THE FALLACY OF PREPOSSESSION

There once was a woman named Portia

Who was born into a large fortune.

One day it was stressed

By her whole world, no less,

That a spouse she must choose for protection.

So three suitors she met

For selecting a mate:

A fossil, toady, and knight.

She made fun of the first,

And turned out the second,

And gave all her love to the last.

Sound familiar?

Those familiar with the more obtuse literature by Shakespeare might recognise the opening plot to The Merchant of Venice- one of my favorite works by that enigma from Britain. I have read it many times, but always I envision the on-screen version by Orson Wells. It portrays many lessons in the historic way that Wells did so well! The story itself tells about the plight of the libertyless women of the day; the danger of being both a borrower and a lender; and the importance of marrying for love and bearing one's morals over societal idiosyncrasies. It ends happily enough but was a little unrealistic.

You see, Shakespeare glorifies fantasy to estrange the viewer (albeit temporarily) from their reality. The reality of the world in every century is that tradition is safety; but shattering tradition and doing what we please brings evolution and the chance for progressive thinking to bloom. For better or worse this will always be the case.

But what if the evolved form is more repugnant than the traditional form? What if revolutionizing the thought process of a people turns out something so repugnant that even the young knight from The Merchant of Venice would be too repugnant to palate.

I saw a post on Twitter today that proved, in my opinion, the danger of ignoring the boundaries of traditional respect.

The writer of the post is obviously empassioned for some reason unbeknownst to me, but her message is clear. She hates muslims. Not just the tyrants or morally questionable (the likes of which exist in EVERY religion except maybe Buddhism), but all Muslims. It crossed my mind that I wonder how she carries out said hatred in her day-to-day life, and if she is more heretic than revolutionary... I hope she keeps it civil in her day-to-day.

Anyway. Having versed myself in some aspects of Islam; the average perspective of Muslims in America (as I see it almost every day in the people I correspond and speak with); and the history of the contributions that Muslim nations have historically made; I can easily say the OP of this post was waaaay out of line.

While the far-right Americans during the civil unrest in some Muslim countries over the last 30 years have spoken out heavily against Sharia Law, they left off the part where America would not be the country that it is today (good AND bad) without the contribution of Islamic tradition and its offspring. The OP also fails to recognize that making such a generalization against a people is the exact reason why America was founded. It is bigotry in the worst form and ignorant. I could go into all the contributions that muslim people have made in the development of our country AND its education, DISCOVERY, and prosperity, but that would be a rabbit trail so long that we'd end up in the Sahara.

MAKING GENERALIZED PREPOSSESSIVE STATEMENTS ABOUT ANYBODY IS JUST. PLAIN. IGNORANT.

Loud and clear to the peanut gallery?

Too condescending? Well that is how strongly I feel on the subject, and you can deal with it. Given my family's experience on the wrong end of bigotry and RUDENESS, I am unappologetic. If you think it is wrong, keep reading or leave. The choice is yours.

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Welcome! Good to see you haven't quit listening. Here are two quotes- the yin and the yang.

“You can have such an open mind that it is too porous to hold a conviction" -George W. Crane

Remember a time when you were wronged by someone in the past. Generate three plausible reasons why this person inadvertently or intentionally wronged you. https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/newsletters/authentichappinesscoaching/open-mindedness#

Yin and Yang. Balance.

Even in American government there was built-in a system of checks and balances. In family there must be balance in order to have proper growth. Hell, even in crop growth or keeping TEETH from rotting out there has to be balance. Obviously a lack of balance prevents good health and positive growth.

Such as being entirely closed off from a person(s) because you fear giving them a chance and knowing who the other side has grown to be before writing them off.

"Open-minded people don't care to be right; they care to understand. They know it's more important to see where someone's coming from than it is to change their mind." -Paulo Paris Mayor on TinyBuddha

Being open-minded doesn't mean accepting everything that the other person(s) does, but it does mean getting to know what that person is about.

But what if previous association with a person left scars? (Perhaps that is the backstory to the OP above. )

I know well how scary and difficult it is to give another chance to one who has hurt you. It is always best to hear the story from the other person before drawing conclusions. Not just hearing- but LISTENING with an open mind. It would be one thing if the person that wronged you had physically harmed you or molested you or spiritually/psychologically abused you. Those are things so complex to heal from that one would be unwise to re-expose themselves to the purportraitor. However, in most other cases, clearly expressed boundaries and a little patience and objectivity with the other person will give both of you a chance to start over. People can change. Give them a chance. Then see for yourself what their form is. Some relationships such as family and country are worthy of open-mindedness and coexistence. Are you too afraid to see?