more than often
pictures can speak to you when all words just fail to express everything else. one
of these moments were when in sheer and utter frustration with world news i
came across one of these images that just got me thinking:
a tragic case of the latter occurred a few weeks ago when a woman decided to kill her three children (two 4-month old twins and a 6-year old) in a forest, before placing them in her car and driving at high speed on the local autobahn. she ended up flipping the car and fatally crashing the car. she was taken to the hospital and only later did the authorities find out that she had murdered her kids beforehand.
we can jump to conclusions and condemn the woman for what she did, but it will never answer the question of why she did it. the fact is that in her moment of hopelessness, she decided that this choice was the best for her – selfish as it is to take down three innocent lives, while surviving yourself. in the eyes of the majority she rejected our universal moral code. we stamp her with a label saying WRONG.
the other event that dominated this month was Gaza. the question of who started this or that seems trivial when looking at the loss of innocent lives. the people we hear of that die in wars and struggles and battles are faceless ghosts. as a society we hardly ever see the pictures of those who have fallen. it still baffles me how we care about the arbitrary matters, such as petty politics, rather than the morality of actions. and we all have different perspectives on what is and has been going on. after all, there are many different sources out there claiming to be the truth.
at the end of the day, we are all sinners of our own truth, for we are the ones who make the choices that (inevitably) will impact others. we actively have to pursue our own truth, whilst upholding that universal moral code which we all subscribe to.
coming back to the picture above – it reminds me that there comes a point in time where each one of us has this inner voice crying out "STOP", and we wish to do something, to let that voice shatter all that is unfair, and ultimately destroy injustice.
throughout his campaign, Obama stated that everybody ought to play by the same rules. indeed that is a noble statement to make. one must be completely naive to think that reality plays by the same rules. life is not a tournament. it is a constant final. there are two sides. you are either on the one team or the other. of course one has to await the blow of the whistle that ends that endless game to know whether one was on the winning side.
this
picture depicts torero Alvaro Munera seemingly, in the middle of the bullfight,
realizing that he is committing an act of injustice. much has been said about
the false interpretation of this picture. my purpose is not to delve into the
detail of what is going on here. what simply astonished me is that
juxtaposition between the fighter and the ‘fighted’. the same could be applied
to a picture representing a hunter (such as today’s rhino poachers) and the
hunted (the innocent victim). it is the moment that i would describe as the
final stand-off – the eventual annoyance with the status quo, which leads to an
act out of despair, driven by hopelessness…or the belief that it is time to
radically change the things that simply aren’t right.
no matter
what situation we are in, humans always have a choice…and that choice is linked
to a moral obligation…a universal code you can acknowledge or decide to
neglect. a tragic case of the latter occurred a few weeks ago when a woman decided to kill her three children (two 4-month old twins and a 6-year old) in a forest, before placing them in her car and driving at high speed on the local autobahn. she ended up flipping the car and fatally crashing the car. she was taken to the hospital and only later did the authorities find out that she had murdered her kids beforehand.
we can jump to conclusions and condemn the woman for what she did, but it will never answer the question of why she did it. the fact is that in her moment of hopelessness, she decided that this choice was the best for her – selfish as it is to take down three innocent lives, while surviving yourself. in the eyes of the majority she rejected our universal moral code. we stamp her with a label saying WRONG.
the other event that dominated this month was Gaza. the question of who started this or that seems trivial when looking at the loss of innocent lives. the people we hear of that die in wars and struggles and battles are faceless ghosts. as a society we hardly ever see the pictures of those who have fallen. it still baffles me how we care about the arbitrary matters, such as petty politics, rather than the morality of actions. and we all have different perspectives on what is and has been going on. after all, there are many different sources out there claiming to be the truth.
at the end of the day, we are all sinners of our own truth, for we are the ones who make the choices that (inevitably) will impact others. we actively have to pursue our own truth, whilst upholding that universal moral code which we all subscribe to.
coming back to the picture above – it reminds me that there comes a point in time where each one of us has this inner voice crying out "STOP", and we wish to do something, to let that voice shatter all that is unfair, and ultimately destroy injustice.
throughout his campaign, Obama stated that everybody ought to play by the same rules. indeed that is a noble statement to make. one must be completely naive to think that reality plays by the same rules. life is not a tournament. it is a constant final. there are two sides. you are either on the one team or the other. of course one has to await the blow of the whistle that ends that endless game to know whether one was on the winning side.
from what i
can tell, we were created to be team players and fight for justice together. and
sin – or the act of wrongdoing within a commonly perceive moral code – is merely
a branch hitting you in your face as you gallop towards the battling field; it
hurts nonetheless and leaves you with a scar. the sinner in us is a constant
companion, but we choose how much exposure we give him. and sometimes, that
sinner reveals a deeper truth that lurks within us.
at other
times, we can just see the border on the horizon that divides the person we are
from the person we could, should or want to be. we can choose to be the pawn or
the rook – but one must be satisfied with the choice made. 