An Answer to Anti Religious and Cultural Existances

So where do I start on a discussion such as this? Perhaps I could use the typical Jewish (and I was born fully Jewish) answer to this problem by answering in the Jewish way WITH a question – as the answer. Where DON’T I start? The answer from my own bitter and regretable experiences is NOT at home with parents. Parents in the past have merely justified their own dislike and anti (whatever) feelings. Trying to influence children without good enough explanations for the reasons given will only throw the whole issue out of focus.

This does NOT help their children to be tolerant. A lot of parents in my day were hypercritical with their reasonings and justifications with comments such as ‘Stay away from them’ or ‘Have nothing to do with them as they are different from us’ I got the reason for not having anything to do with none Jewish people was because ‘we were all blamed for killing the Lord Jesus Christ. These attitudes are the cause of hysteria and anti Senitism or cases of anti Black or Asian nations is basically because of the aggresseion shown – from every side – in their own way and because of their own reasons at the time. A classic answer to any charge given to be that the Jews killed Jesus Christ I always answer ‘ ‘How do you know – Where you there at the time – Did you witness it all?’ or I might just dryly say ‘I don’t know as I wasn’t even born at that the time’

Living an a vast multiculteral society as we in Britain are now doing the best way to learn about different cultures or religions etc is to ASK or READ about them first before making any judgements or opinions on anyone. The Jewish people are just as bad as they simply appear – like other cultures do – to close ranks, their ears to facts or ignore the problems and I understand that from the point of the survival of the culture may be an explanation for adoption of these attitudes – rightly or wrongly – but surely understandable. One Jewish trait for survival as I found was with all Scousers (Liverpool people) is through humour whichn in itself would break down any fearful or aggressive barriers that may exist. Psychologists will tell you that in the vast majority of cases of fear – if not deep routed in all cases of fear – is aggression which stems from ignorance of explanations or reasons. This is why I say if a situation is created which induces somne form of appreehension or fear isa to ‘gen up’ on that culture or way of life. Any army officer will agree with me from one p;oint of view that if there is an enemy camp that has to be related to or ‘beaten’ – for the want of a better word is to know what the opposition is about and how it works or will be likely to react etc. I use this simili only as an example and NOT a reason or justification for physical reactions.

One of the best course of lectures I attended – and I admit this was when I was in prison – another story for another time maybe – was when I attended courses which examined people’s reactions when faced with different or difficult situations of pressure and what could go wrong if the understanding of peoples reactions were not considered or the right approach at the time was not adopted. I think a later name for this course – after I left prison – was called R and R but I from what I can remember at one time the name this course of study had was referred to by another name. If any prison officers who were in the service some fifteen years are reading this composition they will know full well what I am talking about. It all inculcates and includes parts of the systems of lectures such as the S.O.T.P. or Victim Awareness courses do. The course I am ‘on about’ talked about a more general ‘across the board’ situation of circumstances. Being a keen follower of psychology the course or courses allowed me to be in my own element.

By understanding this mode of actions by those who perhaps are not as aware of the ‘wheres’ and ‘whys’ of our own reactions would greatly help us to progress and we could then perhaps relate to our own potential weaknesses. This in itself strngthens our own minds and awareness. This will give us all a greater understanding. Me? I would dearly wish to find courses on psychology and sociology near me and I then try and study some more on these subjects. For those who remember Maureen Libman on the BT adverts. where she would famously say ‘an OLOGY!! we all need an ‘OLOGY’ I had an OLOGY once and I got some cream for it from the doctors. (LOL)

Leslie Lewis

Leslie Lewis