I was born in New York City and grew up about 35 miles northwest of it in a town just above the NJ/NY state line. We always thought we were better than everyone else because it’s – well, New York City, of course! “If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere” wasn’t just a line from a Frankie song – it was our anthem. When I finally left to go to Ohio for college, which, other than a weekend trip to Pittsburgh was the only time I had left the Metro area, I was shown a whole new world. There were farms that had real, live cows and stuff! People with weird accents (yes – I know that there are a lot of weird accents in the New York area) and different foods and really big churches. It was a culture shock, and I loved the differences.
This week I saw a click-bait article titled, “All 50 States – Dumbest to Smartest.” I have no idea what it said because I refused to read it. And sure, I have, over the years, made jokes about places I grew up thinking were filled with so-called “inbred” people; in fact, I heard those jokes from people from those areas. And while they were just jokes to me, there were times they made people mad. One time we rented a house for vacation in upstate New York, and the guy at the boat dock, seeing my license plate, said, “Oh, you’re from Pennsyltucky!” I admit that it irritated me, and it made me think about all the times I had “joked” about other places around the country.
We like to poke fun at those who are different from us; I guess it makes us feel superior. We might not say “just kidding!” like the mean girls in the hall, but we might as well. This isn’t good-natured teasing or joking with close friends; this is a way we tear each other down. We use derogatory terms for people we disagree with. We think we are making a point, but all we are doing is tearing each other apart. And it isn’t that we shouldn’t speak up and point out the dangers we see around us, but stereotypes are never 100%; all they do is cause damage to good people. Don’t buy what they are selling. People everywhere are like people everywhere, and they deserve respect, just like us.
Prayer – Holy God, You have made each one of us with Your Holy Spirit, and we are all people of sacred worth. Remind us of this today. Amen.