Defiance, My Philosophy

[vampyre]

Defiance, my philosophy

 

I have been told that patience is a virtue, that listening and obeying are virtuous. I am not virtuous given these criteria. In fact I was once a patient person, but was driven to my edge. I once obeyed without question, but I silently was unfaithful. I once listened and accepted the false thing called Truth.

 

Now I do not know what truth is, I am out of patience, and I cannot obey. Those in authority call me rebellious and defiant; a loud-mouth good for nothing. I believe that the Truth they see is a lie, they believe that I am nothing and as a nothing I cannot be correct. Their logic dictates that being defiant to them is Sin, another convenient term that I shall get to later in this article. I say that my Defiance makes me a minority, if only a minority of one.

 

The American Heritage dictionary defines defiance as “n 1.The act or an example of defying; bold resistance to an opposing force or authority. 2. Intentionally contemptuous behavior or attitude; readiness to contend or resist.” As I look at the words they scream to me in print. They beg for justice to be done. “Contemptuous behavior” I wonder what contemptuous behavior would be considered? You can be declared in contempt of court if you are openly disruptive of the court proceedings. So is being disruptive the same as being defiant?

 

Only to those whose position you compromise, annoy, or make look bad. Defiance makes those in authority nervous: it shows a certain courage that many in authority do NOT possess. They fear the defiant because those who think for themselves and do not allow the ghost of Fear to affect their thoughts are truly powerful. The politicians loathe a courageous person who is willing to think for himself, to analyze, to ask himself what freedoms the current administration is curtailing(It does not matter who runs the country, liberal or conservative, both seek to diminish the rights of the people.) A defiant person stands when the crowd runs, even if it means they are trampled.

 

As I mentioned earlier in this short essay Sin is the result of being Defiant. Woe be it to those who fear for their eternal souls to stand up for what is right against a flock of wolves. Sin constitutes anything that those in authority do not approve of. Including but not limited to drugs, homosexuality, anyone not in their church/temple/mosque/what-have-you, drinking, not tithing, thinking critically, evolution, and many more “Sins” that would take far more space to write than my modest word processor could handle.

 

Now that we have a rough idea of what a Sin is and, indeed, how expansive a Sins are I feel that I need to introduce why most religions loathe defiance. Given the middle-age mentality that the major religions of the world (Christianity and Islam) still carry into this post nineteenth-century world there is little doubt that change scares the most strongly devout. If one looks to history they will find that religion has always been used as a means to control the public. Plato was the first, I feel, to fully grasp this as in his Republic religion was used to subdue the people, to control them and make it so that they would do things that would benefit society as a whole.

 

Sadly, Plato’s version of an idealistic world was taken and corrupted. Now you see many great leaders of Faith, all who seek power over others and abusing the trust put in them. Anyone who speaks out against a certain religion is considered an outcast and a heretic. Again, “leaders” of the community do this out of fear of one person, one defiant soul willing to put themselves in front of the firing squad without a blind fold.

 

All that revolutionary change takes is one idea. The idea is Defiance. Defiance created the United States of America, Defiance created the Civil Rights Movement, Defiance is what allowed American Indians to keep their pride, and Defiance is what will save the nation that has rejected it for safety and security.

 

Take a jump into a brave new world, explore and know your freedoms that you shall never be aloud to practice because YOU are not defiant. Because YOU are willing to compromise another’s liberty to be considered an upright Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or Jew.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Defiance is not a fancy of mine. Defiance is a necessity to protect the liberty of yourself and others. Speak your mind, regardless of who is around and who tells you that you are wrong. Defy the system, my humble readers, and make yourself alive.

[liquid ash]

Ladies and Gentlemen, Defiance is not a fancy of mine. Defiance is a necessity to protect the liberty of yourself and others. Speak your mind, regardless of who is around and who tells you that you are wrong. Defy the system, my humble readers, and make yourself alive.

 

I just experienced this, in a very small way. I'm normally very quiet and don't often speak my mind as to what I might think, or see. I am taking an art class, beginning drawing. It was the first class of the course and we were separated into groups and taken to an art gallery at the college. Our assignment, as a group, was to define a work of art. Our group selected a nude painting. It was unusual in that the artist layered the scene. The whole group thought it was a scene of various bodies layered until I pointed out that the subject was the same man lying nude in several positions. The final position his body was turned away. As I examined the painting, it occurred to me that the subject might have turned away to masturbate. The others became so talkative about the style, the use of colors, etc. Being quiet and still contemplating the painting I held back my thought about what it was that the painter was depicting. Our group had not decided on who would present the findings of the group and it was handed to me to present it to the rest of the class as our turn came about. I'm very uncomfortable in a group and was very nervous, which was obvious because I was shaking from the nervousness and abruptness of the decision. So, after I presented the groups opinions I stated my own...that I thought the subject turned away to masturbate and explained my reasons for my own conclusion. I was met with absolute silence, from such a taboo subject I suppose. Then I chuckled and asked if I was the only one who saw it that way. The instructor encouraged discussion, and finally one student said they did not see it as a sexual painting because it was very serene and that she thought it conveyed loneliness. Well...can't that be an expression of loneliness? Not all sexuality is passionate and aggressive.

 

Anyway, now I'll have to return to class as the girl who saw a man masturbating in a painting, but at least I found the courage to express my opinion on the impression that I was left with. I wonder who else saw it and was afraid to state that in a public arena...or....was I the only one.

 

I told a few friends about it and they were both shocked and amused that not only would I see that in something, but would express that in front of a classroom of people (and actually use the word 'masturbate' instead of something more delicate). Eh...what can I say? I see what I see, I think what I think. If I don't learn to express that now...then when?

 

Oh, and although I was unnerved presenting it, doing it made me feel very 'alive' (as you say).