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Posts tagged ‘superiority’

“…the sense of superiority feeds conflicts among families, communities, regions, and nations.”

Previous section: “Contempt Multiplying into Conflict, Feelings of Superiority“

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 6-9:

Superiority Because of Religion

Many paths of elevation are available and desirable for reaching connection with God. Solitary prayer unites divinity with creation for the moments the connection is true. Prayer in groups unites divinity with creation for elevated connection when the connection is sincere. Both solitary prayer and grouped prayer are paths to God.

Grouped prayers, which are developed into set pronouncements with set movements, remove creativity in building spiritual connection, but encourage human connection. Repetition of “scripts” and routine observances enable feelings of human connection that transcend death. This connection can bind the living with the dead who preceded them, and bind the living with future generations.

Grouped prayer connects the people who accept the group’s observances and concept of divinity. Acceptance offers approach to God, scripts that guide the approach, and visions to ponder Almighty: the majestic energy that connects all.

Sincere dedication to life lived with awareness of connection to God is realistic. The connection focuses and elevates daily living.

Dedication to the grouped approach to God—to the religion—is dedication missing the meaning. Religion is an accessway for connecting to God; it is not the destination. Elevating the religion, rather than the divine connection, disconnects people from God. Religions are approaches, they are not possessions to be coveted or aggrandized. They do not need to be compared or debated.

Superiority is not a word to describe a religion. No religion that is based on the connection with God is better than any other. Feeling superior because of religious affiliation lessens the beauty of the religion.

Religious superiority is the most destructive belief of all. No religious group has closer connection to God than any other. No group!

Superiority Because of Race

Condescension because of race is irrational. Belittling others because of race is weak. Generalizing about race is uninformed. Thinking disparaging thoughts about other races is contemptuous.

Superiority because of the foolish thinking that race has influence on value is deluded. No race is superior to any other. Race is variations of people. No more, no less.

Superiority in Societies

Feeling superior can be intricate, based on all the causes set out above, or it can be single-cause—no matter, the sense of superiority is there. It affects all relationships and all interactions.

Societal sense of superiority, like individual sense of superiority, is learned. The entire society can feel superior, as in an overinflated opinion of race or nationality, or it can be bestowed upon members of society who are treated “better” because of gender, physical appearance, financial power, athletic prowess, and other factors like fashion taste or musical/artistic abilities.

Superiority infuses society with discontent and entitlement. Superiority brings envy and distancing. Each individual builds the societal sense of superiority with internal feelings of being better than others, or by accepting the societal definitions of superior race or gender, or having subservient expectations.

The sense of superiority is distancing and clouds judgment when interacting with others. The sense of superiority tarnishes dialogue and creates contempt. As people distance, misjudge and condescend, they define a society that is uncaring and disconnected. Such a society cannot nurture its members or provide empathy.

Societal superiority affects external events. For example, natural disasters that would be handled by the affected group in a communal manner descend into further disaster because of conflicts among the group members. The more ingrained the feelings of superiority, the less the desire to help others. Disaster relief that should be inclusive is not. Those with more, be it real or perceived, dismiss the troubles of the people whom they disdain. Contempt thwarts relief efforts and distances people further.

When combined with the other causes of contempt, the sense of superiority feeds conflicts among families, communities, regions, and nations. The sense of superiority is very insidious.

Next section: “Feelings of Inequity”

Category:

Conflict

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“All people are similar, and yet, there are some who consider themselves superior.”

Previous section: “Introduction“

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 3-5:

Contempt Multiplying into Conflict

CONFLICT has many sources of support. The sources feed conflict when they are elevated beyond control. Each conflict source contributes to contemptuous behavior or to deliberate indifference. Each conflict has its specific sources and unique circumstances. Nonetheless, there are similarities among conflicts.

Contempt is built through feelings of superiority, feelings of inequity, feelings of disappointment, and feelings of emasculation. Each of these destructive feelings will be explored and their contributions to conflict considered.

Feelings of Superiority

The feeling of superiority is a strange phenomenon. All people are similar, and yet, there are some who consider themselves superior. These people believe that race membership, financial status, gender affiliation, nationality, religion, and/or education entitle them to raised social status. Physical attractiveness, athletic prowess, and fashion taste are other factors in people acting superior.

Superiority by Nationality

Superiority by nationality is the viewing of other nationalities in a condescending way. Feeling better than everyone who lives outside one’s own country is a sense of superiority that is confrontational behavior and enemy building.

Geographical reality creates differences among countries, because some countries are situated with enviable conditions and resources that inspire jealousy or resentment. A country possessing enviable conditions and resources often maintains citizens who feel entitled to their reality and are possessive of it. Adjacent countries may have conditions and resources that are also deserving of pride, but the other country’s richness seems desirous, and so, the citizens of the adjacent countries may feel resentful or covetous. The clash of entitlement and resentment can lead to rivalries, racism, and wars.

Superiority by nationality describes relationships among countries, but it can also describe relationships among areas within a country, towns within a province, neighborhoods within a city, and loyalty to schools or universities. At each level, the location, historical development, and geographical reality affect how citizens see their environment and the environments of those who inhabit rival territories. Those who feel they have more behave differently from those who feel deprived. Each side can feel superior and relate to the other as less than them. The feelings of superiority at the local and inner-country levels can lead to rivalries, treachery, and self-destruction.

Superiority Because of Gender

Superiority by consideration of one’s sex as better creates conflict within society at the family level, within neighborhoods and religions, and in nations. Gender superiority is often inculcated from an early age, so that belief in one’s gender superiority is very deep.

Contempt towards “inferiors” develops more easily in those with a sense of gender superiority.

Superiority Learned from Childhood

Superiority is a learned behavior. A child is self-interested, because he has his own concerns that consume his attention. This behavior is inborn. The child focuses on himself, not from a sense of superiority, but from the need to survive.

The child encounters others with curiosity, joy, and fear. When a caregiver over-elevates the child’s sense of himself, encounters with others have lessened curiosity, joy, and fear and more expectations of subservience (by the others).

Internal sense of superiority develops from a young age and can be based on gender, race, physical appearance, and attitude. Later come superiority based on religion, social standing, intelligence, and financial status. Subservient behavior by others and athletic prowess can increase the sense of superiority.

Next section: “Superiority Because of Religion and Race, Superiority in Societies”

Category:

Conflict

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Race is variations of people. No more, no less.

Because of the racial distress happening in the United States now, I’m reposting Spiritual Position on race as set forth in the book Descending into War, Descending into Contempt.

Condescension because of race is irrational. Belittling because of race is weak. Generalizing about race is uninformed. Thinking disparaging thoughts about other races is contemptuous.

Superiority because of the foolish thinking that race has influence on value is deluded. No race is superior to any other. Race is variations of people. No more, no less.

Descending into War, Descending into Contempt explains the main causes of conflict, which are the feelings of superiority, inequity, disappointment, and emasculation. These disruptive feelings push people to act with contempt towards others. They incite actions that end connections and lead to conflicts that often seem insurmountable.

Conflict seems to exist everywhere. Racial tensions divide, political opponents battle, and religious groups are combative. Even connected and supportive relationships fester in conflict. The sources of conflict are many, and they impact together and individually to inflict negativity within families, communities, and nations.

Acknowledging the sources of conflict is the first step to stopping conflict.

Although the topics of conflict, war, and contempt are difficult and often disheartening, Descending into War, Descending into Contempt ends with wisdom and instructions that can lead to a more just society.

This book is available in paperback and Kindle. Click here for the paperback. Click here for the Kindle edition.

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Conflict

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Superiority Because of Race

Not long ago, I received wisdom about the sense of superiority. The posts about superiority discussed gender, religion, and nationality; however, race was alluded to but not specifically addressed.

Here is Spirit’s judgement about superiority and race:

Condescension because of race is irrational. Belittling because of race is weak. Generalizing about race is uninformed. Thinking disparaging thoughts about other races is contemptuous.

Superiority because of the foolish thinking that race has influence on value is deluded. No race is superior to any other. Race is variations of people. No more, no less.

Superiority is discussed in detail in my upcoming book, Descending into War, Descending into Contempt.

Category:

Conflict

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Superiority: negative sense of self

The last group of blog posts has focused on the negative aspects of the sense of superiority. Personally I have found these posts to be challenging, because I have had to confront my own prejudices and ingrained sense of superiority.

My actions have been influenced by my society’s treatment of me, but I had chosen to accept preferential treatment without questioning the justice of it. Preferential treatment has been habit-forming and I now have to choose to break the habit. Not so easy!

With superiority comes a sense of deservedness, and with the sense of deservedness comes the sense of expectation that others will serve, and with the sense of expectation that others will serve comes the expectation that authority will be recognized, and with the expectation that authority will be recognized comes the insecurity that undeservedness underpins authority, and this sense of insecurity pushes the drive for feeling superior. The core of superior sense of self is inferiority, a negative sense of self.

Looking over the possible reasons for feeling “superior”: nationality, financial security, gender, race, religion, social status, physical attributes, intellectual gifts, athletic prowess, and celebrity—the sense of superiority can feel inevitable. In actuality, it is a choice that can be rejected or embraced.

The sense of superiority is a negative sense of self that requires eradication. Letting go of the sense of superiority should be a societal priority that each person can pursue individually and as members of a just and caring society.

The various causes of superior sense of self are presented in these blog posts:

Category:

Striving

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Superiority is not a word to describe a religion

Many paths of elevation are available and desirable for reaching connection with God.

Solitary prayer unites divinity with creation for the moments the connection is true. Prayer in grouped agreement unites divinity with creation for elevated connection when the connection is sincere. Both solitary prayer and grouped prayer are paths to God.

Grouped prayer that is developed into set pronouncements with set movements removes creativity in building spiritual connection, but encourages human connection. Repetition of “scripts” and routine observances enable feelings of human connection that transcend death. The connection can bind the living with the dead who preceded them and bind the living with future generations.

Grouped prayer connects the people who accept the group’s observances and concept of divinity. Acceptance offers approach to God, scripts that guide the approach, and vision to ponder Almighty, the majestic energy that connects all.

Sincere dedication to life lived with awareness of connection to God is realistic. The connection focuses and elevates daily living.

Dedication to the grouped approach to God—to a religion—is dedication missing the meaning. Religion is an access way to connection to God, not the destination. Elevating the religion rather than the divine connection disconnects the people from God.

Religions are approaches, they are not possessions. They do not need to be compared or debated.

Superiority is not a word to describe a religion. No religion that is based on the connection with God is better than any other. Feeling superior because of religious affiliation lessens the beauty of the religion.

As God shares in the book, Faith— A Wisdom Poem Sharing Spiritual Connection:

NO ONE GROUP HAS ACCESS
ABOVE OTHERS.

NO GROUP HAS THE
ANSWERS.

NO GROUP IS CLOSER TO SPIRIT
THAN ANY OTHER.

NO GROUP SPEAKS
FOR SPIRIT.

SPIRIT IS FOR ALL
= EQUALLY =

SPIRIT IS ALL-COME-TO-ME-JUSTLY!
Come justly without harm
To any others.

Category:

Spiritual connection

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Built to feel superior, internally and by others

Superiority is a learned behavior.

A child is self-interested, because he has his own concerns that consume his attention. This behavior is inborn. The child focuses on himself, not from a sense of superiority, but from the need to survive.

The child encounters others with curiosity, joy, and fear. When a caregiver over-elevates the child’s sense of himself, encounters with others have lessened curiosity, joy, and fear and more expectations of subservience (by the others).

Internal sense of superiority develops from a young age and can be based on gender, race, physical appearance, and attitude. Later comes superiority based on social standing, intelligence, and financial status. Subservient behavior by others and athletic prowess can increase the sense of superiority.

Feeling superior can be intricate, based on all the causes set out above, or it can be single-cause—no matter, the sense of superiority is there. It affects all relationships and all interactions.

Societal sense of superiority, like individual sense of superiority, is learned. The entire society can feel superior, as in an overinflated opinion of race or nationality or it can be bestowed upon members of society who are treated “better” because of gender, physical appearance, financial power, athletic prowess, and other factors (like fashion sense or musical/artistic abilities).

Superiority infuses society with discontent and entitlement. Superiority brings envy and distancing. Each individual builds the societal sense of superiority with internal feelings of being better than or by accepting the societal definitions of superior race or gender or subservient expectations.

Superiority is a learned behavior. It is not innate.

Not all people feel superior nor do they accept societal divisions of superiority. These people are living in a constructive and balanced way. Their example is worth following.

This message is from Spirit. If you act superior to others, your behavior is wrong. Accept differences and release arrogance.

Spirit gives more wisdom about harmful superiority thinking in these posts:

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People

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Are men or women superior? Neither!

The focus of recent blog posts has been on the sense of superiority. Today’s post contests superiority by virtue of a chromosomal setting.

The setting for sexual existence—as a male or as a female—determines gender but does not bestow superiority. Gender superiority galvanizes unnaturally through bewildered understanding of males by females and of females by males.

Unnatural is the word to describe superiority based on gender, because there should be no superiority based on gender. Acceptance of the other is the natural rhythm. Building ideas about the other gender that creates superiority actions and treatment stops the natural rhythm of acceptance.

Males and females are equally important and feelings of superiority by either sex are mistaken. Differences exist, but they are irrelevant in nature.

This message is from Spirit. If you act superior to the other sex because you think your gender is more gifted, you are wrong. Accept the differences and release arrogance.

Spirit gives more wisdom about harmful superiority thinking in these posts:

Category:

People

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Superiority by Nationality

Countries group people by location, historical development, and geographical reality, which nationalistic feelings elevate.

Superiority by nationality is the viewing of all other nationalities in a condescending way. Feeling better than everyone who lives outside one’s own country is a sense of superiority that is confrontational behavior and enemy building.

Geographical reality creates differences among countries, because some countries are situated with enviable conditions and resources that inspire jealousy or resentment.

A country possessing enviable conditions and resources often maintains citizens who feel entitled to their reality and are possessive of it. Adjacent countries may have conditions and resources that are also deserving of pride, but the other country’s richness seems desirous, and so, the citizens of the adjacent countries may feel resentful or covetous. The clash of entitlement and resentment can lead to rivalries, racism, and wars.

Superiority by nationality describes relationships among countries, but it can also describe relationships among areas within a country, towns within a province, neighborhoods within a city, and loyalty to schools or universities.

At each level, location, historical development, and geographical reality affect how citizens see their environment and the environments of those who inhabit rival territories. Those who feel they have more behave differently from those who feel deprived. Each side can feel superior and relate to the other as less than. The feelings of superiority at the smaller levels can lead to rivalries, treachery, and self-destruction.

————–

People receive the life they are born into and some receive more ease than others, but their circumstances do not entitle them to feel superior. The more a person has, the more he or she should feel grateful and open to those with less.

————–

Spirit is sharing wisdom about  feelings of superiority:

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Focused living

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Releasing the Undeserved Sense of Superiority

Yesterday’s post, Undeserved Superiority, yells at us to acknowledge our feelings of superiority over others and to then stop! Stop thinking we’re better than someone else because of our social standing or our religion or our race (among other things that make us feel superior).

I stopped and looked at my own upbringing and my own undeserved sense of superiority over some others and I was shocked at myself. My sense of better-than-some-others needs my acknowledgment and my work to release it. I know it won’t be easy, but I realize my thinking makes me an unempathetic person and I want to change. This look at myself reminds me of an experience I had three years ago when I was visiting in Los Angeles. I share that blog post now as a reminder to myself and to others about how our upbringing can lift or lower us, but that we are all similar. Here is the post from March 27, 2014:

Life is struggle: meeting with people unknown

  • Unwanted, unacknowledged, untended, underfed, unappreciated, unloved, unnoticed, undervalued, undone. The life of the drunk man who sneaked on the bus today and sat by me.
  • Wanted, acknowledged, tended, fed, appreciated, loved, noticed, valued, empowered. My life.

I was riding on an L.A. Metro bus waiting for my soon-to-arrive stop, when the bus stopped to let people off and he sneaked in from the back door and sat next to me. His breath reeked of alcohol, he was dirty, and he was hoping to avoid the notice of the bus driver. He was hopeful that I would not make a fuss, because his day had been one more difficult day in the accumulating number of difficult days that are his life. He didn’t really choose me; I was simply sitting in a convenient place for him to slide in.

I told him that I was about to get off so he shouldn’t sit there, but he ignored me. He spoke somewhat incoherently and I didn’t understand what he said. I told him he hadn’t paid and he started to panic and began talking about how he lives in the Hollywood Hills and is very rich, and the alcohol smell was strong. I felt very uncomfortable and decided to change the subject because he seemed agitated and was moving closer. I talked about the unseasonable rain in L.A. that morning and he was distracted. He realized I wasn’t going to say anything to the bus driver so he became chatty. But then he asked me my name, gave me his, tried to take my hand, really reeked of alcohol.

I was unsure what to do but then we reached my stop, and I told him to press the button for me because we had arrived at my stop. He moved and I pressed the button and asked him to let me out. I was unsure—afraid he might get off and follow me, unsure whether to just go out the back door or go to the front and notify the bus driver, unprepared for this situation. He turned slightly in his seat barely giving me room to get by. I grabbed my things close, forgot my scarf, and exited the bus from the back. He didn’t follow. I felt relieved, noticed my forgotten scarf, walked the wrong way and then corrected my direction.

And what about him? He felt gratitude towards me that I had remained silent, sat quietly for the rest of the trip, got off at his stop to continue his usual existence.

The message from Spirit: Two hearts beating a little too fast. Two lives being lived—one with acceptance, the other with rejection. Both equal.

Spirit is sharing wisdom about  feelings of superiority:

Category:

People

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Undeserved Superiority

Here is an important message from Spirit.

Superiority is a strange phenomenon. All people are similar, and yet, there are some who consider themselves superior. These people believe that race membership, financial position, gender affiliation, nationality, and/or education entitle them to raised social status. Physical attractiveness, athletic prowess, and fashion taste are other factors in people acting superior.

Religious superiority is the most destructive belief of all. No religious group has closer connection to God than any other. No group!

The sense of superiority is distancing and it clouds judgment when interacting with others. The sense of superiority tarnishes dialogue and creates contempt. As people distance, misjudge, and condescend, they define a society that is uncaring and disconnected. Such a society cannot nurture its member or provide empathy.

Spirit is clear that a sense of superiority is wrong thinking about oneself and others.

There are a few exceptions when the superiority comes from care for the environment. Everyone who puts their own needs below their care for the environment deserves to feel good about their actions. Focusing on care for the environment has no connection to race, religion, gender, nationality, financial position, physical attractiveness, athletic prowess, or fashion taste.

Respect for the environment unites us all!

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Focused living

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