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RE: How The Devil Introduced Me To God: My Journey From Atheism To Monotheism - Part One
Thanks for sharing this with us. I had no clue the UK is so scary. If there is a God, I hope he is sorry for the hardships he made you endure. Next time I go to London I'll be more cautious than previous time. I knew certain districts around Paris were like that, but I naively felt safe in London.
I think like everywhere in the world, there are parts of any given location that are impoverished and essentially a ghetto. In truth, I was living in North London at the time, which is considered mild in comparison to some parts of South or East London.
Most people do not realise it, but London has a population that exceeds even that of New York City, and wherever there is a densely packed populous there is typically a high crime-rate.
Still, in most instances it is a case of preying on the weak, and I was but a 12/13 year old boy who was awfully small at that time of my life.
No longer am I this vulnerable, and to return to London I would expect no trouble at all because of that. I now live in a city that was the dubbed the murder capital of Western Europe for a long time, yet I find it to be the most safe place with the most generous and charitable people I have encountered. I often make my way through the city at all times of the night passing by large groups of drunk delinquents, yet very rarely have I been put into a position where I was forced to strike a man.
You needn't walk around in fear unless you have a particular vulnerability that criminals are likely to be tempted to prey on. At the same time, always exercise caution and keep your wits about you, but you should be able to do so in a relaxed manner.
Thank you for your kind words-
I lived in Paris for a bit longer than a year. In certain suburbs late at night it didn't always feel secure, but I never encountered a problem. It is here in the Netherlands where we don't have real ghettoes that I once was beaten up by a group of youngsters, not even to rob me, but because I made a remark. That was the scariest experience I ever had because I feared they would beat and kick me to death. It wasn't even in a bad neighbourhood. In contrast I lived a couple of years the Amsterdam Bijlmer, which has a bad reputation and never had any problem.
Though it is regrettable what happened to you, it may be healthy for you to try to forgive the perpetrators.
I have come to learn that it is society that forces people to do this type of shit. Mostly through promoting insecurity. It is this emotion that is the fuel that powers the engine of consumerism, and unfortunately also drives people to enact violence on others in order to look cool to their peers.
I think it stems from the powerlessness that people unconsciously feel in relation to the monolithic system of oppression that they have found themselves in. They seek to elevate themselves by other means in order to distract themselves from the reality of their existence.
I hope that you do not have to go through something like that again.
Thanks for yr kind words. I agree with you and I also don't believe in keeping grudges. It was 24 years ago, so I have had enough time to digest it. This world is a very strange place, and not necessarily a pleasant one. In Buddhism they say that Samsara (existence) is not a good place. IMHO it's neither fundamentally good or bad, but I cannot help seeing a degradation in the last 30 years. I regret that very much, because I am convinced that if we would cooperate more, we could turn it into a great place. The word "cool" is like a disease that seduces so many young people into deplorable activities. I don't blame them, they don't know what they are doing. Ignorance is the only real evil, so it is consciousness, awareness that we must spread to counter this. Keep up the good work. :)