Do you like to be preached to? It's a simple question. Like those judgemental Christians, or your parents who just don't understand. Shit, even DARE. I ask, how is preaching peace much different? I agree with the things people peach, but is it the right way to approach the problem? I always tell people "I'm a teacher, not a preacher". I teach by example, I talk to people on an individual basis and truly explain the concept of peace to them. Yet alot of people preach people. Protests, actors going off on tangents, and so on... there are a million examples. I know for a fact that no positive reaction from the other side occurs. A warmonger may only get pissed off by a protest, but might actually change his mind if someone just sits and talks to him. Protest just have always seemed to me as a much of likeminded people trying to stand up and just say "Fuck you" to whatever they're opposing, making it known that they oppose something, but do protests actually change something in the other side? No one thinks "Man, there are a couple of thousand people against the war outside protesting, I guess they know better than the hundreds of millions who are for the war... gonna vote Democrat now, yessir!". ...and sure, protests are fun... I love them, great functions to meet great people... but for those of you who truly WANT to see peace, I encourage you to teach it, live its example out, and expose people to eat peacefully. The violent rage and hate of a protest, no matter how peaceful it is, does not do much good for the cause of peace itself.
i dislike preaches but i love peaches sorry this is a serious thread..i'll get out i agree with what you're saying though
I think that people sometimes see the bullshit around them and get so fed up with it that they become frustrated and angry when others fail to see it. I do that myself. I find myself doing right the opposite of what I am truly trying to achieve sometimes -- out of PURE FRUSTRATION. It boils down to humans trying to overcome their faults and failure, imo.
Frustration is no excuse. The US attacked Iraq out of frustration caused by terror, a conservative could argue.
No one is perfect and even if frustration is no excuse, it IS a REASON. And I disagree with your Iraq War theory. It wasn't U.S. frustration at all. There is a HELL of a lot more behind that shit than "frustration."
sure there was -pure ignorace. i support the troops but not W. we didn't belong there in the first place and now look what we've created. thing's sure have gotten better!!
It's not my theory, I'm just pointing out how a conservative can use "frustration" as a reason just as easily.
On an individual basis I think more is accomplished by setting a good example than by preaching. That can be very hard to do when you've found a "good thing" and want so badly to share it. As far as protests being ineffective, I'll have to differ. Having lived through those times (as many here on HipForums did), I have no doubt that the constantly increasing protests sped up the US withdrawal from Vietnam, but perhaps not in the way that most people think. President Johnson wanted to end the war, but he couldn't figure out how since "losing" was political suicide. Nixon faced the same problems but tried different ways of solving them, also without success. Finally the protests got so large and frequent that the politicians could use them as an excuse, saying "well, I think we should stay and "win", but the citizens insist we leave - it's not my fault, it's the will of the people".
Words mean different things to everyone. I doubt that the old lady in church has the same mind frame of the word 'preach' as most of the youth does. My mother believes that she should tell me ounce and lead by example. Protesting, I believe, is one of those "Because of the times" things. What was necessary in one generation might be not so effective now. I went to a protest against the war, it was pretty much a bunch of teen hipsters with signs of peace and love, we weren't thinking we were going to end any war but it is nice to let people know that they are not alone in their wishes of love and peace. I think that a lot of protesting is a communication effort. Different people protest in different ways. I wouldn't consider the protesting of Malcom X to be the same as Martin Luther King Jr. I don't think it's all as simple as grouping everything together. The sad thing is, a lot of people do think that way. We can see the kids of our generation that will grow up to be adults persuaded by mass media coverage. The kids who watch American Idol and soak up MTV, that kind of trend mongering doesn't die down, it grows and gets harder to loose. In turn, there will be a-many adults that are easily brainwashed by the media. What the media decides to show has an affect on the people who watch it, consciously or sub. If you're a strong person then obviously you are immune to it all. I agree with your teach don't preach method though. I think that's the best and only way to really help anyone. Maybe all the extra stuff can peak someone's interest though and lead them to someone like yourself (or others alike) who will have the one on one conversation. But everything is so strange? I dunno.
