“It is good for children to learn to love their country, their religion, their culture, and so on. But the danger comes when this develops into narrow-minded nationalism, ethnocentricity, and religious bigotry”.
-H.H. The 14th Dalai Lama
As a parent it sometimes overwhelming to realize just how much you help shape your child. The things that you teach your child, whether positive or negative, will stay with them for the rest of their lives. As reflected in the above quote from the Dalai Lama, it is important to teach children how to be a loving and open minded person, whether it is your own child, grandchild, family member, or even children who you have the opportunity to interact with. It is also important for you to sift through the mental garbage that you may have accumulated during your journey through life, so that you can be a more loving and open minded person.
Everyday, the world becomes more and more unified, yet bigotry in its myriad of forms remains. Thankfully, for the most part, bigotry has become a social faux pas, so bigotry goes largely unvocalized; however, bigotry can still remain in our thoughts. When you look at another person and you have a negative thought about them, whether it is because of their race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, or even social class, that is bigotry. Bigotry acts as a blockage that prevents you from truly getting to know another person, because you have already formed an opinion of that person without ever attempting to truly understand them.
