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Published On: Apr 26, 2006 10:02 PM
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Published On: Apr 26, 2006 10:02 PM
Patti On Harriet, and Kindness
The MSNBC/Newsweek site has an opinion piece by
Patti Davis on Harriet Miers.
I personally find this piece interesting for two reasons. Firstly, It's hard for me not to picture Patti and George W. as some strange kind of political siblings -- the daughter of a president and the son of his vice-president obviously have no real relationship, but they seem somehow tied in a way reminiscent of "6 Degrees of Separation." To see Ms. Davis criticizing Mr. Bush is interesting, at least to me.
But the main thing I found interesting was this:
Most offspring of famous people have gotten this at some point-a snide remark that they have no worth or value on their own, they only matter because of their parents. It's not something any of us ever shrug off... for the simple reason that it's the cruelest thing one human being can say to another. To tell a person that, as an individual, they are utterly worthless is to aim for the softest spot in their soul. I stared at this woman's letter, I thought about what we were all witnessing with Harriet Miers, and I thought about how callous and unkind this world is much of the time.
It made me think of situations I've been in where either I or the other person was unkind. Any of you who have read this blog for any length of time know that I'm a fairly blunt person. I try, however, to separate issues from personalities, but I'm the first to admit I'm not always successful at doing so. I've also been the target of unkindness in the past, but I can't recall that my inherent value as a human being was ever called into question. Or maybe my arrogance or sense of self is great enough that I didn't even process it in that manner.
Human beings do have inherent value. Each of us has a wealth of unique experiences, opinions, and thoughts that make us important, at least to ourselves. Part of Ms. Davis' value would certainly be her experiences as a president's daughter; and this is certainly one of the things that places her in some spotlights today. That, though, is just a scraping of the surface of what gives her value, or so I would think.
Kindness isn't easy. Valuing others in an increasingly impersonal world is a challenge we all face, and we all have successes and failures in this arena. I know that at least in my case, I didn't see Harriet Miers as a person until she declined the nomination for Supreme Court judge. At that point, I was able to see beyond all the politics, finger-pointing, muck-raking, pointless aggrandizing, and defensive posturing, and was able to actually set my eyes upon a lady who had just had to do what was arguably one of the most difficult things of her life. I felt pity for her. I know that pity is often scorned in this day and age; the theatrical line "I don't need your pity" is common to the point of hackneyed. Nonetheless, I feel pity for an individual placed in an intolerable position, who then had to remove herself publicly from that position.
Nowhere in that modern invention the Nine Noble Virtues have I seen anything approaching kindness. I don't see hospitality as applying here, since the sagas show ample evidence of people being unkind to guests in their home, yet still offering them food and a place to stay.
Is this something we're missing? Should heathens be more concerned about the effect of their actions and words on those around them? Probably. Where to start, though? Well, Patti Davis has a good suggestion:
Maybe if people had to open an envelope and re-read their own unkind words, they might get some inkling of how another person felt when they received them. Maybe if they knew that sending meanness out into the word would result in it being sent right back, they'd hesitate before aiming daggers at the tender spots in another's soul.
Considering one's words and the impact they will have may be a step towards being kind. Remember the old phrase "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all? In some cases, that's actually true.
The Lore gives us examples of kindness. When Baldr died, All the sentient beings of the world (apart from one old troll lady who may have been Loki) cried for him, to bring him back from Hel. The gods and goddesses jump to each other's verbal defense in Lokasenna. Odin and Frigg foster Agnar and Geirroth after they are shipwrecked. Tyr sacrifices his oath and his hand in return for the security of everyone. What greater kindness is there?
Modern heathenry, in too many cases, unfortunately, ignores this in favor of a false bluster and bravado designed to separate heathenry from other religions. This isn't universal; acts of kindness are also common within the heathen community. However, too often in our personal relationships we sacrifice kindness in favor of "toughness."
Well, this is a bit of a ramble, I suppose. It's probably also a first -- I doubt that Patti Davis has ever inspired an article on Asatru before. Hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to backfeed with feedback.
I personally find this piece interesting for two reasons. Firstly, It's hard for me not to picture Patti and George W. as some strange kind of political siblings -- the daughter of a president and the son of his vice-president obviously have no real relationship, but they seem somehow tied in a way reminiscent of "6 Degrees of Separation." To see Ms. Davis criticizing Mr. Bush is interesting, at least to me.
But the main thing I found interesting was this:
Most offspring of famous people have gotten this at some point-a snide remark that they have no worth or value on their own, they only matter because of their parents. It's not something any of us ever shrug off... for the simple reason that it's the cruelest thing one human being can say to another. To tell a person that, as an individual, they are utterly worthless is to aim for the softest spot in their soul. I stared at this woman's letter, I thought about what we were all witnessing with Harriet Miers, and I thought about how callous and unkind this world is much of the time.
It made me think of situations I've been in where either I or the other person was unkind. Any of you who have read this blog for any length of time know that I'm a fairly blunt person. I try, however, to separate issues from personalities, but I'm the first to admit I'm not always successful at doing so. I've also been the target of unkindness in the past, but I can't recall that my inherent value as a human being was ever called into question. Or maybe my arrogance or sense of self is great enough that I didn't even process it in that manner.
Human beings do have inherent value. Each of us has a wealth of unique experiences, opinions, and thoughts that make us important, at least to ourselves. Part of Ms. Davis' value would certainly be her experiences as a president's daughter; and this is certainly one of the things that places her in some spotlights today. That, though, is just a scraping of the surface of what gives her value, or so I would think.
Kindness isn't easy. Valuing others in an increasingly impersonal world is a challenge we all face, and we all have successes and failures in this arena. I know that at least in my case, I didn't see Harriet Miers as a person until she declined the nomination for Supreme Court judge. At that point, I was able to see beyond all the politics, finger-pointing, muck-raking, pointless aggrandizing, and defensive posturing, and was able to actually set my eyes upon a lady who had just had to do what was arguably one of the most difficult things of her life. I felt pity for her. I know that pity is often scorned in this day and age; the theatrical line "I don't need your pity" is common to the point of hackneyed. Nonetheless, I feel pity for an individual placed in an intolerable position, who then had to remove herself publicly from that position.
Nowhere in that modern invention the Nine Noble Virtues have I seen anything approaching kindness. I don't see hospitality as applying here, since the sagas show ample evidence of people being unkind to guests in their home, yet still offering them food and a place to stay.
Is this something we're missing? Should heathens be more concerned about the effect of their actions and words on those around them? Probably. Where to start, though? Well, Patti Davis has a good suggestion:
Maybe if people had to open an envelope and re-read their own unkind words, they might get some inkling of how another person felt when they received them. Maybe if they knew that sending meanness out into the word would result in it being sent right back, they'd hesitate before aiming daggers at the tender spots in another's soul.
Considering one's words and the impact they will have may be a step towards being kind. Remember the old phrase "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all? In some cases, that's actually true.
The Lore gives us examples of kindness. When Baldr died, All the sentient beings of the world (apart from one old troll lady who may have been Loki) cried for him, to bring him back from Hel. The gods and goddesses jump to each other's verbal defense in Lokasenna. Odin and Frigg foster Agnar and Geirroth after they are shipwrecked. Tyr sacrifices his oath and his hand in return for the security of everyone. What greater kindness is there?
Modern heathenry, in too many cases, unfortunately, ignores this in favor of a false bluster and bravado designed to separate heathenry from other religions. This isn't universal; acts of kindness are also common within the heathen community. However, too often in our personal relationships we sacrifice kindness in favor of "toughness."
Well, this is a bit of a ramble, I suppose. It's probably also a first -- I doubt that Patti Davis has ever inspired an article on Asatru before. Hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to backfeed with feedback.
Posted: Wed - November 2, 2005 at 09:33 PM