Where Did The Love Go?

The Centre Piece of Religion

All the world’s religions claim that love is at the centre of all they practice and the reason for their existence. They have developed teachings whose very foundation is love for their God and for one another. Their every activity is carried out so as to propagate that love within whose foundation their lives are built on.

The Assumption of Law

The Law of the land is based on an assumption that people should love one another. Those who do unloving things to others are punished. Everything in law presupposes that there is sufficient affection between human beings to enable harmony in society. With the current state of affairs however, the law is becoming more difficult to enforce owing to a severe shortage of love.

Hatred – The Opposite of Love

Love has largely been replaced by hatred among people. While love is a feeling of deep affection, hatred is an intense dislike. In a generation where previously normal things are replaced by their unlikely opposites, love has given way to hatred, with worrying effects. What would have embarrassed anyone to admit is now expressed confidently. It is no longer awkward for one person to vividly express his or her hatred for another. This worrying phenomenon is being observed everywhere.

Crime

When I was growing up, the main form of crime we experienced was burglary. Some hungry kid from the neighbourhood would break into (or walk in because they were rarely locked anyway) the small outdoor kitchen and steal a sufuria or pot with cooked food. Armed robbery as is common now was virtually unheard of. It was impossible to hear of people getting killed by criminals on national news. That was then. Currently, hardly a day passes without news of armed robberies, murders, and kidnappings ‘gracing’ our screens.

Divorce

Divorce lawyers seem to have more business than marriage counsellors. More importance appears to be attached to the death of love than that applied to working on reconciliations. It is almost ‘cool’ to be divorced and people who are in their second or third marriage are considered more experienced in life. They become mentors to younger people and a new generation of ‘love thrashers’ is inducted.

Corruption

It takes an unusually high degree of hatred towards fellow mankind for one man to line his pockets with money meant to improve the lives of millions (him included). It is also disheartening to see all the money previously looted from public coffers through mega scandals being dished out to poor people (to whom it actually belongs) in an effort to woo them to vote for the same thieves who stole the money in the first place. Corruption is one of the most obvious indicators of the death of love in this country.

Tribalism

I have heard people say that inasmuch as their kinsmen in power are bad leaders, they can’t vote for so-and-so because he is from the ‘wrong’ tribe. They would rather sink further into destitution than support a generational ‘sworn’ enemy of another (lesser) tribe. So much hatred has been propagated against different tribes, particularly the larger ones, in Kenya. This hatred has given rise to illogical stereotypes and senseless jibes between people from different tribes.

Humans – The Beings of Love

Life is almost unbearable in our generation because we have given up that which makes us human; Love. Human beings are social animals and as such, are unable to exist in isolation from each other. However, a shortage of love has led to the straining of most relationships between people. When people commit atrocities against each other, we say they are behaving like animals. On closer observation though, it becomes apparent that they are worse than animals. They possess motives that are not seen in animals such as sadism, revenge, and jealousy.

I say we strive to recover the lost love. As long as we are still alive, we can try to go back to the original purpose for which we exist. We can stop asking, “Where did the love go!” and instead nurture the little that still remains before it all runs out. I, the Layman, have purposed to give and take love in my own small way. How about you?