Greatness in Context

"There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies." -Martin Luther King Jr.

So if there's a recent theme for me, it's that concepts and understanding change vastly over time. Unfortunately, that change doesn't always happen in the span of a single life and we, as finite beings are really only able to work within our own context and with the information available to us. Context is key. For example, I'm taking a course on society and human sexuality currently for my WS minor, and so far I've learned that in antiquity, the concept of two sexes did not exist. There was only one sex, the male, and the inferior male. The concept of "sexuality" or "sexual orientation" did not exist in regards to it being an aspect of an individual identity, and here's the kicker, heterosexuality originally held a very negative connotation. It was conceptualized to regard one of hyper-sexual tendencies which would lead to "sexual perversion." As you can see, concepts and understanding change over time.

It's MLK Jr. Day, a pretty big event on campus, and one I enjoy since I do consider myself a fan of MLK Jr's philosophies and teachings. Imagine my despair then, when I went to a concurrent session that revealed MLK Jr's possible anti-gay marriage/rights stance, based on statements from his children, as well as his own responses to questions regarding homosexuality. Martin Luther King Jr. was a champion for civil rights. I admire him, his philosophies, and his ability to galvanize and inspire a generation to act in non-violent protest. I think I always will, but I still felt unhappy today. After discussing it all with fellow students, the consensus was reached that MLK Jr. might have held different views if he was exposed to the same information and experiences we have at our very fingertips.

So my conclusion is to understand that people think and behave according to what they know. In the 60's, homosexuality was conceptualized as being characteristic of pedophilia and sociopathic tendencies. It was probably the majority view, simply due to the information and communication of the time. Taking MLK Jr. out of his context and placing it in mine might have different results. Perhaps this is a tangent, but he was also human. I know that gets lost in the rhetoric surrounding how much good he did, but humans sometimes think and act in ways unbecoming of their true nature. A person's behavior does not always reveal their character--that's not to condone it, but to understand that judging a person's behavior and judging a person's character are two different things. Heck I think it was even Martin Luther who said good deeds to not necessarily make a person good and bad deeds do not necessarily make a person bad. (You can correct me if I'm wrong.)

The lesson I learned from all of this?  Patience. Patience with the acquisition of new information and the evolution of concepts, patience with other people and how they interact with information, and patience with my own emotions and reactions.

Peace, love, and especially WARMTH to all of you.

-Megan