“People hasten to judge in order not to be judged themselves.” Albert Camus penned these lines in 1956 in The Fall. What misery we propagate when we pre-judge others and curl up in this fake cocoon of superiority. Let’s stop. For over twenty years of college teaching, I have traveled through the written and verbal testimony of students abused by brand-name labels of a hideous sort. Dealing with pre-judgment and student revelations about either their complicity in hurt or their lingering angst as victims has been my challenge and my opportunity. Mexican, Arab, Lesbian, Jew, Tomboy, Sissy, Blue Collar, Gay, Muslim, Creole, Cambodian, Whitey and Blackey, Fatty and Boney, Atheist and Born-Again, Skinhead and Preppie, Welfare Recipient and Wealthy…. As soon as we pre-package individuals before we know them, drawing conclusions as if we know them, they shrink, become diminished, and are absolutely not worthy. The tomboy on the playground and the gay man at work are fair game for emotional and physical violence. What about the single father and the unmarried woman? Whew! At least I’m not one of them. Is there a way to combat this very human tendency? Yes. Understanding that our lightning-quick speed to judge others comes not from strength but rather from our own weakness and insecurity is a huge start. Such a humbling realization, if taken to heart, gives us the incentive to work on our own shortcomings and to put down the damning gavel.”
—Stereotyping: The Thief of Individuality | Psychology Today
April 2010
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A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease. Every hidden cell is throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings, while incense is ever flowing from the balsam bells and leaves. No wonder the hills and groves were God’s first temples, and the more they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the farther off and dimmer seems the Lord himself. -John Muir, naturalist, explorer, and writer (1838-1914)
Un Canadien Errant
Bill Garrett & Sue Lothrop
“Un Canadien errant” (“a wandering Canadian”) is a song written in 1842 by Antoine Gérin-Lajoie after the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837-1838. Some of the rebels were condemned to death, others exiled to the United States. Gérin-Lajoie wrote the song, about the pain of exile, while taking his classical exams at Nicolet. The song has become a patriotic anthem for Canadians who, at different times in history, have experienced the pain of exile. In addition to those exiled following the Lower Canada Rebellion, it has had particular importance for the rebels of the Upper Canada Rebellion and for the Acadiens who suffered mass deportation from their homeland in the Great Upheaval between 1755-1763…” Wikipedia
Protest Leaders Elude Capture by Thai Commandos - NYTimes.com →
nytimes.com
When cost-benefit analysis determines the worthiness of democracy and political freedom…
(via Instapaper)
“Kill a man, and you are an assassin. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill everyone, and you are a god. -Jean Rostand, biologist and philosopher (1894-1977)”
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