Preconceptions

     Have you ever challenged your preconceptions, when you hear yourself speaking out against the views of someone?  When you hear of geographic places you have never traveled, are you aware of your preconceptions regarding the place, and the people who live there?
     I pride myself on being an open-minded person.  I pride myself on being sensitive to other people, and deliberate in my thought--not rash in making conclusions. At the same time, I would like to think I am a humble person.  How is that for a contradiction in terms--prideful, and humble.   I was about to say that I am not proud of being prideful:)  I guess that means a friend was right.  You are not "Perfect Patty," you are human.
    OK.  I offer these thoughts as a  pretext by which to understand my offering today.
    I have been writing this blog since September 2010.  Initially, people reading my blog were from the United States.  No one from other countries was reading my blog.  I was excited that anyone was reading my thoughts. However, as time passed, I became greedy.  I harbored grandiose expectations of reaching people from other countries in the world.  I didn't have a particular country in mind, I just wanted for my ideas to travel beyond the borders of the United States.  My expectations have never been to rally supporters for a particular political, or religious ideology.  My life is guided by political, and religious principles, yet, winning converts to my personal beliefs for the sake of winning over the largest number of converts was never my goal.
    As time progressed, I did break the barrier, if you will, of the American borders.  I started to recognize preconceptions I had, when I learned of the different countries my blog reached via online search engines.
    I feel very fortunate regarding exposure to people of other countries.  As a child, our family participated in a foreign exchange program through which social workers from nations throughout the world visited social service agencies in the Twin Cities.  Over the years, we hosted a man from Denmark, a man from Italy, a South Korea, and a woman from Austria.  Travel was a passion.  I have postcards from other family members, who traveled to England, France, Poland, and the Soviet Union.  I have enjoyed seeing Austria, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, and very brief moments in Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.  I say that not to brag.  Rather, I say that to portray the subtle foundation upon which I imagine my preconceptions are based.
   Upon learning that my blog had been read in Denmark, images of Knut--our Danish exchange participant--came to mind.  Upon learning my blog had reached Russia, I was transported back to family postcards, and phone calls from the Soviet Union.  You get the idea.  My preconceptions were rooted in associations with Russia, and experiences in European countries.
    Since September, 2010, I have wondered about South America.  My blog entries had been read by at least one person in Europe, in Russia, in New Zealand, and in Africa.  The South Pole exceeds my aspirations.  Yet, no one from South America.
    Today, someone did--someone from Peru.  [Be assured, I know nothing more than countries, tallies of hits within those countries, and the time when  someone in the world read my blog.  So there is no reason to be concerned about privacy.]
     Touching Peru--someone within Peru--led me to question my preconceptions regarding Peru.  My only personal association with South America was a family member's Caribbean cruise that touched Venezuela.  But, I knew little of South America.
    My sense of South America, of what people in South America were like, as though a single profile could be, is based upon coverage regarding South America, and South American people.  I am being very deliberate about saying South American people, because, I thought I was being open-minded by drawing one single profile.
   Given that, let me offer fleeting impressions.  Rio de Janeiro.  Mardi Gras.  2016 Olympics.  Venezuela.  1973.  OPEC.  Oil.  Colombia. Drug trafficking.  Brazil.  Brasilia. Modern society.  Chile.  Andes Mountains.  Rescued miners.  Paraguay, Uruguay.   Nothing.  I know they exist. But, nothing.   What other countries in South America have I forgotten.  A Google search.  Bolivia.  Coffee.  Ecuador.  You've got me.  French Guiana.  Guyana.  I was thinking Africa.  But, I was confusing Guiana, and Guyana with the African nation of Guinea.
    Peru.  Mountains.  Remote villages.  Farmers.
    I am not proclaiming that my impressions are accurate.  That is just the point.  Am I open to the notion--am I willing to admit--that my preconceptions may be inaccurate?  Am I open to--interested in--challenging my preconceptions?  Am I interested in correcting gross inaccuracies in my preconceptions?
    I am not saying that it is humanly possible to disspel all preconceptions we have.  Preconceptions are an essential starting point in our daily lives.  We need to have some basis to take any actions in our daily lives.  But, the danger of preconceptions in our lives--in our world--is when we are not willing to challenge our preconceptions, and correct inaccurate preconceptions that we become aware of.
    I pray that when I am inaccurate in preconceptions, that the individual who becomes aware of those inaccuracies will call me on it, and correct my understandings, so that I may live with greater integrity.  I invite you to submit yourself to that same standard.  But, I respect you more than to make complying with that standard as a litmus test for my respect of you.

Belief, Faith, and Religion

Listening to the public discourse regarding the freedom of Muslims to worship, I have been reminded of the complexity of belief, faith, and religion.

Too often, these three terms are used as synonyms.  They are interrelated, yet, they need to be distinguished.  We use labels to provide a frame of reference from which to proceed in human relations.

Yet, we must not use labels as a substitute for listening to, talking with, and understanding one another.

When I started to write this blog this week, I was surprised to find myself stopped in trying to introduce myself in a way that accurately describes and reflects who I am, what my beliefs, and faith are.  My problem?  I wanted to describe myself fully in labels,  rather than express myself fully in carefully chosen words, and in temperate voice.

In 2010, I attend a Catholic Mass in communion with individuals, who challenge me to live fully--to live with integrity.  I am a practicing Catholic--I am practicing so that I may affirm life, and rid my spirit of intolerance, disrespect.  I dedicate myself to be in communion with individuals with whom I am in agreement, but, much more importantly, I dedicate myself to be open to individuals with whom I do not share the same practices or beliefs.  I may say that I am firmly rooted in Christian teachings--in Christian living.

But...the moment I speak or act in any way that denigrates the dignity of someone whose beliefs or actions I disagree, I contradict my beliefs, disavow my faith, and lose the privilege of celebrating my religion.

I must resist any temptation to denigrate those individuals, who oppose the rights of other individuals to exercise the freedom of religion.

I dedicate myself to learn from--to be enriched by--the diversity of beliefs, opinions, and ways of living that surround me.  I pray all may share in this dedication.