Gunhild Archer, counselor

Can we expect our actions to not have consequences, and what if justice is never served?

What would you do if you were viciously violated, verbally humiliated, and repeatedly beaten and raped, for years… No one stepped in to help despite knowing exactly what was going on, as well as the severity of the abuse. Imagine being a victim of such severe and degrading atrocities and everyone turning a blind eye. You can’t explain why, but you know they know. Yet, they act as if what’s happening doesn’t happen, it doesn’t exist. You’re enduring heinous, soul killing acts… Is it ok to fight back? When is it ok to fight back? Who decides if and when it’s ok? What about with what means one decides to fight? Are there rules one should follow? Again, who decides the rules?

I remember seeing a video of a man in his fifties. “Tales From the Streets” or “The Soft Underbelly”, it was one of those kinds of videos. The man in question had been sexually molested by his dad for a big part of his child and teenage years. I don’t recall the details of his story, but I remember that after he had moved out, I think he was in his early twenties, his mom invited him to visit. He found his dad sitting in the living room watching TV. It was as if nothing ever happened. A cold rage came over him, he went to the kitchen, picked up a knife, and went into the living room and cut his dad’s throat. (The dad died.)

I don’t want us to murder each other, I want different solutions like talking things through with the intention of understanding each other and finding ways to make it work. But some people aren’t willing to talk or listen. The man who was raped, his dad was not willing to talk. Basically, the dad really fucked up, hurt his kid in the biggest way, acted as if nothing happened, didn’t make an effort to create repair… If the dad came to his senses and initiated repair, that would have been one thing; if there was some sense of compensation for damage done, but when nothing happens, when atrocities go unnoticed, when someone is forced, not just to suffer in silence, but to experience people who were supposed to care turn and ignorantly blind eye, why should we expect them to “accept” and let it pass? Do we even WANT THEM to not signal a response, to let unrightful and unjust behavior slide, or do we want them to wake us up to the reality?

To me, it comes down to a question of what kind of world we want. Do we want to go deeper into the slumber of numbness and carelessness where injustice and suffering isn’t felt, or do we want our hearts and souls to be torn open and give us the opportunity of change?

Another example… I have seen video upon video of Palestinian children being mutilated to the unrecognizable and listened to the hateful and annihilatory rhetoric of Zionists. In the face of blind hate, what solution brings peace? I always believed love is the answer, you can love a hurt man into love, but I’m no longer sure it’s true. I imagine standing in front of a Zionist, embodying unshakable and undeniable love, attempting to have an open minded conversation about his beliefs, just to face a completely impenetrable energy. He feels impossible to reach. What do you think: Do you think you can reach him, a man who is holding on to his beliefs as a matter of life and death, whose conviction is seemingly impenetrable?

Can you love someone back to their true nature: Innocence? IS everyone’s true nature innocence? Is it better for some traits, energies, and beliefs, to die, like the Zionist-energy? If you look at nature, everything dies. Maybe death is necessary and healthy, maybe death can be a pure act? How do we decide who dies? Or does every energy, like Zionist energy, serve a purpose. Maybe we learn to love when faced with hate. Do we still kill the hate, or do we love it into something else?