Sunday, November 27, 2005

Open mind...

Just dropping a line to say I'm still alive after a wee spin in the Ecuatoranian wilds and to explain the 'webbands' on the top corners of my blog: as usual got the idea looking at other blogs; it is such a sad thing that there is so much intolerance and spite in this world and I liked the idea of the openmind site...

"the belief
Open-mind believes that we should approach various aspects and issues of life and society such as ethnicities, sexual orientations, cultural values, religious beliefs, political positions, and so on with an open-mind. No two persons are exactly the same in this world; everyone is unique with their own perspectives and beliefs.

When we encounter people who have a different viewpoint than ours we should approach them with an open-mind. Having an open-mind doesn't mean that we have to give up our own beliefs and accept others' all the time, it just means that we should try to listen to, and understand others' viewpoints on the subject; try to see where they are coming from. Only after that can we take a side and build our beliefs upon it. Simply to ignore others' points of view and claim that they are false is very immature and unreasonable: ignorance is the main cause of hatred, bigotry, prejudice and discrimination in society.

Furthermore, we should always respect others' points of view. Just because others have a different viewpoint than ours, doesn't mean that ours are better or right and theirs are wrong. Remember, there is no absolute right or wrong, there are only differences" [syntax edited S.O...and 1 error corrected when Gavin proof-read it....doh!]

Funnily enough I thought Kayfer's piece on snobbery with regard to council estate dwellers was along similar lines.

S.O.

9 comments:

ianhug66 said...

Welcome back Span, I like to think I'm open minded. Disabled people like me still suffer prejudice, but you don't hear about it much, not very fashionable I expect..

Span Ows said...

Hi Ian, unfortunately I think you are absolutely right!...apart from the lip-service paid when building regulations must include ramps/ disabled assess etc it is pretty much ignored and your use of the word 'unfashionable'is very true and I'm sure you say from sorry experience....I don't think there is a group of strong, "in-ya-face" lobbyists like many other causes have....now if you were a guinea-pig or a fox it would all be different!

Gavin Corder said...

Crikey, are you coming out Span?

Gavin Corder said...

PS Points of view not point of views!

Span Ows said...

Gavin, well spotted;if you check the original (on their site) you'll note that I had changed it once but they made the same misktae twice,that and half a dozen other errors!

Open mind fair enough but guys, spell check etc???...Come on!

Span Ows said...

P.S...by the way, rest of you...Gavin's not mad (about this anyway) I edited it at about 8:30 pm Sunday.

Gavin Corder said...

I suspect I am barking actually....

Span Ows said...

Barking? Howling! You wolves are all the same!

Kayfer Kettle said...

This is a great piece Spanish!
It's stating what I feel is obvious, but I guess I'm as guilty of the next person, of having my own feelings count first when the chips are really down; that's just the nature of humans that when we feel we are right, or something is truly wrong, we have to stand our corner.

But it really does make for a better life if you approach all people with respect and try to have the open-mind that your thread illustrates.

Thanks for your comments on the snobs post by the way.
I'm sure people think it's so personal because it's my experience, but the truth is, I'm just sick of it being ok to knock the crap out of poor people!

Any other group have the PC side of life all taken care of (as it should be), yet it's still ok to display such verbal shabbiness about poorer people.

Anyway, Welcome back mate.

Lena/Kayfer