Fighting Evil
Some weeks ago, I was watching a movie titled “One Night in Miami” yesterday. It was a movie about four friends — Malcolm X, Cassius Clay (you know him as Mohammad Ali), Jim Brown and Sam Cooke. Though it was has been a while I watched movies, this particular movie touched me. It was about the fight for freedom, i.e., the fight against evil.
Essentially, it was a long discussion between Malcolm and Sam. Sam was a famous singer who, according to Malcolm, craved acceptance from non-Africans. He wanted to be loved by them. However, Malcolm believed that Sam was wasting his talents if he did not use them to fight for freedom.
Why did this resonate with me? Earlier that day, I read Jordan Peterson’s new book titled Beyond Order. One of the new rules he listed here spoke about how we can (and should) speak up against idiocy (totalitarianism). The more we keep silent, the further idiocy can move on unchecked.
So the combination of Jordan’s voice and Malcolm’s voice made me realize that we can not keep silent whenever we confront evil or wrong. We have to speak up and take action.
No matter how small our voices or actions seem, it does make a difference. It is no excuse to say, “but taking action doesn’t change anything.” Yes, taking action, no matter how small, will help, Rome was not built in a day, but it was built over several days.
One of the evils I would like to speak about is the harassment of women. Harassment of women could come in different forms. For example, a young man smacked a lady’s butt on the underground train I was on some weeks ago and then promptly jumped back into the train before anyone of us could react. The lady felt so violated that she cried. I wanted to confront the guy but the train already left the station. At that instant, I faced a situation that ladies have to deal with on an almost daily basis. I could no longer keep silent. Other forms of harassment include catcalling, stalking, forceful approach and more.
To gather further context, I related this story with my female friends, and they mentioned that they faced this on an almost daily basis. Someone even said that they only walk in a large crowd of people and stick to wearing clothes that men will not see as an invitation. Needless to say, this state of affairs is saddening.
Now, you may wonder, what can we do about this! The harassment of women has been going on for ages and is not resolved; what can I do about it? One of the first steps is to raise awareness of this situation in society. This awareness of how much harassment ladies face and how it hurts them would show that this isn’t a situation to be ignored.
Another step is to train your kids properly. Don’t be part of the problem and assume a kid would magically know how to interact with other genders. Even the bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is grown, he won’t depart from it.” Let us train the next generation to value one another rather than objectifying each other.
In the fight against this evil, we cannot be passive. We have to confront men that harass women immediately and on the spot (if it might be too dangerous, it would be a good idea to call the police). It does not matter if a stranger harassed another stranger, you are part of the problem if you ignore it. Let them know that society expects a lot more from them than disrespect and objectification of women.
The harassment of girls is an evil we can only fight in combination. No matter how small the action you take against it, you are helping (a lot). Evil thrives in passivity; therefore, be proactive!
