The cruelty of never asking the accused a question
We all do this to some degree or another.
Read an article and judge, try and sentence a stranger.
The media has trained us well.
When I first stepped into the public arena, in my own small way, I was not prepared for the stone throwing that came from the critics.
In my heart I knew that my intention was pure. Not towards my own vainglory, but towards a larger effort for humanity. In my innocence I thought people would see my intention as pure. I was not asking them to agree with me.
But it was not to be.
It took me two years to untangle the pain of those stones. To learn that stepping up and out comes at a price. To respect those people, whether I agree with them or not, who do step into the arena towards a much higher intention than their own glory.
*It is not the critic who counts, but the person in the arena, who might try and fail, but does so with every fibre of their being.
To judge, try and sentence a human without asking them the question…why…why did you do that? What happened? Is there a context I am not aware of? Is there missing information?
This is cruelty. In the end the hand of the judge turns against itself. The ugliness is perpetuated. Humanity loses.
I shed tears. May I never do this to another human, and if you find me guilty, call me and my actions by name.
*an abbreviated version of Theodore Roosevelt’s quote.
Photo taken March 2015, this article was first published in 2018.
