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Just a short poem I wrote...
Prayer for Dawn
Culture of darkness, spirits of night, Drawn to the candle burning bright; Swaying and spinning, craving the light, We grasp at a truth That slips out of sight; We search for a future, a single bright spark; We long for the daytime, an end to the dark; We cling to the candle, though fragile and small, And hope for a morning To dawn for us all.
© 2007
maeve_wickett · Fri Jan 26, 2007 @ 09:13pm · 0 Comments |
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"When they came for the Jews and the blacks, I turned away When they came for the writers and the thinkers and the radicals and the protestors, I turned away When they came for the gays, and the minorities, and the utopians, and the dancers, I turned away And when they came for me, I turned around and around, and there was nobody left..."
I don't know where this version came from, but it's an edit of:
"First they came for the Jews. But I didn't speak up because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists. But I didn't speak up because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists. But I didn't speak up because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics. But I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me. And by that time no one was left to speak up."
That one is by Pastor Martin Niemoller, who lived in Germany just after the second World War. I find either version meaningful. We think by being quiet and neutral we're not hurting other people--we're not oppressing anyone and we're not fighting with the oppressors. We think that if we stay out of things that don't directly involve us, we'll be safe. We're wrong. There is evil in some kinds of neutrality and indifference. Too many people (myself often included) put up with seeing others unfairly treated, not exactly approving, but not objecting either, because they don't see it as directly interfering with their lives. Go along to get along and all that bullshit. I put up with it when my family and friends refer to other people--some of whom I deeply care about--as "wet-backs", "white trash", "rag-heads", "faggots" or "niggers"...I may not like it, but it's not like they're directing those insults at me. Ha. That's the great lie it seems we've all bought into: that so long as we're not actively trying to keep people down, we're not doing any damage. But the fact is that if you, as a third party, do not pick a side--that of the oppressors or of the oppressed--you have already chosen: oppressors. By not objecting when you see another human being unfairly treated--injured, slandered, or deprived of their rights--you are almost as guilty as their tormenter. By not acknowledging that people are being pushed down, you are actively refusing to help them up.
Sometimes we don't care about all that. Morality aside, what does it matter if someone is being persecuted, so long as our lives are not effected? It matters because oppression expands and has a tendency to bite the hands of those that feed it (to say nothing of those who merely allow it to happen). Expecting persecution to be focused on only one small group of people is naive. Pastor Niemoller experienced the aftermath of Nazi Germany, so let's use the Nazi persecution of the Jews as an example...First the Jews themselves were targeted. Then the people in support of them. Then those not openly opposed (or percieved to be not strongly loyal to the Nazis). Then those who were merely unuseful or inconvenient. By that time, it was too late to speak up. Most pre-war Germans were not passionate Nazis: they may not have liked the Jews, but they didn't exactly want them killed. They looked the other way in the beginning and allowed mild forms of oppression...Nazi rascism gained a foothold, and it became too dangerous to object. It was a vicious chain of dominoes and, not counting war casualties, it left close to twelve million people dead. Only half of them were Jews.
What most people do not realize is that the step between American intollerance and the hatred and paranoia of Nazi Germany is not so very big. The Nazi party began as a small group of radicals...we have several similar groups in America: the KKK, the National Alliance, the National Socialist Movement, etc.. They have similar agendas. The NSM, for example, wants to deny citizenship to all Jews, non-whites, and homosexuals. Sound familiar? They are small, for now, and tend to not be taken seriously, but we've witnessed how circumstances can cause such groups to gain influence. Remember the upswing in rascism against people of middle-eastern descent that followed 9-11? Every time we stand silent and allow oppression, we add to their power. We need to learn to speak. We need to learn to be informed, to monitor our government, to understand and value our freedom. The world is getting smaller. We have to learn that different does not always mean dangerous or wrong. We have to learn to be tolerant.
maeve_wickett · Sun Dec 24, 2006 @ 08:15am · 0 Comments |
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Wow...what was I thinking when I selected the colors for this thing? It's making MY head hurt. Purple and red. *Shiver*. Never fear, I shall fix!
maeve_wickett · Mon Nov 20, 2006 @ 05:48pm · 0 Comments |
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I am officially the second laziest person on the face of the planet. I've sat in a mindless trance in front of my computer all week and now I have a mountain of work to do. I'm thinking of blocking Gaia and myspace for a while, just so I won't be so tempted.
maeve_wickett · Thu Oct 12, 2006 @ 06:02pm · 0 Comments |
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Okay, I really hate not having many options for journal format. This sucks.
maeve_wickett · Tue Oct 10, 2006 @ 10:34pm · 0 Comments |
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Okay, I think I'm going to start a list of daily revelations. Just not right now, because I have Latin homework. Possibly later. Hm.
maeve_wickett · Fri Sep 29, 2006 @ 04:31am · 0 Comments |
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I don't have much to talk about...I'm just bored and sick of the news. This crap between Israel and Labannon is so stupid; those people won't be happy until they've wiped one another from the face of the earth. I feel for the Labanese, but they're the ones that allowed a militant Islamist group to become their major political party and I don't really blame Israel for wanting to back Hezbollah away from their border.
And then there's these exiled Cubans rejoicing in the streets because Fidel Castro is having surgery. That's kind of idiotic; I don't really believe the b*****d's dead, and even if he is, things aren't likely to change much under his brother. Fidel is eighty-something and his brother is seventy-five...they're basically shifting power from one old, decaying Communist to another. So save the celebrating.
maeve_wickett · Fri Aug 04, 2006 @ 09:02am · 0 Comments |
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This is a poem my friend Jazzguy_87 wrote. I really liked it, so I decided to post it here.
An Extra Chair By Jazzguy_87
I’m going to the beach I have an extra chair So if you find some time today You can join me there.
Watching waves coming in Then watching them go out I can sit and ponder What life is all about.
And I have that extra chair If you should come along We can sit together And nothing can go wrong.
Beneath a big umbrella Sit back, relax and talk Then when the sun sits back a bit We’ll take a seaside walk.
The long walk on the beach Where I shall confess quite true How long I would have waited there Beside the beach for you.
So I’m going to the beach I have an extra chair So if you find some time today You can join me there.
~~
Good, isn't it? He writes poetry a lot more frequently than I do. Poem-every-minute kind of thing.
maeve_wickett · Tue Aug 01, 2006 @ 10:54pm · 0 Comments |
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