Rehumanize

By discerning and rejecting dehumanizing forces

When Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon, and we saw pictures of Planet Earth from so far, we were in awe at its beauty, its fragility, its inviting colors! From afar, there were no countries, no tribes, no violence, no wars…just blue and green spaces flowing into each other with the white atmosphere above it protecting it gently from a vast dark universe. What a beautiful vision it was to see our beautiful home from so far!

On closer look, the Earth is even more magical- full of beautiful mountains, lakes, forests, rivers and oceans — my most favorite part of Planet Earth. I can stare at the ocean for hours until I feel my cells swaying in synch with the waves.

And then there are all the living beings —thousands if not tens of thousands of species of incredible design and beauty co-existing. They don’t go on killing other species unless they need food, and that is their only goal. I just love their simple, functional way of existing! Going on a safari is still on my bucket list, but even the beauty of an ordinary bird or cat or dog mesmerizes me.

Enter the human being, the supreme of the creation as we were taught. Once you travel around the world, and especially when you live around the world in different places as I did, you are fascinated by the beauty and uniqueness of all the races and ethnicities, their cultures, their histories- you are in awe of the human race and its potential.

But then you realize that this species is a different animal. It has the option of doing good or evil. When it loses its purpose of being and its values, when it forgets to focus on good with its intelligence it loses its way. This happens as the primitive ego and the devious brain take over and subjugate the heart and the soul, allowing evil qualities, like greed, supremacy, deceit, domination to take over, which makes it take — not give- and destroy- not build.

We carry our histories within us, the good, the bad and the ugly. For example, I was born to parents who were refugees as young adults but survived and thrived. Their worlds were torn apart violently by predator capitalism/colonialism and the mass eruption of violence at the oppressor’s callous, sudden departure from the Subcontinent. They were lucky to survive. Yet they built beautiful lives for us and taught us to appreciate the differences. They left the bitter past behind and focused on a new future. They made a daily choice to rehumanize, not dehumanize their past enemies.

What makes a human being beautiful? It’s not their own physical beauty or their intelligence or their power or their accumulations. It is how they relate to other human beings. Are they curious? Are they appreciative? Do they learn from others and teach others? Do they give not just take? Are they kind? Are they compassionate? Do they live so that others can live? Do they honor the “Other”? Noble human beings have so many beautiful qualities which I ache for. In Urdu language it is called “Insaniyet”, or humanism.

What makes a human being ugly and evil? It is when they dehumanize others so that they can rule over them and rob and murder them at random. They make their victims miserable to the point of despair. It is when they have no empathy or compassion and their hearts are stones. It is when they can only focus on themselves and their entitlement- even victimhood is only reserved for themselves! It is when greed drives them and they take relentlessly from others. That is an ugly human being which creates an ugly culture.

Any culture that dehumanizes others dehumanizes itself.

How do we choose to be one or the other? In our programmed society, we are shaped so much by media and politics. We do not have the time to research for ourselves or meet the “Other” to learn and understand and develop appreciation and respect. We do not have the chance to dignify them as human beings because the programming in our brain has already dehumanized them. Our brains are so full of lies there is no room for a speck of truth. Unfortunately, we don’t even know that we are programmed- we think we have freedom of speech- and who is behind the programming, which is why we follow the program.

So, the way I see it, we can only bring peace and joy back to the world if we:

a) assume that everything we are told is a lie and that we have to question every assumption and belief that we have cemented in our brains especially about those you are in conflict with

b) acknowledge the thought control “Matrix” designed by puppet masters that you have imbibed and shed it- it is designed to fragment and divide us. They have mastered some formulas to manufacture consent of the most horrible deeds in human history

c) reject any “expert” e.g. mainstream media, politicians, corporations, as they are paid by puppetmasters to do the spinning for backstage profiteers- just follow the money flow which will clearly show how truth is hijacked

d) do your own homework and be human-centric as you research and meet other people and learn about their perspectives; catch yourself when you are dehumanizing. Ask yourself — what if I focused on rehumanizing those that have been demonized? Make re-humanization your daily goal- it is imperative!

Our context shapes us, and if we could learn each other’s histories and the contexts that mold us, we would have much more compassion and empathy and would unite in seeking justice for all. That is essentially the work that dialogue practitioners around the world are trying to do with no power, no money, no support — very far from the billions that go into the production of killing machines! Imagine if billions were spent on dialogue and genuine peace talks? It is truly hard work, and we do not have the time. But the way it is going, our Planet will swallow us miserable human beings out of shame, despair and wrath sooner than we can achieve humanity’s noble potential.