Seeing the Shadow

“It is a frightening thought that man also has a shadow side to him, consisting not just of little weaknesses- and foibles, but of a positively demonic dynamism. The individual seldom knows anything of this; to him, as an individual, it is incredible that he should ever in any circumstances go beyond himself. But let these harmless creatures form a mass, and there emerges a raging monster.” 

~ Carl Jung, "On the Psychology of the Unconscious."

The front page of today's (11/22/2015) New York Times carried a story about a young Syrian woman who had been unhappily employed as a member of the Islamic State's "morality police" in Raqqa. During her time there she was forced to pass judgment on friends and neighbors whose abaya dress was too provocative, who wore make-up under their niqabs, and who showed insufficient meekness as females. When it all became too much, this unhappy woman fled to Turkey.

Of course, as modern Americans our immediate reaction is to be indignant or even outraged and to feel a sense of moral superiority over such barbarous nations that would beat their women for applying mascara and lipstick under a head covering through which you cannot see the face!

But before we get up on our high horses, it is a good idea to recognize this as another opportunity for spotting "the shadow" of our own all too recent excesses of puritan zeal and religiously motivated violence.

According to our own history books, Colonial America made frequent use of public whippings, the pillory and the stocks as forms of punishment for similar crimes: women whose hair was too long, who had spoken back to their husbands, who had neglected some parental or religious duty. In fact, the state of Delaware only outlawed the pillory in 1905 and finally rescinded the whipping post in 1963, the last year that someone was actually given that sentence.

Yes, we need to be mindful that wretched behavior is called out and criticized wherever it exists. I am not saying that because we sinned against civility that we should look the other way when others do so. I am suggesting that ongoing media attempts to demonize Syrians, Arabs, Muslims or any other group needs to be balanced by constant reminders of our own long history of violence against the vulnerable. And we need to remember how fragile the balance of tolerance vs. fear really is and how terribly quickly it can all come crashing down.

The excesses of the Muslim extremists have given Christians a field day for projecting the shadow on to a new group. The “shadow” as defined by Jung in the opening paragraph, are our psychological foibles and demonic energies that have become split off from the conscious part of the self. Or, as poet, Robert Bly, succinctly describes it, the shadow is the long, black bag holding every trait disapproved of by our parents, our teachers, our peers, our society.

We recognize the shadow with difficulty, since we have good reasons for wanting to keep it out of sight and safely tucked in the long black bag. Instead, we tend to be reminded of it through discomfiting encounters with others who trigger some memory deep in the recesses of our psyche about traits and tendencies we latently carry within ourselves. There are telltale signs that we are projecting our shadow on to someone else such as when that person or group arouses in us a hostile reaction that is beyond reasonable. When we feel unaccountably angry, frightened, anxious and eager to separate ourselves as quickly as possible from the other we can be pretty certain that they are triggering our own shadow.

The attempt to portray Islam as an inherently violent religion and any Muslim as inherently prone to terrorism is one such irrational reaction. Even when the irrationality of the behavior is pointed out, many Americans seem unable to stop the bubbling up of fear and apprehension. Our own long shadow of religiously-motivated violence against the indigenous people of the continents of North American, South America, Africa, Asia and, well, just about everywhere, is probably what keeps us focused on the “bad guy” out there. We have so much to answer for as a nation and as a people.

To learn more about how to recognize your own shadow by noticing who you don’t like, visit this page: Embracing Your Inner Shadow  

My thought for the day is this: 

The beginning of wisdom is seeing - in the face of the so-called enemy - our own shadow staring back.“It is a frightening thought that man also has a shadow side to him, consisting not just of little weaknesses- and foibles, but of a positively demonic dynamism. The individual seldom knows anything of this; to him, as an individual, it is incredible that he should ever in any circumstances go beyond himself. But let these harmless creatures form a mass, and there emerges a raging monster.” 

~ Carl Jung, "On the Psychology of the Unconscious."

The front page of today's (11/22/2015) New York Times carried a story about a young Syrian woman who had been unhappily employed as a member of the Islamic State's "morality police" in Raqqa. During her time there she was forced to pass judgment on friends and neighbors whose abaya dress was too provocative, who wore make-up under their niqabs, and who showed insufficient meekness as females. When it all became too much, this unhappy woman fled to Turkey.

Of course, as modern Americans our immediate reaction is to be indignant or even outraged and to feel a sense of moral superiority over such barbarous nations that would beat their women for applying mascara and lipstick under a head covering through which you cannot see the face!

But before we get up on our high horses, it is a good idea to recognize this as another opportunity for spotting "the shadow" of our own all too recent excesses of puritan zeal and religiously motivated violence.

According to our own history books, Colonial America made frequent use of public whippings, the pillory and the stocks as forms of punishment for similar crimes: women whose hair was too long, who had spoken back to their husbands, who had neglected some parental or religious duty. In fact, the state of Delaware only outlawed the pillory in 1905 and finally rescinded the whipping post in 1963, the last year that someone was actually given that sentence.

Yes, we need to be mindful that wretched behavior is called out and criticized wherever it exists. I am not saying that because we sinned against civility that we should look the other way when others do so. I am suggesting that ongoing media attempts to demonize Syrians, Arabs, Muslims or any other group needs to be balanced by constant reminders of our own long history of violence against the vulnerable. And we need to remember how fragile the balance of tolerance vs. fear really is and how terribly quickly it can all come crashing down.

The excesses of the Muslim extremists have given Christians a field day for projecting the shadow on to a new group. The “shadow” as defined by Jung in the opening paragraph, are our psychological foibles and demonic energies that have become split off from the conscious part of the self. Or, as poet, Robert Bly, succinctly describes it, the shadow is the long, black bag holding every trait disapproved of by our parents, our teachers, our peers, our society.

We recognize the shadow with difficulty, since we have good reasons for wanting to keep it out of sight and safely tucked in the long black bag. Instead, we tend to be reminded of it through discomfiting encounters with others who trigger some memory deep in the recesses of our psyche about traits and tendencies we latently carry within ourselves. There are telltale signs that we are projecting our shadow on to someone else such as when that person or group arouses in us a hostile reaction that is beyond reasonable. When we feel unaccountably angry, frightened, anxious and eager to separate ourselves as quickly as possible from the other we can be pretty certain that they are triggering our own shadow.

The attempt to portray Islam as an inherently violent religion and any Muslim as inherently prone to terrorism is one such irrational reaction. Even when the irrationality of the behavior is pointed out, many Americans seem unable to stop the bubbling up of fear and apprehension. Our own long shadow of religiously-motivated violence against the indigenous people of the continents of North American, South America, Africa, Asia and, well, just about everywhere, is probably what keeps us focused on the “bad guy” out there. We have so much to answer for as a nation and as a people.

To learn more about how to recognize your own shadow by noticing who you don’t like, visit this page: Embracing Your Inner Shadow  

My thought for the day is this: 

The beginning of wisdom is seeing - in the face of the so-called enemy - our own shadow staring back.