Stereoype: Lucky

I am often looked down as a thoughtless, unmannered young teenager. This is because I happen to have a tattoo on my chest and wear many accessories. This is a common stereotype I Korea, only the ones who break the law and live off with their fist have a tattoo. From a statistical point of view, that can be very true, but if one judge another by a statistical fact that is a generalization. People often critically judge others based on themselves not giving any space to the ones who are different. As all man sin, it seems inevitable to judge people in our every day life. As a Christian, I believe that generalizations and stereotypes are harmful both for the harmer and the victim. Jesus said we should judge ourselves before judging others. This is very true every human individual is made in their own unique way and therefore each individual carry their very own habits, thoughts and life. Many of the times these unique individuals’ identity is destroyed due to generalizations and stereotypical ideas. Let say one has a great talent in writing a poem in South Korea. His talent and dream will face arguments from his parents, friends and society every step he moves towards his dream. In South Korea, being a doctor or a lawyer is a stereotypical idea. Many parents urge their children to pursue studying until they become either a doctor or a lawyer. This seems to be generalizing a human being, brainwashing the future generation. In all seriousness stereotypical idea is a sin, since one is judging others by the wrong point of view and sources. Also the person who has been influenced by a stereotype will be affected to stop pursuing their uniqueness and become a “uniform” of the world. I personally believe that as imperfect human beings it would be impossible for us to judge others. As I write this reflection paper, there are probably many stereotypical ideas included such as “people like to judge others.” As it is inevitable to even judge a random person’s fashion you meet in the traffic light, we all should take more consideration of what we think.