Talking about disdain…again

Well I was casually minding my own business, and then some thoughts came into my mind about a certain someone whom I have previously spoken of quite unflatteringly on this blog.  Recently I have spoken about the fact that compassion is a muscle, which I need to actively and consciously exercise. What I am trying to say is that I need to deliberately create consistent time in my tight schedule to practise compassion towards these people. Well today showed me or demonstrated to me very strongly that these disdainful thoughts are a habit, my mind ponders on them in a cyclical pattern. You know, I was thinking that it was probably a bit like racism, you know what you are supposed to think.  However, if you have developed a habit of thinking in racist or other discriminatory ways (sexist, ageist etc)  then that habit will assert itself in countless ways in the way you think. If you have developed a habit of racist thoughts then like me you need to deliberately make consistent time in your schedule to cultivate anti-racist thoughts instead.

You know, I don’t usually think of myself as being racist, as I am very very big on the fact that human beings are all made in the image of God with human dignity, and stupendous potential. However – confession: my Facebook feed is filled with amazing things that people of African descent have achieved. And a certain thought has been trying to seduce me for years now: that actually of African descent are not inherently inferior, (as I have been told in so many ways, subtle and unsubtle, throughout my entire lifetime), but rather superior – that is why “they” have tried to keep us down!

Usually I have been able to bat away these thoughts: “That is simply not true, all human beings and ethnicities have stupendous human potential” etc. But then over this last weekend that has just gone, the thought hit me with stronger force than ever, so much so that I actively considered it in my mind for a good few seconds, before I caught myself: “Tosin, you will stop this at once! Because it is completely untrue!” You know what? People of African descent are hugely talented around a broad spectrum of skills, because they are human beings. But so is every other ethnicity, because all the people making up these different ethnicities are equally human beings too!

Because you know what?  This is how racism starts. And it is definitely influenced by sitting there in an echo chamber being bombarded constantly by news of the excellent achievements attained by people of your own ethnicity, and less so the achievements of people of other ethnicities.*   I’m sure that this is how Europeans managed to convince themselves that they were better than other people – looking at achievements which were real, but which had been given to them by God (I’ve covered this in greater length on an earlier blog post) – and then, over time, allowing themselves to become convinced that all these things attested to an inherent superiority.  I have procrastinated about making this point, but the things that I described in that blog post served as a reminder to me of humility: I am so grateful to God for the countless things that He has given me. However, I have to remind myself, always, that these things are a gift from God. They do not attest to any superiority within me.  If I let my head become inflamed with these things, then soon I will become like those people who manifestly have nothing, but flaunt it all the same as if their particular “nothing” is particularly valuable and richly textured.

So I will emphasise it strongly and loudly:  all human beings are made in the glorious image of God, all human beings, all human ethnicities are created with stupendous potentials. And I firmly believe, when I am thinking clearly, that all human ethnicities have equal potential for intelligence. You know, all people have their own individual strengths and weaknesses, but I believe that each ethnicity on the whole will have exactly the same high capacity for mathematical brilliance, or musical brilliance, or linguistic skill as any and every other ethnicity. Where this does not manifest in practice, I believe that this will often be down to systemic issues. I could talk more at length about this…

So going back to the disdain, while thinking over these unflattering thoughts earlier today, I remembered what I had written on this blog about compassion being a muscle. If I am to be honest, my heart is so characterised by lack of admiration for these people that I honestly can’t envisage what it might be like to be otherwise, to actually look upon them with compassion and love.  But the most important thing is that I previously recognised that compassion is a muscle I need to exercise, but I have not been doing that, I have not made the time to invest into this. So the thoughts just popped straight back into my head in their usual cyclical routine as always, because I had not done anything to root them out.

Huggie-Wuggie:  If any potential Huggie-Wuggie is reading this, I have to put my hand up and say that this disdain is my worst habit.  I would really welcome prayers regarding this. I know that God hates the self-righteousness of my heart, and He hates the fact that I would ever look upon anyone else with disdain, when everything that I have in terms of spiritual understanding has come straight from Him.  My amazing upbringing was clearly not due to me any more than King Charles was responsible for his being born into the royal family.  Everything I have is a gift from God. So does that mean we cannot hold people accountable?  The Bible teaches that people still need to be held accountable for things that they do wrong. However, the point is that I should not then elevate myself in my mind, but rather remain humble.

*This is how the whole of UK news media functions for Brits or at least it feels that way for me. Actually no, things are undoubtedly changing for the better, with many newspapers and other media going out of their way to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of a diverse group of people.