DAY 70 – IMAGINE WHAT IT MUST BE LIKE TO BE A MEMBER OF A NATIONALITY, RELIGION, RACE, ETHNICITY OR SEXUAL ORIENTATION WHO

I am on trial for a crime I did not commit. My hope is that my attorney will provide the evidence to find me not guilty that a jury will hear with impartiality. With the only witness presented by the prosecutor I begin to lose hope for a fair trial based upon the evidence.

The person who was called to the witness stand tells the jury that I am not like them. He says that I come from a different nation than they do. He makes reference that my religious beliefs are different than theirs. He comments that my race is different than theirs. He says my ethnic background is different than theirs. He points out that I have a different sexual orientation than they do. He ends his testimony without any reference to the actual case at hand.

My attorney then has a rebuttal question to this characterization of me that I am different than the members of the jury. He asks this witness if he was trying to get you, the jury, to come to a conclusion about my innocence or guilt not based upon verifiable facts but to pre-judge me solely based upon my group identification which is different than yours. He also counters with one simple aspect about me, that I am like every one of you on the jury, a human being who just wants to live his life in peace and harmony.

For those who are negatively pre-judged because of the group they belong to it has far reaching consequences. They know because of past experiences that people may not be as fair, caring and understanding by those who think of certain people as different. They fully comprehend that those judgements are not based upon the actual character and qualities for those who they consider “the others” but upon generalizations and anti-thoughts that have built up over time. Saying it is disheartening for those who are disliked because of being pre-judged is an understatement because the impact is so much greater than that.

When people are disliked and often hated because they are a member of a certain nationality, religion, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation they are more likely to be considered as a lesser human being and less deserving of a better life by people who have this type of mindset. With such thoughts they often act unfairly and their unequal treatment makes life very difficult for the recipients of such animosity. For people who are the victims of this lack of humane respect they fully understand that their lives will be filled with roadblocks that other people do not have to go through.

Human beings want to live their lives with inner harmony. A huge factor in finding inner harmony is being treated with kindness, consideration, respect and dignity. Every person wants the ability to move about without having to look over their shoulder thinking someone will not treat them well or may physically harm them. In addition, having a psychological ability to live life without the constraints put on them because of being negatively pre-judged is real freedom.

When the trial ended I was found not guilty. I was lucky to have a jury that was able to look past the biassed pre-judgements made by this sole witness to what had actually occurred. If they didn’t I would have been unfairly judged that would have sent me to prison and most likely left me with emotional scars that I would take with me for the rest of my life.

While there are many who negatively pre-judge their fellow human beings, I now realize that there are far more people on this earth who are not biassed, who treat everyone with the best of intentions and who believe that everyone should have the same rights and privileges as everyone else which then frees up humanity to live in harmony with one another.