Friday, December 4, 2020
Why Our Tendency To Label People Is Wrong
When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." John 8:7
Philip Yancey tells how he once visited a prison, and observed that the men who were incarcerated there were caged like animals behind doors of steel, but what left the lasting impression on him was that over each door was a sign stamped in large black letters which read: Murderer, Rapist, Armed Robber, Child beater, and on and on. The strange thing about human nature is that we all try to package and label people, and in so doing, we trap them inside a box as certainly as though we slammed the steel door shut, pinning the sign overhead. Was that not the same rationale when a sign was affixed to the cross in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew reading, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews"?
There are hundreds of labels: political labels such as Socialist, Communist, Republican, Democrat, Activist, Radical and others. There are religious labels too: Calvinist, Armenian, Reformed, Dispensationalist, Charismatic, Orthodox, Neo‑ Evangelical, Fundamentalist and a few dozen more. It's almost as though we could take a person, put a label on him, and cram him into a neat little package‑‑usually one which we would just as soon misplace. There are social labels too‑‑Liar, Cheat, Drunk, Thief, Hooker, Lesbian, Queer, Swinger and so forth. One mistake or failure‑‑especially if you are not too fond of a person‑‑and he is labeled.
Did you ever hear anyone say, "What else could you expect from him‑‑he's always been a cheat." I have heard parents try to excuse their children, or rather to single one out from the others, saying, "She always reacts like that...she's been a liar since she was a child...you can never believe what she says." The tragedy of labels‑‑especially in the social category‑‑is that our labels often tend to produce the kind of behavior we disdain and abhor. "He's got bad blood in him‑‑gets it from his father's side." One woman told me this; speaking of her son as though some inherent tendency to do evil had been transmitted genetically.
I am not sure where we homo sapiens got our tendency to label and box other people, but it most certainly was not from Jesus. In His three years of public ministry Jesus encountered all kinds of people‑‑prostitutes, oppressed minorities, rural fishermen, businessmen, housewives and government officials. Yet in every case He accepted them on their own merit and received them each as a person of dignity and value, realizing that His power could make each person into a different individual.
To Matthew, Jesus said, "Follow me;" He didn't say, "You filthy tax‑thief, come follow me and I'll straighten you out." He could have rejected the prostitute at the well of Samaria‑‑after all, others did‑‑but instead He forgave her. Today's devotional is two‑fold: For you who feel labeled, realize that God forgives you and accepts you as you are now. He does not demand a do‑it‑yourself improvement program and then take you on after you have succeeded; but rather He says just "Follow me." When a baby comes into the world, he bears only the label "created in the image of God," and when we come into His presence, God sees no labels, only a child who needs forgiveness and healing from the Father.
The second thing is: be careful how you label and package people. Your label may be an iron‑clad strait‑jacket keeping somebody in the very slot that you disdain. Labels seldom really fit. As Phil Yancey says, "When I meet a person, I can either box him in by labeling or free him up by looking for the person of worth inside. The choice is mine."
Resource reading: John 4:1-29
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/why-our-tendency-to-label-people-is-wrong/
Amid back-to-back crises, ABS-CBN thanks artists who ‘chose to stay with us’
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| ABS-CBN President and CEO Carlo Katigbak opens the ‘Star Magic Shines On’ media event with a speech thanking Kapamilya stars. |
At a media event held by the network’s talent agency, fittingly titled “Star Magic Shines On,” ABS-CBN president and CEO Carlo Katigbak and newly appointed Star Magic head Laurenti Dyogi each thanked Kapamilya stars who continue to be part of the company.
The event saw eight current Star Magic artists — Kim Chiu, Jane de Leon, Enchong Dee, JM de Guzman, Andrea Brillantes, Kira Balinger, Joseph Marco, and Robi Domingo — sign exclusive contracts with ABS-CBN.
It also introduced new Star Magic talents — the ABS-CBN-trained P-pop groups BINI and Star Hunt Academy Boys — who similarly inked contracts with the network.
“Ang hirap-hirap po ng taong 2020,” Katigbak said in a speech opening the event. “But ABS-CBN has always been at its best in its most difficult times. This year is no exception.”
Compounding the halt of showbiz due to the coronavirus pandemic, ABS-CBN was denied a fresh broadcast franchise by the Duterte administration, forcing it off free television and radio, and resulting in the retrenchment of thousands of its workers.
“Our commitment to serve the public is the foundation of our company,” Katigbak said. “And so, even without everything that we’re used to, we have not stopped finding new ways to be in the service of the Filipino.”
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| (From left) Star Magic artists JM de Guzman, Enchong Dee, Kira Balinger, Kim Chiu, Jane de Leon, Andrea Brillantes, Joseph Marco, and Robi Domingo each signed an exclusive contract with ABS-CBN on Friday. |
Katigbak then addressed the stars, whom he said “represent ABS-CBN to the world outside.”
“Kayo po ang nagbibigay ng liwanag at ligaya sa ating mga Kapamilya,” he said, referencing the recently released ABS-CBN Christmas ID.
“Thank you for choosing to be part of our mission. Thank you for believing in our company. And thank you for supporting us in our most difficult moments.”
Over the months since ABS-CBN’s free-TV and radio broadcast were forced shut, many of its stars, both homegrown and long-time contract talents, rallied behind the network through social media and by joining demonstrations.
Among them were the eight Star Magic artists who formalized being an exclusive ABS-CBN talent on Friday.
“I hope you believe, as we do, that working in ABS-CBN is not just a career move, it’s not just a job; it’s a calling to serve.”
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| Newly appointed Star Magic head Laurenti Dyogi welcomes new artists to the talent agency on Friday. |
Katigbak ended his message by introducing Dyogi as the new head of Star Magic, succeeding founder Johnny Manahan and Mariole Alberto.
“Thank you to Mr. M and Mariole, Star Magic is known to produce, to hone, and to manage the brightest and most talented stars in Philippine show business,” Dyogi said.
“Today, we continue this legacy and tradition.”
Dyogi, known in showbiz as Direk Lauren following his visible stints as “Star Circle Quest” judge and “Pinoy Big Brother” director, is also head of ABS-CBN’s entertainment production.
“As we welcome new artists to the Star Magic family,” he said, “we also want to express our deepest gratitude to the Star Magic artists chose to stay with us, as we continue to rebuild and explore new opportunities.”