Don’t Judge People By The Worst of Their Gender, Race, or Religion

Not all men, not all blacks, not all Christians, not all Jews…how do we tear down bigotry, hatred, misogyny, and racism without demonizing an entire gender, race, or religion?

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

Men have ruled the world for hundreds of years and therefore it’s time for women to break down historic, well-entrenched, male entitlement.

Who can argue with that?

Racism was pervasive from slavery to Jim Crow and continues to this day as it relates to housing, jobs, and economic growth, and it’s time for these — sometimes subtle — forms of discrimination to end.

No problem, right?

Some Christians and Jews are falsely labeled as extremists and are blamed for violence when the whole point of religion is to foster peace, love, and community….it’s time to stop judging people who believe differently than we do.

Agreed?

So how do we separate the good guys from the bad guys?

We can’t just by looking at them.

Maybe it’s impossible to separate those who’ve learned their lessons and want to live in a world of equality and fairness, from those who haven’t.

If we agree it’s not possible to eliminate the patriarchy, racism, or religious bigotry in our lifetime, how do we keep from judging someone strictly based on their gender, skin color, or religion?

How do we separate the good people from the bad ones?

I know this is uncomfortable but it feels like we’re entering a time where people are being increasingly judged based on the sins of others who look or pray like them.

If we’re honest with ourselves, whenever a serial killer or mass shooter is caught — and we don’t yet know their race or religion — most of us hope it’s not a member of our tribe. Not because we blame an entire race but because we’re afraid we’ll be judged because we’re part of that race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc…

That’s absurd, but true.

My whole problem with the Man-Bear analogy is that it demonizes an entire gender the way we’ve historically demonized immigrants, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians — by stereotyping…