Anyhow, this topic spilled into a gathering last night I had with some friends during a wine tasting. The people present included the son of the father who had passed, who I told the experience to. He tells me that the lady across the street has been a bit of a pain in the ass, as she walked into the home during an Open House tis week and demanded that they remove the car, lest she call the police. She apparently knows that the father died, but has had little empathy that the family has to empty the house of belongings and deal emotionally with the loss of the father and the home. It seems she just isn't a nice person at all and speaks to many people in the same fashion. She obviously learned little from our interaction.
Anyhow, we had a fantastic discussion last night about religion and about what our idea of multiculturalism and tolerance was. Like I said in a previous post,
In our current age, the idea of multi-culturalism is almost a day-to-day word that apparently defines our society as "including people who have many different customs and beliefs". Note, that this does not mean acceptance, nor does it mean tolerance. That kind of understanding and knowledge are things we actively learn or seek, based on our need to understand the world around us. An individual who is willing to learn and who does not form an opinion about things, is likely to learn from their experiences. They are the types of people who will re-evaluate and think about their opinions and the nature in which they structure their beliefs....I am of the belief that education does not equal intelligence, and intelligence doesn't necessarily foster tolerance or acceptance. Additionally, the idea of multiculturalism does not equal tolerance.None of comes to any opinion without some prejudice or stereotype. Its the same impossibility of not knowing everything in the Universe. Even a connosieur or sommelier of wine will not have all the knowledge in the world regarding the art of vino. It is simply arrogant to believe that. And like wine, we all have our own tastes and our own views of what is good on the palate. For some people, discussions about religion, faith, nationality, ethnicity or politics is a road they would rather not cross. I thoroughly enjoy it and I love the opportunity of learning what others have to say about my views or their own.
Its an open discussion, so grab your wine glasses for a toast to good conversation and drink up.
10 comments:
The comments from the last post were certainly fascinating. We all probably have issues that we aren't even aware of. I do and have said very offensive comments without realizing. As for my prejudices, I hate to see women veiled in Toronto. It makes me sick and quite frankly I don't want to get to know them. However, I don't verbally abuse a veiled woman when I see her and if I worked with such a woman, I would respect her as a colleague. I guess what I'm saying is we're all entitled to our own prejudices but have to recognize our respective human rights.
Ditto when it comes to romantic choices. I would not date someone who was religious, of whatever kind. But again, that's because I in no way share that value system, not because of some inherent hatred of a person's faith. I was baptised Catholic but never practised the faith, my ex was Jewish, but never practised. I would not have dated him if he had been attending synagogue, but that would not have been because he was of Jewish origin, but because I have no desire to be involved in any religious practice.
Snooze - Interesting comment, thanks. However, just to be clear, I think it is more about being ready to listen and analyse those prejudices as well by informing and educating ourselves. For example, Muslim women who wear the Hajib do not wear it as a symbol of male dominance or militantism as many may think. It is similar to the Yammukah or any head gear worn by religious people to show their modesty and to conceal themselves from their god. And it is a personal choice for mst to do so.
For some, I think the fear is that they are trying to make a conspicuous point to stand out from their environment by taking a religious route. But we can make the same argument for those who tattoo or pierce their bodies. These acts of body decoration and 'mutilation' are often a personal spiritual choice. My tats and piercings were all done for a purpose - to initiate or mark a milestone in my life. I would never remove them unless a change occurred in my life that brought me to a new place. I would not want anyone to judge me based on those choices, but I am sure if they asked, the reason would become clearer for them. :)
Epi - I agree that being informed is key. I've learned a lot since moving to Toronto. Also, I wasn't referring to the Hajib but to the women who are completely covered (although they certainly have the right to do so). But I'm also admitting that no matter how much education/exposure we get, we still may not agree with something and have our own prejudice. Personally I think that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam completely oppress women. That's my belief and I'm not trying to convice women of those religions to abandon them - however I will fight to keep abortion accessible and to get Catholic schools 'defunded' in Ontario. Is that a prejudice? I don't think that we need to all get along as one big happy family, we just need to learn to coexist.
We are all a work in progress. We all must be hard at work to purge our heart of hate, malice, prejudice and bigotry. I believ that we are God expressed. In the faces of men and women we should always see God. As Mother Teresa so eloquently said, she saw God in all his "distressing disguises" as she worked with the poor and dying in India. How many distressing disguises do we see each day? The homeless on the street, the poor who work but can barely make it, the mentally ill disowned by their families, the sick, the social outcasts. So many distressing disguises.
For me, the most distressing disguise of God, is the religious man or woman who believes that God's message is one of condemnation of anyone. The most distressing disguise is the powerful person who invokes God's name while oppressing the poor and the outcast and disenfranchising the middle class. Those who have so misunderstood God's message of distributive justice, mercy and peace, and instead make war, and have no mercy on anyone who is not just like them, distress me greatly.
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote:
"Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. The chain reaction of evil ... hate begetting hate ... must be broken."
As King said, those who may distress us with their disguises are not evil people, but misguided people, blinded by their own fear. Many of them are good, decent, spiritual people who cannot see past their own prejudices. They are not evil, they simply do not understand , and it is our task to educate them ... to show them the grace they refuse to show us.
Snooze - Your correct, we often need to agree to disagree and we cannot expect people to see things the way we do. But that makes it interesting. Who wants to live in a cloned world of commonality? I enjoy the differences and love learning about things and fighting the injustices that I believe in as well. I think it makes things more complex and fascinating.
Joel - Your mention of MT and MLK reminded me that there are still many religious people out there who still encompass those who are often rejected by others. I am not an institutionally religious person at all, but am spiritual in my own way. I think it is very interesting to get all these points of views.
Epi ... I see myself as a spiritual person, not a religious one. You are obviously a deeply spiritual man.
I pray that the foundations of the religious institutions which are prejudiced, will eventually crack and collapse because they cannot bear the weight of a just maturity that truly includes and affirms every individual as having equal value.
What has failed is the bogus religious use of God by abusive religion to raise money, build great material empires, exercise secular and political power and deny the basic human rights.
I too would never want to live in the commonality of a cloned world. I celebrate humanity in all its diversity and splendid idiosyncracy.
Thank you for sharing your beauty via this forum.
I also believe that religion is a human construct. The symbols, the stories and even the images. This is why there are so many visual images and stories of gods/goddesses. And because religion is a human construct, it is also susceptible and corruptible (as Joel mentions) when those in power, or those with influence use it to control or gain dominance. Think of the Catholic crusades, or the inquistion or any of the occupations of other nations or lands in history. I believe the religious missionary was used as a facade for colonization and conquer. Religion, power and state should therefore not exist together. They should be wholly separate.
Wow, lots of great stuff here. I've dug through the lint in my pockets and managed to come up with my "two cents":
Religion is most definitely a human construct and so are state and power. I would argue that it is impossible for humans to separate them since they are all parts of another complicated thing we humans have created called society. They are inextricably linked components in almost all societies of the world, whether they are 'primitive' or 'modern'. Religion (Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism or animistic beliefs) and power in and of themselves are not necessarily evil things but it is what we do with these things that makes them evil.
On racism in Toronto - I agree, Toronto is no utopia but on the whole it's a pretty darn good place to live. How many cities can a Jew, a Muslim, a Chinese, a Jamaican, a Latino and an Indian all of varying sexualities (gay, lesbian and other) sit around as friends having dinner together at say, an Italian restaurant owned by a Frenchman where the staff are Indian, Filipino and WASP (sorry about that term!) I'm positive that I'm not the only person in this city who does this on a regular basis and not even notice anymore.
There is no such thing as a utopia but we as people can always strive to make things better. Of course there are ignorant people out there but by and large most people that live here are at the very least, 'tolerant' if not fairly well-informed. Ignorant people should be always be enlightened to their ignorance, however vociferously (Bravo, Epicurious!) and informed people should be always be congratulated for enlightening the ignorant.
wow. some nice insightful conversations going on around here these days...
Welcome Jadedmonkey - I agree there is no such Utopia, and not to be a pessimist, but I do not believe such a place can exist. Toronto is truly a great hodgepodge of peoples, cultures, religions, etc. My personal experience tells me that most people are willing to share experiences, but there are always those few who don't. Thanks!
Mainja - It's just one of my cerebral farts or brain diahrrea. It will soon pass, and I will onto some idiotic topic :P
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