No see. No need for empathy
The three wise monkeys – see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
I suspect all of us have seen photos or chartreuses to the three wise monkeys with each one presenting a way to avoid seeing, hearing and speaking “evil.”
If one googles “pretending not to see” one will get multiple hits including a site which contains many cartoon images with accompanying words about pretending not to see.
There are many reasons why we do not see ourselves or another person. These include:
· A label which purports to tell us what and who the person is. They may be a member of a certain religion, race, cultural group, profession, gender or any of a million other possibilities.
· Anger about something they did or did not do.
· Fear that they will not stay in the box we have constructed for them.
· Fear of what they may reveal about us.
· Fear of what may be expected or required of us.
· Fear that we will have to revisit something we previously said or recommended.
Two vastly different stories made me think of our tendency to refuse to see. One was a story about a minister who had grown up learning that those individuals who belonged to the Catholic Church were members of a religious organization which was not deserving of God’s Grace. Even though the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Christ in which he had been raised and who he represented as pastor both have the same core history, he had learned to believe that only those who adhered to the narrow beliefs of the Church of Christ would be welcomed home by the God of their understanding (They would have said God since they believed the God of their understanding was the one, true and only God.) Since I tuned into the story in the middle of the program and I was driving at the time, I did not learn the outcome although it seems as if the speaker later questioned his prior beliefs.
Another story which caught my attention was the announcement of one of the United States Presidential Candidates that he would not speak the name of Omar Mateen, the man who killed 49 people and injured many others in the Orlando, Florida club Sunday morning, the 12th of June, 2016. He was incorrectly stating that Mr. Mateen was an immigrant Muslim. As a matter of fact, Mr. Mateen was born and raised in New York. What else do we know about him:
· His family did, as has most of our ancestors, immigrated to the United States at one time before he was born.
· He was a father.
· He was married.
· His wife and some others reported he could become very angry and possibly physically violent.
· He is reported to have visited a gay club where he could safely drink away from the strict non-alcoholic rules of his Muslim family.
· He is reported to have become angry when drunk.
· He is alleged to have logged on to a gay dating site and communicated with others on that site.
· He had previously come to the attention of the FBI who had decided that he was not a real threat and did not have clear understanding of various sects or groups in the Middle East.
· Although he claimed just before starting to shoot that he had some allegiance to a some radical groups he obviously was not even educated about the role of various sects/groups.
· He was a son.
· He reportedly became very angry recently when he observed two men kissing.
· His father says that it is God’s place to punish homosexuals. Muslims, as do many Christians, think homosexuality is a sin.
In short, we know a lot and we know nothing about Mr. Mateen. He sounds like a very troubled, confused, young man. Is it possible that he could have met the criteria for one of the hundreds of possible mental illness diagnosis listed in the most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Associations’ Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM V)? Certainly it is possible but then some have stated that half of the population might meet the criteria for one of the diagnostic labels or the subset of said labels.
Some might question whether a sane person could commit such an act, but legally, if he were alive and being tried, he likely could not have met the criteria for being declared legally insane. Certainly we do not declare all those who at the direction of our government drop bombs often resulting in collateral damage as legally insane. Nor do the declare politicians and military people who ordered such strikes legally insane.
The other presumptive presidential candidate did not refuse to name Mr. Madeed, but did talk as if the problem was radical/militant groups who helped to radicalize young people around the world, including United States citizens.
Choosing to blame radical groups for brain washing the youth or choosing not to name him, make good sound bites, but they only help us play the age old game of “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.”
Mr. Mateen was real. He existed as a many faceted young man who sounds very confused and troubled. At least 49 people are dead as a result of his actions. Many more are still in Orlando area hospitals. Many family members including the family of Mr. Mateen are left to deal with the overwhelming grief.
We need to know this young man as well as is possible. We need to confront our responsibility in helping to promote the so-called wisdom of the three wise monkeys. We need to confront the comfort we find in labeling and acting on the basis of the “truths” associated with those labels.
Perhaps we need different role models. Perhaps the presidential candidates might look at how close their behavior can mimic aspects of the troubled Mr. Madeens of this world. Perhaps …..
Written June 14, 2016
The three wise monkeys – see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
I suspect all of us have seen photos or chartreuses to the three wise monkeys with each one presenting a way to avoid seeing, hearing and speaking “evil.”
If one googles “pretending not to see” one will get multiple hits including a site which contains many cartoon images with accompanying words about pretending not to see.
There are many reasons why we do not see ourselves or another person. These include:
· A label which purports to tell us what and who the person is. They may be a member of a certain religion, race, cultural group, profession, gender or any of a million other possibilities.
· Anger about something they did or did not do.
· Fear that they will not stay in the box we have constructed for them.
· Fear of what they may reveal about us.
· Fear of what may be expected or required of us.
· Fear that we will have to revisit something we previously said or recommended.
Two vastly different stories made me think of our tendency to refuse to see. One was a story about a minister who had grown up learning that those individuals who belonged to the Catholic Church were members of a religious organization which was not deserving of God’s Grace. Even though the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Christ in which he had been raised and who he represented as pastor both have the same core history, he had learned to believe that only those who adhered to the narrow beliefs of the Church of Christ would be welcomed home by the God of their understanding (They would have said God since they believed the God of their understanding was the one, true and only God.) Since I tuned into the story in the middle of the program and I was driving at the time, I did not learn the outcome although it seems as if the speaker later questioned his prior beliefs.
Another story which caught my attention was the announcement of one of the United States Presidential Candidates that he would not speak the name of Omar Mateen, the man who killed 49 people and injured many others in the Orlando, Florida club Sunday morning, the 12th of June, 2016. He was incorrectly stating that Mr. Mateen was an immigrant Muslim. As a matter of fact, Mr. Mateen was born and raised in New York. What else do we know about him:
· His family did, as has most of our ancestors, immigrated to the United States at one time before he was born.
· He was a father.
· He was married.
· His wife and some others reported he could become very angry and possibly physically violent.
· He is reported to have visited a gay club where he could safely drink away from the strict non-alcoholic rules of his Muslim family.
· He is reported to have become angry when drunk.
· He is alleged to have logged on to a gay dating site and communicated with others on that site.
· He had previously come to the attention of the FBI who had decided that he was not a real threat and did not have clear understanding of various sects or groups in the Middle East.
· Although he claimed just before starting to shoot that he had some allegiance to a some radical groups he obviously was not even educated about the role of various sects/groups.
· He was a son.
· He reportedly became very angry recently when he observed two men kissing.
· His father says that it is God’s place to punish homosexuals. Muslims, as do many Christians, think homosexuality is a sin.
In short, we know a lot and we know nothing about Mr. Mateen. He sounds like a very troubled, confused, young man. Is it possible that he could have met the criteria for one of the hundreds of possible mental illness diagnosis listed in the most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Associations’ Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM V)? Certainly it is possible but then some have stated that half of the population might meet the criteria for one of the diagnostic labels or the subset of said labels.
Some might question whether a sane person could commit such an act, but legally, if he were alive and being tried, he likely could not have met the criteria for being declared legally insane. Certainly we do not declare all those who at the direction of our government drop bombs often resulting in collateral damage as legally insane. Nor do the declare politicians and military people who ordered such strikes legally insane.
The other presumptive presidential candidate did not refuse to name Mr. Madeed, but did talk as if the problem was radical/militant groups who helped to radicalize young people around the world, including United States citizens.
Choosing to blame radical groups for brain washing the youth or choosing not to name him, make good sound bites, but they only help us play the age old game of “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.”
Mr. Mateen was real. He existed as a many faceted young man who sounds very confused and troubled. At least 49 people are dead as a result of his actions. Many more are still in Orlando area hospitals. Many family members including the family of Mr. Mateen are left to deal with the overwhelming grief.
We need to know this young man as well as is possible. We need to confront our responsibility in helping to promote the so-called wisdom of the three wise monkeys. We need to confront the comfort we find in labeling and acting on the basis of the “truths” associated with those labels.
Perhaps we need different role models. Perhaps the presidential candidates might look at how close their behavior can mimic aspects of the troubled Mr. Madeens of this world. Perhaps …..
Written June 14, 2016
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