Objection!

I Object. There, I said it, and unfortunately, it is true. Not, “I object” like in a court room, nor “iobject”, which I am sure is something apple will be rolling out soon, I, meaning me, “object”, as in the noun, that the dictionary defines as: “object, noun, ob–ject, a material thing that can be seen or touched”. Being as far from an English scholar as humanly possible, I am not sure I can make up a new verb from a noun that already has a verb of a different meaning, but I am going to anyway, and I apologize if I shouldn’t have. I object, meaning I way too often see people as objects and not people. Proper english would be, I all too often objectify people. 

We all do it, some more than others, but objectifying a person is never in the spirt of loving them. We are told that the the two most important commandments are love God and love you neighbor, meaning everybody else, yes everybody. If you are objectifying them, you aren’t loving them, because you are no longer looking at them as people, but things. 

We do this by labeling them. “He is an idiot!”. “She is nosy”. The news recently has been full of coverage of Paula Dean, the once beloved cooking show hostess, being fired for using the “n-word”. In other words, she used a term that labeled african american people not as individual people, but objects. Then the court of public opinion quickly pointed out that she is a “racist”. She is no longer a person, who may struggle with her own demons, she is now objectified as well. You see we all do it, all the time. In this case it can feel justified, but I don’t think that is how God wants us to see it. You see people of all backgrounds are still people, individuals, made by God in his image, but we are ALL to quick to forget this.

How about the two guys looking at the girl on the beach in her bikini. Are they looking at the beauty of her soul, or are they looking at her as an object to fulfill lustful desires? Would they look at her the same if she was a bit larger and wearing shorts and a tee shirt? Likely not, but they are not looking at her the person, but her the object. I wonder how that all changes if we add to the mix that it is God’s daughter they are ogling! I know if it were my daughter, I’m would not be happy, and I am not omnipresent, nor all powerful. I know, but, after all,  she is just a tramp seeking attention going out dressed like that, I mean what does she expect! Again, we on the “good” side, have to watch how we label as well.

Here is one! How about the A$$ #@%& who cuts you off in the car. Now there is one case that we can justify converting into an object. I mean after all she has no conscious, or care for others, or she would be more considerate in her driving right? Well maybe, but would you feel any different if you knew that she was driving around just to get out of the house, because her abusive husband just beat her up in front of their three kids. Is she still an A$$ #@%&? Or, does she deserve your love and compassion?

You see, we are all people. We are all flawed, and we all deserve love and compassion. Oftentimes, those who appear to deserve it the least, need it the most. Their actions are often cries of pain and loneliness. We are all made to love and be loved, but we often deny ourselves and each other the gift of doing just that. We objectify people to distance ourselves from them, to justify our actions, to make ourselves feel superior, or in some cases, to fulfill our own needs or desires. We are all different, and yet we are all the same - made perfectly by God in His image. But we are made to learn to love and understand our fellow man. In doing so, we learn the unconditional love that God has for us and has designed us for, and in that, we find Him!

Yhea God!