From My Perspective

Nowadays, we have labels for everything, and everyone. The labeling has separated and divided us.

Instead of being human, we are now labeled based on our skin color, religious beliefs, political beliefs, sexual preference or orientation, beliefs about the environment, the friends we keep, and the hobbies we engage in.

We have labels that define our status in the world based on our income. Upper class, middle class, lower class, or upper echelon, blue collar, and impoverished.

We're labeled city-slickers or rude city people if we come from a big city, and hillbillies and rednecks if with live in the country or small towns.

Instead of acknowledging people have their own religious beliefs, we condemn those who aren't in alignment with ours. Maybe I'm different because I've had a lot of exposure to many different religions. For those who many not know me or may be new to this column, I was born Jewish. By 5th grade, I was enrolled in a Catholic school (because at the time it provided a better education than the public school system where I lived). Religion classes were one of my favorites because I learned so much about beliefs that weren't like anything I'd ever known. My first husband and his family were Lutheran, which is the way my kids were raised, but they also learned about their Jewish heritage.

While working and attending classes at the University of Pennsylvania, I majored in anthropology and took cultural anthropology classes which introduced me to Hinduism, Buddhism, as well as others. My first step-father was Mormon, and my current partner is an atheist. Nowadays I find myself knowing there is a power greater than me and I'm more spiritual than religious. Unless you, or your religion condone violence against others, my belief is you should believe what you believe and let others do the same. Let me tell you, if a positive spiritual person and an atheist can live under one roof, respecting one another's difference in beliefs, I think there may be hope for the rest of the world.

We've labeled our sexual preferences and orientation. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but when I was growing up, what happened in a bedroom or behind closed doors was always a private matter. Maybe it should still be. I've never cared about anyone's sexual orientation until it became another reason to spread hate and discontent. Let me rephrase that... I still don't care about anyone's sexual orientation. I do care that people's sexual orientation has given humans another reason to dislike and criticize one another, while spreading more hate and discontent throughout the world.

It never mattered to me where someone lived or came from until some came to the United States from foreign places to escape the brutality from where they were and then caused the same brutality to occur here.

I've never cared about the color of someone's skin or their ethnicity. Whether someone is black, white, Asian, Hispanic, etc. has never mattered to me and I don't treat people any differently because their skin color is the same, or different, than mine. There are people who do good, and there are people who do not. The color of their skin doesn't determine that, how they behave and the things they do or don't do is what decides it.

I've never much cared for political views of others until my views were attacked because they didn't align with someone else's. Now instead of being Democrat or Republican, or Independent for that matter, we're called left, right, indifferent, and extremist.

Those who care about the environment, support minimalistic living, recycle, eat vegan, or peacefully protest are called hippies and tree-huggers. Those who don't are labeled destroyers and anarchists.

Nerds, bullies, jocks, geeks, popular, and loser are all labels we're dubbed with in school and onward, based on the friends we have, where we live, what job we have, and the hobbies we keep. Those labels often follow us around into our adult lives. Don't believe me, go to any high-school reunion, the labels still apply.

So, when exactly does the labeling stop? When do we look past the labels and see people for who they really are: humans... individuals.

Instead of being categorized by our beliefs, hobbies, location, skin color, sexual orientation, and political views, why can't we embrace the idea that we're really all more alike than we realize, and can do so much more united, rather than divided by labels that continue to turn us against one another.

The world is a pretty scary place right now. Why would anyone want to have to face it alone? Why would any of us want to be divided in a time, when now more than ever, when the world needs us all to pull together, put side our differences and once again just be good humans?