Re: Re: studying how to prevent us

[Guest guest]

Re:

> These [who] teach autistics to be normal people need to be slapped.

What makes slapping a non-autistic person any more virtuous than

slapping an autistic person?

Kate Gladstone

[Guest guest]

The correct sentence was:

These " teach autistics to be normal " people need to be slapped.

>

Not

These [who] teach autistics to be normal people need to be slapped.

>

Completely different message there.

> Re:

>

> > These [who] teach autistics to be normal people need to be slapped.

>

> What makes slapping a non-autistic person any more virtuous than

> slapping an autistic person?

>

> Kate Gladstone

>

>

[Guest guest]

Re:

> These " teach autistics to be normal " people need to be slapped.

Still: what would make slapping them virtuous? (or, for that matter, useful?)

Kate Gladstone

[Guest guest]

Fine. The " teach autistics to be normal " people should be ignored at all

costs. I can definitely agree with that one...

>

> Don't descend to their level - just because they're nasty to you

> doesn't mean you should be nasty back.

> Gandhi is one of my role models - peaceful resistance is best.

> Ettina

>

> >

> > Re:

> >

> > > These " teach autistics to be normal " people need to be slapped.

> >

> > Still: what would make slapping them virtuous? (or, for that matter,

> useful?)

> >

> >

> > Kate Gladstone

> >

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> Don't descend to their level - just because they're nasty to you

> doesn't mean you should be nasty back.

> Gandhi is one of my role models - peaceful resistance is best.

Yes, he said that we should be the change we want to see in the world.

That certainly applies here. If we don't want to see people smacking

each other we shoulddn't smack anyone or encourage it. If we want

people to respect each other we should respect everyone. Yup,

everyone! That doesn't mean we agree with them. But we still respect

them.

Genyin

--

" I know the answer! The answer lies within the heart of all mankind!

The answer is twelve? I think I'm in the wrong building. "

M. Schultz

[Guest guest]

Genyin,

That sounds interesting- almost like a paradox. We respect their not

respecting us. I konw that there is theory of mind to back this up, but I am

not completely sure what it is yet.

I know that when we love someone, we need not agree with them to love them.

Still, that is quite different from respect- or is it?

Kelsang Genyin wrote:

> Don't descend to their level - just because they're nasty to you

> doesn't mean you should be nasty back.

> Gandhi is one of my role models - peaceful resistance is best.

Yes, he said that we should be the change we want to see in the world.

That certainly applies here. If we don't want to see people smacking

each other we shoulddn't smack anyone or encourage it. If we want

people to respect each other we should respect everyone. Yup,

everyone! That doesn't mean we agree with them. But we still respect

them.

Genyin

--

" I know the answer! The answer lies within the heart of all mankind!

The answer is twelve? I think I'm in the wrong building. "

M. Schultz

---------------------------------

Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

[Guest guest]

> That sounds interesting- almost like a paradox. We respect their not

respecting us. I konw that there is theory of mind to back this up, but I am

not completely sure what it is yet.

Hmm, not that we respect their view but we respect them. That's my

interpretation anyway. In Buddhism (and Ghandi had some Buddhist

influences) we see people ( and all living beings) as fundamentally

pure but that purity is obscured. One way to respect people is to

help them uncover their own pure nature. Not by lecturing them, but

by encouraging whatever good bits they show us and ignoring or guiding

them round or away from the not so good bits.

>

> I know that when we love someone, we need not agree with them to love them.

Still, that is quite different from respect- or is it?

It depends in what sense you mean " love " . A lot of love is mixed with

what we want from a person, even if it is simply their company. Or to

feel we are useful. That kind of love may involve very little

respect.

But if we love people because we know they are better than they may

appear to be then it isn't so conditional. If we love them because

we're all trying to do our best in the messes we find ourselves in

then that is more pure too. No one really wants to be a bad person.

Curebie types want the best for their kids but they are misguided

about what *is* best. And that can make them do or sanction terrible

things, knowingly or out of ignorance about what is really involved

and how it will impact on the child. Some of them really believe that

electric shocks are better than the kid behaving in autistic ways.

And often it's their suppressed guilt about what they are doing that

makes them turn so nastily on those who outrightly oppose it.

We need to educate, but we need to educate with love not condemnation.

Shouting down curebie types won't help. Smacking them down would be

worse, not that we can anyway.

I don't know exactly how we do it, but it's about our attitude rather

than what we say and do. We can disagree strongly but if we respect

people, love them, somehow it will be different than if we don't.

Genyin

--

" I know the answer! The answer lies within the heart of all mankind!

The answer is twelve? I think I'm in the wrong building. "

M. Schultz