The Labeling of Labels

The Labeling of Labels

5/12/12

As we look at people we see that we come in all shapes and sizes.  Our accents in our voices define a rough geographical characteristic while allows us to have identification of a homeland on this earth.  The color of our skin is just that, a color and it does not define anything else about our lives, or that is the way we should be looking at things.  Yet in our own grotesque ways humans love to place labels on each other to help us identify ourselves on every level possible in which we fail to see, or do not care to see, the lasting effects that it has on our society.  God does not compare us to these standards so why do we allow our own kind to do the opposite, maybe there is a reason and we are ignoring the truth behind it.

Have you noticed how many labels are placed upon people these days?  It has been common for decades for people to have names for themselves but recently these labels have become so intense and divisive that they are beginning to bring out an anger in people which is allowing some to revert back into the segregated categories of past times.  Labels are not meant to be used as a means of identification of a person nor should they be used in a demeaning manner when a person expresses her / his feelings or positions.  I attribute this new epidemic on personal beliefs to the issue of debating and how we have been “called” to debate every issue that is currently being presented in the current media.

My personal feelings concerning debates are probably felt by some people and some would not agree with me since they truly believe in debating issues rather than talking or discussing issues with others.  In a debate the parties involved have prepared their defenses by lining similar people to support their positions while the subject is being addressed on both sides of the so called aisle.  This type of grouping is a fine approach in private debate sessions but to automatically or deliberately bring a person onto a setting as a guest and berate them with questions that are known to ignite anger or objectionable sentiment towards another group of individuals is pathetically wrong and should not be addressed in any manner.  If people really care about getting their message across to others and not trying to boost their ratings or credibility then they would have legitimate questions for these people that do not agree with them and actually have the desire to sit and listen to their answers so that both sides can find common ground to work on getting these subjects fixed.  And to be honest if a group of debaters bring other people into this setting that do not agree with them and then place a label on these people when they give their answers then the people who invited these people invoking segregation upon people with different views than theirs.

I have watched over the years with the growth of the cable news media trends that each side of the aisle take on issues that they deem important.  It is fascinating, funny, and sad to spend hours upon hours watching the ideologies that are thrown towards each commentator to try and issue a proclamation against their ideas and demonize them in front of millions and millions of people.  It is now a common practice to use these labels against people and to charge them with an overall creed that will follow them or discredit them for an unknown amount of time in the future.  I do not know about you but this scenario seems eerily familiar about some instances in human history that caused some serious damage to the human race by inciting violent behavior to try and clear ones name or proving themselves that these labels are correct.

Placing a label on a person automatically sets up that person in a defensive position.  Their defensive mechanisms rise to the surface and their inner emotions usually take over, especially when their group has already been identified with a label due to a past situation where words have been used in order to credit the person with a specific label.  What is accomplished by placing a label on a person, power?  Being the first to make a statement about another individual or group? So what!!  What does it actually accomplish but by dividing people even further than what they are currently.

So if you label a person why stop with just one label why not give them another one or two more or how about ten more?  All it shows is that whoever has a label on them whether admitted or given has either been hijacked into an isolation state or has voluntarily isolated themselves into a certain realm of discontent with another person or another group of people.  And since these isolated and like-minded people tend to congregate together now have the opportunity to add further labels upon others and see it as a contest to deem these labeled people unworthy of any credibility.  Remember it is a human trait to increase and go forward with ideas when the opportunity arises.

The labeled groups can now be subject to individual or group planning sessions in order to persuade the interested public in directions to decide if they are for or against the current positions.  Let’s stop and think about this scene for a moment, isn’t this a type of bullying?  Poking fun at or pushing some people around because they are different or that they might not believe in the same things that they do?  Isn’t there a huge campaign going on now, and rightly so, about how to teach our children not to be bullies in school and also to report bullies to the school authorities? So, why is this practice acceptable in the adult world and especially on international media occasions?

How difficult would it be to recognize a person or to acknowledge a person by their name or by their appearance?  Names have been used in past societies as well as general appearances along with every other type of identifying human marker.  Labels are even placed upon people that coincide with the jobs that they have, I myself have fallen into labeling people in this way or thinking about these people in certain instances.  We as humans find it easy to mark a person as a method of identification and most times to elevate our own social or ethnic status towards the labeled group.

How far are we going to allow this type of activity to occur?  What is going to have to happen for us to realize what we are actually doing to people by the words or phrases that we use to insult or degrade these people?  I know that humans will have to use some type of identifier in order to get an idea of what people look like, but we do not have to use it in a derogatory way in order to describe them.  Let us try and get rid of the “R” and the “D” labels and the other labels such as Catholic, Anglican, or Protestant in a manner to identify these people as a positional stance and an object of ridicule.  Why don’t we try and discuss our differences with people and not representatives or try to answer other people’s questions in a manner of respect for the question and that person instead of in the confines of an old Roman gladiator setting?

Yes, the Church is just as guilty in this type of division as the secular crowd.  The names and labels that we have placed upon our fellow believers have been horrendous, uncalled for and has provoked violence against these groups.  You look at Church history and it is filled with tribulation after tribulations against people who believe differently than the ruling religious order. 

Just a quick example of this and it is a popular one which deals with King Henry VIII.  We all know that Henry established the Anglican Church in order to marry one of his wives after the Catholic Church would not grant him a divorce; and many of us know that he had some of his wives beheaded for activities against him and the church.  But these activities stretched beyond the limitations of church and state and became a personal insult to the King if they did not render full concession of total submission to the King which included a complete and forced recantation of their life-long spiritual beliefs.  Are we going to get to this point? The Bible says that in some time down the road that these conditions will be present in our world, but why do we wish to lose our privileges now?

Another example is of an organism called a bacterium.  It does not recognize white from black or short from tall, all it does is invade the areas that it is exposed to and will reproduce in this environment accordingly.  The bacterium becomes a colony of bacteria and then splits off and has the potential of infecting a larger area or even the entire body.  Bacteria do not recognize any differences in these people so why do we have to be less advanced than a bacterium?  In reality this concept plays out through our words towards others in the way that many groups (bacteria) that are placed into our societal settings are unleashed and become infective in other groups which in turn continue the spreading of the bacteria to other groups.  Now returning to the Church…

It is time for the Church to realize its mistakes and to begin unifying ourselves in a forward direction that Christ has commissioned us to do.  It is not who has the correct message since all of us will have differences in doctrinal dissertations but these petty differences should not hinder the entire church from completing its mission that was set before us.  No longer can we accept our Christian brothers as inferior to our personal and pious denominational beliefs, we must work together to win the world for Christ and to reverse the destructive verbal paths that are enslaving our communities.

Is it possible to mesh our denominational boundaries together in order to turn the world for Christ?  It better be or this boundary system will ultimately be responsible for the lackluster and dormant response to Christ’s command to preach the Kingdom to the world.  A divided church cannot stand; yes I know that is not exactly what the Word of God states but the concept is the same and it should be recognized as such.

God is looking for people to do such a mission, to bring the church together and to complete the work that is before them.  People who do not care about the denominational divisions that continue to rule the church but care enough about the people of this world to proclaim the gospel of Christ to a dying world.  Not by labeling these people or placing a tag around their neck that holds a sign that identifies them and isolates them from other people but to love them and to talk with them about their alternatives to the current paths that they have chosen.  It is time that they know that Jesus died for them and that God loves them enough to send His son to accomplish this task for us.  It is also time that these people have the opportunity to understand that they have the authority to stand up against these spiritual attacks against their lives and how to defend themselves when these attacks occur. 

The “best in show”  and the “back of the bus” boundaries that the Church has created has run its course and it is time that this doctrinal foundation be replaced by a Godly foundation that can be used as a real example to the world and actually be functional in our own lives.  And as long as these labels remain in the secular and in Church societies nothing good will ever come about within the human race.  This type of activity will only breed hate and discontent which in turn will produce a new generation of people that have no respect for the human or their principles, beliefs, or activities that they may possess.  Instead of being in the back of the bus why don’t we all sit behind the driver’s seat of buses and return them to the neighborhoods to which they were built for.

Yes, all of us no matter what the situation will be will have differences in opinions, that is a fact that none of us can ignore or get around, but this fact does not need to define a person or label them in order to elevate our own pedestal.  We need to respect the individual once again enough to have decent conversations with them and not be afraid to say or do anything that would allow them to place a label on another person.  Look at it in this fashion, if we are labeling other people then we are actually labeling ourselves as well, which totally defeats our so called intentions towards others.

We can try Gods way by restoring our integrity and honor towards other humans.  It is a great process and is so fulfilling which will take away so many troubles within our lives.  It will unite society once again so that real issues can be worked on and appropriately fixed.  We always say to others not to judge us, but remember that if we do not restore our lives and spirits back to God then one day in the future we will be judged by the one being that can honestly judge our lives, and will probably place His own label upon our lives.  God loves each and every one of us and He loves he Church just as much but it is His desire for us to put away our harmful acts against each other and work together to save humanity for its certain destruction.

DLB