What Isis is teaching me about Belongingness

Isis is going to keep doing what they’re doing, and they’re going to keep doing them hard. They are not going anywhere until there's a monumental shift in our way of thinking as they’ve been able to tap into a mindset and dare I say, a spiritual one. No matter how many you kill, there will be others popping up as these people have committed to something higher than themselves. It is a spiritual gang that capitalizes on the concept of transcendence. However, for every negative, there is a positive. In the quest to meet myself, Isis is teaching me to commit to myself and to know my own worth; that to think on one’s own accord is the most important thing that we all should do in order to combat damaging influence that comes from all walks of life.

As human beings, whether or not we choose to believe in God, idolatry, rituals, etc we've all at one point questioned our purpose and what we're all doing here. While some choose to accept that life is a fluke, others tend to believe it divine, believing in a higher power. If you believe it is divine, it is probable to assume that you believe in purpose; and if you believe in purpose, one might suggest that you believe in committing yourself to something bigger than just yourself. I am one of these people, choosing to believe in a higher power or energy and committing myself to something bigger than just myself. Because of this, I am susceptible to different forms of transcendence and my reliance on the natural human desire of belongingness can increase.

Great Spirit, The Divine, Universe, God, Energy. Whatever. God is love. I strive to commit myself to a higher purpose, transcending my ordinary self to reach my higher self in order to become selfless and become in tune with my God-like nature through the Universe. Transcendence and belongingness can be blinding, and as I've stressed before, if you believe in God and are not willing to question It or introductory courses to It, formalized forms of transcendence can evoke fear tapping into basic instincts of survival, shutting down a willingness to be open and enabling a strong desire to belong to something even if it is bad for you spiritually. Fear has a propensity to activate the fight or flight mode, reducing a mind to its primitive state, reducing the ability to think logically for one’s self, further subjecting that person to be subservient to a system, person, group or people. Combined with ignorance, a person is no different than a squirrel searching for a nut. I do not fear the divine because I believe it's in me and in all of us. To fear it would mean to fear my friends, neighbors, lovers etc. So no.

What I fear is losing control of my ability to think for myself. To not question and to not have energy or care to understand more; To be too afraid to be alone and desiring to be a part of something to feel some type of worth. Transcendence is a blessing and a curse as you long to be a part of something bigger than what you are. The selfless attitude to commit to something larger than yourself doesn’t just apply to religion or spirituality but also can be applied to gangs, school groups, family or even the workplace. You understand you are so small in the grand scheme of things that you are willing, able, and in some cases ready to die for something great and to serve for something great - even if that goes against the grain of what society defines as normal.              

Isis has taken people from my generation and in doing so has masterfully tapped into this transcendent attitude and belongingness that we all share (which is prevalent among the youth). Commit yourself to something, even if it seems impossible. Belongingness is a basic human function as we all try to connect, usually with those of similar attitudes and beliefs whether or not you believe in a higher power. But we all can become blinded and begin to not think for ourselves if we do not question and just accept - furthermore, if we don't even know who we are. From the outside looking in, it's probable to assume that those joining Isis have no idea who they are and the love that they have for their own well-being is limited and reduced to text and rhetoric projected by onto them by others; That these people do not think for themselves, nor do they question, they accept.  But I had a moment where I questioned my own self. The luxuries of understanding my own worth and the ability to question my surroundings and beliefs was encouraged throughout my adolescence. Respectfully speaking, I did not grow up with religion or bowing my head to an ideology, but could I have fallen victim to such extreme organizations such as Isis without this, given basic human desires of belongingness and a desire to commit to something higher than myself? The only thing that separates me from them is my attitude toward my own existence and myself. I’ve felt the desire to belong to something. That’s a basic human emotion. I’ve also felt the desire to commit to something higher than myself. Transcendence. We believe in a higher power and we believe that we must be selfless in our efforts to carry out our purpose by committing to something bigger. The connection is the same, yet the approach is different – and that is truly terrifying given the similarities. Before you pass judgment, you should question your own ways of thinking. But I wonder, how do you counter this?

Belief in yourself first is crucial before you begin to serve others and commit to transcendence or something bigger than yourself. That means understanding who you are and your own power before giving yourself up to something greater. That means being able to quiet the human emotions of belongingness and being content with your own individual experience. The answer really is in you. You should always rely on yourself and not create complexes to soothe fears. When you have belief in yourself, love for yourself comes next. When you love yourself, all you want to do is share the love you feel inside with those around you. Formalized transcendence doesn’t have a hold on you as there are no such things as divisive labels, rituals, organizations or thought patterns to obstruct your train of thought and desire to keep meeting yourself at all costs. The feeling of loneliness and belongingness is met with acceptance as you realize that being content with yourself and having love for yourself is okay – even when you can’t find others to connect with. You won't fall victim to rhetoric or fear as these things will merely slide off your back because they only tap into your primitive mindset. Above all else, you won't be easily swayed.

Watching the video of the suicide bomber being gunned down in the Ataturk airport and then detonating himself made me see that primitive aspects in our race are alive and well. God is not hate. God is love. And if you had respect for yourself and believed in yourself and questioned things continuously, you would understand others. When you have love for yourself, it's only natural that you want others to feel this way as inflicting harm will naturally be completely void. If you want to commit to something, commit to yourself first.

I’m becoming desensitized to the violence in the world. To be frank, I’m annoyed by it. This group (and it’s not just this group) is truly annoying and to see them waste their energy on plotting to kill is fascinating to watch given that they operate as if we’re not meant to evolve. I find it hard to believe that no one thinks to ask, “Why am I doing this to begin with?” as they strap a bomb to themselves and fire assault rifles in the crowds of people who most likely wouldn’t even hurt them and are trying to get through the day, just like them. But what strikes a chord are the people that are doing these types of killings are for the most part, of my generation. My generation is the most tolerant and accepting generation thus far - and the change is just beginning as there is a desire to rid oneself of old frameworks because they simply do not work anymore in order to move forward with humanity. To see the youth fall victim to old ways of thinking whether it be inflicted by past generational mindsets or old scriptural texts is truly unbelievable. It’s devastating to watch these young people believe in these things while you never really see the elderly going out of their way but simply taking claim on the attack. Just food for thought.

Until then, you hope you won't live to see any of the carnage that these people and other groups will bring and are set to bring, but realize that this is the time you’re growing up in – and will most likely die in. Perhaps Isis' existence is to prove that mankind is in dire need of a fundamental shift. That in order to move forward with this great experiment called humanity, the labels, walls, and borders need to come down and we all need to get on the same page -- and that is love. But as long as I have love for myself, and I'm able to think for myself before belief in other “things”, I’ll be alright on this journey called life.