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DAVID BENTLEY'S WEEKLY COLUMN |
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LITTLE BOXES
In Auckland, New Zealand, a female doctor was interviewed by a television newscaster. The physician, originally from India, had practiced medicine in New Zealand for decades. The interviewer asked her how she felt about living in New Zealand. Puzzled by the question, she replied that she felt as if she lived in New Zealand and not in India. To the interviewer's dismay, the doctor did not fit into a nice, neat, little box. This eminent physician was not being interviewed because of her ethnicity, gender, or religious affiliation. She was being interviewed as a medical expert. Yet the fact that she was a Hindu female born in India somehow entered into the interview. For whatever reason, we human beings seem to focus on what makes us different. Those who are different are wrong. We cannot trust them and must do everything in our power to either change them or keep them away from us. Therefore we attempt to classify people into nice, neat little boxes. We do this without really thinking about it because it is so ingrained into our behavior. There are numerous little boxes into which we put people: protestant or Catholic, republican or democrat, U.S. citizen or foreigner, black or white, gay or straight, left-handed or right-handed, liberal or conservative, athlete or couch potato, blond or not. Interestingly, we only make these types of comparisons between ourselves and other people. When we examine a lovely sweater in a department store, it usually does not occur to us to ask the country of origin of the wool. Neither do we inquire about the sexual orientation of the sheep from which the wool came. For over two centuries we Americans have defended a document stating our belief that all people are created equal. Every major world religion has an equivalent to the "Golden Rule." I wonder when our actions will match what we say we believe.
© 2006 David Bentley David Bentley, M.Ed. & Personal Coach, coaches clients through the game of life, helping them find balance, clarity of direction, and purpose in an ever-changing world. You may contact him at 360.378.8436 by e-mail at david@coachbentley.com or visit his Web site: www.coachbentley.com |
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