Feral Life

 fe·ral /ˈferəl,ˈfirəl/adjective

1. (especially of an animal) in a wild state, especially after escape from captivity or domestication.

   "a feral cat"

   Similar:

   wild

   untamed

   undomesticated

   untrained

   unused to humans

   unbroken

   not broken in

   not house-trained

   not housebroken

   Opposite:

   tame

   pet

   • resembling a wild animal.

     "a feral snarl"
   • 
     
   • A theory began to develop in my mind recently, after I read about feral cats taking over an unused stadium. At the same time all sorts of human news spoke of random violence, shooting, stabbing, pushing under rail cars, illegal this and that, and on and on.

   Then I read a recent poll about religion. 29% responded "none" when asked about their religion. Then I read about the high incidence of single-parent households, disintegration of the family and even demonization of the nuclear family. I read about the immense drug problem, and that being the main cause of death of young adults. Of course, world strife, war, invasions, etc were on every news source. It seemed that a significant portion of civilization was coming apart at the seams (as a quilter, I know how important strong seams are 😊).

The idea that some people are turning feral crossed my mind. Some people were not being "domesticated," that is, not learning the moral code that has been developed over eons, the code that has held civilized life together.

Re-ligeo/religion means to bind to the mores and ways of any particular religion. Since no major religion teaches pushing people under trains or shooting at party goers or zoning out on drugs, it is obvious that these people are not taught how to be part of a functioning human community, so they have gone wild, or feral.

With Pandora out of the box, so to speak, how do we civilize these feral people? Can we civilize them? Can we turn this around?

My first thought is to find a spiritual group that has a long history of teaching love and peace and self-responsibility, and take yourself, your children and your grandchildren there regularly. Whether your heritage is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Sik, Baha'i, Hindu, New Thought, etc - find a spiritual home where you feel you can fit.

Stop buying, watching, and playing movies, games, books, etc. that make violence normative. Find others that teach kindness, helpfulness, love, forgiveness, joy, peace, unity, adventure, and all things that uphold the best of humanity.

Encourage and support activities that promote healthy youth from arts and music programs to sports programs.

Decide to be part of the solution.

Together we can do it.