labeling

We are so quick to label people. Stereotyping is another word for it. Actually, that’s the basis of prejudice and racism. We label so we can separate something out from the whole and understand it better; knowing more precisely what we are getting. It works great in a grocery store. We can see what it is we are buying and even find out all of the ingredients contained in it . . . by the label assigned to the product. In such a complex world, our minds compensate by “making sense” of things, defining and categorizing things. Our minds are driven by logic and do not like mystery. So when we don’t understand something, it is a real problem for our minds.

Well, it doesn’t work that way with people. People are not meant to be defined or categorized. People are not meant to be fully understood. People are quite a mystery. Yet, if we are not painfully conscious of what our minds are doing, if we are not really paying attention to our thinking, our minds begin to define and categorize people so we can better “make sense” of them. BUT there are no labels that fit anyone and we can never break a person down to their basic ingredients and understand them thoroughly. We never fully know what we are getting when it comes to people. WHY? Because we are created to love each other by listening and accepting other just as they are. Unconditionally. Period. With people, we must open our minds, our hearts, and our hands . . . embracing them and the mystery that we cannot wrap our minds around.

Election 08 has illuminated labels like capitalist and socialist, liberal and conservative with a new light. In my blog entry time for a new conversation on abortion I quoted Jim Wallis as he shined a new light on the labels pro-life and pro-choice. As Americans, as Christians, as human beings we gotta learn to drop the labels if we are to learn from each other and understand each other AND if we are ever to accomplish any real change on real issues.

The way I see it, labeling people furthers our ignorance of people and our ignorance as a people.

Where do you think racism comes from and how prevalent do you think it is in American today?

Check out this post (below) by David Allen on Xanga. Because of racism, all of these things are true, but the shoe is on the other foot:

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It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one person and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

How Racism Works…
What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?
What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said ‘I do’ to?

What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no longer measured up to his standards?
What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to pain killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama were a member of the Keating-5?

What if McCain were a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?
This is what racism does.
It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

You are The Boss… which team would you hire?
With America facing historic debt, two wars, stumbling health care, a weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc.

Barack Obama:
Educational Background:

• Columbia University – B.A. Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.
• Harvard – Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Biden:

• University of Delaware – B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
• Syracuse University College of Law – Juris Doctor (J.D.)

vs.

John McCain:

• United States Naval Academy – Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin:

• Hawaii Pacific University – 1 semester
• North Idaho College – 2 semesters – general study
• University of Idaho – 2 semesters – journalism
• Matanuska-Susitna College – 1 semester
• University of Idaho – 3 semesters – B.A. in Journalism Now, which team are you going to hire?

PS: What if Barack Obama had an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

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Luk 6:37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Mat 7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

Mat 7:2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.