Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Friday, December 2, 2011
Why do we tolerate bullying?
With the focus of “bullying” in the last 10-15 years, I have started to do some thinking on how and why we are addressing this topic. First, let me say that I did experience bullying when I was in school (k-12). Some of it was my fault as I am sure that I came across as a smarty pants which was part of my way of dealing with the world. Some of the bullying was just “boys being boys” and the normal horse play and taunting that happens.
The thought that came to me is along the lines of why do we care about bullying? It seems to me that the LGBT community has a big focus in this area. I can agree with them that children should not be harassed or bullied because they are making choices in their sexual preference that does not conform to the majority of others in society. The same argument could be used to protect children with a weight issue (over and underweight). I was smaller than most boys my age and I do remember that most of the ones that bullied me were older and larger.
So, why do we care?
As a Christian, I believe that all humans are created in the likeness of G-d. I have put my faith in Jesus Christ and he was very clear that I should tell others about the salvation message. I also believe that we in the U.S. live our lives based around the frame work of laws. The U.S. Declaration of Independence states very clearly that we are endowed by our creator with “unalienable Rights” (Notice they capitalized the R in Rights). That means that no human can take them away. They also point out a few; Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. I believe that bullying infringes on one or more of these rights.
With that stated, my question is directed at those that have a different point of view, specifically, those that have put their faith in the theory of Evolution. Yes, it is a theory and believing it is as much a “faith” as my “faith” in the Christian G-d. My question is a simple one but takes a few sentences to ask. If an Atheist believes in the theory of Evolution, why are they against bullying? Bullying is a direct reflection of animal behavior to weed out the weaker animals in the natural selection process outlined in Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Why would the Atheist not want to the human species to get stronger? So, the second part to my question is, if evolution is the weeding out of the weaker members so that natural selection can happen, why are those that believe in evolution opposed to bullying?
My theory is that the Atheist does believe that bullying is good but it does not fit their message. It sounds too much like Eugenics and the Final Solution proposed by the WWII 3rd Reich. Darwin addressed the process of “eugenic” and denounced them as evil in his book, “Descent of Man.” That is also why abortion is so vigorously defended by those that believe in natural selection.
This question may have been raised by others but I have not seen it directly. I welcome comments or feedback. I do not suffer “trolls” simply calling me names and saying I am uneducated. I want a valid argument or scientific proof to an argument.
The views and opinions of this post and blog are my own. They do not reflect the view or opinions of anyone else or of those of my employer.
References:
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kevles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics
http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Descent_of_man.html?id=ZvsHAAAAIAAJ
Thursday, August 18, 2011
