Talk (Prejudice - Gender, Race, Gay, Age…)

Talk Introduction

Tonight we are be looking at the who subject of prejudice
It's big and complicated
So in doing this we will probably find that touch on many different subjects
To get us thinking about this, I'd like to spend sometime time thinking about specific groups of people that get some stick
[Stick the pictures up]
On the wall you will see I have stuck up the outline of somebody
Each of these bits of paper represents a group of people within our society...
- Christian
- Foreigners
- The homeless
- Homosexuals
- Old people
- Young people
- Gypsies
- Jobless
- Single parents
- Disabled people
- Drug addicts
- People with learning problems
- Criminals
What I want you to do is to:
- Be honest
- Write down some of the things that people say about them or the attitudes that people have
Before we do that - I want us to write down what we hear
I know that may not be what we personally believe…
There are lots of thoughts there…
To help us think about what prejudice is, I thought it would be good see what the dictionary says
Heinemann: "1. An opinion formed without reason, knowledge or experience: 'though he has never met one, he has a prejudice against Australians'…."

Oxford: "Preconceived opinion, bias; injury that results or may result from some action or judgement; without ~, without detriment to existing right or claim. ~ v.t. Impair the validity of (right, claim, etc.)…."

Now if that is what prejudice is, then I think if we were honest most of us are guilty of it
But I suspect that none of us would want to be called prejudice
I know at times I have attitudes about…

Do you think there is some truth in any of these attitudes?
- But how do you know?
Where do you think these attitudes come from?
- Parents? Friends?
- Our society?
Do you know people who have these attitudes?
Do you think your attitude would change if you got to know some of the people in these "groups"?
- In which direction?
- What if a criminal came to live next door to you?
Do you think these attitudes effect the way we live or lives?

Luke 10:25-37 P1022 The story of the Good Samaritan / love your neighbour as yourself
[Luke 6:27 P1013 "But I say to you who are listening love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who are cruel to you…"]
Luke 6:37 P1013
"Don't Judge other people, and you will not be judged. Don't accuse others of being guilty, and you will not be accused of being guilty. Forgive, and you will be forgiven…."
James 2:1-7 P1295
"…never think some people are more important than others…"
James 3:1-6 P1297 about the tongue
Matthew 5:43 Love all people "..love your enemies…"

Now as far as I can tell
The Bible is quite clear on what our attitudes should be towards other people
The Good Samaritan
Don't judge…
Love the person but not necessarily what they do
In the weeks ahead we may look at some of the specific subjects we have touched on…

http://www.concentric.net/~kurtar/Berty2/Isms.html
http://www.bryson.demon.co.uk/tea.html
ftp://ftp.ox.ac.uk/pub/wordlists/
ftp://ftp.dcs.shef.ac.uk/share/ilash/Moby/
http://www.hyphenologist.co.uk/
http://racerelations.about.com/newsissues/racerelations/msubstereotype.htm
http://racerelations.about.com/newsissues/racerelations/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fpersonalwebs.myriad.net%2Fsteveb%2Fprejudce.html
http://emedia1.mediainfo.com/emedia/
http://www.word2word.com/dictionary.html
Search for homophobia, racism, sexism, ageism, feminism, stereotypes etc.
Sexism

Genesis 1:27 "So God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female"
Genesis 2:21-23 - the rib bit
Genesis 5:2 "He created the male and female, and on that day he blessed them and named them human beings."
Matthew 19:4 - "Have you not real that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female"