Undoctrination.org

From the cradle, most of us are taught certain social mores that make us more tolerable to our peers. Manners, and other “appropriate behavior.” And this is a good thing. It makes us more “tolerable” to those around us.

As social mores change, our behaviors change. The “Women’s Liberation Movement” changed a lot of the things we teach or were taught (how many men still stand up when a woman enters or leaves a room…?), yet – we’re still pretty tolerable when it comes to our peers, if we were taught the basic “social graces” and manners.

One definition of bigotry is ignorance. If a person doesn’t understand something, they tend to be more suspicious of that thing. Ignorance makes us intolerant to those things we don’t understand, and that intolerance makes us bigots. Many people have changed their bigotry and ignorance towards things they didn’t understand through learning, and their intolerance has dissipated through that learning process. Learning more about something doesn’t automatically make you a “convert,” nor does it mean you’ve abandoned your own belief system. It just makes you more tolerant.

I’ve known full blown racial bigots who have become quite tolerant of other races through learning more about the culture and social structure of those races. They’ve admitted that they were bigoted at one time because they knew little or nothing about those other races, and therefore developed an innate suspicion and intolerance through that ignorance. Some can’t – or won’t break their ignorance or bigotry, regardless. I’ve known others who have never had a racially bigoted thought in their lives, because they were taught early on that ALL men were indeed created equal.

Religious bigots are a bit more challenging, however. Some have been raised in a certain denomination or faith and have absolutely no desire to learn about others – either through a subconscious fear of enlightenment, or through ignorant contentment.

I had a little different “learning curve” – I come from German/Jewish heritage. My  families immigrated to the Midwest, and quickly assimilated into the American cultures. I was raised in the Anglican Church, seriously considered seminary as a career choice, but became disenchanted in my teens because of a heretical priest, and explored many different denominations, seeking a comfort level for my faith. I’ve studied Roman Catholicism, and most of the Protestant denominations of Christianity. I feel no bigotry or intolerance towards anyone who practices Christianity regardless of their doctrine – I do have an issue with respect in some cases, which I’ll address in a bit. I believe that when it boils right down to it, Christians are Messianic Jews (Jesus Christ was a Jew, who preached reform of the Jewish Law), and I embrace the teachings of the Old Testament as much as the New Testament.

OK – here’s the respect issue:  I do however, find great amusement in those who profess to be devout (fill in the blank here), yet have tremendous intolerance for anyone who believes even slightly differently. In my mind, that intolerance goes against the grain of the basic tenet of Christianity, and what’s amazing is that much of that intolerance comes from the pulpit of their church! Acceptance is not an option with these folks. It’s “their way or the highway” – and I get mental images of people like that with bags over their heads and earplugs firmly inserted. And hypocrisy runs amok among many of those churches, too. But, “live and let live” is one of the social mores I was taught, so although I do not respect this aberration of Christianity, I tolerate it, because I understand it and recognize the ignorance that foments the behavior.

If I had to confess a bigotry, it would have to be of Islam. I do not understand Islam. I am for the most part, ignorant of Islam. What little I have studied, I have come to the personal conclusion that Islam is more a Theocracy than it is a Religion, and that level of  intermingling of government and religion can be a dangerous thing.

I am not bigoted towards people who practice Islam, understand – they were raised to believe in this Theocracy. People convert to and from Islam everyday, just like they do other religions, or denominations within Christianity.

But tolerance is a “two way street,” isn’t it? The missionary who traveled into an uncivilized area of a jungle may or may not have been successful – some were not, and died. Some were, and converted village after village to a particular faith.

We can become more tolerant of each other through understanding. But if I memorize the Koran to have a better understanding of Islam, I am not guaranteed that my Muslim counterparts will devote any time at all to the Bible. If I study the Catechism to understand Roman Catholicism better, there’s no guarantee a Roman Catholic will take the time to read or study another point of view on Christianity. So meaningful dialogue breaks down once we get past their doctrine, because they’re ignorant of alternative doctrines.

If I take the time to learn about – study, even – any particular denomination of Christianity to become more tolerant of their doctrine of faith, I cannot be guaranteed that those who fanatically follow that denomination will take the time to learn about other denominations, making them more tolerant, can I?

What we all need to recognize is that just because we do take that time to learn more or study something alternate to what we’ve been brought up to believe, it doesn’t mean we’re “converting” or abandoning our current belief system. It just means we’re open to acceptance of others – by opening our minds. Knowledge is power. In fact, that’s one of the things that frightened many religions and churches a few centuries ago (and some these days). They knew that once their minions gained knowledge, they risked losing control over the masses.

There are intolerants among us. They preach hatred and suspicion against anything contrary to what they’ve been taught to believe. Organized religion and political parties maintain their hold on those people through fear. And that fear is usually brought on by doubt. A deep seeded, subconscious doubt in the very belief system they’re arguing or fighting so strongly for.

There’s a reason why we’re taught to never discuss politics and religion in a social gathering, as a social more … the two can be quite similar when it comes to intolerance.

We need to break this trend of bigotry, ignorance and intolerance. And here at www.undoctrination.org we’re chipping away at the walls every day.