Why is a weed a weed? …and who decides?
Is a weed ugly? Does it smell bad?
…and who decides that?
Can something be a weed in one garden
and a beautiful flower in another?
What gives us the right to judge nature?
Does God? If so, why do we not judge
all nature as good? What makes bad, bad?
Weeds and men are similar in that they are judged.
So men judge things and decide they are weeds.
After all, if men are judged isn’t it only fair that
they have the right to judge?
If men can be burned, isn’t it only right that they
can decide what is weed and to burn the weeds?
Justice must be served, I hear them say.
So if something is judged as a weed, shouldn’t
it be burned?
Some call out for justice…
fighting for the right to judge
because they were judged.
fighting for the right to kill
because they were killed.
fighting for the right to burn
because they were burned.
So burn the weeds because fair is fair, right?
But then I ask, who did the weed judge?
Who did the weed kill?
If the answer is no one, why kill the weed?
If the answer is someone, who will be killed
for killing the weed? When will it all end?
When will judgment and killing end?
…when we stop treating men like weeds and
when men start acting like flowers.
Only then can we live in a garden free of
ugliness. I don’t see any weeds.
Is a weed ugly? Does it smell bad?
…and who decides that?
Can something be a weed in one garden
and a beautiful flower in another?
What gives us the right to judge nature?
Does God? If so, why do we not judge
all nature as good? What makes bad, bad?
Weeds and men are similar in that they are judged.
So men judge things and decide they are weeds.
After all, if men are judged isn’t it only fair that
they have the right to judge?
If men can be burned, isn’t it only right that they
can decide what is weed and to burn the weeds?
Justice must be served, I hear them say.
So if something is judged as a weed, shouldn’t
it be burned?
Some call out for justice…
fighting for the right to judge
because they were judged.
fighting for the right to kill
because they were killed.
fighting for the right to burn
because they were burned.
So burn the weeds because fair is fair, right?
But then I ask, who did the weed judge?
Who did the weed kill?
If the answer is no one, why kill the weed?
If the answer is someone, who will be killed
for killing the weed? When will it all end?
When will judgment and killing end?
…when we stop treating men like weeds and
when men start acting like flowers.
Only then can we live in a garden free of
ugliness. I don’t see any weeds.
The artwork presented - Peasant burning Weeds by Vincent van Gogh
