The Humanity of Humans

First of all, let me admit something. I feel a little cheap sometimes that I often only have deep thoughts after being assigned some reading for school. But props to the teachers for giving good readings.

Now, let me begin with a story:

A long time ago, in a galaxy far,far away, the Republic was recovering from a war they almost lost with the Mandalorians. Taking advantage of its weakened state the Sith empire attacked the republic with a brutal attack on the planet Telos. The attack all but disintegrated the planet, leaving what was once a lush and green world no more than a barren, uninhabited rock. The ensuing war ended with the Sith being pushed back for a time, but not many years later they returned. Upon returning to known space, the Sith arrived at the planet Katarr, where they completely annihilated all living things on the planet. The Sith were again defeated. Two thousand years later the Sith returned again and demolished the planet of Alderran.

You all know who the Sith are. They are Star Wars representation of ultimate evil. They symbolize all that we despise in the world. Let me relate to you another story:

When the Spaniards arrived in the Americas, they brought the American heathens to the knowledge of God. In fact, the Spanish soldiers were commanded by God to conquer and convert the masses of ignorant Indians to the enlightened gospel. Allow me to recount briefly one encounter that typifies the interactions between the Spanish and the Incas, indeed between the Spanish and all peoples of the Americas

Upon arriving in Peru, Francisco Pizzaro and his 168 men received word from the Incan emperor Atahuallpa that he was prepared to receive them in the city of Cajamarca. Pizarro took his men and set up camp in the central square of Cajamarca and prepared to meet with the emperor. Atahuallpa had come to Cajamarca with over 80,000 men. Pizarro had only 62 cavalry and 106 footmen. In the morning the Spanish friar went to meet with Atahuallpa. When the meeting didn't go according to his desire, the Friar absolved the Spanish of all sin and ordered the men to attack. The 168 Spanish, with their superior weaponry, killed well over 7,000 of the Incas that day and captured their emperor. When offered an unimaginably large ransom to return him they agreed, and upon receiving 3,000 cubic feet of gold, renegged and killed Atahuallpa. This was followed by an invasion of the Incas which resulted in the slaughter of thousands upon thousands of Incan peoples. The Spanish invasion of the Aztecs in Mexico was almost identical to the invasion of Peruvian Incas.

In 1835 the Moriori people ended with the arrival of a single Maori ship. The Maori, armed with guns, swords, axes and bows, walked through Moriori villages proclaiming that the Moriori were now Maori slaves. The Moriori were a peaceful people who resolved conflict through compromise and diplomacy. While the Moriori counseled, the Maori slaughtered their people with wanton disregard for the lives of the Moriori. They did this because it was their custom.

As humans love archetypes. We tell stories of Hercules, a hero of godly strength and power. We tell of Robin Hood, a man who took from the haves and gave to the have-nots. We revile Emperor Palpatine, hating his disregard for human life. We look down on Saruman for his completely self-satisfying sacrifice of others for his own gain. And yet, as we look back on human history, it is almost as though we are modeling these evil empires after ourselves. Almost in a Freudian manifestation of guilt and self-loathing we create easy to hate characters modeled after the things we hate about ourselves. But putting that possibility aside, if humans are essentially the evil Sith empire, don't we have a responsibility? In the stories, we put forth our heroes, propelled by un-stoppable destinies, who single-handedly bring down the evil villain. Luke Skywalker stood up to the Sith empire. He held onto what we believe to be good, honest values and fought to protect the weak. Don't we share that duty? As individuals who have observed the evil that can be wrought by our species, shouldn't we do our part to strive to stop it? I don't expect anyone to jump into an epic light-saber battle with world leaders, but there are things we can do. There are organizations all over the world of people who have already taken the initiative to help the weak. And if we don't care to volunteer our time building schools in Haiti, we can still effect our world. If we as people take it upon ourselves to stand for good in the world around us, our collective individual influences will bring about change at the highest levels of society. Our choice to serve in our own sphere of influence will have an effect on those making decisions on a global scale.

So let us commit to changing the world. It may not be in a high profile service mission to Africa. It may only be that you choose to give a pan-handler a dollar. It may be that you volunteer to help poor children learn to read. Whatever it is you can do, it makes a difference. Please remember to keep love in your heart and don't be afraid to share it.