If you want to read about the errors a judgmental mind might make, read the TWO TOUGH QUESTIONS below. Following is a commentary/dialogue that was sparked by these very thought-provoking questions...

Tough Question 1:
If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had syphilis, would you recommend that she have an abortion?

{Read the next question before looking at the answer for this one.}

Tough Question 2:
It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts.  Here are the facts about the three leading candidates.

• Candidate A - Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologers. He's had two Mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day, but usually 9.
  
• Candidate B - He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.
  
• Candidate C - He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never cheated on his wife.

Which of these candidates would be your choice?
Decide first, no peeking, then scroll down for the answer.

THE ANSWERS:
Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolf Hitler.

 And, by the way, the answer to the abortion question: If you said yes, you just killed Beethoven.

Pretty interesting, isn't it? This might just a person think before making a snap judgment.

A final thought...
Can you imagine working for a company that has 535 employees and the following statistics:

* 29 have been accused of spousal abuse
* 7 have been arrested for fraud
* 19 have been accused of writing bad checks
* 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
* 3 have done time for assault
* 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
* 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
* 8 have been arrested for shoplifting
* 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
* 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year

Can you guess which organization this is? Give up yet?

It's the 535 members of the United States Congress. The same authority that cranks out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep us in line.

And, now, isn't it time to listen to your own authority? 

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Note from Ariana: I received a letter from someone who felt the '2 tough questions' was possibly in poor taste.  {I don't have a copy of the letter anymore, and I'm sure the person who sent it to me would prefer I didn't publish it} This person felt that the 2 questions perhaps tried to trick us into thinking Hitler wasn't so bad after all, and even to make us feel guilty if we thought ill of Beethoven's mother.  Well, I think there's more to it than that. I confess, I may not have made the 'right' choices on this one, but I took the message to heart...

As it spoke to me, the 2 tough questions illustrated that the heartfelt human factor is much more important than any superficial appearances (race, class, social circumstances, health, vices...).  To dig deeper into the true nature of a person rather than judge another by surface characteristics.  To keep an open mind and a loving heart in every interaction, every day.  It's a wonderful thing to love even those that most would dismiss at first glance. 

I begin here at home in Boulder, making friends with as many as I can, even the 'crazies' and homeless.  Continuing to question my judgements, to drop the veils of criticism away until I can see into the light in each person, for we all hold a seed of something divine...  Try it a few times (I'm sure many of you often do) and see how you are surprised!

As for Hitler, heck, even Bush, I can have a lot of compassion for these men.  We live in a wounded yet wonderful world and the only way I know to heal it is through love.  Hold the space for healing to happen.  Make a sacred and welcoming space in your own heart.  "Build it and they will come..."

Responses from the community...

Ariana
 Sorry but I think whoever sent you the 'i felt guilty' email really didnt understand the point it was trying to make.  It was charged, for sure, but what a great message! Some people don't like 'wake up calls' which are often quite disconcerting! The point being, however, that I don't think you need to say you made a bad choice in sending that one.  What a powerful message!
 
Thanks
 Cary

Hey Ariana,
Thanks for the clarification.  I loved it and think it was in great taste.  We all need to have our points of view challenged and put into perspective from time to time or else we just assume that the way we see things is the way that they are and that our ways, thoughts, and judgements are the only ways, proper thoughts, and appropriate judgements.  I don't think that it's intention was to trick us into thinking that Hitler wasn't all bad as much as it was to show us that sleeping late, using drugs, and drinking alcohol are good,  I mean if they were good enough for Winston Churchill who am I to argue.  But seriously, as you pointed out, the message is that you can't judge a book by it's cover, nor just the graphics, or only the way it is written, or solely on the content that it was trying to convey, but all of the above.  (Between you and me though, and against popular opinion, I don't think that Hitler was all bad, just 98% fucking evil.  But like the tai-chi symbol with a white eye in the darkness there is also a spark of the divine in him. We like to make him into an archtype of a pure evil monster so he doesn't seem human and we don't have to acknowledge that the evil in him is the potential evil in us all. Just don't tell any of my Jewish relatives that I said that, ok?)  Besides how could he be all bad, he was a vegetarian after all, wasn't he?

Love, Light, and Laugter!!!
David

Hey dear, 
I didn't find it offensive.  I disagreed with one or two of the implied conclusions though.  I think any couple who has more than a few kids is being irresponsible and uncompassionate to the planet, as overpopulation is one of the major proximate causes for human conflict and environmental destruction (especially when linked with fear and lack of awarenenss).  Even if she had a gaggle of Nobel prize laureates, I would hope she would not have a 9th child.

As for the ark thing, I have to work with houses designed and built by amateurs every day and I think the (mythical) Ark & the Titanic were gross exceptions (I'm guessing the ark would have also sunk, if it had hit an iceberg).  The pros really do a much better job.

As for congress, is that really true?  Wow.  That's shocking.

As for the final analysis: you are absolutely right and I really appreciate the insight.  Often at Dancehome, I see someone and immediately judge and categorize them as "weird" or "straight-laced" or something that I don't resonate with.  The moment I do, I cut myself of from them.  On occasion, I have the chance to meet them anyway. Sometimes I'm right, and sometimes I'm wrong.  Either way, I am trying to stop cutting myself off from anyone.

It's quite something if you can drop the judgement to become friends with the crazies and homeless.

Big squeeze,
Scott

Ariana, I don't know who said it was in poor taste, but I heartily disagree. I think something like that is incredibly illuminating in terms of how we judge and compartmentalize in the world. I actually found it to be very much in support of the inner work that I'm doing, because how many times do I judge myself for the same kinds of "outer" characteristics, when in fact, it is part of the human condition, and the truly important thing is what one chooses to create with one's life rather than all the fallacies that happen to all of us all the time.

People get offended by all kinds of things -- god knows I do too; it's part of the network of human fallacy and a characteristic of how we judge things. Discernment is a very important characteristic to growth and development. But one walks a very fine line between right discernment and habitual judgment.

you know, I would be such a happy person if I looked at myself in terms of who I am creating out of who I've been rather than who I am in all the weak moments. I have made so much progress and worked so hard in my life, and yet I have all this training to see my failings.  Really, I think that is an important message that I got from your email, too. I need to shift my perspective and really appreciate myself rather than beating myself up all the time for not being perfect.

so thank you for the excellent reminder that I am a good person making wonderful progress in my life.
-isabelle

No offense taken here love,
I don't think that facts can be "in poor taste"  Only the interpretation of the facts.  Your example just goes to show that pre-conceptions should be taken with a large grain of salt.  And those offended should maybe take a look inside. The lines of gray are always wider than we think.
Justin