The Source

Have you ever received one of those emails? You know...the ones from an acquaintance or distant relative that is a nicely packaged message full of fear and half-truths? Whether they are addressing the removal of the Ten Commandments from our courthouses or extolling the non-virtues of Muslims, they are all based in the same belief: fear. Fear that someone is going to take away something from us...fear that a "vast conspiracy" is at work. As I have reflected on this, I cringe at the times when I bought into these fears or mistakenly and naively perpetuated them.

I believe that most of us carry around these fears and prejudices because we learned them....from parents, teachers, friends, the media...and we never learned to question if those teachings were true or not.

So, I ask...

What type of messages have you received about the following "groups", where did the messages come from, how can you learn the truth about these "groups"...how can you go to the source?

Lesbians
Homosexuals
Hispanics
Jews
Muslims
Women
Children
Single Mothers
Teenagers
Men
Catholics
Divorced Dads
Mormons
Hindus
Asian
African-Americans
Republicans
Democrats
Christians
Southern Baptists
Career Women
Farmers
Teen Parents
Yankees
Southerners
People with Disabilities
Rednecks
Yuppies
New Yorkers
Illegal Immigrants
Taliban
Iraqi's
People with AIDS

What categories would you add to the list? What are your thoughts?