Posted
on October 3, 2014
(First Friday of October)
What
does diversity mean?
Diversity
means variety – or a wide range of differences. A place with a lot
of bio-diversity has many different sorts of plants and animals, and
a nation with a lot of diversity has people with heritages from all
over the world...Perhaps people who speak a wide range of languages,
eat many different foods, celebrate many different holidays, have
many different customs, and follow different religions or have
different sorts of world views. No matter what their race, gender,
age, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, people are people – and they
are all deserving of tolerance and acceptance.
Tolerance
of diversity is not necessarily an easy thing. You may think that
someone's political or religious views are wrong – and in some
situations, it's okay to tell that person about your disagreement,
even to debate the issues – but you should still be able to get
along with that person, accept that he or she has a right to hold
those opinions and beliefs, agree to disagree.
Some
people easily accept diversity, but don't like the ideas of mere
“tolerance.” I mean, can't we do better than just putting up with
one another? Can't we actually respect one another's beliefs,
and celebrate each other's differences?
Actually,
not always. We can say the words “I respect everyone's world view”
– but then when we see someone believing every foolish thing ever
thought up by hucksters and charlatans, we don't actually FEEL
respect for that person's gullibility (which means willingness to
believe foolish things). We might say that of course we respect every
religion, but then find ourselves laughing at the belief that the
dictator of a Galactic Confederacy brought billions of his people to
Earth in a spaceship, stacked those beings around volcanos, and
killed them with atom bombs – and, whoops! That story sounds like
fun science fiction, but one of the world's religions teaches that it
is true!
So
I do not think we can necessarily promise to respect and celebrate
every difference. Instead, we should make a commitment to accept and
tolerate diversity.
Being
intolerant of intolerance...and hating hatred.
Another
tricky part of tolerance is what to do when people's beliefs hurt
other people. Obviously, we cannot allow someone to steal beat up
other people, even if he claims that he is doing so because his god
commands him to do so. We surely cannot allow someone to steal from
others, even if she claims that, in her world view, there is no such
thing as ownership, and therefore it's not stealing. We also cannot
allow people to insult others, shame others, or otherwise
psychologically harm others, even if they have some sort of “but
it's my BELIEF!!” excuse.
But
it is hard, sometimes, to figure out who's really hating on who,
because people can be sort of sneaky with their insults. I try to
remember, “Criticize the belief, not the believer.” Even if
someone is being racist, try to remember to complain about the
specific racist behaviors and words, and not to get personal. “That
was an unfair, racist thing to say!” – not “You are a lousy
excuse for a human being!”
Also
on this date:
World Smile Day
Francisco
Morazan Day in Honduras
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest boards for:
And
here are my Pinterest boards for:
So building connections between different cultures, creating respectful dialogue and striving for mutual understanding is important for peace and stability. Treasuring rather than fearing cultural diversity is important for peace and stability. Encouraging sustainable development and the flow of cultural goods like sculpture, jewelry, clothing, and so on is important for peace and stability.
