Abuse

It is Easter Sunday.  For some this is a time of significant religious symbolism, and for others it is a long weekend.  For some it is a mixture of both.  For everyone it seems it is a time for Easter eggs.  Which reminds me, it is time to get mine from the fridge and eat it.
Whatever the reason for the celebration at this time it come at a time when our society is going through incredible angst.  There is violence against women and children, disharmony between race’s, identity confusion.
Many shake their heads in wonder.  This seems unprecedented.  But it is not.  A journalist for a major newspaper has said the abusiveness sometimes seen on Social Media is dehumanizing and a sign of the times.  It has happened before and was not good particularly for women.
Sort of makes sense to me.  In an age promoting “survival of the fittest” and “might is right,” it seems everyone is seen as a competitor.  Kill or be killed may be taking it too far, but the principle seems to be I will get you before you get me.
For most it is not like that, but if media were the only reference for this age it would appear it was the case.  Fortunately, that sort of stance (though sometimes unknowingly held to) has not led to the majority of people abusing women, or elders, or those who may not be as powerful as themselves.
Power to me does not need to mean the power of a king or queens or Prime minister. It can be a boss or someone physically stronger than another who has the means to exercise their will over another.  The death of George Floyd at the hands of the police was an example.  One Australian women dying per week at the hands of an abusive partner is another.  The need for an Aged Care Commission is another.
To me, these are examples of current beliefs taken to the extreme.  Yet so much becomes a political battle that misses the point.  Abuse and disrespect are not political.  They are human nature.  While to me what can be done should be done to legislate against abuse, I cannot help but feel what is done is a drop in the ocean.
I can shout long and loud and form a movement but that alone will not change a heart.  Some it seems see the current vacuum as a licence to fill it with their heinous outlook.  Others wonder how it has come to this.
Nature abhors a vacuum.  One belief system has been replaced.  We are endeavouring to put together another.  I think that is so hard.  It seems new rules get written all the time.  Just when it seems to be under control another situation arises that needs another law.
I ask myself, “why replace what works?”  The first is only seen as inadequate because it allows the choice to ignore the advice.  Any abuse or degradation is not a result of the system being wrong, but the human heart.