rocknhorse: blog 
rocknhorse's blog
name calling!
Published June 17, 2009Views: 207
An earlier blog has left me thinking today. Here on GOLO, I find a lot of good, healthy discussion on various topics. More often than not, I find that there can be and occassionally IS good conversation in both direction when a topic is particularly 'taboo.' Unfortunately, sometimes they just disolve into childish name calling. THAT is what has had me thinking today.
When I was young, the rule of the house was that we were not allowed to cuss. "Stupid" was considered a curse word and was one of the forbidden words. I would sooner get punished for calling someone stupid than for saying the "D" word. When I would question my father, he would tell me something to the following effect;
"There are people in this world who have a lot of book knowledge and there are those who don't. But EVERY person has a skill or talent that is special and unique to them. Just because someone doesn't know what you know about a subject doesn't make them stupid. You love horses and study them. You know a lot about them. Someone else may not know about horses, but they know about cars. They will know more about cars than you. Would that make you stupid because you don't know as much about cars? No! You just know different things. Rather than judge them because they know things differently than you, get to know them. Learn from them and perhaps teach them as well. No one is stupid. However, there IS ignorance in the world, and it has nothing to do with knowledge."
Over the years, that lesson was reinforced to me, not just with that word, but in other life lessons about judging others. It made quite an impact. I learned not to judge a person based on their size, color, education, economic condition, religion.... I will judge a person based on their actions when those actions will negatively affect myself or others.
As a parent, I understand even better some of those lessons taught to me when I was a child. Like my dad, I detest the word stupid and I don't allow my kids to use that word in reference to describing others. I tell them as I was taught, which is basically to not judge others in that fashion.
We (me from childhood, my children as they mature) have learned that there are so many things to learn from others. So what if someone believes something different from you? Why is that bad? Why the need to criticize? Is it really that difficult to just accept that someone may believe something that is in no way harming others? Why does this bother some folks so much?
Filed under: Personal
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June 17, 2009 8:21 p.m.
GOLO member since January 19, 2008
June 17, 2009 5:17 p.m.
GOLO member since May 15, 2009
June 17, 2009 3:25 p.m.
June 17, 2009 3:20 p.m.
Wouldn't it be great if we as members asked our fellow GoLo'ers what they thought about us? Thanos"
uh, nope, no way, nada, can't happen...there's some things that I'm better off not knowing....lol
Rockn, from the sound of it you were raised on a fantastic standard and it sounds as though you're passing this on to your kids. Some inheritances are better and more importatant than money and objects. Congrats!
GOLO member since November 26, 2007
June 17, 2009 3:10 p.m.
GOLO member since February 28, 2008
June 17, 2009 3:00 p.m.
GOLO member since July 18, 2007
June 17, 2009 2:54 p.m.
as christians we are called to edify one another
GOLO member since July 20, 2007
June 17, 2009 2:52 p.m.
GOLO member since February 14, 2008
June 17, 2009 2:52 p.m.
Just as an aside, I worked a summer temp job at a large corporation. During that time, there was a lady working for another manager who didn't seem to show me respect b/c I was "just a temp." We were forced to work with each other on a project and she confronted me with, "You really don't like me do you?" I answered, "No, but my personal feelings will have absolutely no bearing on my ability to do my job and respect your position within the company." Somewhere within that statement and our shared responsibility we developed a mutual respect for each other. We still were not friends, but we were colleagues. She gave me a wonderful evaluation at the end of my temp assignment, which qualified me for, and earned me, a bonus from the temp service.
We don't have to like everyone, but respect goes a long way!
GOLO member since July 18, 2007
June 17, 2009 2:52 p.m.
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