Farrow insists it is necessary for people to acknowledge and own up to our capacity to do terrible things to each other.

Mia Farrow: I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve seen so many child soldiers that couldn’t have been more than 10 or 11 years old in uniforms and with guns. I’ve seen little children raped. And as if that wasn’t enough, by many men, and as if that wasn’t enough, their legs were pounded into pulp afterward.

I come away from some of these trips with huge existential questions about who we are as human beings and how we have to be more alert and aware of our own components as human beings.

We have the capacity to do wonderful things and help each other and we have the capacity to do terrible things to each other and to acknowledge that we have those components, own them and take responsibility for them.

This is huge and I feel that as a parent, as a single parent of my own children that if every parent and every human being just says, “Yes the enemy is also me and I accept that I can do terrible things. I’m capable of doing terrible things and I’m also capable of doing immense good in this world, in helping others.” And it’s a question of decision and weeding out those components that are less worthy to be the person we need to be.

June 9 2009