Love the Other as Yourself
What do Mel Gibson's drunken, venomous anti-Semitic remarks and loving others as ourselves have in common? Read this wonderful article by free-lance writer and Vermont columnist Joyce Marcel.Instilling and flaming a fear of "The Other" has been the time-honoured way for rulers, politicians, religious leaders and others seeking power to control their followers. This still holds true today. Fear of "The Other" is drummed into our ears as soon as we are able to hear, and we are being taught to hate a long list of people and groups. By demonizing "The Other", we also dehumanize them; so it's okay to kill them, they are different, they are not like us.
The Arabs. The Jews. The homosexuals. The Mexican immigrants. If you can lump together any group of people - a religion, a nationality, a color, a tribe - and hang on them one epithet, then you can dismiss, dehumanize and possibly start to eliminate them. It's how genocide starts. Just ask a Hutu or a Tutsi.
The Other is a concept as old as mankind.
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Read full article here. (Common Dreams)
posted by Annamarie at
9:56 PM
4 comment(s):
hmmm....certainly some good points there. dang, can't remember what else i was going to say as with no pop-up comment function abled, i can't see the article. oh well :)
By
scout, at
2:55 AM
Scout, I thought I had that pop-up comment thingy enabled. Can you help with it?? Although it seems to be working for me. I guess on my site you have to click on "Show Original Post", right where the comments are...
(I'm sending you an email anyway in a minute on another matter :)
By
Annamarie, at
11:50 PM
i'll see what i can do....to also have to click on 'show original post' means yet another click, plus sthere's the addition of word verification (i know, i know, people like it to prrevent spam).
By
scout, at
2:53 AM
Thanks again, Scout!! Much appreciated, as always. What would I do without you?
By
Annamarie, at
9:59 PM
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