Understanding by walking in others’ shoes

Bill Knight column for Mon., Tues. or Wed., June 18, 19 or 20, 2018

When I had long hair (OK, when I HAD hair), I was at a late-night diner with some buddies in a band, and we ordered and got our food – in paper sacks.

“Out,” the owner said.

Trudging across a gravel lot to a van, I said, “We were just discriminated against.”

An African-American friend said, “You can always cut your hair.”

I remembered that when I read the following comment from Navy veteran Travis Akers, who posts as “Top Rope Travis”:

“I’ve never been black, but I understand the need for equality in the justice system. I’ve never been gay or transgender, but I understand wanting to be loved for who I am. I’ve never been a woman, but I understand wanting fair pay and advancement opportunity for equal work. I’ve never been Muslim, but I understand wanting to worship without fear.

“I’ve never been a victim of gun violence,” he continued, “but I understand not wanting to be shot in school. I’ve never been a refugee, but I understand wanting to protect my family and provide them a better life. I’ve never been diagnosed with a terminal disease, but I understand wanting to afford health care. I’ve never defaulted on student loans, but I understand wanting an affordable education. I’ve never been homeless, but I understand honoring our nation’s veterans with care.

“I’ve never been raped,” he added, “but I understand wanting to feel safe and making decisions over my own body. I’ve never had a prescription for marijuana, but I understand wanting to live pain-free. I’ve never been asked to leave somewhere because of my skin color, gender or religion…

“There are lots of things in life I have not faced because I am a white, straight, middle-class, Christian male,” Akers wrote, “but I can understand and relate to being a human who desires love, acceptance, equality, safety, health and happiness.”

Aker’s empathy for Others echoes in other texts. First, a disturbing drift toward a weird “dictatorship of dishonest democracy” recalls the reflection by Lutheran minister Martin Niemöller, a German and one-time supporter of Adolph Hitler who wrote, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Today, of course, authoritarianism comes for refugees, separates children from parents, and confines kids to holding areas like diseased cattle; for who report facts or opinions that disagree with Powers That Be; and even for long-time allies in other republics.

Next, Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti in 2007 wrote the verse “Pity the nation whose people are sheep and whose shepherds mislead them. Pity the nation whose leaders are liars whose sages are silenced and whose bigots haunt the airwaves. Pity the nation that raises not its voice except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero and aims to rule the world by force and by torture. Pity the nation that knows no other language but its own and no other culture but its own. Pity the nation whose breath is money and sleeps the sleep of the too well-fed. Pity the nation, oh pity the people, who allow their rights to erode and their freedoms to be washed away… My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty!”

Finally, different faiths all have their own versions of humanity’s universal message known as the Golden Rule:

“Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.” (Buddhism)

“Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” (Christianity)

“Do not do to others what you would not like yourself.” (Confucianism)

“Wound not others, do no one injury by thought or deed, utter no word to pain thy fellow creatures.” (Hinduism)

“Not one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother what he desires for himself.” (Islam).

“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Judaism)

“As thou deemest thyself, so deem others. Don’t create enmity with anyone as God is within everyone.” (Sikhism)

That sure beats the perverted version, “He who has the gold makes the rules,” and can help Us all think of Others as ourselves.