By Margaret Wiltshire
I’ve been told I have authority figure problems. Actually, I like to think I’m very democratic with authority figures. I am not a bow now and ask questions later person, that’s for sure.
I will follow directions if I am doing something for someone else or don’t know how to do it myself. After I’ve asked a few questions, given someone a look-see, I have been known to nod in respect.
My saving grace has always been that I can change my mind. If something or someone is wonderful and I am missing it, I usually catch on sooner or later. Of course, that door swings both ways.
Authority figure problems are the problems of authority figures. If they have power enough, they can make it yours, mine or anyone’s “problem.”
The older I get, the more I like having authority figure problems. Still, I question my own dictates. I’m not always doing what I know is right for me. I say to others, “take care and be well.” I mean it, seriously and sincerely. Getting myself to do what I know is right is much harder.
This is true for other individuals, groups, organizations and governments. It seems to be a characteristic of humankind. Humankind is a fix on the expression mankind. An acknowledgment that women exist and are human. Since women produce the population, it’s a real “gift.” Yet people still discuss it.
No one seems to take on the “kind” part of the expression. Humankind, a lie right off the top. Kind? Of course, this is just a language thing. Kind means we are not like wolves or sharks or other “kinds” of critters. Or are we?
No, we’re different. We have traditions like no other critters. Like bigotry. I know that comes from a very insecure power monger somewhere. In this country, this goes straight back to guys with whips.
Will the guy with a whip find a way to include you in a list of those not valued? For example, maybe you’re smart. That could make you an intellectual. Intellectuals end up on the bigot’s list all the time. So if you like the mental shortcuts bigotry offers, play dumb.
Or walk on the wild side, question authority.
In the United States, we like to call ourselves Americans. Is that because we like, respect and share a fellowship with all the American nations? Or because we’re the good ones? The best. Why they don’t like us is beyond our understanding.
Unlike other critters, we have religions. In the United States, we have religious freedom. The Christians in the U.S. feel we are a Christian nation, allowing others not to get burned at the stake. Which is an improvement.
Rebel that I am, I think religious freedom was more generally intended. It is not dependent on the generosity of one religion.
Christians have wonderful teachings that they like to teach but not follow. They have structured their religion so they don’t have to, until the last minute. God help them know when the last minute is.
Some people are upset about the World War II monument in Washington. President Roosevelt’s post-Pearl Harbor speech is included on one side of the monument, but the words “So help us God” are missing. I agree they should have been included. Religious freedom means religious freedom, and presidents are free to be Christian, even Catholic.
Had FDR warned the naval base at Pearl Harbor that an attack could be expected, that might have been Christian. Letting German Americans go about their business with a careful eye but putting the Japanese in concentration camps certainly was a “Christian” call. After FDR, not using the atomic bomb might have been “Christian.”
Heard the expression, the “Christian” thing to do? Well, think about it. What do Christians do? Christians use the expression, “Well, it was the Christian thing to do” when they are about to tell you something they might not ordinarily do but might be part of the teachings.
OK, I’ve given Christianity a hard time, and I could be more democratic in sharing the sarcasm.
I wouldn’t question authority, wouldn’t have sought my own spiritual path without Christians and the “Greatest Generation.” I would have been a carbon copy and not my own person. I am grateful. I do trust “God.” It is “humankind” that has to be watched. My concept of “God” has evolved.
Watch, think and question, activities worthwhile for the critters we are.
Margaret Wiltshire lives in Magdalena and shares this column with her husband, Don. She can be reached at wshireoldadobe@yahoo.com. Mrs. Wiltshire’s opinions do not necessarily represent the Mountain Mail.
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