Dissipating Prejudice

I have realized something lately. I have prejudice. The truth came on me hard. There is a subset of the population that I have very little if no tolerance for, a group of people I assume have no feelings.  This is something I didn’t realize until this week.

“Who is it?” you ask.  Well, if you know me well you know that it is the type of person who always wins the argument – who seems to not notice other’s feelings when discussing things but only the point – who tells people what to do even when they are not in charge, who sometimes won’t stop talking to give others room to talk.  My gut desire is to tear down anyone trying to be in power.  When the outgoing  bossy man comes in who likes things just so and will tell you about it, they are not human to me. It is a tough realization.

It is good to have boundaries around  people if we need them. However,  people are people. Such people do have feelings, and why they are bossy I do not know.  It could be a sense of the world needing them.  It could be that ideas and people are separated in the way their brain works. It could be so many things. And yes, it can also be pride and other sin.  I just do not know. Therefore, some balance is needed. It is important to respect them as human beings even when having many many boundaries.

Many of us know that we should respect other human beings, but is there a type of human that you simply don’t respect? Many people say they are not prejudiced, but they are against those who are prejudiced. Those readers who are Christians: We pray that God have Mercy on the sinner. But is there a certain kind of “sinner” that  you don’t really want God to have Mercy on?

One problem with this is that this lack of charity hurts us. Yes. We absolutely need to know how to have good boundaries and not just let anyone push us around. But the person inside is still a person, and the bitterness does damage. And when we spot these same characteristics in ourselves, it can lead to self hatred. What we despise in others, we often despise in ourselves.

Today, let us ask our Higher Power for charity to see others as human beings, balanced with protection for our hearts. This way, we will find much more peace.

May God bless your day.