To Quench the Burning world

A student gives a controversial speech defending hate and fear. His ideas are not given a second’s notice. Completely rejected. (Reason 1)


Factions rise up within a government. The bureaucracy and conflict tear at the seams of the government until it breaks. Division (Reason 2)

A child cries, rejected by his parents for not sharing their views. He cries for a lost cause. Because of something that we have all experienced, and yet so few have overcome. (Reason 3)

Why must all of these things happen? The answer is that we as a people are like sheep, willing to receive and defend the opinions of the influential, but unwilling to accept or create ideas contradictory to those. That we suffer from severe intellectual laziness. And yes, while such a thing can take away the burden of critical thinking, and can inspire obedience, the consequences are catastrophic for all of humanity.

When I stood in front of my class all those years ago. I exhibited my free will, and talked without restraint. I talked about what we treat as evil. How it is a travesty that we as a species have an integral part of ourselves instead of embracing it.

And then the reaction came.

I greatly doubt that the people in the class listened to my reasons for defending such an indefensible thing. I greatly doubt that they listened to how I clearly explained how jealousy can be fruitful, how fear can protect, how anger can focus, asyndeton) how humanity owes it very survival to the existence of evil. I greatly doubt that they listened at all. For all I received for expressing myself were the jeers of my peers and a big fat F.

The idea was rejected. Not because there was any good counterargument. But simply because my points contradicted what they were taught. Now here’s a thought. What if that were applied to every controversial idea in the world? What kind of world would that be like? I. for one, wouldn’t want to live in such a world.

But that, is merely the tip of the iceberg.

If you were to look at America at large, you would see a stumbling giant with the strength of millions, destabilized by faction and argument. There is a literal war going on in the political arena with two factions. Hundreds of years ago, James Madison, a founding father, wrote a paper in which he warned us of the faction. He explained how factions “disregard the public good in conflicts. Having measures too often decided by the superior force of overbearing majority.” That when factions arise with singular intent, they face the opposition not with force or logic, but with a sea of voices that drowns out all. 80% of the population drowning out the voices of 20% is nothing more than fascism through the masses. For who needs a dictator when the people rule themselves with an iron fist, when the people are being told how to think, how to act, how to feel? We cannot let faction control us any longer. Lest that stumbling giant will fall and break.

And the solution is simple. Eliminate faction by thinking for yourself, adopting your own ideologies, and not letting the media, or any other source of opinion, control your own actions. And watch as the factions crumble as people awaken.

And finally, the last thing in need of addressing is…

Religion. Now if you brand me as “Heretic” or “Blasphemer”, then I rest my case. Do you see? This is exactly what I meant. Intellectual laziness. Rejection of opinions of others simply because they do not conform to your own.

What has religion not done? Suicide bombings, crusades, murders, intolerance. And while people argue that religion brings unity and hope. Its strikes far outweigh its successes. Children across the country cry, maltreated by their parents simply because they do not conform to the same delusion. They are deprived of respect and their time wasted. Over an idea. All of this. Over an idea.

But most importantly, I cannot condone the blows that religion has inflicted upon the development of modern science. Stem cell research, a field that could save millions, is controversial. Why? Because religion opposes it. Until very recently, there was debate over whether or not evolution should be taught in schools. Why? Because it contradicts religion. There are seriously people out there that still believe that the earth is 6000 years old, spreading pseudoscience. Why? Because that is what their religion teaches. (antistrophe) Anything that misinforms, sacrifices, slaughters, and inhibits as much as religion does should not exist in modern society. Yet it flourishes. Even as I say these words, most of you are disgusted by my blasphemy. Most of you cannot accept what I am saying simply because you were taught that what I am saying is wrong.

Religion is the perfect threat. Wielding intellectual laziness like a chain. It controls the actions of billions. Nothing is quite as manipulative. But you can discard such chains, and behave like the sentient being that you are. Free your mind.

The sheer intellectual laziness that we face today is humanity’s greatest vice. It has restricted our progress, allowed factions to rise, stemmed our creativity, brought rejection to millions It has lead us into true slavery. For when an idea is controlled, people follow, without question, without hesitation.

It is the cruelest form of propaganda when we are told how to think, how to act, how to feel.(Parallelism) Cruel, because it allows us to stand by and watch our world burn.

So just let go. Do not let what other people want you to think get in the way of your own ideas. Free your mind. Free yourself.