Myth of Brain Disorders: (ePub)

The Dangers of Labeling Humans

Mission Statement

Labeling humans is morally wrong and should be fought passionately and uncompromisingly until labels are no more. It is time for a paradigm shift in how we view ourselves. This shift is poised to have a major impact on all aspects of life on this planet, specifically in education, healing, and the nurturing of human potential.

This statement is based on the following assumptions:

1. All human beings, regardless of their race, culture, sex, religion, form of gift, type of intelligence, personality, temperament, style of learning, biological type, or physiology, are created in the image of God. Thus they are all basically spiritual, beautiful, eternal, and absolutely perfect in their creation.

2. If people are properly educated about their higher spiritual nature and true potential, they could and would rise up and fulfill this innate potential, turning this planet into a true reflection of God's heaven on earth.

3. This noble human being therefore must be understood, loved, appreciated, nurtured, valued, and above all respected. The dignity of all humanity needs to be restored to its rightful place, along with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that go along with this new self-concept.

4. Educational systems need to expand their curriculum beyond the basics of reading, writing, and math to include teaching us about who we truly are: spiritual by nature and gifted with a potential beyond our wildest imagination.

5. Labeling humans with psychiatric and educational labels is demeaning and goes against man's inherent dignity, and thus needs to be eradicated for the sake of the overall well-being of individuals and society.

6. Viewing our children and ourselves from a sickness perspective is spiritually demeaning and developmentally counterproductive. Seeing through a lens of sickness is like being caught permanently in a vicious dead-end cycle of negativity that in the long term will hurt us not only as individuals but collectively as well. Negative labels of this kind need to be seen for what they really are: dangerous. Ultimately, these labels become reality masking, sickness producing, and belittling to human nobility, and they fail to deliver what they supposedly promise: a positive outcome.

7. These labels have come to be misrepresented as good and necessary and as the only way to cure, heal, educate, and nurture diverse forms of human beings and human conditions.

In the following pages, I will expand on these assumptions, hoping to at least create an initial dent on the surface of our label-oriented, drug-go-lucky mind-set. I further hope that others will join and contribute as we begin a new era in the positive interpretation of our diverse forms of personality and giftedness, ending the viewing of ourselves, and our children through a lens of sickness. I pray for the day that we on this planet will not only find such practices distasteful but we will react to labels with shock and rage.

I hope that given time, we all will see the need for more empowering alternative philosophies, practices, and methods in the realm of healing, education, and human development. I offer this view to the world with a deep, strong conviction that this paradigm shift from sickness to a deeper understanding of who we truly are (spiritual in nature and amazingly gifted beyond our wildest dreams) could turn this planet into what it is potentially capable of: God's heaven on earth.

I believe that through acquiring a more positive outlook about our diversity and practicing a more positive interpretation of our vast complexities and our differences, we could unleash the potential hidden in all human forms in the service of all humanity. Doing so could move us towards healthier, more peaceful, and more just societies, empowering us to create a real solution to the dilemmas of human existence and the demands of our changing world in the twenty-first century.