Well I've had my very ignorant blogs up for quite sometime now and I figured that I should show that I'm not actually quite as ignorant as my other blogs would seem.
Recently I've been posting fairly regularly in the religion and philosophy thread and I've come to a simple conclusion. No matter what you believe, more often than not, you find strength knowing that there are others that believe in the same thing that you do. You find that simply by knowing that you aren't alone in your ideas that there is some comfort in that.
There are a lot of people who are strengthened by the people around them in what they believe because more often than not, people that believe the same things are often pulled towards one another in an almost chemical fashion. It seems that like minded individuals always seem to find other like minded individuals.
What about when someone comes up with a new idea? Something new and different, or simply a modified idea that works. I would say that these individuals who dare to change what is in the natural conformity of our society will only thrive in history books. Good or bad, if they can attempt to bring about change, they probably won't see it within their lifetime.
Look at the great prophets of Israel. Most of them were persecuted because they told their nation that if they continued to act the way they were, destruction would come upon them. They were persecuted because they simply didn't want to hear it. They would've rather had them conform to the accepted ideals that had been developed out of the culture.
Look at Jesus and his followers. He was very radical for his time and taught for us to love one another. He taught that all those who had felt pain, would feel pain no more. He taught that those that we're meek would inherit the earth. He taught of peace, love and compassion in a time when the world was a cruel mistress. He died for teaching something different than the accepted norm of society.
A more modern example of free-thinkers being persecuted for their beliefs would be clear in the civil rights movement. They stood up for freedom and justice in a world of hate and stood up for the idea of equality. The champion of this movement, Martin Luther King Jr., was killed for preaching equality and the freedom of the pursuit of happiness. He spoke against hatred and wanted us all to come together. He was killed for this.
You've heard all these stories in your history classes throughout your life and seen them on the history channel. They didn't thrive in their own time, but their legacy holds true today. Freedom has won and their names are clearly etched forever in time as the men and women that helped make things different from the status quo and make things different from the norm.
They couldn't do it on their own though. An idea is only as good as the power behind it. This is why we have lobbyists and why we have people trying to tell others of what they think is a good idea. Deep down, even if you disagree with someone else's idea, they're most likely trying to do what they think is good for everyone.
So if you have an idea, feel free to share it, but be ready to defend it on all sides. After all, where would we be if no one spoke up?
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Guess it's time to post a proper blog. blog
