Evolutionary infant
"One love, one heart, let's get together," Bob Marley.
Perhaps a bit cliched and unoriginal to start with a quote, but Bob Marley sang about peace and love, wishing for a world in which humans tolerate each other, no matter what.
Unfortunately, that is not the reality and might never be.
For some inexplicable reason we humans cannot abstain from aggression and violence.
On Sunday, April 19, a video showing how 30 Christians were executed, allegedly by Islamic State (IS), in Libya, was released onto the internet.
The video shows 14 people in orange overalls being escorted to their deaths and, in another region, 16 men in black kneeling before being shot in the head.
This follows a similar mass execution in Libya, of 21 Egyptian coptics, in March.
Closer to home, our country has become engulfed by xenophobia, with South Africans attacking foreigners out of fear and hate.
KwaZulu-Natal and some areas in Gauteng have been victim to these vicious events, and Benoni has also been host to xenophobic protests.
My question is, why?
Are we as humans so insecure with who we are and what we can do that we have to either convince everyone around us to believe exactly what we do, or dispose of them if they don’t agree?
In the case of the xenophobia, it is not even a case of persuasion, but of birth; simply because they were born in another country, they are condemned for it.
I, personally, don’t think it’s that hard to believe that there is only one intelligent species on this planet and, if we all belong to that species, it means we must all be the same, at least to some extent.
But, because some are born into a different culture, country, colour or gender, they are excluded; instead of looking at who people are and how they think, they are judged by what they look like, or where they come from.
We might be the most intelligent species on Earth, but we’re still not that smart, if we can’t even overcome our aggressive animal instincts and treat humans like humans.
In light of all the war and violence and judgement going on in the world, I sometimes wonder if mankind will ever grow up and finally fulfil the messages spread by so many songs, movies and idealistic speeches. FvD
