From as far back as I can remember I have not fit in. I have been a hoodlum, an outcast, and a rebel…anything but normal, anything but acceptable to the mainstream. I never learned to keep my mouth shut. Instead, I made the mistake of questioning authority, standing up for oppressed, and not being silent like I’m supposed to…eventually I became tabu.
Society has many things that they know exist, but has decided for one reason or the other, they are no longer appropriate to talk about. The obvious ones fall into categories like sex, money, religion, and politics, but the list has gotten bigger. Today, you will get dirty looks from co-workers if you start talking about just about anything that has relevance to our society. If it causes any negative emotions, if there is any potential disagreement, or anyone gets offended, it becomes tabu and we are not supposed to talk about it. How better to keep the poor where they need to be feeding the system then trapped in this predicament? As long as we aren’t allowed to talk about our struggles or our suffering, we will never find true freedom and happiness.
Here are a few areas I will address in this project. Just some examples of areas I believe need to be exposed if we are ever going to find freedom.
Addiction is tabu. One thing AA has done successfully is made anyone who is a so called "alcoholic" or an "addict" look like they got the plague. Nobody wants to be marked as a carrier of this nasty disease! So when you are drinking too much, or having drug problems, I mean when you are really screwed up, and need help the most, you can't talk about it, you just have to go thru it alone...act like it will never happen again...until it does. Meanwhile big drug companies get rich and people continue to die from their drugs at rapidly growing rates.
Religion is tabu. When you look back at history and ask yourself “how could people have allowed the evil to continue in their midst?” (i.e. the gruesome murder of Native populations in North and South America, the South African Slave Trade, and even WWI and WWII) Every time, it can be traced to corrupt church doctrine that was fed to the people in the Sunday sermons. This is not just ancient history however. I believe the same evil that authorized the slaying and oppression of countless innocent humans throughout history, is thriving in the American Christian Church today.
Money is tabu. Everyone is drowning is debt, taking on more credit, and destroying the economy. The middle class has all but evaporated into debt, since terribly high cost credit is now available to anyone. The last thing wealthy people want is poor people talking about is money. The reason this system is doing so well is because Capitalism and Consumerism are the true religions of America.
Health is tabu. People love to talk about quick diets that cheat your system and allow for over eating of high carb foods. But no one want to learn about nutrition if it means having to change old habits. Meanwhile people continue to eat more fast-food and processed food than ever before. Today in America, you are more likely to die from obesity related health issues than you are from starvation.
Porn is tabu. Families are being crushed! Men everywhere are dead inside because pornography and prostitution are legal, but you cant talk about it. I grew up in the gutter of the country, and I know first hand what legal prostitution does to a community. It needs to stop.
People we need to wake up, this is just crazy! If we remain silent, we have allowing this evil to continue hurting peoples lives! There is literally nowhere in the world you can go to get help with real problems that are destroying your lives. Unless you can afford specialized counseling or you have an old school family who smothers you with love, you are as good as dead. If we do not have the opportunity to be honest, then we will no longer have the capacity to grow. Instead, we will continue to struggle and suffer until we loose the battle altogether.
I believe the world needs to learn to start talking about the issues in life that matter. We need to learn how to have meaningful dialogue, and stop talking about the damn weather and sports all the time! Can you not see these things are a distraction?
If we share our true story, the one that would never be allowed in public, all that stuff that’s tabu, we will begin to heal the deepest downfalls of humanity. I am talking about actually helping people with the stuff in life that is really hurting them! The issues we deal with every day, but can't talk about.
Life is not supposed to be a big performance. You should not have to live a lie. There is healing available for your pain. There is freedom from suffering. There is more than enough grace for all of us. God loves every single human and calls us to do the same.
follow my story at iamtabu.org