Comments on Bahá’í Thought: Psychology of Race

Much like Pauline, I can't help but think of how e...

2008-03-25T20:06:00.000-03:00

Much like Pauline, I can't help but think of how essential Shoghi Effendi's standards are for overcoming any and every kind of prejudice. Love transcends all boundaries. Abdu'l-Baha ask us to look upon even our personal enemies as our friends... can't the same types of negative stereotypes we conjure up for people of different gender, race, ethnicity be created to protect our egos from someone we simply don't like?

Enter the importance of truthfulness, the foundation of all human virtues! As long as we keep lying to ourselves and believing all these false negatives, we will perpetuate injustice, prejudice, and fear.

"Recognize your enemies as friends, and consider those who wish you evil as the wishers of good. You must not see evil as evil and then compromise with your opinion, for to treat in a smooth, kindly way one whom you consider evil or an enemy is hypocrisy, and this is not worthy or allowable. You must consider your enemies as your friends, look upon your evil-wishers as your well-wishers and treat them accordingly. Act in such a way that your heart may be free from hatred."
-Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace

Thanks Phillipe, for always speaking the truth.

Thanks for your thoughts + blog. Yes the "King Kon...

2008-03-24T15:54:00.000-03:00

Thanks for your thoughts + blog.

Yes the "King Kong comparison" in that image is amazing. Just think of the associations if the body types had been reversed.

keep going!

Sonja, The Netherlands.

Thanks Anne for making yourself known, this blog i...

2008-03-24T06:39:00.000-03:00

Thanks Anne for making yourself known, this blog is all about the readers, if noone reads it, then it's basically pointless. It would be like talking to myself which as you know, people get locked up for (smile).

Keep coming back and share your thoughts with the other people reading this blog.

For the rest of the silent readers, be silent no more!

Phillipe thank you for all your observations and t...

2008-03-23T22:36:00.000-03:00

Phillipe thank you for all your observations and the information you provide. I've been a "silent" reader of your blog for a little while and I have a lot to learn...
Anne

Judith and Pauline! These are the kinds of thought...

2008-03-23T12:49:00.000-03:00

Judith and Pauline! These are the kinds of thoughtful and passionate comments that this blog needs. It makes it all worthwhile. Yes this issue of race, sexuality, materialism etc. is incredibly explosive and yes so often connected to violence or the threat thereof. Apparently LeBron James himself has responded to the contraversy, which is raging in some media, that he was simply having some fun. I wonder what Gisele thinks or the photographer who took the photo for that matter about the implications of the Vogue cover. Of course, ours is the same entertainment/fashion culture where Denzel Washington had to play a corrupt, sociopathic cop and Halley Berry had to have graphic sex on screen to get Oscars. Gracious God, even Forrest Whitaker had to play Idi Amin for the "Academy" to finally recognize his talent. Of course I'm being a bit simplistic here but I think you get my point.

Happy New Year to you, too, Pauline!Phillipe, than...

2008-03-23T10:24:00.000-03:00

Happy New Year to you, too, Pauline!

Phillipe, thank you for getting down to the nitty gritty on this topic!
"Vogue" is just what it's title suggests-- it promotes and is a reflection of our materialistic American way of thinking.
Not surprising that it has reduced male/female interracial relations to a cutting edge fashion statement, albeit a little late in the game. Very narcissistic. Both individuals are photographed/portrayed as "into themselves"; where is any connection between them?
But of course there is sex-- It is much more sophisticated, casual, than the overt King Kong-Faye Raye connection. Still, the women in both photos are definitely objects to be had, boiling down to the message: Black men are physically powerful and animalistic and of course they want white women. I need not add that "King Kongs'" punishment for his fixation on poor helpless Faye Raye--she apparently couldn't help herself for oozing sex, and needed to be rescued -- was death.
Dare I suggest that, similar to enticing women towards death through cigarettes with the psychological inducements of "Virginia Slims" ads in the '70's: ("You've come a long way, baby!") there is a seduction towards death of the soul in our American approach to the relationships between men and women, especially when they cross racial divides?

About the strong, underlying racial psychological motivations and assumptions we all have, based on our prior conditioning, I could write a treatise. I think these things need to be pondered, and shared with one another across racial lines, BUT, only in the atmosphere and with the guidelines/boundaries outlined by Shoghi Effendi. And our understanding of "genuine love" needs to be re-defined and founded on the spritual principles outlined in the Writings.--See, for example, 'Abdu'l Baha, on "the four kinds of love", which among other things distinguishes between love and attraction.
Judith W.

Dear PhillipeFor the second time, recently, your p...

2008-03-23T09:46:00.000-03:00

Dear Phillipe

For the second time, recently, your post has reminded me of a Baha'i quotation that I can no longer find. I think it was bandied about a lot in the late eighties when there seemed a lot of compilations on personal transformation. The meaning, as I remember, was that we must all be constantly vigilant in fighting prejudice in our own hearts as prejudices of many kinds can be forming as we journey through life sometimes even though we were not conscious of them. Maybe I have misremembered this but I feel sure that I read this and it made an impression. It seemed to ring true. I just cannot find the quotation any more.

I think this is true. It is so easy to unquestioninly generalize about a whole group of people having met a few people from that group, whether it is a certain nationality, followers of a certain religion, a racial group or any other "type".

Maybe it is something to do with how we learn about the world but I find I have to tell myself that this is not the way to learn about people and sometimes challenge my own thoughts.

Put very simply. If I encounter a certain sort of plant and it stings me I am probably justified in deciding not to touch that plant or have it in my gardern, ever. If I encounter a group of foreign tourists and they are rude I should not generalize that all of that nationality are rude. If I encounter someone of a different race and they are particularly honest, I cannot be sure that all from that race will share that honesty. People are individual and all make choices. I must overcome my instinct to generalize in this situation.

Happy New Year

Pauline