The Positive Pandemic
October 6, 2010By Paul Campbell
Something is seriously wrong in Civil-Rights Town. September 23, 2010, the US House of Representatives introduced House Resolution H. R. 6216: "To amend title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the ground of religion in educational programs or activities." This means we are adding Religion to an already long list of "protected classes" specifically for educational related endeavors. That seems like a pretty specific sub-set when Religion is already a Federally protected class. It's been over sixty-four years since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, and we are still tweaking this beleaguered law.
H. R. 6216 exacerbates an already complicated set of criteria for this sub-class by making the law only applicable to persons benefiting from "Federal" financial assistance: "No person in the United States shall, on the ground of religion, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under, an educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." Arguably, and it will be argued in a US Court somewhere eventually, this implies discrimination against this demographic is somehow acceptable in the absence of "Federal" funding. Nobody wants legal or governmental intrusion into their lives, beyond what is necessary to protect them from some other worse intrusion into their lives. It is the untenable dichotomy: we want to feel, and think, and largely act any way we want, but we don't want to be the object of someone else's feelings and thoughts and acts. And therein lies the untenable dichotomy between civil-rights legislation, and the outright Thought Police.
Perhaps it is time we started treating Hate and Discrimination as an affliction, and then it can be treated medically. Perhaps discrimination is a disease, like alcoholism, or addiction, or Schizophrenia, or more accurately Xenophobia. There may in fact be a sort of synergistic additional benefit to treating hate and discrimination as a disease, and that is the effect that both of those afflictions will be inherently avoided quite literally like the plague! It's quite easy to want to belong to a group that dislikes another group. There is a feeling, a sense, of belonging, of being a part of something greater than one's self. On the other hand, nobody wants to have, or get, a disease. A widely held belief that discrimination is an affliction that needs to be treated would tend largely to dissuade people from a collective feeling of hatred. Acceptance and tolerance need to be considered the norm of both mental and physical health. Nobody wants to be one of the "sick."
And make no mistake about it, hatred and discrimination are sick. They are communicable and are contracted from already afflicted individuals and groups. They grow with the passage of time if left unchecked, consuming the very thought processes and personality of the afflicted. They cause discomfort, anxiety, political polarization, unemployment and under employment, anger, unrest both personal and civil, and they can and do occasionally result in death. What more criterion are required to qualify as a disease?
A massive public effort needs to be announced that it has been discovered that discrimination, and hate, are diseases. That they are treatable, but they are in fact a widespread affliction. The affliction hereafter known as Xenomalevolence.
While medical science and doctors around the world will need to scramble to find a treatment plan for Xenomalevolence, the announcement in and of itself will be the beginning of the treatment. Widespread introspection and the desire not to have any affliction will fuel a Positive Pandemic of global shunning of hatred and discrimination, and all those who remain afflicted.
Yet therein lies another danger, for the chronically Xenomalevolent cannot be totally shunned. They are in need of our compassion, our help, and above all that, treatment. The chronically hateful quite literally need our intervention. For no other affliction quite so thoroughly threatens the very fabric of our society as Xenomalevolence.
Discrimination is fueled by Xenomalevolence, and the law will never be able to keep up with the next demographic that will be hated by another demographic, nor will it ever be able to change the attitudes of people, and those are caused by thoughts. Only a widespread culture and global belief that discrimination is a disease will make people want to avoid it. Finally the Positive Pandemic starts with each person. If you can clearly identify any person you feel repulsion for solely because you can identify them with a particular demographic, seek medical attention immediately.
What's next?
