Speaking your truth is the worst thing we can do as individuals. Simply put, your truth is subjective and not entirely based in fact. When you run into a he said, she said situation (substitute gender as needed), facts are all that matter. When we cease to rely on fact, and instead rely on personal truths, we can easily end up with nonsense arguments like:
“He knew I wasn’t interested because I was using body language to tell him.”
Or
“She wanted me to hit on her, she was dressed for attention.”
The ‘truth’ is, this could all easily be avoided by realizing a few facts. There is nothing that shuts down an advance like verbal communication. Loud, clear verbal communication. You as an individual have the right to feel however you want, to think however you want and act however you want up until the point that it affects another person. Then you must obey the rules of the society you live guided by the culture in which you were raised.
I make those distinctions because we are all human but we are not all the same. There is no such thing as equality. We even struggle with equality of opportunity in the ‘Land of the Free’. If we recognize that equality is not real. Then we must recognize that experience is just as false. In the scientific process eyewitness testimony is the least reliable form of evidence. Your opinion is just as meaningless to the next person.
How can we demand equal treatment for gender or sexual identity or ethnicity if we are fundamentally NOT EQUAL? All of this falls upon the individual. If you were raised in a culture where walking up to a woman and propositioning her is acceptable, and the woman takes offence, SHE is the one with the problem. You will simply accept her rebuttal and move onto your next prospect. There are cultures where women will go to bars, simply to be picked up and rebuke men till she finds one that is acceptable. Imagine that!
Now, I think it’s time to address the elephant in the room: Assault is not acceptable. Not legally, not socially, not.at.all. Whether that assault comes in the form of physical, sexual or emotional abuse, it needs to be openly addressed immediately. This is at the heart of the #MeToo movement as I understand it.
[1]The phrase, long used by social activist Tarana Burke to help survivors realize they are not alone, was popularized by actress Alyssa Milano when she encouraged women to tweet it to “give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.”[3][4]
This is the proverbial reset button. I firmly embrace it for it’s original intent.
The problem comes when we try to mix the normal act of a human finding you attractive, approaching you, and you shouting #MeToo or abuse, or harassment, or assault. Well guess what? This is what we do as animals. We eat, drink, create, destroy and fuck. Every Satanist should understand this perhaps more than anyone else. You are entitled to your opinion but you are not granted control over others because of your opinion. You are also not allowed to coerce others through innuendo, rumor or threat to treat you equally. You earn respect. You earn equality in other’s eyes through your actions, not simply because you exist. This leads me to my final point: Respect.
We cannot act as though every human is deserving of the same level of respect. And no, I am not talking video game levels here. As an animal on this ball of earth, racing around our star at 1000 miles an hour we each must understand the rarity and fragility of our existence. The pure chaotic randomness that we are here in this moment, reading these words is mind-boggling. With that in mind, we must grant the most basic level of human respect. This means we should treat each other no better of worse than any other animal or plant that shares this rock. If you want anything more than that, you earn it. I do the same. I show equal respect to others out of politeness and they do the same to me. Then we begin to work together, learn together, and soon, consider each other as companions, friends, or family—or we learn to avoid one another. This is when you have respect, and in some cases equality. Not in every way, but in appreciation and understanding of each other as individuals of value to one another.
So how does this relate to speaking your truth? Simply put, your truth does not extend past your lips. It is meaningless to everyone unless you have earned some level of respect or equality in their eyes. I would suggest rather than speaking your truth, simply speak out when illegal behavior happens, and move on. If we are consumed by our need to speak our truth, we are forsaking the future for the past. Do not let that which has happened to you define you. Being a victim is not a virtue. Speak out about illegal behavior, and more past it—past it to a place where you are able to define yourself, not others. Where you have earned the respect and equality of your peers, and are seen as an exemplar in your area of expertise. If you need to speak truth, let it be through your actions.
Now, in order to truly drive this point home, let me speak my truth in a few points, so you can see how arbitrary truth is:
- All humans must serve their community in some way before they can be considered citizens with equality of opportunity.
- If you are a citizen, you must vote.
- Only citizens can vote, and there will be no public funds in campaigns.
- All humans must pass a test and be licensed to procreate.
- All humans must pass a test and be licensed to purchase a firearm or weapon other than cooking utensils.
- All humans must go in for annual medical checkups and if they are found mentally deficient, they are no longer allowed to have children or own firearms.
- All drugs are legal.
- If you want to kill yourself, do it in a manner that affects the least amount of people.
- Some form of Higher education is mandatory, period.
- If you sexually assault or rape someone, you are castrated.
- If you murder someone, you are murdered.
- If you assault or abuse children, you are murdered.
- etc.
You can see how many areas require explanation or a deeper understanding of intent, or even are unrealistic, but that’s my truth and you must respect it, right?
Hail Satan!