thinking people dead, or not

Since wars begin in the minds of men, 
It is in the minds of men 
That we have to create the ramparts of peace 
                     UNESCO Charter 


In the beginning we created the enemy 
Before the weapon comes the image 
We think others to death 
Then invent the [weapon] with which to actually kill them 
                     Sam Keen, Faces of the Enemy 
_______________________________________________ 


who is “the enemy” 
it depends, I suppose, who you ask 


is it the immigrant, fleeing from the south 
that desperate soul with brown skin, and a haunted look in dark eyes? 


is it that person with darker skin who invokes Allah 
or that black person who seems so angry 


maybe it is that bearded white guy with the AR-15 
and multiple clips of ammunition 
waving that confederate flag 


who is the enemy? 


Although there are enemies, 
people who wish us ill 
or if they do not wish us ill, are so focused on their own needs 
their own lust for power or wealth 
that they are willing to do us ill 


the reality is that most of our enemies 
are of our own making 


sometimes we have help 
for there are plenty of people who 
for reasons nefarious 
want to create enemies for us 


for an enemy is a handy tool, if one wants to control another 


the American “Christian” church has done this masterfully 
creating enemies against which to rail 
enemies against which to battle 
so that it can “rally the troops”, and fill the pews, and the coffers 


so progressive women are the enemy 
the LGBTQI community is the enemy 
Muslims are the enemy 
Liberals are the enemy 


the church is not alone 
this President 
the GOP 
the Democrats 
the white nationalists, such as the “Proud Boys” and the 3%ers 


all excel in creating enemies 


but how do you create an enemy? 
It is really quite simple 
You take away their face 


Your make them a caricature 
a stereotype 
your bestialize them 
you make immigrants from the south 
fathers, mothers, little children 
murderers and rapists 
you call them animals, you say they all have AIDS 
you suggest they come from “shithole countries” 


you take a person 
and you call them “the Orange One” 
or reduce them to the number 45 


You give them demeaning nicknames 
Moscow Mitch 
Putin’s Bitch 
Crazy Nancy, Crooked Hillary, Little Adam, Pocahontas, Sleepy Creepy Joe 


you do anything you can 
to rob the other of their essential humanness 
you take away their face 
so you can dismiss them 
so you can hate them 
so you can kill them 


so you can kneel on a person’s neck, 
while they plead for their life 
and stay there until they are dead 


you can say “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat” 
you can blithely arm the military, or the police 
and send them out there to get “tough” on “them” 
those faceless ones 
those one’s who no longer counter 
no longer matter 


you can wish your enemy dead 
you can think them dead 


so perhaps if we want to find the real enemy 
we need to look in the mirror 
and look into our own eyes 


and into our own souls 
into that deepest place that makes us who we are 
and recognize 
that the problem may be that there is a vacuum of love 
at the center of who we are 


a void where the Sacred should dwell 
not because the Sacred is not there, but because we have compressed 
the Sacred into such a small space 


and have left space for things not Sacred to dwell 
and rot, and fester and destroy the ‘divine original’ 


Perhaps, as Pogo once so famously put it 
“We have met the enemy, and he (she) is us” 


Only love can reverse this 
Only Love can make this better 
Love is the antidote 


And so we must allow ourselves to be Loved by God 
We must love God in return 
We must fill that void 
So that we can then love ourselves 
And love those around us 


It is time to stop thinking others dead 
and start thinking them fully alive