By
Joshua
Michail
23
August, 2012
Pride is absurd. White Pride, Gay Pride,
Latino Pride and Nationalist Pride are only a few examples of the type
of vacuous, intellectually distorted, emotional nonsense that people
employ all the time. So many people say they have “pride” as if they've
only just discovered a new word for which they're looking for even the
weakest excuse to use it. The problem I have with this is
when people say they're "proud" of something, of which they ought not
to be "proud". I know that may sound a bit extreme, a bit
harsh. But, if I didn't grab your attention I might not save you from a
life of misery. Well, okay, it's not likely actually misery, it's more
likely just occasional inaccuracies and misunderstandings. But, the
point remains about pride. Pride is a word that is very often used
wrongly.
Just to
be clear on a few things, before I continue on about pride. When people
say “gay pride” perhaps what they mean, what they ought to be saying
is, “not ashamed to be gay”. And why not? There is nothing about being
gay, which one should be ashamed of, at all. The term, though not
synonymous, is understood to mean “unashamed”. Unlike, with racial or
ethnic or religious “pride”, which is synonymous, in these cases, with
“supremacy”. La Raza, the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Panthers are
racial supremacy groups that advocate racism against people who are not
“superior”, in other words members of their own race or ethnicity, in
their views. Their use of the word “pride” is meant to be a dodge, or a
cover, or code word, for racial identity and their supposed supremacy.
The fact
about pride is that it requires an accomplishment of some sort. All too
often one hears – what at least to me sounds something like the
dragging of fingernails on chalkboard people throwing the
word “pride” around, needlessly or carelessly. In some ways it may
cheapen that to which it is being applied, and sometimes it's used
entirely inappropriately. One must wonder what does a person mean when
they say they are “proud” of this thing or that. There are times,
of-course, when it's use is completely appropriate. But, that's not the
point. The correct use of a term does not arouse a need to improve
clarity. Correct use of terms simply does not arouse the ire of those
of us who do care about the art and science of communication.
The
sloppy use of language makes me cringe, as it would anyone who wishes
to be clear. Everyone has their own perceptions, but to be understood
correctly, we must first get past our own perceptions. There must be
uniformity in our understanding of what the terms we use mean. We need
standards, or else our words become meaningless. Our efforts at
communication become useless when we are not clear. We need to read
dictionaries, reliable ones, multiple ones. We need to settle on the
definition that most of the dictionaries are in consensus on, for each
term. We need the simplest and yet most accurate definition. After-all,
definitions must be agreed upon if we are to convey our concepts
accurately. If you use unclear terms, words that can be understood
differently by others, poor context or grammar, you may not be saying
what you intend. Others will likely not be receiving your message as
you want them to understand it.
I do, in
fact, see a commonplace misunderstanding of the term "pride". Certainly
a review of some various dictionaries reveals that there are multiple
ways that the term is commonly used. But, still many people use the
word all too loosely. It's not that people are saying something like
"I'm too proud to be seen with you", in which case they would mean
proud in the sense of self-esteem, or even arrogance. Nor, is the use
of proud as in "the head stands proud of the shoulders" being
discussed, in that case it would be using the term to mean standing
above, or out from, something. It should go without saying that we're
not discussing a group of lions, a “pride” being similar to a “herd” or
a “flock”. Rather, the meaning of "proud", implicit in the topic, is
that of accomplishment.
Some
people talk about their racial or gender pride, or ethnic pride, but
that's a misunderstanding about pride. In some cases, like the use of
the term in Gay Pride Parade, what is really meant is “not ashamed”.
Clearly, it is fair to be unashamed of one's sexual orientation, though
the word is still being misused. “Gay Pride” raises a whole other set
of issues, like that of choice. If you can be “proud” of being gay,
then why, for fairness sake, can't I be proud of being straight? I'll
assume that what is meant, and clumsily conveyed, by “gay pride” is
rather “not ashamed to be gay”. That would be fair then. Obviously, one
doesn't choose their skin color or arrangement of genitals, or in which
culture they're raised. In this way one cannot honestly be "proud" of
one's religion, after all one who merely maintains the beliefs they're
taught to believe in hasn't accomplished any feat, in that regard.
Religious
people may often say that they are “proud” of being a Christian, or a
Muslim, for example. The problem is that in most cases, unlike with
atheism, one really did not accomplish anything to become a Christian
or a Muslim, etcetera. Most religious people are simply being as they
were programmed by other people: their parents or other family members,
religious leaders, friends and society. They are acting in accordance
to the external programming which was implanted in their youth, such
that they've essentially not accomplished on their own being as they
are. This is akin, in a way, to being “proud” to be black or to be
white, or “proud” to be a male or to be a female, for example. This
sort of so-called pride is an absurdity. Each of us was born male or
female. Every person was born into a group of skin-color. It's an
accident of birth, and so not an accomplishment because it is a state
of being which was permanently imposed from the outset. Though,
obviously, religion is different in that it's not unchangeable. The
point is that virtually all religious people were taught in their
youth, when they were most impressionable, to be religious. It comes,
almost, as natural to them. In fact, usually little thought is given to
one's religious beliefs.
But, to
think critically, to apply logic and to be rational is an
accomplishment, that is worthy of the term. It's a feat that one
accomplishes every time one thinks about their beliefs, analyzes the
evidence and consciously decides to either accept or reject a
proposition because of it's merits. In this way, since religion is the
norm, being an atheist is something of which one can rightfully be
proud. The reason being is, as bluntly as it is, that so many people
simply accept primitive and unfounded fantasies as if they were
reality. There is no accomplishment in merely acquiescing to popular
pressure, to obediently accept conformity for the sake of comfort
rather than honesty. I'm proud to say that I'm an atheist. And since
one can only have pride in an accomplishment, and since realizing that
faith is not a virtue, coming to grips with reality rather than denying
it, is an accomplishment, the term fits.
An
"atheist" is a person who has no beliefs in a deity. That's all it
means. What we can be "proud" of is how we become an atheist, or the
reasons we are an atheist. Since to be "proud" requires an
accomplishment to be "proud" of, one cannot be proud merely of being an
atheist. This is because being an "atheist" is a state of being, not an
accomplishment. But, one can be proud of thinking critically, because
that is an action and so can be an accomplishment. Thus, one has pride
in being an atheist only to the extent that to become an atheist one
accomplished the act of thinking critically. In other words, when one
says “I'm proud to be
an atheist” one means the connoted critical
thinking that lead to being an atheist is what one is actually proud
of. One is proud of his or her correct use of logic and one's critical
thinking skills. One is, therefore, also proud of the act of rejecting
claims that are lacking the requisite evidence.
Copyright © 2012 by Joshua
Michail
All
Rights Reserved.
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