Friday, May 23, 2014

Teaching fear is not moral (#1939)

When we are made to feel as a captive and punished for what we don't understand we all suffer. I think back to my young youth and how every once in a while someone who had temporary control of me used me to vent out their own transferred rage and anger. I remember having to cower with fear just to survive the onslaught of their callous behaviors toward me. I have seen enough of it to know it wasn't just me being treated as a burden, I also saw my family, friends and strangers thus treated. It is humiliating and embarrassing to the worst degree. I couldn't wait until I was strong enough to fend off cruel and inhumane treatment when it came my way. That is no way to live as a child, planning for my defense instead of enjoying the world and learning what good could become of it. What often happens is that though we despised being treated as worthless, we ended up doing the same to those who were vulnerable when we become adults. It is the way we were taught and treated and we survived so don't mess with success. Except that we were not all right, we were damaged and could not see it for ourselves. I am not saying that anyone who does what he learned is not guilty of doing bad, I am just saying that I understand how it is passed along through generations. It is still wrong to teach fear because it works for us in some demented way. Teaching fear is immoral. I remember telling myself numerous times how I was never going to make someone else feel the way I felt after being cowed and embarrassed. But what often happens is we don't plan an alternative method of teaching much different from the fear used on us. I can say that I have come to learn that being aware of my surroundings and the circumstances in play has made learning and teaching much more agreeable to those I interact with as opposed to those who interacted with me so many long years ago.

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