In Las Angeles in the 1980s & 1990s unjustified and irrational hatred was the cause of over one hundred thousand deaths. During the Blood-Cript gang war people were afraid to be on the streets, fearing they could be beaten or even killed for as little as wearing a red or blue shirt. Although this sounds atrocious the idea of hating a person you have never met is not a new concept to the world. In fact it has been the subject of countless books and movies through out the years. William Shakespeare told this tale in the play Romeo and Juliet. The theme or life lessons in this story are to judge a person not for who they are but for their actions and decisions, as well as to not impress your animosities on others, and finally to forgive.The idea of judging a person by their actions and not for whom they are seems relatively simple. But when a relationship between people is founded on hatred that is generations old it is a little more complicated, as is the case with the Montegues and Capulets. During Benvolio and Tibults first encounter Benvolio asks peace of Tibult, who responds, Peace? Peace? I hate the word as I hate Hell, all Montegues and you.(Act I scene I line 72) It can be assumed that Tibult and Benvolio knew nothing about each other, and that they had never met under circumstances other than of their incredible malice towards one another. What was the purpose of all this? What was the basis behind their antipathy? Undoubtedly it was not worth all that was sacrificed for the feud. This relates to all our lives in that often times people will dislike an entire group of people because of the things a few members of the group do. The principals being presented here are the same basic knowledge children are taught in pre-school. The second lesson in our story is another one commonly taught in pre-school. It is that one persons animosities should not be impressed on another person. That is just because A dislikes B, whether the reaso...
