Belonging

History is full of examples that both inspire us and terrify us.  To be different, to stand apart, to follow your own inner soul can make you a leader and being the leader can make you a target.

If you don't want to be a leader, you can follow another leader, someone willing to stand up for what they believe in and take on the consequences for you.

Belonging is almost as alluring as being a leader.

Many people love the idea of being different -- like all their friends.

There is nothing like a cause to unite people.  They will take arms against almost anything if it makes them feel like they are part of a larger, more important plan.  There is the good feeling of camaraderie, the sense of safety in numbers, the feeling that they are working for the "common good," meaning the good of that segment of beliefs, and the hero worship we are prone to experience for bigger than life leaders.

Most famous (and notorious) leaders in history realized they needed to come up with something a mass of people could love, or hate, if they wanted a zealous, nearly blind, following.  And much harm has been done in the name of these things.

Somehow it is easier to hate than love.  Hate can be done without much, if any, thinking and it feels so empowering!  Hate feels righteous!  It offers tons of ways to feel better by hurting someone and then feeling better because you are doing the right thing! 

United in hate is belonging at the lowest level.  It requires no thinking -- just reacting.  Like a baby tossing his peas off the high chair, the results are immediate and satisfactory -- as long as you don't think.

Beware of being too comfortable while belonging . . .