Just a short post to express my frustration of people constantly judging and casting out others just for some differences that should not be a factor in everyday communication.
Not long ago I started working in a really big office with over 100 people located in one floor. I used to think that after a certain age people really do grow up and stop discussing other people's qualities. I used to think that we can have discussions on deeper topics with “grown-ups”. Well, I was wrong. Wisdom doesn't come with age - you either have it in you or you don't. Every time when the people mentioned above see an opportunity, all they do is talk about someone's education, clothes, interests, sexual orientation and things I don't care about. Judging others is a priority for most of the people I have contact with. Buy why does it have to be this way?
What makes you think you are more worthy than the person next to you? What makes you think you know what someone's going through? Why is it so hard to be a decent human being?
I checked the Urban Dictionary and here’s what I found under “decent human being” – somebody who gives a fuck about something other than themselves. Not the best explanation and not exactly what I want to say with this post, but sums it up fine.
Introduction
The reason behind writing this post is me getting tired of meeting people with fed up egos who think that the world revolves around them and that some people have no place under The Sun. Who are we to decide if someone's worthy to be respected, or not? In this post I will talk about my experience and I will also give examples for UNACCEPTED social behavior.
- Racial discrimination
- Gender discrimination
- Religious discrimination
- Financial discrimination
- Sexual orientation discrimination
Racial discrimination
We all know what discrimination means - when a person is treated less favorably than another person in a similar situation because of their race, color, descent, national or ethnic origin or immigrant status. Here comes the question - do the listed characteristics make a person different from you? My answer is no. And why is that? For me, we are all members of one race - the human race. But people just love stereotyping. It is easier to attribute a series of traits to someone based on the one trait that signals their membership in a particular group, than to try and get to know the person, and see what his personal traits are. Aren't you interested to get to know someone with different habits, someone of different culture? I am.
Racial discrimination is a violation of the principle of equality, according to which "people are born and remain free and equal in rights (Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen).
Source
"Equality" is yet not common among most of the people's beliefs. discrimination is illegal behavior that occurs in all areas of everyday life: employment, housing, access to resting places, public services, education and health. It is rarely open, but it has many manifestations and occurs in a number of typical events of a person's life such as applying for a new job, searching for a home, prosecution by law enforcement officers without a real violation of laws, etc. And do you have any idea what this does to a person? The sad thing is no one thinks about what they are doing to someone else's psyche. People usually don't stop and take a minute to think about the impact their words or actions may have on the person standing in front of them. Stop judging people by their race or nationality. Try to get to know them first and if you don't like their personality, then decide how to treat them.
Gender discrimination
There still are people who think that men and women are not and should not be treated as equals. I will not speak only from my point of view as a woman, I've seen men being discriminated too. An example of gender discrimination would be if a woman was denied a job, or was paid less than a man would be paid for the same position. This should not happen. If there is any criteria for applying for a job and a man and a woman choose to apply - they both MUST have the same chance for getting the job.
Another wrong behavior is when women tend to think that a man should be the one who earns more and takes care of the her or of the family. For me, it is unacceptable to want to be equal with men in one situation, and in another - to expect them to act like "men". You either have a position and threat men and women like equals, or you don't. Your opinion should not change with the context. In my opinion, both sides should contribute equally in a relationship .
Religious discrimination
Religious discrimination has been the cause for most of the wars. Stupidity at its finest. In my opinion, religions are just one great way to divide and conquer. Everything that separates people has tremendous potential to encourage misunderstanding and hatred. The existence of strong religious beliefs can lead to direct religious discrimination (Christians against Muslims, Catholics against Protestants) but can also influence our behavior towards other strata of society. Good examples of this are the actions of some religious groups towards women or homosexuals who define them as sinful and urge believers "to pray" to transform them. Of course, religions can be a catalyst for change for the better, but they also have a responsibility to ensure that tolerance and goodwill are preached to all people, not compulsive denial of other individuals.
Why can't we all be united towards our evolution and achieve higher levels of consciousness? Well, we can't because we are all too busy to fight each other - physically and psychically. It should not matter what someone chose to believe in. Which gods someone worships. We all need to believe in something, something greater than us, something to guide us. But honestly, I think it would be better if we started believing in ourselves, as humans.
Financial discrimination
Okay, we have come to the point where I have a lot to say, but I will make it short. In other words - you don't know what someone's going through. You don't know anything about their struggles in life.
- If someone doesn't have a degree in some area, this doesn't necessarily mean they didn't have the capacity or the will to study. Again, you don't know what someone's going through and education doesn't define you as a person. You might have a doctor's degree and still not know how to treat people equally
- If someone doesn't dress as well as you, this doesn't necessarily mean they don't have the resources. Think about the reasons behind this. They might have a credit to pay, a relative to look after, education to pay for, etc. Don't judge people by the way they dress.
- If someone doesn't own a car, a home, the last model smartphone, this doesn't mean they are not worthy to be respected. They might be more intelligent than you think and consumerism may not be they way they choose to live.
Sexual orientation discrimination
Discrimination based on sexual orientation is STILL very common. Gay or bisexual people are 10 times more likely to experience discrimination based on their sexual orientation as compared to heterosexual people. A lot of "human beings" find it hard to understand that something that is not compatible with the generally accepted moral norms, is not necessarily bad. This kind of discrimination is everywhere - at home, school, work and in the community.
Rejection often starts at home. As many as 50 percent of LGBT teens experience a negative reaction from their parents when they come out; 30 percent experience physical abuse, and 26 percent are kicked out of their homes. In fact, LGBT children comprise 40 percent of all homeless youth, and family rejection is the primary cause. Further, LGBT adults who report family rejection are six times more likely to be depressed, three times more likely to use illegal drugs and eight times more likely to have attempted suicide than non-rejected young adults. [1]
Do you think it is normal to reject your own child just because of his/her sexual orientation? The most important thing for a parent should be their child's health and happiness. Everything else is little detail. And at school - when other children are prejudiced against different orientations, where do you think this comes from? Mostly, from the family. Stop thinking that only "man-woman" relationships are normal. You are not the one to decide for others.
Conclusion
This turned out to be a long post, but to conclude I will say that what really matters is the personality - how you treat other people, your honesty, your will to help people in need, your attitude towards different people. Every human being should be treated equally according to their human rights. Each of us is different in our own special way but we also have the common qualities that make us all human - we have a sense of right and wrong. So, a good thing is to treat every one with respect and dignity and to be treated the same way. Then, bad and unacceptable is to judge people by their race, religion, financial status, sexual orientation. These "factors" do not define us. We are all human beings and we all deserve to be treated equally!
Thank you for reading!
Sources:
- PsychologyToday on Sexual orientation discrimination
- The Effects of Racial, Sexual or Religious Discrimination
- Gender Discrimination
- The Psychological Impact of LGBT Discrimination
Images:
Pixabay
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