lot, maybe they should look into that, eh? Couldn’t hurt and they might actually learn who some of their friends really are…or are not. Once the idea that all lives matter, be they black, white, green, or polka-dotted, penetrates into their thinking, then a rational thought process can begin.
Years ago I had a buddy, now gone, who was in the Vietnam war. Although he was in the Navy, he was assigned ashore for some reason that I don’t think I knew. He used to tell me that the only friend he had was the man at his side, and that either of them might be called upon to give their life for the other. Although he was paired with several guys during the engagements, it didn’t make any difference the color of the man’s skin, where or how he worshipped, or didn’t, it only mattered that both of them came out of the battle alive and whole. Once he told me that before he joined the Navy he was a staunch white supremacist… but that all changed when one of them took a machete chop that was meant for him, and lived to tell about it. That a man, someone he had despised, could think of him as a friend, changed his entire way of thinking. He kept up with several buddies after he got out and eventually he died… of natural causes, thank you.
Does the name Sally Hemings ring a bell? It might if you were a student of history, the black people in America or even Thomas Jefferson. You might run across an article or a piece of one that says that Jefferson had a liaison with Hemings and that she had several of his children. A 1998 DNA study that found a match between the Jefferson male line and a descendant of Hemings’ last son, Eston Hemings, there is a near-consensus among historians that the widower Jefferson fathered her son Eston Hemings and probably all her children. Then, as now, there are people on both sides of the color-fence that are just adamant about keeping the two races separate, so you can imagine the hue and cry that went up…and has lasted down through the years about this possible relationship. If we could live long enough then we might see the eventual blending of colors into something quite different than what we have today…but we won’t live that long.
We won’t live long enough to see or experience, the end of the world as predicted by some experts. It is believed by them that the earth will eventually be drawn to the sun and will burn up. Of course, the time frame on this is about a billion years, so who’s going to prove them right or wrong? It reminds me of the nutty explorer who was trying to raise money for an expedition to the sun. One of his brighter colleagues asked him, “Aren’t you afraid of getting burned up before you get there?” And the nut job replied, “Don’t be silly…we’re going there at night.” Of course it’s a joke, but think about all the things that are being seriously discussed in today’s world, and by so-called experts too! I heard that this question was actually put to a group of Mensa members, “If you were in a spaceship traveling at the speed of light, and you had a beam of light lighting the way from a sort of headlight on the ship, would you ever see that light?” You can think about that one and my guess is that you will come up with some plausible explanation, no matter which side you take.
Parting shot: No matter what you think of, or which side of a discussion you may take, absolutely nothing is “cut-and-dried” because there’s always unintended consequences or a monkey-wrench thrown in as someone decides that no, they don’t want to do that, or yes, they do want to do it, but in a different way! Believe me, it never fails. Take a simple thing like naming a baby. During the 1960’s and 70’s some of the names that were given to kids would make you shake your head in amusement…but the kids weren’t amused.
Tags: Black Lives Matter
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