I had a very interesting conversation with my teenagers recently. We were talking about how so many people who call themselves conservative or liberal or Christian, Muslim, etc. will profess the high ideals of their group yet turn around and live their own lives with disregard, even contempt for the ideals they publicly profess. This being so often the case, why should we believe, support, live by any doctrine whatsoever? Why not live each moment of life in a way that benefits a person the most personally rather than ever making a choice of morals over what results in immediate satisfaction or individual success? Why shouldn't we all be hedonists? At least we'd cease being hypocrites, right?
As a person who approaches life similar to a Libertarian philosophy, live and let live, I don't have a problem with any person choosing to be a hedonist. However, of the hedonists I've known, all resulted in self-destructive behaviors that did not end well for the hedonist nor those who surrounded them. So the question goes back to why do so many high-profile people profess the moral attributes of their group yet don't live their own lives as such? Does this mean the morals, beliefs and philosophies are false, pretend, worthless?
These are the questions we must all answer for ourselves. Most people attempt to find out the answers but make their first mistake when they begin their investigation by looking at those claiming to be the personification of the mindset. Many people investigating a particular mindset will judge the mindset, philosophy, belief, strictly by the actions of an individual rather than the substance of the thought.
Here's the metaphor I used with my children...If there exists a truly brilliant, flawless diamond and it is worn by a good person, does the good person make that diamond more precious? If the good person dies and the diamond is then worm by an evil person, does that evil person make the diamond less precious? The wearer of the diamond is not the point. The diamond was precious and brilliant before anyone wore it, good or bad and it remains the same diamond after the wearing is long over.
Further, does the diamond hold powers for the person who wears it? Ironically, the wearer or possessor of the diamond is the one least likely to benefit from its true worth. People often have the misconception that possessing something, like the flawless diamond, translates into their own superiority, their right or justification to control the lives of others. If that is the motive behind wearing the diamond, it will never truly serve the person who wears it. The power of the diamond is in the pure inspiration and appreciation of its beauty which the diamond alone possesses, not the wearer. Those who can witness the diamond, regardless of who is wearing it, and be awed by its brilliance, be inspired by its clarity but have the SELF control to NOT need to possess it or fawn over the person who currently wears it, these are the people who actually receive the precious gift the diamond offers.
Every now and then, there is a person who can wear the diamond with the true knowledge of why they are wearing it... not to enhance their own power but to provide more access to more people to witness the beauty and inspiration of the diamond. These wearers are called LEADERS.
Sadly, we have many, many more people today wearing the diamond as a means to dupe the ignorant innocent. Conflation of possession with authority over all those not in possession is the lie peddled now as it has been in times infinitum. These sort of wearers are called TYRANTS, DICTATORS, and an array of other titles that sound nicer but result in the same thing. These are the people who have never received the gift of SELF CONTROL. They are so lacking in SELF CONTROL that they become ravenous for the much easier false substitute, that being the perceived control over another human. Ironically, the more people they "control" the less satisfied the controllers become. Why? Because the control they have is imaginary and deep down, they know this. Talk about a vicious circle!
Crazy as it sounds, throngs of people believe in the lie that whomever wears the diamond IS superior. These people willingly submit themselves to the servitude of these egotistical scam artists with the hopes of falling into favor with the wearer, FALLING being the operative word. Unfortunately, there are also souls who unwillingly fall under the false control of diamond wearing scum. These victims become servants to the control freaks due to a host of reasons, i.e., lack of maturity, lack of access to the truth, lack of intelligence, to name a few. They do not know that there is only ONE type of actual control, that being self-control. All other forms of control are artificial. As long as a person retains their mind, they retain the prize their false masters truly want. A person's mind can only be controlled with the consent of the individual. Never forget that.
At the end of the day, each of us must use our own mind to look past the wearer of the diamond and examine the DIAMOND for its cut, clarity, carat, brilliance and authenticity.
NOTE: There's loads of cubic zirconium out there so take your time examining!
We must each decide for ourselves if we are inspired by a diamond's natural beauty, a beauty that existed before it was ever worn and will exist well after the last wearer takes their final breath. We are all free to look for the diamond, not to possess it necessarily but to behold it and accept its true gift...or reject it. Regardless of your individual choice, diamonds are forever, leaders and tyrants are not.
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