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Tipping point of humanity

We live in a time that could almost be described as the tipping point of humanity.
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The Teen Take

BY Emily Ritter-Riegling

We live in a time that could almost be described as the tipping point of humanity. I am fully aware that that is a bold statement, but we are living in a world that, 5 years ago, I could not even have begun to imagine.

Every day I think we have seen the worst of it and that, from that moment on, the violence and hate will come as close to an end as it ever will. But no. Each day I watch the news and each day there is the same hate.

Look at the war in Syria, the extremists and those whose involvement makes everything worse. There are millions of refugees in search of the freedom we all deserve and they are being turned away by countries who don’t want to take the risk that comes with helping people.

We have politicians around the world, draining the poor of the little money they have and spending it for themselves. We have politicians who tell blatant lies, with no evidence or proof to support. Politicians who are openly racist and sexist. Politicians who have been known to outright ignore the rise of white supremacists, Nazis and hate crimes and instead shift the blame of petty arguments on others.

It’s crazy to think that in 2017, over seventy years after World War two and the fall of Nazi Germany, we still see an open display of the Nazi Flags. It completely blows my mind that people would choose to spread such hate around the world. These people carrying these flags and wearing these hoods and committing hate crimes are trying to turn the world to hate and believe that they are worthier to live that others, simply because of skin colour or religion. They are a threat that people in power choose to ignore, implying that those protesting against the hate are also to blame.

People who spread hate in the name of religion don’t really understand what it means to believe in their god(s). Because religion is not something to be forced or fought with. Muslim extremists in Syria are not true Muslims because the religion forbids all the violent acts they commit. Christian extremists in the US are not true Christians because they hate and do harm to those they feel are not worth.

Terror attacks are aimed to spread fear among us and drive a deeper division between us and them. That is how it always is. Us and them.

As a human race, we have decided to divide ourselves in such a way that we will not ever be able to live in peace. It is not fate. It is a choice to love or hate and those who have chosen to spread racism, sexism, homophobia, and fear are responsible for the hate that divides us so deeply.

Hate does not have a colour, a religion, a gender. It is not something we are born with, it is something we learn and it is a way of life. But you can choose to live in peace and embrace those who are different. Yet still, Donald Trump hates Muslims, and the KKK hate people of colour, and Westboro Bapist Church hates homosexuals.

Back to my first statement, this tipping point represents love and hate and if enough people stand up on the side of love that is how our world will fall.

People choose to hate, and yet we still wonder why our world is on the verge of tipping.