Do you think of yourself as the image of God?
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at 09:19PM 
Oscar Grant killed by B.A.R.T. police in Oakland, CA.
Two thousand and nine has started with a bang as we see Israel invade “concentration camp” Gaza, to root out Hamas. We have witnessed the murder of Oscar Grant and the shooting of Robert Tolan by government agents misnomered peace officers or officers of the law, right here in the good ole U.S. of A., and countless other murders of nameless people by nameless people. Beyond Israel and Gaza, there are wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, The Congo, and even in the Philippines, not to mention the “conflicts” in South and Central America, Pakistan and Chechnya. There is also the war for the mind and body (a kind of) covert war that is being waged without notoriety, which is the most insidious of them all. This war is the war to control our senses and good sense, against wise counsel, against truth and right.
This war causes many concerned, to break down causes and effects of our ills into simple categories, like 70% illegitimate birth rate for black mothers, 50% black school student dropout rate, 45 percent of black women that have never married, 48% single parent black female households and the statistics go on and on. I have even read a statistic that 100% of black male prisoners are from the 48% single female household, I cannot attest to this as being accurate, but maybe worth discussion. Often when crimes are committed, or a crime against a young man has been committed the question is often asked, “where is the father?” This question alone could be construed as an attack on black women. So where is the father? In prison? At home unemployed (not recently laid off) lounging on the couch calling his girl on the side? Where is the father? Who is a father?
Raymond Gomez'15 year old son was shot while teaching him how to burgal homes
Questioning where the father is supposes the young black male wouldn’t have committed the crime or may not have been murdered by another black male or a “peace officer.” In my own personal experience in close contact with southern California gang members, this is not the case. I have known several black and Chicano gang members that come from two parent households, both parents involved in their lives, living in middle class to lower middle class families and still these young men decided to participate in and become deeply involved with gang life. Many of these young men have fathers that are ministers in the church, deacons, work daily and didn’t participate in teaching their sons how to be criminal minded. Yet, their sons participated in gang life, crime and prison
The question of where is the father suggests the father in the young male’s life, will be an upstanding citizen and a positive influence on the child‘s life, when I have seen fathers teach their sons how to be womanizers, how to become thieves, how to steal and shoplift. In many cases these fathers don’t work, they have children outside of their marriage or relationships and refuse to take care of the children when the working mother needs assistance with child care. Questioning where the father, supposes the mother cannot teach her son right from wrong, good from evil, and that burglary and murder are to be eschewed. It isn’t so much a father in the house to the rescue, as this didn’t stop the police from shooting Robert Tolan, and didn’t stop gang members from shooting my nephew. It’s good and wise parenting that should come to the rescue. Not just a father is needed in the household but, a good father biological or not. A good mother biological or not.
Robert Tolan shot in his drive way by a Bellaire, TX "peace officer."
Poor parenting is the issue here, not just the presence of a male in the household. Most of this thought process lends back to the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Report of 1965 which castigated (committed violence on) black women. Poor parenting seems to be linked to the ever present mindset of the “I got to get mine” concept of life so pervasive in our society. This “got to get mine” is a selfish concept that has been pushed in the war against our minds and bodies. Driving people towards a selfish way of being, of living. I have personally witnessed women that put their children’s needs, like time being spent with them on a positive level to seek out a personal “mating” relationship with a man that cares little about them or their child. So long as she can be gratified sexually, and mentally with the ability to say “I got a man”, who is most often far from a man, and they only have a façade of stability, even when the male “boxes her pretty good“ as one woman told me. I have explored by interviewing many of these females as to why they want such a person and the answer is most often the same. “I am trying to find someone for my son to be a role model.” Upon further questioning they reveal the male has children by other women that he has little or no contact with, yet they say they want him in their lives for their male child. This is illogical.
We are facing a barrage of concepts constantly pushed at us as a society, and the most appealing concept that has lead to this breakdown is the constant noise of “get this or have that material thing and it will set you free” even it cost your brother’s or sister’s life. In fact these people are not your sisters or brothers, so take what you want. The concept of me and I, have taken root so deeply over we and ours, even unto the depths of the life that holds the thing that the criminal wants, no longer has value. The person holding the thing that the depraved wants, is of less value than the thing. The belief that life is a present from God is no longer heeded. People no longer believe in God, therefore God doesn’t exist, therefore God cannot be dwelling in your brother and sister. If we truly believed that humans are the image of God or in fact that we are the God we seek, would it be so easy to kill another?
The attraction to “things” over human life has baffled me. Jamaica with a population of 2.7 million suffered 1600 murders in 2008, this doesn’t include police killings of the people, which included the death of well known Jamaican DJ Spragga Benz’ son in September. The islands of Trinidad and Tobago topped 550 murders with a population of only 1.3 million, by December 2008, many involving the stealing or robbery of people of the same class and economic stature.
Human life has lost it’s value to material life. Material life forces onto a weak, intimidated population the drive for the unattainable. The drive to attain the illusive material riches have been perpetuated by large corporations, and many Christian ministers putting emphasis on material wealth as a sign of being blessed. This coupled with the other monster called “I got to get mine’s” has created a very devastating cocktail of death and destruction. So, what can be done? What can we do?
We can begin again to see ourselves as God, or in the image of God, or Christ like or whatever suits your mentality and most importantly teach it to the children. We can begin by watching our speech, say the positive about yourself and others. Just stop gossiping, stop it. Begin to believe and know that we, humans make the “things” and they only have worth based on what we believe. Set aside time to spend alone and spend alone with your children, just to talk to them. All “things” and circumstances begin as a thoughts or concepts in the mind, and I think we can change the way society has lead this nation and world by beginning to observe our thought and speech as the first step in changing the world. A father and mother is present in a child’s life is very vital in gaining balance for a well rounded human being, but this must be tempered by a positive mother or father. Not just father around or mother around, as bad parents make bad children.
Reader Comments (9)
{waving}
I'll reread your essay and meditate on it some more. Here are my initial thoughts:
Yes, it's true that physical presence alone of a biological father does NOT guarantee a successful outcome with children. However, a father's physcial absence DOES significantly reduce the odds of a successful outcome with children. This simple reality cannot be denied or wished away.
I can't think of a single society in recorded human history that entrusted the rearing and socialization of boys solely to their mothers. To my knowledge, there is no such human society because that sort of single female parent arrangement does NOT work.
This arrangement leads to the mass disintegration that we see in the AA collective today: A lot of "lone wolf" males who were never reared or socialized to become protectors or providers for women and children. Which is why they don't want to be protectors or providers. They were never "trained up" to do anything like that.
These "lone wolf" males are not attached to any woman or child in a family structure. Instead, they dip in and out of a variety of women's and children's lives. The parallel is that many girls who have never seen an in-home husband and father come to believe that "lone wolf" males are normal, acceptable mates. And so the cycle spirals downward.
Like I said earlier, having a REAL, LEGITIMATE marriage and family does not guarantee the resulting children's success. But it dramatically increases the odds of success. Having these other improvised arrangements (shacking, serial baby daddys/mamas, etc.) does NOT work. And has NEVER worked, which is why every culture except ours has traditionally enforced heavy social penalties for illegitimacy.
Family structure really IS a matter of collective survival.
Peace, blessings and solidarity.
Thanks for coming by, I think the effort I am trying to get across and I am not so sure I was clear enough, is that it takes good fathers that put in good effort and good time and good and positive teaching to the child. To be without a male figure whether it be the biological, step father, uncle, male family friend, creates a certain imbalance. I have a grandson that is at home with all females during the day and he is just dying for my attention when I get home, so it has to be someone with a good spirit and good teaching as the influence in the childs life. To have a child, male or female that is not given suffecient positive male influences causes the imbalance we see throwing our collective and society at large off its axis.
I had no intention to come across that no male is needed, far from it, but a good male not just a male presence. I would never advocate for a single parent house as the primary way of life in society, yet I would not advocate for a male in a child's life and he is a negative influence on the child.
The publicity and general bad press from their escapades makes it seem like nearly everyone is screwed up, from the poor to the Wall Street wolves, as both groups cause a lot chaos for the other 95%. Something I think about is that in this interconnected global world, the few can destroy the many, on too many levels to count.
~ Kit
http://keepittrill.blogspot.com
i just want to know, how many others were on that platform that day.
1,2,3; no matter how many, not one was willing to step up and be willing to sacrifice there own life to spare his.
had two stepped up, the chances increase that the first and the second life being spared.
had three stepped up, the chance is that this could have been written off as a disturbance. the one at fault to be determined at a later date.
had four stepped up, five would have stepped up.
my point being, had we not waited untilll after the fact to come together,
we would have been thankful to each other for being there for each other.
we should be upset with our selves for waiting untill now to realize this.
at least be upset for a short time, then energy spent bringing, and coming together.
imagine if we had the mind frame to automatically when we observe an incident such as this, all that would deem this as an unfair act.
just stepped up and said; you will not harm that man.
imagine if we all had a since of self and others, and not even a since of right and wrong, but a since of knowing an incident will be avoided just because we say; this will not happen!!!
people doing that in a split second that has a life time and life changing ramification has been going on for eternity.
call it injustice, wrong choices, bad luck, what have you; is not going to change what happened.
what can change is ways of thinking, ways of doing, ways of being.
so the chances of an incident such as this become fewer and far between.
us coming together, will put the distance between that.
although; this is as all else that is or has been said. it is what or has been
done, that is what or will make a difference.
in closing, the image of GOD is just too large to place on an individual, even a father figure. but if father figures as a whole took on the image of GOD, the image becomes more intense. then this image is seen, maybe not for who it is, but for what it is. especially in the midst of a possible situation or circumstance.
imagine if you were the utmost father figure, even to the point that you were revered as the image of god. what would happen if you were not there to protect your son in a situation or circumstance such as this??
you would hope that the image of a different father figure that thinks, feels, and sees as you would be.
Peace