THE TIME FOR QUESTIONING IS AT HAND

THE TIME FOR QUESTIONING IS AT HAND

I am convinced that children can be taught to believe just about anything, particularly with the right teacher. The majority of children will believe what they have been taught, and in many cases will carry those teachings with them throughout their lives.  It is an amazing aspect of social intelligence that it is easier to teach hate rather than love. Why this is true is a question that has not been answered? However, it is a known fact that hate has never accomplished anything good? Hate is like a virus, its only purpose is to destroy. Yet, many parents delight in teaching their children to hate.

There are many false assumptions that come with hatred. For years Americans have been taught to hate based on the color of skin, and today thousands still believe it. From the beginning days of American history children were taught that the white race was superior to all other races and even with all the troubles this has caused, thousands still hold on to this false teaching.

The actions of millions of Americans both young and old prove that America’s educational system has failed. The proof is evident all across America that the ability to think has evaded the American classroom. It is easier to have someone else do the thinking or tell us what to think. A certain amount of energy is used in the process of thinking, and many Americans have become too lazy to think.

Probing deeper into the thinking process proves that people can be fooled into thinking that going to church is a good thing, but it is a fact, that today, many Christian churches have turned into instruments of evil. It is difficult to believe that many American preachers support the most corrupt president in the history of the United States. Any American who cannot see the evil in paying porn stars, making fun of handicap reporters, hiding income tax records, hiring the largest number of corrupt cabinet members in the history of America’s presidential cabinets, and telling numerous falsehoods, is a person who has a distorted mental disorder. 

* And adding fuel to the fire, if you believe what Donald Trump said,   that injecting disinfectants into your veins is a cure for Covid-19; the only place for you is a mental institution.  

When it comes to the subject of teaching, I had difficulty in accepting the religious teachings concerning sexuality. The hardest thing I ever had to do was to look in the mirror and admit that I am gay. The reason it was so hard was based upon teaching. I am a product of the Confederate Southern Bible belt, and the teachings of my youth were stemmed in the religious culture of the South. I attended church regularly and was otherwise known as a well adjusted red-blooded American boy. But when my teenage years approached adulthood questionable desires about sexuality caused concerns.

If I had been raised in a different culture in a different country, Thailand for example, the acceptance of my sexuality would have been   much easier to acknowledge. But because it had been pounded into my head that the act of homosexuality was the worse of all sins, it presented an emotional and mental strain upon my acceptance. Therefore, I did every thing possible to convince myself that I was not gay.  Perhaps Major Pete said it best, “If I could have cut it out with a knife, I would have done so, or if I could have taken a pill I would have swallowed it before you could hand me a glass of water.” It was a terrible burden to place upon a teenager, that natural desires from an unknown source were a first class ticket to hell.

It took several years of denial before I could admit to myself that I was gay, and therefore, I resorted to “a life in the closet.” All I ever needed was to find a place where I could live as an openly gay man.   “Coming out” was one of the best things I have ever done. It changed my entire life. It changed the way I walk, the way I think, and the way I hold my head.  It took away doubt and replaced it with confidence. Today, I am not Maya Angelou’s “Caged Bird” neither am I the “White Bird” sitting in a cage alone growing old.  But I am Van Zant’s “FREE BIRD.”  “And this Bird you cannot change.”

Other than accepting my sexuality, Thailand is the best thing that has happened to me.  There is a reason that Thailand is called the “Land of the Smiling People.” And for those of us who live here we know that Thailand is the “peace loving nation of the world.” Today expatriates by the millions live in Thailand and we live here for a reason.  We are here because we see the beauty in all colors of skin. We are here because we recognize the dignity in all sexual orientations. We are here because we firmly respect people of all ethnic origins. We are here because we have learned to live free of hate and freedom is our anthem.  

My retirement could not be any better. I am a happy senior citizen accepting my age and my sexuality. All the fears I once had about growing old have dissipated and retirement has become a beautiful thing. For years I searched for happiness and when I found it, it is even greater than I imagined. I refuse to live again in a restricted society,   and even if the virus forces me to sit alone in my apartment, I find peace, happiness, and contentment, because I know I am a real person. No more secrets, no more closets, no more whispers, no more pretending, life is as real as it can be.

 

Now back to the subject at hand. There is no doubt that the countries where children are taught to love rather than to hate are becoming the best places on the face of the earth to live.  The citizens of the world are slowly but surely discovering this. A population explosion is occurring in some of the most remote places on the earth.  People are recognizing that living in peace is the right recipe for happiness.