Brenton
Equality in an Unequal World
January 31st 2008 13:54
Martin Luthor King claimed that all men were created equal. However, we all know that’s false. Some men are taller. Some are shorter. Some are fat. Some are missing bits. I myself am missing a piece of my kidney.
As some smart arse one said – if all men are equal, why are some in jail?
If all men are equal, why can we send a killer to the electric chair when he is smart, but not when he’s retarded?
The fact is that we are all different and thus not equal. I would never be first choice on a basketball team, would never be welcome in the female loo and would probably not really fit in on a Sydney Madi Gras Float.
What happens though, is we go about trying to make everyone equal. Help enforce equality, even where it is inaccurate to do so. This is politically visible in programs such as Affirmative Action.
Some things that may make us different include – Religion, Race, Political Belief, Class, Ability, Physicality, Education, Sexuality, Taste, Style, Ethics, Moral Compass or Personal History.
Often these elements will be vastly and complexly intertwined – such as a Catholic Ethical system, or the Marxist view of religion.
If we focus of the ways in which we are different and unequal we are never going to get far. We are always going to find ourselves divided and torn apart.
However, in the spirit of Luthor King, we may find ourselves able to focus on that which makes us the same. Not only in the sense that we may match up those things above – connecting with others of our race/class/religion etc, but also by the very fact that we are all humans – to quote the cliché, ‘we all bleed red’. We each are participants in the human experience, familiar with the joys and depressions of what we are. We are each of us on a journey through this life, all travelers together.
Let’s have a look at one particular group who function through division. The Westboro Baptist Church, a group so weird you’ll have to try and work out who slipped the acid in your drink before realizing you’re viewing reality. See here –
http://view.break.com/278059 - Watch more free videos
The Westboro Baptist church focus very clearly on divisions of sexuality (God Hates Fags etc). The interest is in systematically maintaining hatred.
Imagine if instead of simply expressing a hatred of those who are not the same (a hatred not only directed at Homosexuals but at anyone not a member of the Church) this group focuses on inviting people to see how they lived, treating others as equals on a certain level (the level that they are human). Would they attract more change in people’s lives than they do through hate? I believe they would. We imitate those we like. The only people who could like this mob are anthropologists. But then, we do have to remember – they are only human.
As are we all.
As some smart arse one said – if all men are equal, why are some in jail?
If all men are equal, why can we send a killer to the electric chair when he is smart, but not when he’s retarded?
The fact is that we are all different and thus not equal. I would never be first choice on a basketball team, would never be welcome in the female loo and would probably not really fit in on a Sydney Madi Gras Float.
What happens though, is we go about trying to make everyone equal. Help enforce equality, even where it is inaccurate to do so. This is politically visible in programs such as Affirmative Action.
Some things that may make us different include – Religion, Race, Political Belief, Class, Ability, Physicality, Education, Sexuality, Taste, Style, Ethics, Moral Compass or Personal History.
Often these elements will be vastly and complexly intertwined – such as a Catholic Ethical system, or the Marxist view of religion.
If we focus of the ways in which we are different and unequal we are never going to get far. We are always going to find ourselves divided and torn apart.
However, in the spirit of Luthor King, we may find ourselves able to focus on that which makes us the same. Not only in the sense that we may match up those things above – connecting with others of our race/class/religion etc, but also by the very fact that we are all humans – to quote the cliché, ‘we all bleed red’. We each are participants in the human experience, familiar with the joys and depressions of what we are. We are each of us on a journey through this life, all travelers together.
Let’s have a look at one particular group who function through division. The Westboro Baptist Church, a group so weird you’ll have to try and work out who slipped the acid in your drink before realizing you’re viewing reality. See here –
http://view.break.com/278059 - Watch more free videos
The Westboro Baptist church focus very clearly on divisions of sexuality (God Hates Fags etc). The interest is in systematically maintaining hatred.
Imagine if instead of simply expressing a hatred of those who are not the same (a hatred not only directed at Homosexuals but at anyone not a member of the Church) this group focuses on inviting people to see how they lived, treating others as equals on a certain level (the level that they are human). Would they attract more change in people’s lives than they do through hate? I believe they would. We imitate those we like. The only people who could like this mob are anthropologists. But then, we do have to remember – they are only human.
As are we all.
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