Bullying and Suicide

Before i start my post, i want to link you to a video that was made as an anti-bulling public service announcement type thing.

         Now i'm sure you all have heard of Amanda Todd by now. She's almost a meme. This is a very sensitive topic, and if you can't tell by my previous posts, i'm a person that's very interested in the topic of suicide. This is the type of shit that makes me angry, it makes me angry because of how frustrating and confusing it is, and this issue is very frustrating and convoluted. 

         Now i have been a victim of bullying, i'm sure we all have been at one time or another. Whether its by kids at school, our friends, our siblings, or even our parents. I want to point out something that no body is addressing in this bullying epidemic. THE GOOD GUYS ARE BULLYS TOO! It's like this, i can guarantee you that 100% of the world are victim of bullys at one time or another, and damn near 95% are bullys themselves. Yes those are made up statistics, but they are from what i see in the world. Words hurt, people hurt, people suck. It's just the way it is. You may not know it, but something you say to someone in a certain way could attack their self-esteem slowly and kill them from the inside. Before you know it, they are considering suicide. I'm sure everyone has done it, and we can't move forward as a society until we become comfortable with the fact that suicide is just another rite of passage.

         Now there are good people in this world. I know i have seen it. But its so hard to see the good in places like High School. High School is probably the biggest source of suicide. It's a place where its run by an imaginary hierarchy, we all know it. But it's changed over the years. The cliches and the stereotypes are all mixed up. I'm pretty sure i've addressed this before, but nowadays you can find cheerleaders who are straight A students, Drama kids are the party animals, Jocks can be the nicest guys in the world, Your friends could be the ones to destroy you, and people are just not good to their respective genders. Men are not good to men as women are not good to women. One of the nicest guys i've ever met was a jock, one of the most respectable girls i've ever met was a flag girl. Hottest girl in school too. What i'm saying is, people have got the cliches wrong, and times have changed. We need to understand whats happening now with our kids.

        Something that pisses me off more are all the people who say Amanda Todds suicide wasn't as bad as someone elses. I honestly don't care about people who told Amanda Todd to kill themselves, because some people are stupid and they do that. Some people judge her for being depressed they are just pushing her to the limit so she can stand up on her own two feet. The worst are the people who demean Amanda Todds death by comparing it to someone elses. WE ARE ALL HUMAN. WE ARE ALL EQUAL. To say that one persons death is not as meaningful as another is just....inhuman. People are so ridiculous sometimes.

        What kills me the most though is that there is absolutely nothing to stop this. Bullying will never stop. I'm sorry to be depressing, but its the truth. Hate is a never-ending cycle. Until people become strong enough to stop the hate by themselves, hate will only spread more hate and create more hateful people who will cause suicides. The people who say talk to your parents, talk to your friends, just dont understand. Parents will just say, "Kids will be kids" or "Just deal with it". And if, god forbid, they interfere, your rep in school is worthless. You will be a laughing stock. No one addresses that this is why no one tell their parents, but its the truth. As stupid as that may sound, as much as you may be yelling at the screen, "WHO CARES WHAT PEOPLE THINK!" the hard reality is that kids in high school care what everyone thinks. It's just the natural part of high school. Some people are lucky enough not to care, but most will not be. Some people have no friends to help them. Note that its usually the most popular kids who are the bullies. Also keep in mind that half the time, bullies don't know that they are bullies, and will actually complain about bullies elsewhere.I guarantee you that there were a huge amount of bullies who posted RIP's on facebook to Amanda Todd, and those same people acted angry or hurt that this happened to someone. They acted as if they felt for the victim while they had their own. We live in a blindly hypocritical society and theres nothing we can do to change it.

    ................Now i know i got really depressing on you, but there is something you can do. Be strong. Be better. It is at our lowest where we find true meaning. If you have something to live for, focus on it. When i was suicidal i made a kick-it list. A list of things i wanted to do before i killed myself. A list of goals to accomplish, a promise to myself to achieve the experience of life in all its entirety before ending what i only had one chance for. 3 years later, i didnt need it anymore. I found more reason to live. Some family, great friends, and fantastic people i wanted to see live happily. Until i see those people who mean the most to see absolutely happy, how can i leave? Get through the hard times, you don't have to have a smile on your face. I'm sure it'll be real hard to be smiling after life fucks you over, but as long as you keep walking, as long as you let your heart lead you, you'll quickly find you don't need anyone else but you. And when you reach that Zenith, you'll see all the people below, and you'll find that with the power you've gained, you'll want to be a part of them.

Why is Knowledge a sin?

Now i am not a religious man, But i certainly enjoy the stories. I hold a huge respect for what religion offers us by way of lessons and morality. I'm sure we all know the story of Adam and Eve. The apparent basis of humanity according to Christians. Do we think this story is actually 100% true? That's actually completely ridiculous if you ask me. There's a man by the name of Joseph Campbell who spent his life studying the mythos, the bible and religion for meaning. Very famous mythologist who i believe discovered the meaning of life. But thats another topic for another day. What i want to talk about right now is what he once said about the story of Adam and Eve. He claimed the entire story was basically a metaphor. According to Christians, almost everything you do right now is a sin unless you've been baptized or circumcised. Life in it's very essence is a sin, it's why we try to do so much good now, because the apparent point of life is to just be good until we go to heaven where we belong.

If you examine the story of Adam and Eve you realize that this story is a complete story about turning your back to life. Adam is representative of man, because he is a man. Eve represents life, because as a woman she gives birth. Woman all throughout history are a representative for life. The snake which charmed Eve? Also represents life, because the snake sheds it skin the way the moon sheds its shadow. That's why so many cultures hold the snake to be a religious icon, to be representative of some higher power. So why is it that the icon for life seduces the icon for new life to chase knowledge and that earned a 1 way ticket to this hellish land for which we live now? Knowledge comes from the Tree of knowledge where Eve ate an apple from. What the story is basically saying is that for a baby to grow up and chase knowledge of life is a sin. Basically we're supposed to grow up knowing the bible is law and just accept that as fact. This is the only way to heaven.

This is all well and good. Fine. Whatever. This is back in the day when people didn't think the same. Yes, it's a really childish attitude to just turn your back on life, and to question anything is just in human nature, and turning your back on what you should natural do is just... stupid. Whatever. My question is, why is chasing knowledge a sin?

Now on of my favorite shows of all time is a show called Fullmetal Alchemist. And they actually touch on this fact. Though the show is actually quite sacreligious, and the main focal point of it is to show how its arrogant to consider yourself anything greater than a human, it doesn't explain why knowledge is a sin. Spoiler alert here if you haven't watched the show yet! At the end when they defeat the Dwarf and he meets the Truth and the Truth sentences him to despair beyond the portal of truth, The homunculis asks what is so wrong with chasing knowledge. I understand that he took it too far, but Truth never elaborated on why it was so bad to chase knowledge. Chasing knowledge though is known to be human nature.

Now there is also the story of the fall of Icarus. If you don't know it here's how it goes. It tells the story of a boy who wanted to fly, so he created wings made of wax and achieved flight. However he flew too close to the sun and came crashing down to Earth. This story is a metaphor. Human's who try to get close to the sun will just get burned. We are not meant to have powers equivalent to a God. But we also weren't meant to limit ourselves either. Life is something that should not have been, it's a gift that we can enjoy, but not to test the limits of humanity.

One of my favorite stories is that of the Dragon who sought out the wisest man in the World. I don't what this story is really called, i don't know where it originated, all i know is this is the way it was told to me and it always stuck. There was a Dragon who had the power to destroy mankind. But he also held the secrets to the world and life in his cave. He never caused trouble, he just stayed in his cave. Legend has it that he was the protector of the secret to life, and only the wisest man in the world would be able to view it. Many a wise men traveled to see this Dragon, The Dragon would give them a test, and if they failed they would be incinerated. If they passed, he'd show them the secrets that all of mankind has searched for for centuries. All of the wise men failed... until one day a Vagabond showed up in the cave. He just had plain curiosity for what the world held. He met the Dragon and held his ground courageously. The Dragon asked him one question, "Are you the wisest man in the world?" The man answered, "No i am not." The Dragon asked, "What gives you any right to see what i've kept hidden for many years?" The man said, "All i know is that i know nothing. I come here searching for answers, because i am completely ignorant." The Dragon let him pass through. The only man to ever see it. The Dragon knew, the wisest man in the world, is the one who knows that he knows nothing.

This is why knowledge can't be evil to me. But then again, its just too much to think about.