WALTER EDMUND BOND (37096013)
9/17/2012 2:35:44 PM
A Brief Word From Walter Bond
Sectarianism is a curse, in all it’s various forms. For much of my life I have embraced a hardline stance and either/or ideologies. However, the farther I travel down the path of Sufi mysticism, the further it takes me away from religionists, be they Christians, Hindus, Muslims or Jews. Because instead of seeking to cultivate connections with all innocent Life they often prefer breeding division, bloodlust and war.
Holding that mirror up to myself I see how glaringly I have been guilty of proliferating that same ideology of sectarianism within the Animal Rights community. The truth is more elusive than ‘I’m right, your wrong’ or ‘we’re right, they’re wrong’. The truth is that not even the very wise can understand all the outcomes, techniques and nuisances that it takes to change the ethics, values and hence outward behaviors of a humanity hell-bent on the destruction of the Earth, Animals and each other. The truth is that not one person, tactic, politic, religion or way of life has the absolute and unadulterated truth. Everything is attached, only in connectivity is there wholeness.
The truth is that when we spend our time attacking those closest to us in ideology or actual proximity it smacks of immaturity and a skewed perspective, not to mention insecurity. I believe that good and evil exist. I believe that they are both far more elusive and curious than we can often perceive. I believe that Animals deserve to live free from the harm, use and abuse of humans. I believe that people are capable of treating each other with far more concern and compassion than we currently do. And I believe that true love of Life doesn’t only need to manifest itself in passivity and personal safety.
But I no longer believe that making a spectacle of myself or tearing down others views or activism is productive. And I no longer believe that hardline, sectarian and artificial divisions in religion, politics, ideology or activism is anything but divisive.
Animal Liberation, Whatever It May Take!
ALF POW,
Walter Bond
