A question about human beings. [Serious Discussion]

[Jax Humanhater]

I have been reading different books about the histories of groups of people (e.g., Muslims, Christians, Germans, English, Americans, etc.), reading news about occurrences that involve a person in that particular group, and, going out to deal with society on a daily basis.

My question is:

Why does every group, whether it be race/religion/class/etc., seem to have its entire image distorted based on the actions of a few unscruplous individuals?

I will use some examples I mentioned in the first part:

Muslims are generally portrayed as shameless people with long beards or burqa/hijab who will kill anyone that they view as a "disbeliever". They(not the Muslims) also portray the Prophet as a "bearded, smelly guy who killed disbelievers and had sex with young children. " I was born into Muslim family, hence my full name, and, many Muslims I met at gatherings are people who make an honest living and contribute to society, just like many other people. They don't make the believer thing a big issue because, it is not something that is constructive to think about.

The region of my country that I live in has many people who call themselves Christians; many of them are down-to-Earth and don't waste time on frivolous issues. There are Christians here in the town I live in that condone the killing of brown and black people, and burn crosses while dressed in white robes and hoods all while proclaiming they follow Christianity. Jesus would certainly not do such sickening acts in the name of his God. They portray Jesus as a person who hated blacks, Arabs, Muslims, gays, women, and pretty much any person that is not a white Christian male. Many of these "Christians" are involved in the Tea Party.

Germans have been portrayed as Nazis, but, it is only a tiny number of them.

English people have been viewed as snooty and rude, but I have met many who are accomadating.

Americans are portrayed as stupid, fat and ignorant. Well, 1 in 3 Americans are obese, yes. But, onto the bottom line, many of us truly care about our country more than all the politicians in Washington. We are portrayed as stupid because we glorify our idiots more than our sensible citizens.

Virtually, all the major religious texts say something like: most humans in this World have the best intentions; it's a small few who are malevolent in their thoughts, and, they control the world.

 

[Fredrik Arbegard]

Humans are from animal decent and shares a lot of our behaviors with animals still.
Animals observes and remembers situations where they feel uncomfortable or dangerous and hence after that tries to avoid getting into similar situations.
That's why I think humans react like this when it comes to what individuals does, it is or brain conflicting with our natural instincts.

 

[Ho3n3r]

I have been reading different books about the histories of groups of people (e.g., Muslims, Christians, Germans, English, Americans, etc.), reading news about occurrences that involve a person in that particular group, and, going out to deal with society on a daily basis.

My question is:

Why does every group, whether it be race/religion/class/etc., seem to have its entire image distorted based on the actions of a few unscruplous individuals?

I'm guessing you mean like Muslims being perceived as 'evil' in some areas? Well, if you live in South Africa, you get to see many people of many religions/races, and I can tell you now that most Muslims I meet here are some of the most pleasant and sincere people I know.

Every race has their extremists, but sadly some races have more than their fair share. However, this doesn't mean it's the cause of their religion, but rather the way they were 'brainwashed' by previous extremists.

I believe people must be open-minded in terms of both the good and the bad side of each religion, and not judge others just by the bad side because it's convenient.

 

[Ho3n3r]

Also, Americans as a whole are not fat and lazy, but the fact is that it is the country with the highest level of overweight people.

So, while you can't say it is a fat country, you can say that it is one of the fattest - if that makes sense.

 

[Omer Said]

Good point mate . These stereotypes are useful for "some" people and they gladly promote them. The term "race" is not even proven by science. Just a classification of human-kind, which has no effect but appearences.

About religions; a muslim is most of the time is not same with another muslim. Too different people may claim that they are muslims, but which one? The important thing is that when you think about islam or any other religion-way-sect-group etc... You should not look at the bad examples, look at the teachings or the way of life of it.

Humans are from animal decent and shares a lot of our behaviors with animals still.

There are both super-villian individuals and very good individuals because, unlike the animals, humans have the "free-will" and capacity to think badly or think goodly. I don't believe free-will can be gained with evolution or smt. An animal can only do what it is programmed or trained to. Human is completely something else with a muuuch more potential, either can descend lower than satan, and ascend higher than angels.

 

[William Levesque]

Centuries pass and still the same
War in our blood, some things never change
Fighting for land and personal gain
better your life, justify our pain
The end is knocking
The end is knocking

We've all been lost for most of this life
(lost for most of this life)
Everywhere we turn more hatred surrounds us
And I know that most of us just ain`t right
(most of us just ain`t right)
Following the wrong steps, being led by pride

How many lives will we take
How many hearts destined to break
Nowhere to run, can't escape
Full of ourselves, tied to our fate
The end is knocking
The end is knocking, yeah

We've all been lost for most of this life
(lost for most of this life)
Everywhere we turn more hatred surrounds us
And I know that most of us just ain`t right
(most of us just ain`t right)
Following the wrong steps, being led by pride

With peace of mind so hard to find
We're dwelling on the drastic signs
Another way to numb our mind
And as you close your eyes tonight
and pray for a better life
you`ll see it flying helplessly away

We've all been lost for most of this life
(lost for most of this life)
Everywhere we turn more hatred surrounds us
And I know that most of us just ain`t right
(most of us just ain`t right)
Following the wrong steps, being led by pride

 

[William Levesque]

Also...

"Why does every group, whether it be race/religion/class/etc., seem to have its entire image distorted based on the actions of a few unscruplous individuals?"

Fear plays a big part, because most people fear the unknown.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

When the worlds population realizes that in terms of genetics, there are no races and that imaginary figures up in the sky don´t exist we can finally move on as one united tribe in the quest of securing our race for the future by heading out into space and colonize other planets.

When that day comes, all that in your post will dissappear. Until then, we will continue killing ourselves.

 

[James Maskell]

I don't know how to explain this very well. But here it goes Because of my dads job i have been fortunate enough to live overseas 3 times. Canada(was too young to remember most), France x2 and Germany.This means that i have been able to meet a lot of people from all over the world and from all kinds of backgrounds. It taught me not to judge people because of their religion etc etc. I have only recently moved back to Australia and have noticed a massive difference between me and most of the people at my school. I just accept people for who they are but quite a lot of people who have not been properly exposed to other cultures can't do this. People who have lived in the same area for their whole lives are less likely to be able to respect other groups and the only exposure they may have had to the other groups was probably limited or one that has been heavily distorted by the news etc. And therefore make the wrong judgements. Its just my take on it.