Schismism: We Are All Here to Love Our Neighbors.
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When used as a suffix to a noun, -ism can represent a practice, a state or condition, doctrines, principles, devotion or adherence.
Schism means a split, rupture or division between strongly opposed groups, caused by differences in opinion or belief.
Schismism is a new word I made up, and means the practice of division or doctrine of rupture. Deep-rooted, fading -isms have been uncovered like coals from a dying fire, and with malevolent intent and lots of hot air, have inflamed monstrous firestorms of hatred. Schismism is the weaponization of schisms using tweets, news articles, lobbyists with stacks of money, and increasingly, actions. It’s happening worldwide.
We are being intentionally subjected to information warfare (look it up; it’s a real thing), deliberately whipped into a frenzy every day, so that we become overwhelmed, depressed, despairing… and eventually, paralyzed with apathy, unable to respond… unable to choose what is right and what is wrong!
Television, news media and our beloved social media platforms are coordinated to create behavioral contagion, another real thing. We’ve seen behavioral contagion in action with the active shooters at high schools. When interviewed, many of the shooters have confessed that the Columbine shooters were their heroes.
According to Wikipedia, behavioral contagion works like this: a person wants to behave in a certain way, but that behavior would violate the rules and restraints that prevent such behavior. But once that person has seen someone else break the rules, he feels free to break the rules too.
Behavioral contagion explains copycat suicides, mob behavior and the like, and contagion is strengthened when cultural norms (our unspoken rules) are broken and breaks are normalized. Or propagandized. Or weaponized.
Consider racism, and recall how racism has been weaponized in the past few years with increasingly hostile words and increasingly often, actual weapons. Think about the increasing weaponization of sexism (misogyny and misandry), homophobia and xenophobia.
Ideas and practices that were formerly opposed and reviled have been normalized and even accepted as respectable, such as narcissism, cronyism, ultra-nationalism and vulgar sensationalism.
We can turn these around, friends. We can beat these intentional swords of division into plowshares of purposeful alliance and unification. We need to listen to each other, and get to know the stories of those we are conditioned to hate by the culture of distrust and disdain that surrounds us.
We need to learn to trust the goodness of humankind, and distrust the motives of those who profit from the businesses of hatred and killing. When we follow the money, it’s clear that billionaires are making a killing from killing, all around the globe.
Every one of us needs to invest in educating ourselves, and learning about these issues is hard. It’s tough. It takes fortitude and research, and it takes giving up the idea that the news can be gathered by listening to talking heads telling you what the news is. You’ve seen the videos of news anchors parroting the exact same garbage from FOX to CNN to ABC to NBC to every local affiliate. That’s information warfare!
Realize that listening to what we’ve been conditioned to think the news is has become the very way we are infected by information warfare. Understand and act upon the truth that our highly-conditioned Facebook feeds (and Twitter and Instagram, etc.) are the very tools used by those who want us to catch their latest behavioral contagion.
Be skeptical of everything you hear and read, everywhere. Develop and use your intuition, and if something doesn’t feel right, do the research. Once you recognize the information warfare machine at work, you will regain your ability to choose.
You will recognize the patterns of disinformation, obfuscation, diversionary tactics and smoke screens everywhere, and you will be able to engage and respond on your beloved social media platforms with wisdom and candor.
“Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.” ~ Isaiah 1:23
The money-changers of today, the billionaires in power, are using covert and cruel mind-control methods to extract every penny from every economy on the planet. We can overturn their tables. They fear peace, and use everything in their considerable power to sow discord, division and war. Overturning the tables will require united, peaceful engagement.
It will require all of us to vote for people like us instead of like them. They fear our activism — that’s why the news is nearly devoid of information about huge demonstrations even one day later. They fear informed citizens, which is why intellectualism is denounced daily. They fear realization of reality, and constantly feed us disinformation to counteract what we know to be true.
They fear the truth, because even they know that once we know the truth, we’ll be free. Even though they tout our supposed freedom every day, they don’t want us to be free.
Freeing our hearts and minds to realize the goodness of humanity, we will be free.
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.” ~ St. Francis of Assissi
Jesus told us plainly that we are all neighbors, and we are here to love our neighbors. He also said we are here to build up the body of Christ. Not bodies, but One body. The human body is home to billions of cells that create one body. Cells that divide themselves from other cells in the body are cancer. In similar fashion, billions of humans create the One body of Christ. Humans are divided… you get the drift.
So, where there is racism, let us sow equality, fairness and benevolence. Skin is a ridiculous excuse for hatred — even the dumbest animal does not discriminate about skin (or fur) color!
Learn and apply egalitarianism, which is the doctrine of the equality of all humankind. Where there is misogyny or misandry (the two sides of sexism), let us be impartial, open-minded and unprejudiced. Egalitarianism fits here too.
Where there is homophobia, let us be accepting and open. Being different than cis-gendered (traditional male/female roles) is not a choice. It is an internal reality, even when the external reality does not match. Listen to the stories of our LGBTQ siblings, children, friends and neighbors, and stop listening to the voices of bigotry.
When you hear (with ears to truly hear) the story of a differently gendered person, hatred melts, love enters, and frequently, friendship happens. All people of every description are part of us, like our livers are part of our bodies. We all have differing thoughts, ideas, purposes and plans, but beneath it all, we are all created by Love, and love is love, no matter how.
“For we are strangers before you, and foreigners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no remaining.” ~ 1 Chronicles 15
Where there is xenophobia (the fear or hatred of foreigners, strangers, people from different cultures or religions), let us sow welcome. Let us sow hospitality, and accept them with joy and gladness.
“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” ~ Hebrews 13:2
Instead of tent cities to keep strangers in our land imprisoned, why not offer welcome in the form of jobs that our citizens don’t want, like harvesting our fields? We can beat the swords of imprisonment into the plowshares of tent cities for the harvest, create new citizens with loving education as to the ways of their new home, and all can reap the harvest of welcome.
It’s time for us to wake up, grow up, and act like we know who we are.
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Libby Maxey is a mystic and visionary voyager into the “What If?” She’s a wife, mother, nana, irreverent reverend, writer of books and blogs, transgender advocate, and egalitarian. Libby lives with her adoring twin flame genius husband in small town Tennessee, where they mostly keep their ideas to themselves… except in written form. Her highly-rated book titles I Am Liberty and One Becomes One are available on Amazon.com.
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