Speaking in categories

As is obvious, if one watches the news and current events, there are massive categorical disruptions taking place.  Women are beginning to respond to the sexism that has been so prominent in history, different races are beginning to speak out and act out against the horrible abuses that take place based on race.  The category of gender is being questioned, re-defined and re-formed.

It recently occurred to me that the practice we have of categorizing people is really just a form of stereotyping.  One cannot say that all women are weak, that all Asians are computer whizzes, that all Native Americans are alcoholics or that all homosexuals are flamboyant imitations of Liberace. To do this type of categorizing is simply not accurate.  I suspect that much of this practice comes from, of all unexpected places, the idea of “big”. We live in a big country, we live in big houses, we drive big cars, we go to big churches, we go to big malls, etc, etc. But if we look at every single one of these items, they are all malformed and twisted in some sense.  Big, almost always, results in deformation and abuse. The use of big typically results in anonymity and loss of accountability. And this is the root problem.

When anonymity and lack of accountability become the norm, there is a tragic disconnect that takes place in people.  No longer are we dealing with John, Jim, Mary or Sally, we are dealing with nameless faces, nameless numbers and statistics.  We begin dealing and thinking in terms of categories: white, black, Asian, straight, gay, etc., etc. And when our interactions lose personality, we have nothing to love, as one does not love a category, but an individual.  

Because love is what it is all about.  Jesus summed up the entire point of life as love of God and love of neighbor. There is nothing else needed.  

Understanding Perspective

From the moment we are born and every following moment of our existence, our subjective understanding of reality consists of receiving and interpreting sensory input.  The problem is not the hardware, our five senses all work correctly and accurately (with birth defects being the obvious exception). The hardware is fine, but the interpretation process is where the problem lies. 99.9% of the time, we work on the assumption that our five layers of sensory input are the sum total of reality.

But Eastern thought and quantum thought tell us differently. Even within the Christian world, while we do admit to the reality of God, his interaction with mankind and the prospect of eternity, these concepts are still held at arm’s length as “future” or, at best, an emotional accessory.  The immediate reality upon which everyone works, is that of the financial here and now, retirement included. We work to buy things, to invest, to provide for our families, to prepare for retirement, and to enjoy the physical here and now. It simply is the framework within which everyone works and thinks.

So, what do we do when we come to realize that the physical here and now only accounts for 5% of reality?  According to Eastern thought, all mankind is connected, i.e., the sin of anyone person adversely affects the whole of humanity, in a metaphysical way.  We see when we meet someone and get an uneasy feeling, or, adversely, when we immediately “connect” with someone we meet.

The overall question here is responding to reality.  When we move past the shallowness and distractedness of a mere temporal reality and begin to see life holistically, the result is disturbing.  We find ourselves out of sync with the rest of society. The bright and shiny things of pop culture take on a paper cut-out feel. That which so easily distracted us in the past, now only leaves us empty.  Like a child learning to walk, we need to grow up and learn to live as genuine human beings.