When it is someone's else's fault, we don't have to engage in that all too difficult exercise of analyzing what we might have done wrong, or where we might be off base in our own thinking.
Yet, what is the difference between different and special?
For those of us in our more mature years, we remember when people with low IQ's were called retarded with all the negative connotations that were associated with that word. It didn't matter that people born with low IQ's were created that way, by the same god that created those of us with normal IQ's, those people were different. Now, I won't go into all the horrific things that were done to people born in the earlier part of the 20th century, forced sterilizations, etc, but it doesn't take much to remember that calling someone in the playground or neighborhood a retard, was not a compliment.
Fortunately, great strides were made to remove the stigma from those that god created with a low IQ, so that now, while there can still be obnoxious behaviors exhibited towards those with this trait, there has also been real progress in labeling them special. I can't imagine any better example of humans treating other humans properly than the fact that we have Special Olympic events occurring in thousands of towns across America, in an effort to bring this segment of society back into the fold of humanity.
Special rather than different, or worse, retarded.
All which makes me wonder about some of the other groups that have been dehumanized in an effort to make the majority feel better about itself. Clearly, there is a resurgence of hateful rhetoric about the LGBTQ community, specifically driven by certain religious groups who are using the theory that God doesn't love these people even though they were created that way, by God. It is no wonder that religious affiliation among those 35 and under has continued to drop when they see that all that talk about being the best you can be and being true to oneself and making the most of your gifts were all bullcrap if one's best self didn't conform to a distorted vision of God's mercy and love for her creation.
But, Joe, I have been asked, what if everyone decided to be gay? Our civilization would cease. Well, I can assure you that no guy I ever went to high school with would have willingly chose to be ridiculed and bullied for being different. So, clearly, while more people can finally feel comfortable with identifying with their own particular sexual preference, there are far more men who are still afraid to admit their "from birth" preference than those who are "choosing" to open themselves to the difficulties that are still ingrained in many cultures and religions today.
But I digress.
The main point I really wanted to address is how come some groups of people that are "different" are elevated to the level of "special", and some do not. For instance, while I can attest to the fact that there were nuns who forced left handed children to learn to write with their right hand, we generally don't actively discriminate against left handed people. While I put nothing past a populist looking to blame any minority to gain votes and power, I haven't seem anyone openly calling left handed people rapists or murderers, even though only about 10 percent of people are left handed. In fact, if you can throw a baseball accurately or quickly, you can have moderate talent in relation to other baseball pitchers and still make millions of dollars a year, if you are left-handed.
And, speaking of sports, what percentage of Americans are over 6 feet 4 inches? For men it is about 1%. For women, only 1% are over 6 foot tall. All these people are different, yet most are looked up to
(ha-ha) at worst, glorified,if they can shoot a basketball. Not to mention all the mesomorphs who, if they are special in that they can block or run or tackle might be millionaire football players.
In essence, all successful athletes are different, yet are treated as special.
People with IQ's over 130 represent only about 2% of the population, even less than the percentage of people that are born gay. Now, granted, there are certain politicians who bash the "elite" while pretending to be everyday people (although almost all of them occupy the top few percentiles in intellect, talent, wealth, social class etc, all the attributes of elite), in general we seek advice from those with higher intelligence, seek stock tips from those with wealth, even, at time, seek approval from those with higher social status.
Obviously, there are many other examples of those who different being treated as special.
One could even go so far as to way that, while the desire to be normal, to conform, to be like everyone else, certainly creates a boatload of stress and anxiety in our culture, the desire to be different, to stand out, to be unique, also does the same. To me, it is the ability to balance those two desires that makes a person happy with their life. We strive to be recognized as the individual we are, while bending our nature, here and there, to be part of the group, to avoid being labelled different.
I have said this before, and will say it again. Somehow, someway, humanity needs to evolve to a point where diversity among the miracle of the creation of humankind, becomes more than just words in a declaration or on a tablet or in a holy book. It needs to be the stuff of epic poems and songs and dare I say it, political movements. We need to stop pretending that we are grateful for the myriad forms of life which exist on Earth, including the amazing diversity of race, culture, and perspective, and actually glorify whatever god or deity or supreme being we worship by acknowledging that diversity. While I do not believe that the universe was created solely for us, I do believe that such a magnificent achievement, whether for us or to be shared with other beings, demands that we start treating each other as special because we all possess some type of trait that makes us different.
If interested, these two links address the subject of prejudice as well.
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