{Conversation Partner #4}
Sometimes, I feel like I rely on stereotypes too much in my life. I
often judge people by their social status or their appearance, which to be
honest, is absolutely ridiculous. Yet,
most of us stereotype people every single day, which unfortunately, makes the idea of stereotyping seem less foreign to us. However, what
this typecasting does to our world is damaging and harmful. It makes our world about judging the outside of people, not
about the inside of people. It makes it all about
the superficial and not about the heart.
I always think it is hysterical when
someone with pink hair walks across TCU’s campus because everyone immediately
turns his or her head toward the victim in a split millisecond, like the
library caught on fire or something. I
think we are so unaccustomed to diversity sometimes that we often do not see
beyond each other’s differences and immediately judge anyone and everyone that
is dissimilar to us.
Because I often think about how
Jesus lived this life, I looked to the Bible for some answers on what He
thought about judgment. One of my
favorite verses came to mind when I was flipping through the bookmarked and
tattered pages.
Jesus gives the Sermon on the Mount
in Matthew 7:1-5 and explains the concept of judgment: “Do not judge or
you too will be judged. For in the same
way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will
be measured to you. Why do you look at
the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in
your own eye? How can you say to your
brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a
plank in your own eye? You hypocrite,
first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to
remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
I think these verses epitomize a lot of my own sin, as well as many others. Like we learned
in class, the superiority theory takes the stance that we often make fun of
others to build ourselves up. It is so
easy to look at those different than us and make fun of their differences. Yet, we are not in the “in crowd.” We are all made in the same image. So, why do we distance ourselves from
others? Why do we see ourselves as
better, when we are not?
Noor
and I have legitimately become best friends.
Monday lunches are my favorite meal because I get to spend them with her
beautiful, smiling face. She radiates
joy, kindness, and compassion. I
am so, so, so blessed I have had the opportunity to meet with someone so
wonderful, strong, and unique that I would have never been able to meet if it
were not for this course.
In
light of this friendship, I am extremely hurt.
I am hurt by the way some people judge her hijab, the way people
distance themselves from Muslims because of a terribly overarching stereotype, and
the way people do not care to understand other people’s cultures. My friend is an Arabic Muslim. She prays 5 times a day to Allah and wears a
headscarf to cover her hair. Yet, my
friend also jumps in pools with her clothes on to makes memories and shops in
the men’s section of Forever 21 because their graphic sweater collection is on
point. My friend takes belly dancing
because she loves the feeling of being free and putting her entire being in the
music. My friend will eat French fries
over any other food because she thinks it is the best food on earth. My friend listens to rap music with me in the
BLUU because we both love sharing headphones across a lunch table.
My
friend is all these things and more. She
is simply not Arabic or Muslim, but a far more amazing human being than I can
ever strive to be. She lives life to its
fullest extent and has taught me way more than I think I will ever teach
her.
I
do it. You do it. We all do it.
We all stereotype a great deal. Yet,
when I think about Noor, my wonderful friend who calls me “sweetie” and bear
hugs me in the BLUU, I rethink making a hasty judgment about someone and think
how I would feel if someone decided not to get to know me because of the way I
looked or where I was from. We are
simply more than our outside identities.
We
are beautifully and perfectly made.
Therefore, we do not have the right to judge anyone else’s beautifully
and perfectly made being.
