How many times have you heard that the best way to get to know someone is to walk a mile in their shoes? That’s an age-old adage that really makes sense, but with all of the hatred in the world, I gotta think that no one is wearing any shoes, at all!
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Today’s message is simple: the way to learn how to hate someone is to never get to know them, and that is not just relating to a person, but to a people, a religion, a creed, race, or even sexual orientation.
I am not saying that we have to agree with any particular lifestyle choice, or belief system, but we are more likely not to hate or act in a bigoted manner against someone if we get to know them.
The worst thing we can do to our children is to bring them up in an atmosphere of bigotry, and that comes solely from ignorance: not the type of ignorance from not having an education, but the ignorance that comes from refusing to accept that other people can be different than you are.
In Israel, a constant hotspot of hatred, everyone I know who has lived there or even visited, will tell you that life there between the Arabs and the Jews is fine, and not at all like what we are told it is by the Yellow Journalistic Media. The Arabs living in Israel get along perfectly well with the Jewish population. In truth, the Arabs living in Syria, Jordon, or other surrounding countries want to go to Israel because, unlike their own country, in Israel there are jobs and they aren’t persecuted or mistreated. In fact, the Arabs who live and work in Israel are granted the same rights and pay for work that the Israelis get.
Can we here in the United States say the same thing for our (legal) immigrants?
The hatred has to stop with our children: we must not teach them our bigotries, but instead allow them to discover, on their own, what other people are like.
You may say that is a real Pollyanna attitude, since it is the parents who are the cause of the children growing up bigoted, and you are right- I really can’t see this happening.
And, as communistic as this sounds, I think the only way to stop racial hatred and religious bigotry is to get the kids away from the parents before they can be influenced; at least, for one or two generations, and raise them in a kibbutz-like environment where they are cared for by people who are not hateful. They will grow up with other children; black, white, Jewish, Arab. Christian, whatever, without any forced religious upbringing, but allowing them to have access to the religion their parents had while being able to investigate everyone else’s religion.
Yes, I know- how can I, a United States citizen and a (former) Marine Corps officer (to boot) think like a communist? Well, I don’t, not normally, but there is so much racial tension from bigotry in the USA, and so much religious hatred in the Middle East, that there is no way I can see to resolve this without drastic measures being taken.
And I can think of no more a drastic measure than to separate children from their parents, but if that is what it takes to form a society free of bigotry and hatred, well…isn’t it worth it?
The hardest thing to overcome with bigotry is that the bigots believe the people they hate are the cause of the racial or religious tensions. Whites feel blacks have created their own subculture and don’t want to be part of society, and blacks feel they have been subjugated to the point of losing their ethical and cultural identity, being forced to be absorbed into a white society.
And they’re both right, to a degree- this is a problem that exists in America for all cultures. People some time ago, for some reason, decided they didn’t want to be just plain, old Americans; no, they wanted to be something-American. They were African-American, Italian-American, Chinese-American, European-American, whatever, yet they are living in America! If you live in a country, shouldn’t you be a member of that country, and only that country?
America used to be called the Melting Pot, where all different cultures came to be a collective culture called “Americans”. Not anymore, I am sad to say, and I believe this is part of the reason for the racial and religious tensions in the US.
So, let’s bring this all together: obviously, there will never be a separation of children from parents in a free society, so we need to teach children in the schools and workplaces that everyone is the same under the skin, hoping that this will offset any bigoted attitudes they may have learned from their parents. The history of America and how things are in Israel between the Jews and the Arabs there today proves that different religions and races can work together as a society with the same goals and desires, without having to hate each other or lose their cultural identification.
It is up to each and every one of us to work towards this goal, and especially you parents out there who are hearing this message: teach your children that hatred is wrong, and that if they feel they do not like someone or a group of people, take the time to get to know them, and they will not only become better people, themselves, but will gain knowledge and new friendships.
That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!
