Saturday 17 April 2010

Defining Acceptability.

Just a couple of musings without explicit commentary.

I find it interesting that if somebody says they believe in God, we call them religious. If somebody says they believe in fairies, we call them fruitcakes.

A person claiming to have seen Jesus once is regarded as having had a harmless and temporary psychological aberration. Claim to have seen a fairy once, and people will cross the street to avoid you. Ghosts are different. They’re OK. Why?

And I wonder how many people are incarcerated in institutions because their perception of reality simply falls the wrong side of a line defined by cultural consensus. Did ‘One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ actually make any difference?

I love telling people I believe in fairies. Watching their reaction is one of life’s great delights. And I didn’t want to walk down the street with them anyway. Is that explicit commentary? Sorry.

6 comments:

Nuutj said...

Seriously, most Thai people will ask you how to contact them and ask them the numbers of lotto. We are so familiared to such superstitious stuffs. They may even ask you to appear on TV.

I believe there are living things in other dimensions. Still I won't ask any favor from them.

lucy said...

That is so true! I just can't believe how true that is! It is mindblowing, I say. You say you believe in something like ghosts and people accept that; maybe because they're familiar with people believing in ghosts. But then when you say you believe in fairies, they think you're cuckoo because they think only kids, and kids only, should believe in fairies because it's just how they were brought up to think.

I think it has a lot to do with how people are brought us, as a whole community.

I should try telling people I believe in fairies, just to see their reactions :)

JJ said...

Thank you ladies! You made my day.

Mother Moon said...

you are spot on with this post. I find it odd that some claim to believe in things that are clearly as far fetched as my beliefs in fairies yet I am the crazy one. I have always felt that people are losing out on some of lifes greatest gifts simply because they allow the norm to tell them what is right and what is wrong. They refuse to open their eyes for themselves and see what they might see. Yet give me a child's honesty any day. The fairies delight in their open mind and clarity to the things around them. Oh if we were all like that... what a wonderful world this would be.

JJ said...

Thanks, MM. I sometimes wonder who exactly is defining the norm. Is it an organic thing to do with the human need to follow 'rules,' or is there some power behind it? Wish I knew.

M said...

Oh I agree with this entirely. People simply the dismiss the idea that fairies are real because it is childish, yet they are willing to except religion and the concept of god.
People need to have more of an open mind I think.