(Video from The Daily Show, 2011/08/11. Via Mediaite.)
Let’s completely ignore the politics and the personalities in this video.
What I find interesting is the hypocrisy fully on display here. I don’t mean Megyn Kelly’s hypocrisy, that’s only one example here —- but human hypocrisy in general. Too often we can hate on something and pass judgment without experiencing ourselves. We can only imagine from our vantage point, within our own presumptions and stereotypes: Poor people are lazy. Asians are brutes. Teenagers have no discipline. Those with depression just need to cheer up. The list goes on.
And then one day we come in touch with the realities of these people. There are those that fit our stereotypes, but there’s also others that completely dismantle them. Sometimes we may even become them. And in those situations we gain a new understanding, and may even become staunch defenders for them. Suffering is also a gift of empathy, and in these pains we are forced to be joined into them as brothers and sisters.
“When I’m at the pearly gates, this will be on my videotape.” - Radiohead, “Videotape”
It is my prayer that we have grace. Not a cheap tolerance, but a potential for inexhaustible empathy. To gain this empathy may also mean facing more suffering, understanding the depths and breadth of people, and having our presumptions dismantled. But isn’t that worth it? Isn’t that so much more beautiful than the shrinking hate and elitism in our own bubble?
At times this cost will seem infinitely expensive, but it is my prayer that we will strive to go there, and to follow those that paid it.
