When a small decision hits the front page

It’s been such a long time since I last wrote a commentary. If I remember correctly, the last time I wrote anything of this sort of genre was for my IB English exams. Nonetheless, some of the happenings during the week warrant me to attempt in writing this commentary:

This week started off with a pretty controversial decision taken by a minority side, attempting to boycott a college event due to the fact that alcohol would be served at the event, there would free mingling between guys and girls and people who are not modestly dressed.

Though this came as a shock to many, the decision by this minority in actual fact has affected the perception of the masses, and in all honesty, further enhanced the stigma attached to a certain race and religion. It certainly did no favours to diminishing or alleviating the already biased view that this group consisted of close-minded, unfriendly people who lacked ambition and flexibility.

However, it has to be stressed that this is not true of the whole group, and that while some people may be stereotypical of this, many are not. I was very encouraged by the reaction of those in this category who came up to me to explain their displeasure and disappointment with the situation.

It was ironic that these were the people who had taken part in a similar event last year and found no fault with it, and the complaining party consisted of those who had never experienced such an event before.

What surprised me more was what I call the spirit of patriotism by the former group, expressing their willingness to volunteer and to find willing volunteers to participate in the event, and in the process trying to salvage whatever they could from the awful mess this problem had become.

I must note that I was very proud of their actions and that throughout my interactions with them, they have been most professional and willing to cooperate. These are the people who are striving to eradicate this problem, by showing the masses that they are in fact of equal and should be viewed that way and in the process removing the stereotype associated with them.

Some argued that visitors should always try to adapt themselves to the customs of their hosts, while others maintained that it would be impossible to have an alcohol free event in Ireland, and that we have to come to terms with that. Yet, there were some who tended to side the minority, basing their logic on the idea that prevention is always better than cure.

While the committee took 2 hours to deliberate on this matter, on what actions should be taken, and what the repercussions were (and I must say I did not totally agree with them on this issue), I had one simple question to ask, and I think that it is the most important factor to be accounted for: if the action taken was a directive from a certain superior, or if it was a collective decision after individual introspection. A decision based on the former would have been for me a form of dictatorship, and in my opinion totally unacceptable in this day and age, but I would respect the decision taken if it was a result of the latter process.

I am sure that the minority in this group could not have perceived that their little meagre action was capable of igniting such a big hoo-ha and much less expected the outrage shown from faction within the group itself. I hope that they will be able to see the light in this issue and when they count the cost of the damage they incurred, come to terms with the fact that this was a good learning experience for them.

I do indeed forsee that there will be hard struggle amongst themselves and also in responding to this stigma, especially when some of them are relatively at ease with their current way of life, and refuse to step out of their comfort zone.

Lastly, it is also interesting to note that while this controversy may have just erupted for us, it has already been standard practice within some other groups and become an accepted fact. I certainly hope that this issue did not and does not set an unwanted precedent for the better future of all.