I See... Being Left Out

They walk among us. They shop in our stores. They stroll on our streets, drive on our roads, and some may even worship with us in church. They may seem like us in almost every way, but they are not. In one remarkable way they are vastly different from us, in a way that deserves our compassion, pity, and loving support. They are... the left-handed.

One in ten people are left-handed. You may know some yourself. You may have seen them struggling with the proper use of a power tool or kitchen utensil. You may have some of them living in your house! Some of them may be able to read, and may even be bold enough to read this very post!

I can only imagine how tough it must be to survive a right-handed world being plagued with the stigma of left-handedness. How many of us would like to be found at the left hand of God? Claim membership in the Liberal Left? Be “Left” out of activities we want to participate in?

My heart sinks when I learn of the blatant discrimination that left-handers have been subjected to since the beginning of time. There is absolutely no reason for this. Yes, they are different than those of us who rule the world with our right hands, but does that give us any reason to to treat them differently? We are taught that being Christian includes helping the underprivileged, the handicapped, and anyone else in need or less fortunate than us. It's time that we put left-handed people, otherwise known as “lefties,” at the top of the list of those who are downtrodden and disadvantaged, and find ways to comfort them in their trials and challenges.

We must remember that left-handed people are not inherently evil, intellectually challenged , or dangerously awkward. They were born left-handed. God gives us challenges to help us grow; we are taught that we can turn our weaknesses into strengths, and nowhere is this more true than with the trial of being left-handed.

True to the mind-expanding mission of the Mormon Third Eye, I'd like to point out that there are many disadvantaged lefties who have wrestled long and hard with their handicaps to accomplish great things. Bigoted critics complain that world has produced sinister lefties such as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, dictator Fidel Castro, the Boston Strangler, and the husband of our next Secretary of State, Bill Clinton. However, they forget that determined individuals such as performers Glen Campbell and Tiny Tim, artist extraordinaire Michelangelo, and President Ronald Reagan all rose above their left-handedness, dealt with their handicaps, and made lasting positive marks on the world.

As you have probably already observed from previous posts, I not only talk the talk; I walk the walk. So, I'm proposing that we do away completely with the pejorative term “left” and replace it with a more honorable, or at least neutral term like “dexterity challenged.” Just to show you how long I've been committed to the cause of eradicating discrimination against the dexterity-challenged, I'm not afraid to admit that I married one of them almost 25 years ago. I knew she was dexterity-challenged when we first started dating, but I didn't let that get in the way of my eternal happiness!