Action over faith
Our whole world revolves on the luck of a few and the hopes of many, while being told the suffering of most is the unavoidable cost of the luck we hope for.
Last night I continued to attempt to process the ongoing genocide in Palestine through my hands because tactility is my vehicle for understanding. I dyed an entire roll of paper towel for this purpose. I was thinking about how Israel would attempt to clean it all up, hide their atrocities, and build vacation homes in the rubble of Palestinian culture. They will try to toss away the evidence of their crimes and of the existence of the Palestinian people, like paper towels that can be used and discarded. I plan to make these reminders permanent, so they cannot be forgotten.
My point in making work about Palestine is not to co-opt trauma or be opportunistic, or to benefit from suffering. This work is not for sale. It is made for me to be able to understand and empathize. If I look or think or listen without engaging my hands, something is lost. For a neural connection to form for me, I need to be using my hands. Yesterday during my massage appointment my therapist questioned whether purposefully spending time thinking about traumatic things was helping me. I questioned the privilege of being able to look away. Why should I be able to look away when mothers in Gaza must face this? Luck. I am lucky to have been born a white woman in Massachusetts who is not threatened because of my beliefs.
But I have lost autonomy before. I have had my body threatened and taken against my will more than once. I have been without a shelter that was mine. I have watched my bank account dwindle to nothing and wondered where I would get money from. I know something of trauma. But behind all of those traumas was knowledge I would ultimately be ok, that justice and help existed if I could manage to seek it, that right and wrong were true things you could count on. What the world is currently experiencing is a trauma far worse. It’s the trauma of realizing everything we have come to count on is just fiction, just empty promises sold to us by those who have more and want us to continue as we are. There is no one looking out for us. There is no one forgiving us. There is no one saving us. We must do it ourselves. And we must recognize that to do so, we must see the true authentic facts of our situation without relying on faith at all. It’s time we rely on humanity.
Most people have no autonomy. They must work to eat and have shelter. The working is getting longer and harder for many, for less guarantees of security. Many have traded our actual security for the potential of wealth and a better life after death. None of us will be free until we recognize the global systems and structures that prioritize not just profit, but growing profits, is hiding behind a curtain of sanctioned religions telling us our pursuits are good no matter how bad they truly are.
What if the people of Israel could never atone for this? What if Christians couldn’t just forgive themselves for all they’ve done wrong by praying or confessing? What if forgiveness HAD to come from those we have trespassed against and not from an invisible entity we created for that purpose? What if there was not a chosen people at all? What if no one was better than anyone else and our need to form hierarchies and believe we are better than others is the problem? What if we arent being threatened by outside forces but inner ones? What if what we’ve been taught are all just lies told to us to gain compliance into a system that enriches a few and entraps the many?
Gods have done more to destroy humanity than anything else. In 2025, it’s time we turn away from faith and start taking action to create the world we want instead of waiting until there is nothing left.