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September 24, 2005

If It Takes a Village to Raise a Child...

Which Village Taught You to Hate America?

Despite the playful title, I am really quite serious about this question. I had hoped that people might deliberately read this with an open mind. However, I am afraid the chances of my escaping the typical liberal tongue lashings are doubtful. It would be nice to toss aside the labels (liberal, conservative), throw down the gloves and get down to the real, underlying causes here. However, the emotional pull runs deep and violent arrogance seems a rampant addiction. Just how have we gotten to this point?

It seems everyone considers themselves an activist today. We have peace activists, environmental activists, political activists, human rights activists, animal rights activists... you get the idea. Without activists, it seems we would have no positive action at all. The world would be a sewer of filth, violence and ignorance. Do you think that is really the case? Why? The average, non-activist person does not share the same goals, beliefs and morals as you? The problem I see here, and correct me if I am wrong (as I know you will), is that if you aren't my kind of activist, then you must be part of the problem. It is the “if I haven't seen you in MY church on Sunday, you must be goin' to hell” mentality that I am talking about. It is the attitude that most turns me off about some religious groups. This is also the motivation behind my recent decision to officially register as a Republican. I can't stand being judged without evidence of my guilt, or at least being given the opportunity to prove my innocence. If my beliefs fall outside your prejudicial bubble of reality, I have been forever lost to the dark side. Good riddance, sayonara, have a nice life in Bush land with your undeserved tax cut idiot. Very intelligent and grown up sounding, don't you think?

So, back to the causes. Was it the influence of teachers telling you America had it all wrong? Perhaps it was some feeling of being disconnected, some urge to be part of something. The liberal left seems to be the self-appointed champion of every worthy cause, yet they will not accept that there are others who share these same values. The most militant liberals actually perpetuate and actively participate in much of the prejudice and lack of progress they claim to be crusading against. It seems that for many of us, some sort of “group-think” kicks in at some point along the line. In political or philosophical debates, the dialogues become somewhat predictable. The response to any dissenting point of view is first, downgrade the opposition to the lower form of life that they are through a personal verbal assault, second, place a recognizable label on the offender so as to identify them to your side as the enemy, third, take their opposing view and twist it beyond recognition to suit your predetermined beliefs about the label you have chosen for this person. But, wait a minute. There was something I just slipped in there you missed. I said, “the label you have chosen for this person.” We are talking about people here, fellow human beings, and that seems to be something we have forgotten.

In Human Options, Norman Cousins describes the pervasive nature of prejudice and discrimination:

“The great failure of education... throughout the world, is that it has made people tribe-conscious rather than species conscious. It has placed limited identification ahead of ultimate identification. It has attached value to the things man does but not what man is...”

It is this concentration on the differences between us rather than our many similarities that seems to be the root of not only extreme acts of prejudice, but also the more subtle ones I am addressing here. In school we learned that these were called stereotypes: over-generalized beliefs about a group of people. These more subtle forms of discrimination often have life-changing effects on a prejudged individual's behavior. It is for this reason and others that the liberal left scares the heck out of me, as I probably do them. Now, I have outlined in clear, easy to understand writing the causes as I see them. So, what is to be done?

This phenomenon of discriminating between people with differing views is not limited to modern America. I will again venture into the work of those more knowledgeable in these areas than I. In Status and Conformity, Richard W. Murphy describes this apparent “evolutionary” need:

“In every society throughout history, individuals have been classified into categories that rate them as being inferior or superior to one another. The criteria by which people are arrayed [in this stratification, or classification into categories] ...vary from culture to culture, or even within a culture. These criteria may include occupation, religion, race, wealth, knowledge, age, sex, appearance... and many other factors.”

Even the experts verify that dividing ourselves seems to be an innate human trait that has repeated itself throughout history. We also find that there are often “mini-groups” within these groups we have segmented ourselves into. The danger arises when our primary ambition in life becomes inclusion or acceptance in one of these “Inner Rings” as C.S. Lewis so eloquently described them. Lewis warns of the potential for a person to become a “scoundrel ...an unscrupulous, treacherous, ruthless, egotist” in abandoning morals, ethics and beliefs to be part of an “inner ring.” There seem to be many on both sides of the aisle who have fallen into this trap of late.

Yes, I have beliefs that differ from yours. I am an intelligent human being, and I am entitled to my opinions. We need to start treating each other as the individuals we are – not be so quick to judge or condemn. Our diversity in America necessitates different views. Until we are capable of respecting these differences, instead of judging, rejecting or attempting to change them, the rifts between us will only grow deeper. “What village taught you to hate America?,” is a question that can be taken in different ways. How you choose to interpret it will be the path you choose. Regardless of what you divine of this, there is really no place for such hate.

Posted by capecodcyclist at September 24, 2005 08:48 PM

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