Reader Beware: The Blogs that follow will have topics that are meant to challenge you.  The idea behind them is to help you deal with judgmental people.  They also may challenge your own judgmental side.  Various topics will be presented that may truly test your limits. Consider it an exercise.  An exercise that I hope you will enjoy.

Today we will discuss the judgmental people that fall into category one:

The Ignorant and Lazy

 

Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers.”

~Jesse Ventura  Governor of Minnesota

 

I would like to start this discussion by offering a quote:

I'm going to ask you to stretch your "judgey" muscles with me. (and don't shoot me!) I do not necessarily agree with the above statement.  I do think it is a good conversations starter.

 

I will never forget when Jesse said the above quote.  It just so happens that I am part of an organized religion and everyone in it took offence.  Everyone but me. 

 

Why, you ask?

1.  I don't offend easy.

2.  I know I am not weak-minded.

3.  There may be strength in numbers, but misery loves company.

4.  Because it didn't apply to me. 

5.  It did apply to many of those in the organized religion to which I belong!  The "judgey" ones! 

 

Read on and see if you agree at the end.

 

The Ignorant and/or Lazy

 

The Ignorant and/or Lazy:  These are the types of people who are either completely uninformed, or accept the opinion or teachings of others without any real knowledge or research.  These are people who never question the rules and are the first to say "that's not fair!"  They assault you with their personal beliefs and have the uncanny ability to make you feel worthless even though you know they are horribly wrong in their assessment.

 

The ignorant and/or lazy feed off of small bits of knowledge.  They pretty much believe everything they hear if it even sounds like it could be true.  Especially when they get those e-mails that seem to circulate on and on and on.  My favorite is the one that your pet will die if you use a "Swiffer" sweeper in your house.

 

They also will believe whatever they are told by someone in authority.  This could be anyone from a police officer, public official, president, or clergy member.  Once they have this so called "knowledge" they feel the need to spread the knowledge around and share it with the world, especially YOU!

 

Their motive: 

They want to feel important and intelligent without actually doing any of the work or research necessary. 

 

How they will react:

 

If they like what they hear they will do all they can to comply to the information gathered. They will then share the information with you, and insist that you follow this very important advice also.

 

If they do not like what they hear, they will immediately start the defamatory campaign.  They will bash the individual or organization to anyone who will give them five seconds of their attention.  They will have just enough details to seem intelligent about the situation.  If pressed into question they may make up facts as they go along to support their cause.

 

Let me give you a personal anecdote:

 

One of my jobs is to educate people how to protect children from being sexually abused.  All of the people that attend my program have preconceived notions and are members of an organized religion that frowns upon gays.  I have many challenges when presenting this topic and many myths that need to be addressed.  Because of their belief system, the myth that people attending truly believed the most was that gays were the main perpetrator of this horrible crime.

 

The truth is,  most sexual predators are heterosexual men.  This was really quite a surprising fact that most people have a hard time accepting.  The problem is, if I am unable to convince people that this is in fact a truth, these people will remain ignorant and unable to correct a highly preventable situation. 

 

Fortunately, I am usually able to help people understand that it is important for them to learn the facts, if they truly wanted to make a difference and help children.  I presented the facts.  Usually that is enough.  If it isn't enough I am able to share personal knowledge.  I have known 10 sexual predators.   Out of the ten; four of them were were arrested, three out of the four did time, 1 was a woman, 1 was a priest and 1 was a homosexual.  My personal experience seemed to back up that of various agencies doing the research.  ( I can provide that information if you wish)

 

How to deal with the ignorant and/or lazy:

 

Fortunately the ignorant and lazy are the easiest to handle.  IT'S TRUE! 

 

If they are simply ignorant and lazy:

 

Do not make them feel ignorant or lazy!  Then YOU will be the "Judgey" one! 

 

The best way to handle this type of person is to empower them.  Listen to their side, find out where they got their information.   Acknowledge their interest and their thoughtfulness in sharing their knowledge.  This will disarm them and then you can begin to introduce the truth, or gently suggest alternatives that they may want to explore.  If you do this properly you will find this person very grateful that you showed interest in them and took the time to share with them.

 

If they are ignorant and lazy with an obnoxious attitude:

 

The first step would be to try the above method.  It may work, but it will take a lot of patience.  If you are successful, you will have truly accomplished something.  If it doesn't work, you may be forced to embarrass them with the truth, by presenting them with it. Cold hard facts backed up with visual support works wonders.   If that doesn't work you may want to resort to my fourth suggestion from Tuesday.

 

Use a bit of Irish Diplomacy:  "Tell them to go to hell so that they look forward to the trip" or "Tell them to go copulate with themselves, VIGOROUSLY!"  If enough people do this, they may eventually get the idea.

 

 

When I applied my method above to Jesse's quote, here is what I came up with.:

 

I felt sorry for him that he had such bad experiences with those in organized religion.  I also understood that in HIS eyes, it was a very accurate assessment.  When I looked at many of the people in the group I am involved with I could find a good number of them who followed the so called "rules" of the church, just because they were told to do so.  They had no understanding of the rules, nor did they know why the rules were made.  They just followed them blindly.  Many of the rules were antiquated and no longer in effect!  But, that was what they were told, and it was easier just to keep following them then to gain understanding and insight. So, they just follow mindlessly.

 (Did I stretch your "judgy" muscles?  What do you think?)

 

To sum things up:  

When dealing with an ignorant or lazy individual who feels the need to judge you, take a deep breath, consider their motives, access if they can be moved to learn, then act accordingly.

 

Tags: Ignorant, Lazy, Judgemental, Hope, Believe, Inspiration