I ran across an interesting thought in a book QB 7. It got me thinking that with the diversity of people on this board perhaps it would be an interesting topic.
Yet as time stood suspended Gilray was all gentiles who never quite understood Jews. He could befriend them, work with them, but never quite understand them. He was all white men who could never quite understand black men, and all black men who could never quite understand whites. He was all normal men who could tolerate and even defend homosexuals but never fully understand them. There is in all of us a line that prevents us from fully understanding those who are different.
Please keep in mind when the author says all normal men that the book was written in 1970. Also, there has been enough race based crap in the various forums lately that I do not really want to start another thread where the main focus is on race. I am trying to figure out if his broad statement that we cannot fully understand those who are different is true. I do not think that we can ever FULLY understand anybody else and I guess that when there is also a different gender, race, religion or orientation involved there would be a slightly wider gap in our understanding of the individual.
I was willing to accept the general idea until I thought about my grandparents. They tell me that when they arrived from Germany shortly after the war they were almost universally disliked. I began wondering if they could at least in part relate to the early Chinese immigrants. They took the poor jobs, were disliked and though it was not obvious where they were from to look at them, as soon as they started in conversation it would become immediately clear. Is it possible that we can take our experiences and understand other races/religions/genders and their struggles, at least in part?
Finally, when the author says that normal men cannot understand homosexuals, does that work the same with homosexuals never truly getting straight guys? I am willing to concede that men do not get women and women do not usually get men. However, I am not sure that what we each go through is so different. Genders are more likely to see the situation in a different light than the other, but does that mean that we cannot understand one another?
I am thinking that perhaps there are so many variables in our experiences that it would not be unreasonable to assume that a gay black man who shares some of the same life experiences (same economic class, same religion, born and raised in the same geographic area) would be more likely to understand who I am than a white straight male. (Say for argument sake, prince William.) A few girls who I know that like brawling at bars, football and beer would probably be no more likely to understand the princess next door than would I.
Anyhow, I just wanted peoples thoughts on the matter.
Yet as time stood suspended Gilray was all gentiles who never quite understood Jews. He could befriend them, work with them, but never quite understand them. He was all white men who could never quite understand black men, and all black men who could never quite understand whites. He was all normal men who could tolerate and even defend homosexuals but never fully understand them. There is in all of us a line that prevents us from fully understanding those who are different.
Please keep in mind when the author says all normal men that the book was written in 1970. Also, there has been enough race based crap in the various forums lately that I do not really want to start another thread where the main focus is on race. I am trying to figure out if his broad statement that we cannot fully understand those who are different is true. I do not think that we can ever FULLY understand anybody else and I guess that when there is also a different gender, race, religion or orientation involved there would be a slightly wider gap in our understanding of the individual.
I was willing to accept the general idea until I thought about my grandparents. They tell me that when they arrived from Germany shortly after the war they were almost universally disliked. I began wondering if they could at least in part relate to the early Chinese immigrants. They took the poor jobs, were disliked and though it was not obvious where they were from to look at them, as soon as they started in conversation it would become immediately clear. Is it possible that we can take our experiences and understand other races/religions/genders and their struggles, at least in part?
Finally, when the author says that normal men cannot understand homosexuals, does that work the same with homosexuals never truly getting straight guys? I am willing to concede that men do not get women and women do not usually get men. However, I am not sure that what we each go through is so different. Genders are more likely to see the situation in a different light than the other, but does that mean that we cannot understand one another?
I am thinking that perhaps there are so many variables in our experiences that it would not be unreasonable to assume that a gay black man who shares some of the same life experiences (same economic class, same religion, born and raised in the same geographic area) would be more likely to understand who I am than a white straight male. (Say for argument sake, prince William.) A few girls who I know that like brawling at bars, football and beer would probably be no more likely to understand the princess next door than would I.
Anyhow, I just wanted peoples thoughts on the matter.
