Clutch the Pearls as “Beggars, Tramps, Queers and Fallen Women” Take To the Streets

Throngs of Pride marchers carrying a huge rainbow flag many blocks longs w/ sfz title
“So beggars, tramps, asylum inmates, prisoners, queers, plain crack-pots, and fallen women were definitely out … . Yes, WE WERE INTOLERANT.” (12 & 12, pp. 139 – 140)

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How have you demonstrated, tolerance, lately?

OR

If someone really wants to get better, why should it matter how they look or where they come from?

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Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves – Cher (2:53)

Tolerance and the Art of Giving (7:25)

Inner Peace Guided Meditation (9:31)



People often reject the outcast before they understand them. The first quote from Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions recalls that early recovery groups excluded “beggars, tramps, queers, and fallen women.” These were the “undesirables.” The group admitted they were intolerant. But that intolerance nearly destroyed their spiritual core.

In The Basic Text of Narcotics Anonymous, the tone shifts. It proclaims that only a desire to stop using is required. The desire lives in each heart. We cannot measure it. So we cannot judge it. Carl Rogers would agree. He believed in unconditional positive regard. People change when they feel accepted, not when they’re shamed.

Robert F. Kennedy’s quote adds a warning. He says extremists become dangerous not for their ideas but for their intolerance. They cannot listen. They silence others. Hannah Arendt, in The Origins of Totalitarianism, warned that when groups dehumanize others, cruelty becomes normal.

The first quote shows the harm of exclusion. The second shows a path forward. The third reminds us that intolerance, not passion, is the true danger.


Traducción al español


Las personas suelen rechazar a los marginados antes de entenderlos. La primera cita de Doce Pasos y Doce Tradiciones recuerda que los primeros grupos de recuperación excluían a “mendigos, vagabundos, maricones y mujeres caídas.” Eran los “indeseables.” El grupo admitió su intolerancia. Pero esa intolerancia casi destruye su base espiritual.

Las Citas SFZ Traducidas

1. Agarra las perlas mientras “mendigos, vagabundos, maricones y mujeres caídas” toman las calles – VAMOS, EL AGUA ESTÁ BIEN…
“Establecer este principio de membresía tomó años de experiencia desgarradora. Así que mendigos, vagabundos, internos de manicomios, prisioneros, maricones, simplemente locos y mujeres caídas estaban definitivamente excluidos… Sí, ÉRAMOS INTOLERANTES.” (12 y 12, pp. 139-140)

2. POR QUÉ ‘NO JUZGAMOS’ –
“Ya que el único requisito para ser miembro es el deseo de dejar de usar, nosotros como miembros no tenemos razón para juzgarnos unos a otros. El deseo no es una mercancía medible. Vive en el corazón de cada miembro individual.” (Texto Básico, p. 106)

3. “Lo objetable, lo peligroso de los extremistas no es que sean extremos, sino que son intolerantes. El mal no está en lo que dicen sobre su causa, sino en lo que dicen sobre sus oponentes.”
Senador Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968), Fiscal General de los EE.UU.

En El Texto Básico de Narcóticos Anónimos, el tono cambia. Proclama que el único requisito es el deseo de dejar de consumir. El deseo vive en cada corazón. No se puede medir. Por eso no se puede juzgar. Carl Rogers estaría de acuerdo. Él creía en la aceptación positiva incondicional. Las personas cambian cuando se sienten aceptadas, no cuando se les avergüenza.

La cita de Robert F. Kennedy añade una advertencia. Dice que los extremistas se vuelven peligrosos no por sus ideas, sino por su intolerancia. No saben escuchar. Silencian a los demás. Hannah Arendt, en Los orígenes del totalitarismo, advirtió que cuando los grupos deshumanizan, la crueldad se vuelve normal.

La primera cita muestra el daño de la exclusión. La segunda muestra un camino. La tercera recuerda que la intolerancia, no la pasión, es el verdadero peligro.

La comunidad debe preguntarse: ¿Tememos a los diferentes o abrimos la puerta?


¿Por qué algunas personas se asustan de los que son diferentes, y qué podemos hacer para ser más amables?


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Comments

9 responses to “Clutch the Pearls as “Beggars, Tramps, Queers and Fallen Women” Take To the Streets”

  1. Ari L Avatar
    Ari L

    I’ve been trying to be positive whenever I have negative experiences with someone, doing the praying for someone and taking deep breaths. Like, responding instead of reacting.

  2. E-Dawg Avatar
    E-Dawg

    I demonstrate tolerance by accepting somebody else’s lifestyle or belief system. And I also respect it. I think growing up in the city of Los Angeles has helped me because it’s such a beautiful Melting Pot of so many different people cultures ideas thoughts beliefs lifestyles I always find it fascinating and interesting to have conversations with people that are all different from each other…

  3. Sabrina J Avatar
    Sabrina J

    Tolerance is something I aim to include in my internal prime directive. We all have a seat at the table and the idea of excluding is wrong. Recently I’ve had the opportunity to share tolerance with some new friends that have been at odds. While there is still work to be done to mend this bridge, through patience, kindness and time, I am sure that they will feel the acceptance.

    Thank you for the opportunity to share. I am grateful.

  4. elle Avatar
    elle

    I need to give myself a break. I think that I deserve more tolerance and forgiveness than I afford myself. I think I will then be more tolerant of others. I find myself nitpicking and critiquing quite often, casting a kind of quiet judgement on others. It is so unhelpful!!! It also gets me down. I didn{t hear from someone that I would like to be communicating with and I fell into a bit of a shame spiral today, but then ‘ I picked myself up quite quickly and realized that it is very normal to feel rejected and let down, and I can understand feelings of rejection as being a part of the human condition. I am not exempt from feeling rejected and disappointed, much as I might like to be. In fact, feeling rejected and disappointment is actually something that gives me strength in my humanity and reminds me that I am human.

  5. Simon Yebio Avatar
    Simon Yebio

    ToDay at work I had to listen to my supervisor speak at me with accusations and things that were told to her by a co-worker of mine. Though thosr things were not fully accurate I sat there calmly and open and just listened without responding. later I got a phone call and things changed my perception. so I’m glad I didn’t respond react and I just responded instead tolerance comes in many different forms

  6. Adam Avatar
    Adam

    I have to still “tolerate” a lot every day so one example is difficult to pull out of the air. I pretty much stick with my response months ago. Toleration is a painful thing as that means I already have a resentment about something and am keeping my mouth shut. Keeping my mouth shut is a good thing in most of these circumstances, but then I have this unspoken resentment. So I need to deal with resentments so I don’t reach the point that I have to tolerate as much.

  7. easy does it Avatar
    easy does it

    When I get angry with someone i think the best thing
    Maybe is to try to walk in their shoes
    God knows ive needed people to walk in mine Lol

  8. Margot E. Avatar
    Margot E.

    I consider myself to be a “tolerant” person and yet I continue to get called out for narrow thinking, doing, and saying. There are people I try to understand – especially those who do not “tolerate” me. I find myself in meetings taking other peoples’ inventories. I have to step back, call myself out, and figure out what’s going on with me that I chose to step out of my own life and into someone else’s. It’s usually all about pain. I have no doubt we are all sometimes in pain. The compassion you spoke of is right on! Compassion and the presumption of goodwill.

  9. Adam Avatar
    Adam

    I tolerate people every day because I’m angry more than I should be. Bad drivers, too many people, annoying people at work, annoying people who don’t communicate what they want, or they over-communicate things I don’t care about. But it isn’t just about me. And is tolerance really enough? I do it just like others do. But isn’t there already a problem if we have to tolerate? This means that something or someone is already a problem for us. Maybe the goal is to be compassionate, not just to tolerate. I wish my goal to be more compassionate so I need to tolerate less.

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