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dionysus1999A fellow LJer recently posted about a dialogue concerning a group in which she is a member. I didn't understand all the nuances to this conflict, but it appeared to be a clash between which groups a person aligns themself with, and which ones a person wants to remain seperate from. A person in one of the groups set off the conflict by making disparaging remarks about other members.
The first thing that came to mind was segments of the movie Life of Brian. The movie concerns a farce in which a character, Brian, is mistaken as a savior, in Biblical Judea. At several points in the movie there are conflicts between the Judean People's Front, The People's Front of Judea, and other similar sounding groups. They hate each other almost (if not more) than the Romans, the main antagonist.
I see this happening all the time in real life. The Irish and their strife concerning Catholics versus Lutherans is an example. To outsiders the Irish seem the same, the religious differences minor. I hope they can learn to live together peacefully someday.
What do all of these examples have in common? My feeling is that the individuals who become part of these exclusionary groups are engaging in dichotomous thinking. They all have difficulty seeing the world in the shades of grey (and the rest of the rainbow) the rest of us can see. They tend to define themselves by what they are NOT, as opposed to what they are. They seem to take delight in tearing down others to build themselves up. I would further assert the individuals responsible for this segregation lack empathy for anyone who is not like them. They don't see us for who we are, we're just wishwashy pescitarian bisexual heathens on a course straight to hell. Look me up when you get there. ;)
I prefer inclusive groups, but they have a different set of problems. Maybe I'll analyze the problems I've encountered with those groups some other day.
The first thing that came to mind was segments of the movie Life of Brian. The movie concerns a farce in which a character, Brian, is mistaken as a savior, in Biblical Judea. At several points in the movie there are conflicts between the Judean People's Front, The People's Front of Judea, and other similar sounding groups. They hate each other almost (if not more) than the Romans, the main antagonist.
I see this happening all the time in real life. The Irish and their strife concerning Catholics versus Lutherans is an example. To outsiders the Irish seem the same, the religious differences minor. I hope they can learn to live together peacefully someday.
I'm a vegetarian, and I've had debates with other vegetarians about how I label myself. To be precise, I'm a lacto-ovo-pescitarian. Now say that three times fast. My assertion is that outside the vegetarian community, these words would be nonsensical; most omnivores don't even know what vegetarians eat, let alone a pescitarian.
I acknowledge that in an ideal world people would better educate themselves about diet in general. But we don't live in an ideal world. I know if I say I'm vegetarian, most people will know I don't eat cows, chickens, sheep or pigs, though the number of times I've had to say, no, vegetarians don't eat chicken, is way too many. That's like asking an Orthodox Jew if he eats pork on special occasions.
I acknowledge that in an ideal world people would better educate themselves about diet in general. But we don't live in an ideal world. I know if I say I'm vegetarian, most people will know I don't eat cows, chickens, sheep or pigs, though the number of times I've had to say, no, vegetarians don't eat chicken, is way too many. That's like asking an Orthodox Jew if he eats pork on special occasions.
My wife has shared a bit of her former religious background with me. Did you know that the Church of Christ has instrumental and non-instrumental congregations? The major difference being one allows the use of musical instruments when worshipping the Lord. Very important to the members, means nothing to most of us.
I continue to read and hear disparaging comments regarding bisexuals by other organizations that purport to be supporters of the gay and lesbian community. I've always been perplexed that a magazine would publish these type of remarks. But comments still pop up in the press about those "dirty fence-sitters".
I was a practicing pagan for over eight years. I recently received a mailer from an organization that has land dedicated to the Goddess. One of the groups that presents workshops on the land sent out a flyer with the mailer. This little postcard really irritated me, it listed seven things that pagans believe. Thing is, I disagree with four of them. I don't blame the wonderful women who own the land, because I know they might disagree with some of those seven as well. Thing is, this was being presented as an introduction to paganism. Not cool. I've met other pagans who will get really upset with you if you don't do things just the way they learned to conduct ritual. I call them the Orthodox pagans.
I was always miffed when some of the most interesting pagan events were segregated by sex. While I think that some people would benefit greatly from a gender segregated group with only men/women, I often wonder if the gender segregation is just a crutch for people who need to re-examine their views on the other gender. And, what about my friends here who are transexual/transgendered? Is it fair to exclude people based on anatomical differences? Does having a penis make me unable to understand or empathize with women? Does having breasts make one unable to have a deep meaningful relationship with someone who has a penis?
What do all of these examples have in common? My feeling is that the individuals who become part of these exclusionary groups are engaging in dichotomous thinking. They all have difficulty seeing the world in the shades of grey (and the rest of the rainbow) the rest of us can see. They tend to define themselves by what they are NOT, as opposed to what they are. They seem to take delight in tearing down others to build themselves up. I would further assert the individuals responsible for this segregation lack empathy for anyone who is not like them. They don't see us for who we are, we're just wishwashy pescitarian bisexual heathens on a course straight to hell. Look me up when you get there. ;)
I prefer inclusive groups, but they have a different set of problems. Maybe I'll analyze the problems I've encountered with those groups some other day.
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Date: 2006-12-28 07:33 pm (UTC)(Ahh... I see, you didn't make it up, it's someone else who doesn't know their morphology. ;) )
I personally have had far more problems with inclusivity than exclusivity.
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Date: 2006-12-28 08:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-28 08:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-28 08:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-28 08:15 pm (UTC)Joe Pesci?
the number of times I've had to say, no, vegetarians don't eat chicken, is way too many. That's like asking an Orthodox Jew if he eats pork on special occasions.
I think it depends on your reasons for being vegitarian. The argument I've always found most compelling is that you shouldn't eat anything you couldn't bring yourself to kill directly. I would have no problem killing a chicken.
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Date: 2006-12-28 08:25 pm (UTC)Actually, that's where his name comes from. Latin pisces, Italian pesce. He's Joe the Fish.
Along the same lines, Giuseppe Verdi sounds much more impressive than Joe Green.
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Date: 2006-12-28 08:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-29 01:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-28 08:24 pm (UTC)And I think you are absolutely right about all of it! Go you!
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Date: 2006-12-28 08:27 pm (UTC)I've even had some people think that being vegetarian means I don't eat red meat, and that's it.
*laughs* The People's Front of Judea vs. the Judean People's Front sounds soooo similar to what that community poster was suggesting...
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Date: 2006-12-28 08:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-28 09:01 pm (UTC)