Aliens
I had a dream last night that left a strong emotional effect after I woke up.
In the dream, I was accompanied by another creature that was something like a cat, but also something like a reptile or alien (it was a dull grayish-green and not at all soft and furry).
At first, there was little relationship between us, except that we weren’t hostile to one another.
But then another creature entered our dream – a creature whose life was precious and beautiful to me. Something gentle. Something innocent. Something harmless and defenseless. Exactly what it was is unclear to me now. But the alien viciously attacked and consumed it. Its prey didn’t resist; it didn’t even have time to react.
I was instantly in shock and grief. In tears, I truly could not fathom the brutality of the act, and remember thinking “nothing deserves to be destroyed that way.”
The alien and I were once again alone together.
Next to me, I noticed what appeared to be some rock candy. I reached over, scooped up a handful, and popped them into my mouth. They were white and crystailine, and crunched between my teeth like salt, but were essentially flavorless. Nonetheless, I munched on them.
When the alien saw what I was doing, it cried in agony. I didn’t understand its anguish until, through its tearful sobbing, it spoke.
“Nothing deserves to be destroyed like that!” it cried.
I realized the alien thought me to be savage and barbaric, even primitive, to have committed such an act. It may even have thought me a lesser creature. But when I thought about what I had done, I didn’t think, “I know better now”, because there was nothing about my action that could make me understand the alien’s reaction. I could empathize with it, however, because my feelings toward the alien were the same. And it certainly didn't understand why I felt they way I did toward it.
And again, we were alone together – not hostile to one another, and not wanting to be – but each of us now questioning how we can coexist while knowing that there are fundamental differences between each of us that may very well be impossible for us to ever comprehend and reconcile, let alone accept.
And so I woke up with these lingering emotions, and it made me think about what’s going on in the world today. In Europe, countries are banning head scarves, burqas, and minarets. And this week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated, “Multiculturalism is failing.”
And as you well know, America is struggling with it too. But America’s struggle with it isn’t new. We’ve been struggling with it since we invented it. We know better than anyone that multiculturalism is always hard; it’s always a struggle; it always will be; but you make it work because it is so very, very important. And while it's never pretty, it's such a beautiful mess. The rest of the world needs to learn these truths, and Americans may be the only people with the experience to teach these lessons.
And we must rise to that challenge, because multiculturalism is fundamental to the United States of America. If the spirit of multiculturalism dies, the spirit of America dies with it. And who wants “death to America?”
In the dream, I was accompanied by another creature that was something like a cat, but also something like a reptile or alien (it was a dull grayish-green and not at all soft and furry).
At first, there was little relationship between us, except that we weren’t hostile to one another.
But then another creature entered our dream – a creature whose life was precious and beautiful to me. Something gentle. Something innocent. Something harmless and defenseless. Exactly what it was is unclear to me now. But the alien viciously attacked and consumed it. Its prey didn’t resist; it didn’t even have time to react.
I was instantly in shock and grief. In tears, I truly could not fathom the brutality of the act, and remember thinking “nothing deserves to be destroyed that way.”
The alien and I were once again alone together.
Next to me, I noticed what appeared to be some rock candy. I reached over, scooped up a handful, and popped them into my mouth. They were white and crystailine, and crunched between my teeth like salt, but were essentially flavorless. Nonetheless, I munched on them.
When the alien saw what I was doing, it cried in agony. I didn’t understand its anguish until, through its tearful sobbing, it spoke.
“Nothing deserves to be destroyed like that!” it cried.
I realized the alien thought me to be savage and barbaric, even primitive, to have committed such an act. It may even have thought me a lesser creature. But when I thought about what I had done, I didn’t think, “I know better now”, because there was nothing about my action that could make me understand the alien’s reaction. I could empathize with it, however, because my feelings toward the alien were the same. And it certainly didn't understand why I felt they way I did toward it.
And again, we were alone together – not hostile to one another, and not wanting to be – but each of us now questioning how we can coexist while knowing that there are fundamental differences between each of us that may very well be impossible for us to ever comprehend and reconcile, let alone accept.
And so I woke up with these lingering emotions, and it made me think about what’s going on in the world today. In Europe, countries are banning head scarves, burqas, and minarets. And this week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated, “Multiculturalism is failing.”
And as you well know, America is struggling with it too. But America’s struggle with it isn’t new. We’ve been struggling with it since we invented it. We know better than anyone that multiculturalism is always hard; it’s always a struggle; it always will be; but you make it work because it is so very, very important. And while it's never pretty, it's such a beautiful mess. The rest of the world needs to learn these truths, and Americans may be the only people with the experience to teach these lessons.
And we must rise to that challenge, because multiculturalism is fundamental to the United States of America. If the spirit of multiculturalism dies, the spirit of America dies with it. And who wants “death to America?”
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