Sacred Cows

[kokopelle]

I am torn philosophically and emotionally. As a good liberal guy, I believe that there is a place for (more) correct thought and action. It is reasonable for a group or society to establish guidelines of respect and tolerance, however, too often the guardians of these behavioral expectations fault in the treatment of the individual in their eagerness to address larger wounds and issues. I've seen this in a convergence of recent news items and past thoughts:

1) An accusation of racial slurs against a school administrator quoting lines from "Blazing Saddles". There are calls for termination of the official.

2) In the Sudan, the calling for a death sentence against a school teacher who named a stuff bear class mascot "Mohammad". The naming was done with the agreement of the children in the class.

3) The accusation of willful and deliberate harm when fluffiness and plastic shamanism are called against newbies/solitaires/outsiders.

The common thread of these items is that the intention of the accused is largely misrepresented by those calling for blood. The acts may be stupid or disagreeable, but the acid response by the guardians of the sacred cows spoke to agendas outside of the incident at hand. There is assumed a level of hatred, evil and deceit that is not embraced by the intentions of the accused. In fact, there are examples of the guardians, or their ilk, demonstrating the same behavior while not facing the same level of response. The issues at hand seem to be emotional monsters that supersede and overwhelm the actual transgressions of those accused. I find this both very disturbing and very human.

Comments

This PSA brought to you by tongue placed firmly in cheek

[tinhuviel.livejournal.com]

1) Anyone quoting Mel Brooks is a saint and should be treated as such. In the case of 'Blazing Saddles,' the "offender" probably isn't even quoting Mel, but Richard Pryor, who was a genius at making people think about themselves and their crap double standards. Double kudos to both Richard and the "offender."

2) The teacher didn't name the bear, the students did. Why not string them up instead? We could use the population control.

3) Only fluffy bunnies who've been in the community long enough to know better should be shot on site with spit ball guns. The rest should be ignored or snickered at like the loons they are.

Love you!

Re: This PSA brought to you by tongue placed firmly in cheek

[elnigma.livejournal.com]

Yes on all points.

4) Those words can hurt, none of the examples were proper cases of "fighting words" that should involve someone getting hurt for using them.
Mohammed one? Kids named the bear, no malice was meant, not a "fighting word".
Third example is coming out of some ridiculous notion "the pagan community" is a "community" and "accepts everyone". If the fact these notions are false is too much - newbie/fluffy of any type - come back when its okay to oneself if not everybody (not even those Pagan) will support what you're doing - if you actually DO anything.

[chimerae.livejournal.com]

Humans are really complex . . . and because our overt communication is a sort of shorthand for our larger mutual meanings and exchange we make things simpler than they really are, creating hairballs of delegated unattended meaning.

Context is key to communication . . .context is an integral element of communication. A sort of 2's complement (the inverse, only not) of the Mohammed-The-Bear issue would be to remain silent and uncomplaining within the context of a unacceptable community standard -- slavery, child abuse, or whatever. That silence implies acceptance to the dominant mindset.

In the case of Mohammed-The-Bear, I question the appropriateness of a teacher within a Muslim culture who did not realize there would be consequences. Is it colonialism that her values on something as minor as naming Teddy should trump the values of the society. "The kids named the bear" doesn't cover it -- we all have experienced how leadership and directed communication can draw out some suggestions and not others. That culture (which is not OUR culture) responded according to their legal standards, but she was allowed to leave the culture -- probably the appropriate outcome. Because we come from a culture of intergenerational colonialism, we don't recognize it as an element of a communication dynamic.

Policing behaviors and policies are always edgework.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

As I noted in the original blog, those being accused of wrongs probably did commit an act that was stupid or disagreeable. I think the train jumps off the tracks when the stupid is judged as evil, and the punishment is crafted to the latter condition.

Wisdom I gained from another blogger... it it may have been you my friend... don't assume people are being evil. They are probably just being lazy or ignorant. This sentiment makes human nature more palpable.

[chimerae.livejournal.com]

Kent Benander was an engineer who worked for me. He dad had a career as a Highway Patrol officer. Kent was big and strong. His first week on the job he accidentally tore a coax cable in half one handed. I was charmed that I hung it cerimoniously on our awards wall for over a week until I finally sussed that he was embarrassed.

It was a Kent Benander mantra that has served me so well all these years:

Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

ah... it was you that I was grossly paraphrasing (smile).

[chimerae.livejournal.com]

It's my experience that Liberal/Conservative are masks (duh) It's like preferring football or baseball -- the rules are different, but the players are just people, and hence pretty much the same.

It first blew my mind when I noticed that the best effective environmentalists I had ever met were arch conservatives. Their behavior was ecologically on target just because it seemed so clear to them that it was the thing to do, not because it was a posture performed for an audience.

Now, even though my personal inclination is to liberal thinking I'm surrounded by extreme liberals. And, because we're all just people, there's lots of talk and posturing masks about everything in the world, but the dumbest person watching them live knows it's all a lie. THEY don't know that, 'cause they're so caught up in their posturing.

Especially in shamanic practice, it seems to me that putting masks on and off and entering and exiting Edgespace IS the work.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

*Especially in shamanic practice, it seems to me that putting masks on and off and entering and exiting Edgespace IS the work.*

Agreed. I would add that part of the work is deciding when to enter Edgespace and when not to. There is a lot of suspension of belief in shamanic work. This is balanced with shamanism being very grounded in a very real reality of energy, beings, relationships, etc. The practitioner is expected to bring both their head and their heart to the event because both are needed for seeing the wisdom of the truest current edgespaces.

[breimh.livejournal.com]

The practitioner is expected to bring both their head and their heart to the event because both are needed for seeing the wisdom of the truest current edgespaces.

Exactly as I've put it to some of the local group of practitioners here. Well noted and well said, my friend.

[lupagreenwolf.livejournal.com]

Newbies I'll defend. However, solitaires who have access to the internet, or who can at least talk shop with other pagans, don't have an excuse once they're not really newbies any more. (I say this as a "career" solitary.)

I will agree, though, that some of the actions taken again fluff bunnies and other such folks can be on the harsh side, and so I'll agree to an extent with your general argument.

[elnigma.livejournal.com]

I'm remembering how there was a posse of people who were stalking various folks whom they had disagreements with on the net, with the excuse they were newbies/fluffies who needed to be taught a lesson or something. I had that happen to me, some dork was getting a few of his friends to keep tabs on me, he called his campaign "Total Information Awareness" I kid not. I was told from various people he had made a web page saying b.s. about me somewhere on his site, but I never saw it.

They might have been trying to seem superior, but my opinion of them then, and continues to be, that they were nutters and sociopaths.

[lupagreenwolf.livejournal.com]

*nods* I've seen some of the backlash against fluffs (or people *perceived* as fluffs). It's not pretty.

[elnigma.livejournal.com]

I don't understand why people bother. It doesn't seem clever.
A couple people I know like to back-harass a nutter, who lives a thousand miles away from them. Sockpuppet frenzy. Why spend the time on someone a thousand miles away who will eventually leave you alone if you leave them alone?

[lupagreenwolf.livejournal.com]

The argument seems to be "These people are giving other people, including newbies, potentially bad and even dangerous information. let's stop them before they cause too much trouble".

[elnigma.livejournal.com]

Bogus - Most of the people these posses go after aren't professional instructors in some magickal practice.

[lupagreenwolf.livejournal.com]

On the internet, anyone can be an authority ;) Though in seriousness, at least some of the targeted fluffs have tried to set themselves up as teachers of a sort.

[elnigma.livejournal.com]

Its been frequently noted, the intelligent will attack someone's ideas if they are wrong, not the person. Posting a website with their picture, stalking them around the net, talking about their personal lives is not proving their ideas are in error. It just shows someone's way too interested in what the other person's doing.

[lupagreenwolf.livejournal.com]

Oh, I definitely agree. I'm primarily talking about the people I've seen; the ones who went after you are just trolls.

[elnigma.livejournal.com]

I could see people pretending that's their argument. As they go after some newbie..

[lupagreenwolf.livejournal.com]

*nods* Sometimes newbies do get attacked as fluffs. In that case, I tend to remind people, "Hey, you had to start somewhere, too".

can't resist

[chimerae.livejournal.com]

I can never see the words "Sacred Cows"
without thinking of Mark Twain:

Sacred cows make the best hamburger.