March 16, 2016 – Irish

Irish

“We have always found the Irish a bit odd.
They refuse to be English.”

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) English Statesman

Beneath the Churchillian wit lies a great deal of pain and strife; not just for the Irish (and even the English), but literally for all ethnic identities, for all of us.

Don’t we all “refuse to be” anything other than what we are? And isn’t that almost always different from other ethnic groups among whom we live? It’s been a problem from the beginning of human history.

Every day, our media are full of stories of ethnic violence and mayhem.

While it’s human nature to want to ‘associate with our own,’ why is it too often exclusive? and why do we continue to demonize the “others?”

My ethnic values and behavior: Something to consider this week — while keeping close at hand the congenial humor of the Irish!