raising your little elephant

Chapter Seven- The Beast Below

To hold the viewpoint that a person has no beliefs simply because they do not share your beliefs is about the most narcissistic belief anyone could ever have. Similarly, if we believe that another person's beliefs are less important simply because we hold the view that their beliefs are not based on cold hard facts, we are still sporting quite the narcissistic mind set. Respect is a key component in any reasonable discussion. Failure to provide it to a person with an opposing viewpoint was usually grounds for a duel in past centuries. The very thought that differing viewpoints could lead to fights, with either swords, guns or another weapon of choice should make it quite obvious that emotion can trigger some very animalistic behavior in humans.

Emotional behaviors such as war have often created the fallacy that emotion is bad, and that pure reason would offer a more peaceful world in which to live. Even the rules of dueling in the eighteenth century seemed to imply that there could be a logical arrangement for murdering your fellow man. Our inner seat of motivation has been held responsible for much of the criminal behavior we see throughout history. Is this inner creature really to blame for all the world's woes? To answer this question is not easy because it has been holding a smoking gun for so long it may be hard to see the truth behind our raging inner elephant.

Just think about how real elephants have been treated throughout history. They were often status symbols. They represented great power. They were also used in warfare. In the East they carried kings and royalty. At one point they were used to bring ancient empires like Rome to their knees. In India they even ascended to god status. In more recent centuries though they have been hunted to near extinction. They have been caged and humiliated for human amusement. Ironically, the rise in the human poaching of elephants has run parallel to the systematic terrorization of our own inner elephant. These precious creatures have done nothing to deserve this type of treatment, but greed makes humans do terrible things. The more humans rob these poor creatures of their only defense other than sheer size, the more other humans with a similar greed for power have sought to weaponize our own personal inner beast.

Throughout this chapter we will discover that human emotion is not to be trifled with. Everyone deserves their dignity. If we are robbed of it the beast below will begin to act in ways that may get us labeled as mad, and they would be correct. Wouldn't you be mad too if someone told you that God killed your kids, or your sibling, or your parents, or anyone you might love? Of course, you would. That is exactly what happened to one man who is credited with being the father of the theory of evolution.

Charles Robert Darwin lived during the nineteenth century. His research and findings are responsible in part for many of our current world views. His postulations challenged many faith-based concepts that had kept the common people under the thumb of a fear inspiring Church that had been losing control over the masses for some time. They could not even launch an inquisition on this man as had been done in previous centuries to men such as Galileo and others who looked to empirical data to establish the facts about the world around them. Darwin would explore concepts about the origin of life on earth that would turn the world of his time on its head. He would inspire many and upset millions with his theories. Judeo Christian Religions would declare war on this man and his crackpot ideas. In the next century powerful world leaders would use his research as a basis for some of the greatest atrocities ever performed on the human race. This man had started a revolution, but what brought him to this place in his life? Who poked Darwin's inner elephant?

The story begins as many stories do with human tragedy. Charles was not the first scientist in his family. His grandfather Erasmus a prosperous physician had previously explored the concepts of evolutionary species adaptation. His father also practiced medicine. So, Charles had not pulled these ideas out of thin air. At the same time, he had not always pursued this set of beliefs. One reason might be his wife Emma Wedgewood who reportedly was a devout Christian. He apparently did not want to upset his wife so held back for a number of years before publishing his ideas.

Then something changed in the life of this couple. Their eldest daughter Annie became ill and soon died. What they went through was unimaginable, but it also allowed Charles to entrench his beliefs. He could not share his wife's faith. His elephant was of a different complexion. He was not going to subscribe to the belief that God had taken his daughter to be with him in heaven. This kind of explanation never calms our inner emotions, and if reason is our primary operating system it is even more upsetting. The idea of a universe devoid of purpose which struggles to survive can inspire because there is no one to blame for tragedies that occur in life. This gave Charles the solace he needed to move forward. You might even say his reason became his elephant.

Even today, belief in a higher power or belief in a higher understanding of the universe through scientific methods are both really two sides of the same animal. At the end of the day, we don't believe what is true because it's true. We believe what we do because it gives us peace of mind. Insulting someone with disparaging comments because we disagree does not show respect. Respect will move us to allow both viewpoints to state their claim. Whatever we decide will largely depend on where our seat of motivation is inclined to go. Evidence will only take us so far. Our identity, and compassion must also be allowed to be part of the process if we are to establish a lasting agreement in the discussion.

An evolutionist or an atheist wants peace as much as a religious person does, and yet neither seems to have all the necessary tools to even carry on a peaceful conversation. Neither side sees the elephant in the room, and neither one knows that they are sitting on top of their own peanut loving pachyderm. This blind leading the blind dilemma holds people back from growth. Our little elephant needs room to grow but we may spend most of our life stifling it. We may be chaining it up or caging it.

How can we break free from destructive patterns that may be enraging our beast below? How can we begin to feed our figurative heart and encourage it to thrive? We must first understand that it is not our enemy. It just wants what everyone wants. Plants need it. Animals crave it. Respect is a steppingstone like fear was, but this will give us the phone number we need to enter headquarters. As you turn the page you might want to get out a pink fluorescent highlighter and start taking notes.