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by Bill Cumming
The year is 2013. The United States and perhaps the world is at risk. I have been aware of it from the time I was a small child and heard words like “kike, whop, heeb, and spik.” Each time I heard them, I cringed. I had no idea why then, I know now why. The tone in which they were said was angry, or hostile or at the very least judgmental. I felt uncomfortable in the presence of those emotions. As I grew up and mostly because of my primary mentor, Albert Boothby, my High School History teacher, I came to know that those words and others were designed to be derogatory to those being described. They meant disrespect, prejudice and sometimes, potential violence.
Some Democrats refer to Representative John Boehner and Rush Limbaugh in that tone of voice. Some Republicans refer to President Obama in that tone of voice. Some Jewish people refer to people of Islamic faith that way and visa versa. The list is endless.
“Gossip is black magic at its very worst because it is pure poison.
We learned how to gossip by agreement.
When we were children, we heard the adults around us gossiping all the time,
openly giving us their opinions about other people.
They even had opinions about people they didn’t know.
Don Miguel Ruiz
So why do I believe this matters so much?
Because we have diminished the value of each person to the place where being right is more important than treating people with dignity, respect and loving-kindness. In this kind of environment, it is easy to move from words to actions.
Additionally, in the United States, there is actually a debate about whether all people should have healthcare regardless of their economic status in the world. So, it must be that some people are more valuable that others. I actually heard one of my clients say that a very well known coach had recently said that, “The amount of money a person has determines how much influence a person has or has had in the world.” I guess that means that Gandhi, Jesus, Mother Theresa (who gave up the great wealth of her family) didn’t accomplish much.
AND WHAT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY?
Every single time we hear a person referred to as “less than,” dumb, stupid or in any way referred to as a bad person because of their beliefs, we need to speak up. The silence has allowed this situation to reach the place where the experience of respect is hard to find. We need to make the distinction between the value of a person and their ideas and opinions. The denigration of another person is in my opinion an act that is evil. I must be able to disagree completely with Rush Limbaugh and defend his right to speak and treat him with dignity.
“Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.”
Mahatma Gandhi
This situation can only be solved by each of us as individuals. Morality cannot be legislated not can respect, decency and the value of every human being.
THE WHITE ARM BAND
It must have been in the early 70’s that I wrote the following (the only reason I know that is that the last sentence is one I learned by reading the motto of Hawken School in Cleveland where I worked for awhile):
“Those who wear a white arm band want world peace, are committed to the divinity of each human being, are willing to die for and never damage another human being.
The cost in a democracy will be small – perhaps laughter, perhaps ridicule at first, perhaps loss of a job or a “friendship that wasn’t”
In a dictatorship, the cost is likely to be lives at first. Those committed to an ideal – though no organization or government – may die because they desire peace and service to others more than allegiance to a form of state.
The time has come for each of us as individual and as planet to rise to a higher plane.”
There cannot be an organization, no place to buy an arm band, no insignia, no clever saying. This cannot be about allegiance to a church or a country or an organization. There simply must be a commitment.
I would really like to know what you think!
With all my love and every blessing!
Namaste!
Bill
P.S. Among those who had no money and made a huge difference, please remember, Robbie, the admitted murderer and rapist who showed me that loving kindness is within us all and the pauper, put in the street in Calcutta, hit by a truck, without anesthesia who taught Marge Knuuti, me and some of you the definition of the word, Namaste!
A pretty good indicator of the need to slow down is when we lose track of what day it is.
I wonder why it seems we often need a critical situation to allow us to actually see what is happening?
A dear friend of mine’s daughter works on the fifth floor of the Navy yard building where the shooting took place recently.
She is fine (Thank God) and will probably never see this present second in quite the same way ever again.
Any School Can Be Exceptional
Through Our Hands (Lives of Value and Purpose, What Each of Us Can Do in Public Education) is a collection of one hundred and twenty-eight questions I could think of that might have something to do with how this turns out. Those of you in other institutions like businesses, government and non-profits can simply substitute the right words.
The purpose of school is to assist young people in creating meaningful, productive, joyous, contributory lives and developing the tools necessary to produce that result – lives free of abuse, violence and destruction – lives that are of use, of value, of purpose and accomplishment. No amount of technical or factual data alone can produce that result. Only young people, who grow up knowing that some one cares about them, that their lives matter and that they are in charge, capable of making good choices, can achieve this. Once this grounding is in place, knowledge of facts and data can be put to use. Continue Reading →
