Dear Reader,
This my first non-reading related entry. I want to comment on something I said yesterday "Apparently, this knowledge is the reason that women were subjugated to men in this earlier time. It was Eve's idea after all and Adam just went along with it (which I think makes him kind of dumb). That's like when I was a kid. If my brother did something he wasn't supposed to do, I couldn't get out of being in trouble if I went along with it because he was doing it too. That wouldn't fly at my house."
On Eve, I realize that it's not fair to blame and subjugate an entire gender because of one person's action. But how often do the actions of one or a few people cause rules to be changed in ways that harm an entire populace. As I student, when other children in my class acted up and we were punished as a group, I still needed to endure the punishment.
As someone who employs personal care assistants (PCA), I regret the fact that my employees can now no longer go to pick up their checks at my fiscal intermediary's office when I'm away. This used to be allowed, but a few assistants (other people's and, sadly, one of my own who quickly became my ex employee)took advantage of the situation by doing untoward things such as committing fraud by signing their employer's name on falsified time sheets. As a result, no PCA is able to pick up their checks anymore. They must now barrow their employer's mailbox key (if this is allowed), wait for them to return from from traveling, or (my preference) get direct deposit. Most PCA's clearly did not engage in this wrong-headed behavior, yet they still suffered for it.
On Adam, through out history people have always gotten caught up in doing things because other people did them or endorsed it. From getting tattoos, to driving drunk to engaging in wars. Every child who wants to do something his or her parents don't like knows better than to say "I want to x because y is doing it." Their parent will say "if y jumped off a bridge would you do it,too?"
As an American activist, I'm horrified by the number of massacres, crimes, wars, and other generally poor decisions that result because people don't stand up against things we know in and of ourselves to be wrong. We don't vote the way we feel because we don't want to annoy friends who don't share our principals, we don't do certain activism because it would upset our families/friends/colleagues.
Some times this ideology gets way out of hand. Take the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam. I'm sure that many soldiers knew what was occurring was wrong, but felt they had no power to stop it.
Moreover, consider the Matthew Shepard murder I feel Matthew would still be alive had Russell Henderson, who I believe to be the less capable in murder, let Aaron McKinney drop him off at home, locked his door, and run to the phone to call 911 so they could go get Matthew off that fence. He might be disabled, but he'd be alive.
Think of it, how many of as have done things that we later realize are ill advised if not patently idiotic? How many of us didn't realize the true ramifications of our actions? I know I can't be the only person have followed a friend/loved one down a bad path, but not realized exactly how bad or exactly how many people would be harmed until way too late. I think the same thing happened to Adam, and as a result to the rest of humanity. In truth, I don't think he or Eve really thought about they were doing or its ramifications.
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Did you find it particularly fair when you were punished for the actions of others? Punishment should be about atonement, about learning a lesson so you don't engage in such acts again. Eating the apple again was impossible, as it would have been if god had been appropriately protective in the first place.
ReplyDeleteInstead, he makes humans, gives us that monkey curiosity, and then waits for us to screw up. *This* is the wisdom of the ages? Sounds more like a practical joke to me.
No, of course not, but sometimes like with rule changes in PCA care or actions in a classroom as both teacher ans student (I've been both), I know that you also get groups to self-regulate each other by punishing the whole group. Then you (as authority figure) don't need to work so hard at their management. If a few people are acting poorly and the whole group is punished. Eventually, the larger group will get tired of it and cause the 'wayward' group to act better. I have used this tactic when teaching. Basically I told my students that if they did a certain thing, "Every person in this room will be writing extra homework until your fingers bleed." They opted not to undertake said action.
ReplyDeleteOne would think a being endlessly referred to as all knowing and powerful would have better methods of persuasion.
ReplyDeleteInstead, he acts like a spoiled angry child throughout the whole story.
Angry? Yes, I was angry at my students, too. I tried other methods. I feel that God should have been angry over such behavior. As I was with my students.
ReplyDeleteBut did you kill all of your students, sparing only a few?
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm addressing here is degree and method.
ReplyDeleteYou spoke to all of your students, letting them know they had to self manage or there would be consequences. Knowing you, you spoke thoroughly on right behavior, what the consequences would be, and they had some bearing on what the students were doing. You didn't just slaughter them out of hand.
Of course, I didn't kill them! Threatening them with enough homework to make their social lives non-functional for months, was sufficient in this case. For that, I'm pleased.
ReplyDeleteGod almighty, inventor of quantum mechanics, physics, evolution, and the properties of matter that allow us to communicate instantly back and forth between 20 miles, he couldn't find a better solution than genocide?
ReplyDelete