The Other Whom You Meet

It isn't easy to persuade people to see the other for what he or she is, and not stereotype. It would seem natural for anyone to label people according to one's likes and dislikes, according to sex, religion, race, and demographic features.

But, what would seem to be natural is not necessarily the moral thing to do.

Morality may not even be a natural thing.

Neither is humankind. True, our bodies and minds do follow some rules of nature. But, it would be a mistake, a case of reducing the human person to just being a natural product. If this were so then Hitler and his cohorts would be right in thinking that some persons are not worthy of rights enjoyed by those whom they deemed fit to enjoy those rights.

These days, people have been clamoring to be heard; people who belong to the 'gay group', the lesbian group, the invisible minorities. In other words, those groups that have been kept silent, now, demand to be heard.

Yet, people who are against them don't see them as persons; rather they see them as belonging to 'groups' that they see as being 'morally' offensive .

The problem with this is that peope still view other people as belonging to 'a group who happen to be homo sapiens'. They can't take away that label out of their hearts that affect their ways of thinking about other people, and even about themselves. Just thinking to change isn't going to change anything.

The only way out is to change their hearts. And, to do that is to actually go and meet and have an immediate encounter with the person who happens to belong to one of the groups.

Everyone knows that looking at a photo of a poor and malnourished child is no substitute for actually witnessing, holding, speaking with, caring for, a poor and malnourished child.