WHAT ANIMAL IS MAN?A Chapter by BAKANO A. M.Questions the "animalistic" nature of Man and compares it with animals' humane nature;Mission to Peace!
WHAT ANIMAL IS MAN?
-------------------------------- Members Of The Intelligentsia! I have written to influence you not,for the Creator (nature or whatsoever it is to you) has given you enough brains to think with: to reason so to realize. Thus able to,in the words of Malcolm X,"...see what [you] only used to look at." And that's a fact! Many merely "look",instead of "see,"coz all they take's a "look-see". Though you have to look before you see,you don't have to see before you look. HANKALI SHI KE GANI (it isn't the eyes,but sense that does see). That's a Hausa fact for you. Biologically,Man is an animal all right. Political scientists call him "a political animal.""Of all animals,the boy is the unmanageable." Plato observed. The "boy" in this sense doesn't precisely mean a baby,a toddler or a teenager,"there are people who have grown physically too fast,but mentally too slow." James Hadley Chase explained. Intellectuals,you would find the aged among the twenty-somethings,and vice versa. On this planet,Earth,there are "animals" in human physiques,and human beings that I may call ANIMO-HUMANS,because they aren't human beings in the truest sense,for a true Man is naturally human. It is more than poetic that a girl has to be girlish to be called a girl. "Animals" that are human are literally animals due to their belonging to the animal kingdom. Yet,to me,and in reality,they aren't "animals",for they only get mean,necessarily. Incidentally,the so-thought animals can really be friendly,caring and kind. I knew of a woman-when I was a kid of ten-who used to not just keep a water container reachable for poor chameleons,but help them quench their thirst. You need to see how that woman was befriended by the lizards,chameleons! Straight from the movies,right? Well,I never knew that book stuff have for long started turning into reality until at my teens. I used to "feed" some lizards while lunching outdoors. Whenever I was out there,eating or not,you would see the little lizards expectantly nodding coded greetings at me. I experienced more of such from my favorite pets,dogs and cats,whom were always out there,waiting for my return from school when you would see them cuddling me with clawless paws. I miss them feelingly! Intellectuals! Just what "animal" is Man? The tiger that preys on other animals;the goat that eats and even sleeps in the garbage;the vulture that's always on the look out for the carrion;the cat that catches the mice;and the fish that feeds on the little ones...all do so,being made and meant to do just that! See! If tiger A does wrong tiger B. The offended tiger B only retaliates on the very tiger A. The offended beast would never mate its rath on other innocent tigers who mightn't even be aware of the offence. In other words,the offended tiger would never "punish" other innocent tigers,let alone kill them all,together with the very tiger A,and yet still,kill itself by itself! Fellow Intellectuals! Think of the disgustful doings of the two-legged being,the one many believe to be an "animal",the being grammarians call,M-A-N=Man! Something's terribly wrong somewhere along the lines! If so,is Man genuinely the said "animal"? All I know is some sure are! But many really aren't! It is a fact,however,that many animals are us (human),far more than Man is said to be them (an animal). Man is either diseased or virused,circumstantially! But just when,where and how would the men-are-created-equal-before-God fact be duly recognized? Why do I tend to fix artificial "im" to most natural "possibilities" ? Why do I deliberately disqualify the qualified? What civilization have I to treat others "animals" ? Is my being an Atheist a reason enough t think the believers fools,or vice versa? What biblical fact have I to treat the Buddhists questionably? Does my Islam really teach me to treat fellow Christians unfairly? By the way,who on earth am I to end innocent lives,mine inclusive,just to oppose or retaliate? Don't all religions teach of the rewardability of forgiveness,the sense in being humane? Even the so-termed animals will not be this barbaric! That's why I believe it unjust to call such AMINO-HUMANS "animals". We are in no way doing just to the "animal" kingdom! And so there's a wrong choice of word,I think. The appropriate adjective ought to be BARBARISM! It's got to be BARBARISM not TERRORISM! Now,shouldn't there be genuine socio-economic and techno-political tolerances therefore? Shouldn't there be (if it's a most) a PASSIVE barrier between Man and man,and even between the believed "animals"? I for one don't think it thoughtful to treat even the pet,cat,inhumanely. The Creator is never unjust! And even the Atheist have enough sense to think it my way! Members Of The Intelligentsia! In what mood or state are you presently in now? Would you be so kind as to recognize the following message? It would've made you neither gone nor done,way after your end,for you know,we all have to go,somewere,someday,somehow,it's been fixed that way. "We all are living on borrowed time." James Hadley Chase observed. So,endeavor to consider the message below,so the endangered Human Race you belong to, finds solace in your able hands,PLEASE. Estimable Animists,Atheists,Buddhists,Calvinists, Christians,Confucinists,Deists,Hindus, Jews,Magicians,Muslims,Rastafarians, Shamanists,Spiritists,Taoists...let's be and remain the ONE we naturally were made and meant to be and remain! In the words of John F. Kennedy,"geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners,and necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature has so joined together,let no man put asunder." In the words of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan,"the different religions are windows through which God's light shines into man's soul. There can be differences about the rays they transmit or the intensity of their splendor,but these differences do not justify discords and rivalries. The followers of different religions are partners in one spiritual quest,pursuing different alternative approach to the goal of spiritual life." So,treat Man as the Human he is,NOT the WHAT he is. That's BAKANO's idea of civilization. "Let's",in the words of Desmond Tutu,"work to be peacemakers:those given a wonderful share in OUR LORD's Ministry of reconciliation...let's beat our swords into ploughshares. God [or Whatsoever you call you It] created us for fellowship. God created us so that we should form the Human Family,existing together because we were made for one another. We are not made for an exclusively self-sufficiency,but for interdependence,and WE BREAK THE LAW AT OUR PERIL." But sorry to worry you,Intellectuals. It's only because BAKANO believes it OUR responsibility to chalk and write of PEACE,work and pray for PEACE,the universal,in OUR CHURCHES and MOSQUES,SHRINES and TEMPLES,so to sustain this natural PEACE Man has circumstantially so barbarously strangled,temptingly tending to throttle at his peril! May there be global PEACE,so we fraternize to harmonize! AMEN! -------------------------------- Bakano A. Murtala July 1,2010 -------------------------------- COPYRIGHT: 2013 BAKANO A. MURTALA --------------------------------- (presented at the Creative Writers' Club, Ahmadu Bello University,Zaria,Nigeria. Written on July 1,2010,by BAKANO) --------------------------------- MISSION 2 PEACE © 2013 BAKANO A. M.Author's Note
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StatsAuthorBAKANO A. M.KANO, Northern Nigeria, NigeriaAboutBAKANO is anything related to creativity: writing,drawing and filming! I'm a poet,playwright,novelist,artist...a Historian,an English teacher and Peace advocate from Kano,Nigeria. more..Writing
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