Recognizing & Overcoming My Own Prejudice

I do my best to not be prejudice and for the most part, I’ve done pretty well. Every now and then, like most things, my area of struggle shows its ugly head and after being disturbed by it I recognize it’s there and I can proceed to better myself.

Two things I’ve had a time and a half working on, or really I put off till I got a better understanding, were snobs and people with prejudice. Yeah, I was prejudice of prejudice people and I snubbed snobs. Even when I was a young quiet and shy person I’d let go of my inhibitions without even thinking about it when I came across a snob and I’d get in their face and tell them a thing or two. They just really irritated me.

A scene from Pitch Perfect 2.

Just like bullies, snobs and prejudice people have reasons for why they are that way. I’m not justifying or excusing them, it just helps if you can understand that there’s a “why”.

If you want me to tell you the why, sorry, there’s a lot of reasons that add up together that cause people to do, believe, and act out their negativity.

At first, learning that our memories are shit and that we have ideas in our heads that normally can’t be challenged wither they are true or not, and that those type of things are normal and not because a person is bad or made it so on purpose, made me very frustrated. But, the more I learn about how the human brain works the more tolerance I have for people in general.

It wasn’t just this normal in others that upset me, it was also that we have little to no control over much of it which included me as well.

I never liked not having control in my own head. When I was a kid I used to try to remember the bad things so I would stay in touch with reality. It seemed delusional to just remember the good things. But I didn’t know that good or bad, positive or negative, our brains change the memories over time. 

Accepting this fact wasn’t pleasant, but once I started accepting it I noticed I became more tolerant of snobs and even prejudice people. I’m not saying I agree with them and I certainly will still stand up for the victims, but I can do so now better since I am coming from a place of true humanity. I’ve taught my children that when they are bullied they need to recognize that the bully has problems, some could be very horrible problems of being abused themselves. But, at the same time, I still encouraged them to stand up for themselves and not let the bully affect them or others. The same can apply to the “intolerant”. 

Something else that’s made tolerance difficult for me is when it’s something I used to be. I’ve been brainwashed so I know how difficult it is to come out of it which sometimes gives me less hope for people then more hope. Still, it does me well to remember that as difficult as it is, I’m not the only one like me which means there are others who can come out of such circumstances and I’m to not give up and hide in a corner thinking there’s no hope for humanity. 

I still struggle with speaking out, it may not seem like it, but I do. I was not only originally quiet and shy, but I was also not allowed to speak my mind even when I wanted to or was told to. The reality was that I really wasn’t supposed to. Whenever I tried to expose my heart, if it made anyone uncomfortable or uneasy, I was put in my place and silenced. That or it was used as a tool to beat me back into my corner with.

Visual by: Nelly Wat

Although I’ve overcome this, I still have those “voices” in my head telling me I’ll be misunderstood, judged, and so forth. 

I have days I am quite bold and just put it out there. Sometimes I rush to put it out there cause I know if I wait a day or maybe even five minutes it will be difficult if not impossible for me to do. 

This is my choice to live as an open book. It’s not always what is natural for me. It’s what I’ve found to be my purpose, my way of helping others, my way of helping myself. 

Accepting that it’s not normal for everyone to feel the need to understand people has taken me a while to grasp. Not just grasp but also to accept. But getting this concept is important cause it helps me find patience for those who don’t automatically look into other peoples struggles so they can relate and empathize better. There are a lot of people like me, but, there are a lot not like me and it’s not a bad thing, it’s a natural thing. It’s not something those folks are doing or not doing with intention, it’s just the way they are programmed just like I am the way I am programmed. Not that we can’t make adjustments, but we have core programming that will always be a part of us wither good or not so good, wither we chose to improve or not. Yes, there may be exceptions, maybe. 

I just learned that this is a symbol of empathy! Pretty cool! 

I think I’ll likely always have some issues with it, but not so much as I’ve had in the past.

While people are not robots, we do have a lot of similarities with them wither we like it or not. 

Sorry, this ended a little rough. I got really wore out and tired. I’m posting it anyway cause I don’t want to just forget about it. 

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That Spiritual touch, is it really only felt on your side of the playground?!!

A dove in the sky (Image found on Google Images)

 

It’s good to remember and keep in mind that your spiritual experiences are not only found within your own belief system but are found in all belief systems. Just as right as you believe you are, others in their beliefs systems know they are right as well, and that you are misled. You may believe their spiritual experiences are deceptions from their carnal mind or are even demonic, but keep in mind, they believe the same way about you.

Click on the link below to watch the video.

Spiritual Witnesses

 

I love that someone put this clip together to show testimonies from people of various belief systems sharing the same experiences that caused them to believe, change for the better, and want to reach out to others. I think it would have also been great if people who were touched and changed by a secular rock concert would have been included as well. Yes, that does happen. Hype, mental manipulation and desperation, etc, can cause the same effect across the board.  But of course, only those converted and touched within your religion are actually being blessed by the only one true way. And that doesn’t have to make sense because when it comes to spirituality, science and reasoning are off the table and no longer apply. So, until one is able to wake from their wishful thinking and brain washed state, reason is a sin.

 

And to those who are tolerant, accepting and willing to coexist, believing “there is more then one path…” wither I disagree or not, I commend you. You are not “wishy washy” “simple minded”, “wimpy”, “unable to makeup your mind”and other insults religious and non-religious people have thrown at you. It’s okay to accept people the way they are and to be happy for them. This is not a bad thing. It’s also okay to not know something and admit it, that doesn’t make you stupid or dumb. Pretending and convincing yourself you know something and then convincing others of the same is ignorant, arrogant and rude. Peace is good and more effective them hate, division, and other negative things.

 

Honesty can be good but one must start with themselves to be truly honest. Questioning everything is the “right path”. Feelings are nice and they are human but they should not determine what is true and what is false. Also remember, when you research, don’t just research from within your own belief system. Go outside your belief system as well. And don’t just believe the first thing you read or hear. Questioning and research do not stop at one or two articles, blogs or personal testimonies. Also remember to appreciate the feelings but to take them out of the proof equation since feelings can be triggered and manipulated. Even testimonies like those of healing, healing is not restricted to that persons belief system. If you can handle it you may even push further and look for reasons these things could have happened without a “miracle”. Take into account that a lot of people lie. Even nice people you trust may be prone to lie about certain things. But there are still plenty of others who are not lying but do not understand the science behind what has happened to them, therefore to them it is a legitimate miracle.

 

If you are the type that believes you need your religion, then stay with it, but, don’t be a jerk about it. If your belief system is actually good for you, (in other words, you are not being controlled, abused, and told to take your own life or another’s or sticking with it out of misplaced pride) then stay with it but accept and even fellowship with people who believe differently then you. It’s good for you, good for your community and good for the world. And by all means, speak up and encourage others to do the same so that the out spoken Fundies don’t keep getting all the attention. We need more people to help other people to get along peacefully without tying to change folks to their spiritual way of thinking.

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