Sarfaraz A Rehman: Prejudice leaps forward

Sarfaraz A Rehman: Prejudice leaps forward: Humans are strangely self righteous and tribal about what is not in alignment with their thoughts and familiarity zone. This same though...

Prejudice leaps forward

Humans are strangely self righteous and tribal about what is not in alignment with their thoughts and familiarity zone. This same thought process is the basis of prejudice and racialism, and in more extreme cases death and destruction.

You see it starkly in human behaviour. Take a nice, suburban middle-aged woman as an example. She is quite honest and caring about people and is always ready to help others. Place her in a public area next to a scruffy, dirty youth. Watch how she reacts. I have seen this a few times at airports and  metros. The otherwise quite nice lady, will be abhorred by the disagreeable presence next to her, and wants to get away, so long as it is not construed as being rude. In the time of Trumpism, nothing is considered rude (that filter has been taken away), so more than likely the lady will change seats.

Why? Because she is now judging and rejecting the presence which is contrary to her image of comfort zone. But has the young scruffy person done someone any harm, has he committed a crime? No! That is what prejudice is. Expand it further and it becomes racialism and sectarianism. Take it a bit further, it leads to death and destruction. Notice the coloured guys who are regularly shot by police in USA, simply on racial profiling. Normally, these police personnel would sit and eat with them, but under stress  they can behave like narrow hateful beings when confronted with the out of the ordinary.

Do not be surprised that suddenly prejudice is appearing in droves in apparently very enlightened societies. The seed had always been present. But it had not been watered for several decades. Today its been watered and prepared to come out and so it is visible in tens of millions. It is going to appear more, because the genie is out of the bottle now. It takes a small time for society to deteriorate, but it can take decades to put them back on the right path again.

Similar events happened some 100 years ago and it took much death and destruction to control it. I hope this time humans find a saner and more peaceful way to put humanity back where it should be. Though my reality says it will be a long rocky road. Sadly! 

Sarfaraz A Rehman: A Concept of Living

Sarfaraz A Rehman: A Concept of Living:                                                 Br.freepik.com



 Through long contemplation and discussions, one reaches the conclusi...

A Concept of Living

                                                Br.freepik.com

Through long contemplation and discussions, one reaches the conclusion that we humans have a perception problem in life. We fool ourselves into an illusion of infallibility. Part of this is subliminally input into our brain, through  an aggressive consumer environment.

• We think we will live forever 
• Will always be healthy  
• Always have money and a job to rely on 
• Forever have friends and family
• Our bodies will always stay young
• Our looks are everlasting 
• Our brain will always be sharp and incisive
• We will always keep progressing  

Sadly “none of this is true and nothing will last”. When it is gone, it will seem like the end has come too quickly. 

      

So, we must coax ourselves to believe 

• We will die soon enough
• Our job, our money and fame will not last 
• Our friends will depart
• We will lose our family one way or the other
• We are terminal beings, we decline and disappear 

With such a belief, we “must” live life as if every moment counts. Because it does. Once gone, it will never comeback. Our end maybe tomorrow, and there is so much to do. It is a race against time to fit all the living in.   

The outline of that living is....

• A strong belief in Allah, is the best defence
• Forgive as a compulsion 
• Do not carry a grudge
• Love properly with a tender heart
• Be generous, give, give and give
• Do not fall into envy
• Speak softly (the listener is human too)
• Laugh a lot
• Read a lot

Let us think life is an adventure and leave bits of ourselves wherever we are. That way we will become eternal. 

Sadly it has taken me a lifetime to realise this simple illusion and the reality. (😏😊)