Love is the more abundant than money. Universal love has no capacity, it is limitless and free flowing. Love is a force that can be a catalyst for change. Despite all of these aspects,love is very scarce in today’s society. Love is often times looked at as a weakness when it is a strength. The love of money is more acceptable than the love of a fellow man. In fact, society tends to equate the amount of love someone has to the amount of money or material things they acquire. Real love transcends differences in race, religion, gender, age and culture. Love is the pinnacle of humanity.
There are different types of love, the most obvious one is romantic love. I think romantic love is the easiest to conceptualize because it’s an exchange. Romantic love is often shown in movies and written about in books. I feel this type of love was the energy behind some of our parents’ decisions to procreate. It is usually an agreement between people who are fond of each-other.
However, Agape love is the love of all humanity. I have had the privilege of having friends from multiple cultures and ethnicities. These experiences have added joy and livelihood to my life.
Darlene E
Agape love is a type of love that is difficult to achieve due to social conditioning. Despite human beings being similar anatomically, genetically and sometimes spiritually, society had found ways to amplify our differences. Religions often times debate over which God is the right God. Regardless of the God we worship we all came to this world through the womb of our mothers: we are equals. These debates about religion leave room for discrimination against those who do not believe or worship the same way.
The social construct of race and ethnicity points out differences and attaches stereotypes to those differences in appearance. Those stereotypes are subliminally emphasized in our media, music and educational system. Currently, ”Critical Race Theory” which is the necessary history about America’s undesirable past is being taken from American curriculums. How can we ensure the past doesn’t repeat if society is not learning from our forefathers mistakes? The belief that one race is superior than another is the ideology that has fueled many wars and caused many deaths. Hate is on the far side of love. I feel that people hate from a place of ignorance, fear and unresolved trauma.
Historical Prejudices and the Global Struggle for Resources
Currently there is a war between Palestinians and Israel. Propaganda paints Palestinians as “terrorists” because it is a tactic commonly used especially in Western media. If a group of people are degraded and stripped of their humanity it becomes easier to hate them. The same tactic was used in World War 2 when Nazis demeaned Jews to the point of over two million killed during the Holocaust. Ultimately both parties are fighting over land that could be shared peacefully. Similar to how we share this planet with all the resources for us to live peacefully in it. So why is that not the case? Both Palestinians and Jews are human beings, if we get back to that fundamental thought that we are all branches of the same tree, Agape love will be achieved.
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Over 8 million Congolese people have died over minerals to support the Billion dollar tech company in the West. It seems that the world has been conditioned to believe Africa is in poverty by itself and the constant exploitation of its resources are not the cause of its impoverished areas. Since Africans supposedly look distinctly different from other ethnic groups it is easier to not consider these individuals equal to oneself. Ironically the continent of Africa is where we found the first human remains and Africa is the only continent that is so rich in resources that the continent can survive by itself. Although the world would not survive without the resources it obtains from Africa.
At times a society, government or institutions we learn from take us away from critical thinking and empathy. Many times the old tactic of “divide and conquer” continues to perpetuate hatred and amplify our differences. If you consider a fellow human being as such, it would be more difficult to hate them. I suppose some people that hate themselves hate others but what causes self hatred in the first place? Does it possibly stem from not feeling included in society? Or being a recipient of hatred themselves? I personally took the time to study different religions in University and came to the conclusion that many of these major religions have more in common than once thought.
There is this concept of individuality. That love can only extend to what is familiar. It is easier to love a relative, someone of the same religion, race or culture. Why is it so difficult to open one’s mind to try understand someone who is different from them? It does not mean convert to that person’s ways but instead it would increase one’s own personal bank of empathy and understanding in a world of a diverse variation of people. It is people who care to understand that are the glimmers of love and hope in society.
