Licking the Razor's Edge (2015)

RECOGNIZING YOUR own ADDICTION to “BEING NORMAL”
The addiction to normalcy is far more widespread than one might think. In a sense, it is
the mother of all our addictions, and in many subtle ways affects us all. To help you
identify the areas of your life where you too have unwittingly succumbed to these
pressures (and to thereby help you free yourselves from the same), consider the following
questions:
*Do you laugh softly at racist jokes, smile quietly at negative gossip, or pretend to ignore
hateful remarks in order to be “tactful” or “polite” to the speaker?
*Do you make your opinions known using humor or sarcasm instead of direct
statements?
*Do you address your doctor with “doctor”, your preacher with “father”, policemen with
“officer”, or judges with “your honor”?
*Do you attend a church that supports ideals that you do not (e.g. war, bigotry, etc)?
*Do you smoke cigarettes?
*Is your Facebook profile closed to the public?
*Do you remain in a relationship because you promised to do so; because you are
worried about what others might think if you didn’t; because staying put is simply the
“right thing to do”?
*Do you vote because that is what a “good citizen” does, or pay income taxes because
doing so is “responsible”?
*Do you become annoyed, impatient or otherwise agitated when a friend or associate
champions a belief that contradicts your own – an opinion that is simply “wrong” or
“ignorant” or “radical” or even “dangerous”?
*Do you regularly drink alcohol?
*Do you generally shy away from conflict?
*Do you have difficulty making and maintaining eye-contact?
*Are you a member of a gang, a fraternity, a sorority, a civic club, a country club, a
church or a political party?
*Is it embarrassing for you to accidentally burp or fart in public?
*Do you use slang when you write, text or speak?
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