Shining Thru

“If you know I have a history, then you will respect me.”  I thought this was a very interesting quote when I came across it today in a book called, Black Indians:  A Hidden Heritage.  I think that this speaks volumes on why sometimes race becomes such an issue, I think that although some people are still just hateful, I think that a lot of it has to do with ignorance and the lack of knowledge of another’s culture, with that the lack of interest or want to understand.  Unfortunately, I think that a lot of people are raised to think that their culture is what’s “normal” and that there really isn’t a need to understand anyone else’s culture.  I think this is one of the saddest things about our American culture.  I think that it is sad how we only seem to teach about the white people in history, any minorities in the book might get a paragraph or two, but yet they can find a whole section or chapter devoted to a white person who did similar things, or things that effected our history and our culture just as much.  I think that it is important that we are exposed to different ways of life…what happens when something does happen on a global scale and we need to be able to accept another country’s way of life when we can’t even accept a lot of the culture differences that we have right here in America…what is even worse in my opinion is that a lot of people don’t even want to recognize that there are culture differences here in America, but there are…what kind of justice and respect are we giving to those differences if we wont even recognize that they exist….being exposed to culture differences and accepting them hardly makes you a racist, I think it makes you much more respectful of other cultures. 

I wonder how things would have been different as far as civilian support for some of the wars we have been through if we would have known about other countries’ cultures???  Makes me wonder why we think that the “American way” is the right way, or the only way….why can’t other cultures do as they see fit and have our respect?  I understand that there are some things that we have been brought up to believe in as wrong, but some of the people that we think are being oppressed, like their culture and their way of life and will tell you in a heart beat that they don’t want it any other way. 

A great example of this is cultures that make their women be completely covered other than their eyes..in America women have been taught that they need to fight for equal rights and not let any man hold them back and blah blah blah….not that our freedoms aren’t great, but I have heard testimony from some of these women who say that they like that they have to dress that way because it forces a man to respect them for who they are instead of just what they look like…I thought it was a really interesting take on it and not one that I would have come up with on my own.  I think it is really important that we take the time to consider someone else’s point of view.

Why don’t we take the time to learn and teach our younger generations respect for other cultures even if they are different?  What would be so wrong about having your child appreciate and respect someone for their differences instead of condemning them?

What makes us believe what we hear from certain sources?  Why is it that we take certain information for fact?  Most people hear a word used and never stop to wonder if the word was used correctly or not.  I myself am guilty of this, I hear a new word and remember it in context, never stopping to look up the actual definition of the word.  Habits like these have led to a lot of misinformation in our society.  However, if everyone around you has the same misconceptions, are they still misconceptions?  Or do they become fact at that point?  After all, the purpose of words is to communicate, if communication is achieved, doesn’t that validate the words that were used? 

Although, I think this theory of validity does work with words and the development of language, there are a lot of things that I don’t think it could work with.  For example, history; you can be taught all sorts of misconceptions and probably have been, and you may even choose to still believe those things, but your beliefs don’t make it truth or fact, just simply a misconception.  Your beliefs can’t change cold, hard facts, but they can change your perceptions of those facts, creating your own reality.  A world that only you can decide what the facts are, and what you choose to ignore.

So why then do schools and people in general continue to teach misconceptions of information that have been around and been exposed for years and some for decades?  More importantly, why haven’t we, as a society, learned to question what we’re being taught?

I was watching a very interesting show on the National Geographic Channel today called “Inside a Cult.”  It was a very interesting documentary about several of the big religious cults that have been exposed in the US.  The show focused on the compound of Strong City.  This group believed their leader was the Messiah, but their “Messiah” ends up not being able to accurately predict the end of the world and instead is instead taken and prosecuted for sexual relationships with minors that also lived on the isolated compound.

One of the most interesting parts of the documentary was when it showed the members rejoicing over what was suppose to bring about a change in body for their “Messiah” but yet nothing happened that day.  As it turned out the world did not end on October 31, 2007.  They had a psychologist who studied different cult behaviors, she kept being brought on to interject comments on what was happening.  After we saw the members rejoicing despite the fact that nothing happened on the date that had been proclaimed, the psychologist came on and stated that in cases like this where the cult has completely consumed their lives, instead of abandoning the beliefs that they are hanging on to, it is easier for them to distort their perception of reality to match their beliefs….Strangely enough none of the members or the leader would comment on his supposed change in body. 

Although the psychologist was referring to the mindset of cult members, I have to wonder how often people do the same thing in every day life…..How often do people want and/or need something so badly that they begin to alter what is real around them to make themselves feel better.  Some people would argue that is all religion is in general.  Others would argue that is all life is….what is reality???  Isn’t everyone’s reality how they perceive it, even if  it is not what is actually real, what is real is what we believe to be real.  How can we tell the difference between actual reality and our perception of reality?

Do we all live in an altered reality?  If so, what is it that makes us decide who is a part of it and who is not “normal”?  Maybe there is a common understanding of the reality that we all experience…  Look at it like this, if there is a fight that happens and ten people are watching the two people fight.  There are twelve different interpretations of what happened for things it escalate into a fight.  All versions of the story might have comment threads, but everyone’s perception will be just different enough to be declared their version of the story, their truth.  Is this how life works?  We all live with the common grounding to the world, but have our own perceptions from then on?

Why do some people feel it is not only their right but their duty to push their morals onto those people around them?  And why does it always seem like there is bitterness behind their “concerns” as it is usually stated.  Has it ever occurred to these people that maybe not everyone has the same beliefs as they do and that every individual has their own life experiences that have shaped and molded their own beliefs and morals.  There are some things that we can generalize and state that most people consider as “wrong”; however, if you have seen the movie, A Time to Kill, you may agree that there are instances when you can understand why the rules are broken or bent. 

Who gets to decide what is right and what is wrong?  Who gets to decide what the difference between good and evil is?  In my opinion only you can do that for yourself.  You are the only one who has to live with yourself all day every day, for the rest of your life. 

Sometimes I try to imagine a world where people wouldn’t have to feel judged in their day to day life.  What would it be like if we left people to decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong?