By David Hegg
I have several quirks that too often show up in conversations. One of them is that I am intrigued by the weird phrases and terms we throw around, which communicate something quite different from the actual words. Recently, I heard someone express chagrin for having been “pigeonholed.” That struck me funny as I envisioned an adult human male being stuffed into a pigeon nesting box through a hole in the front. I went on to say so, and the weird looks of my conversation partners told me once again my sense of humor was unappreciated. But let’s consider what this phrase from the pigeon world means.
To be “pigeonholed” is to be assigned to a particular class or category without accurately assessing one’s qualities or characteristics. Simply put, it is to be given a label that communicates the group, worldview, or lane to which you belong based on incomplete knowledge of who you are and what you believe.
It means to be stuffed into a hole that doesn’t fit! Yes, “pigeonholing” is an accepted form of that pernicious toxin called prejudice.
Sadly, we’ve become a nation of pigeonholers. Maybe it is the fault of our infatuation with social media, which allows us to issue biting conclusions in a sentence or two. With a few keystrokes, we can critique, eviscerate, mock, and, most importantly, pigeonhole anyone and anything.
Or maybe it is the fault of our information-glutted age, where we are bombarded with so much information daily that our brains insist on compartmentalizing people quickly and easily using convenient labels. We read about someone, and we immediately pigeonhole them as conservative or liberal, honest or deceitful, moral or immoral, good or bad.
Perhaps nowhere is this more common or dangerous than in politics, where party labels no longer describe an individual’s true beliefs and character but rather identify the power club to which they are forced to offer blind allegiance.
What is even worse than being pigeonholed is allowing yourself to be pigeonholed and not fight back. I suspect each of you reading this is guilty of pigeonholing others and complaining when someone tries to stuff you into that little hole. Funny, isn’t it? We often do it to others but hate it when someone does it to us.
As a Christ-follower and a pastor whose life revolves around teaching and living out the biblical worldview, I get pigeonholed all the time.
Almost everyone in my world has an expectation, indeed a settled belief, about what I think, believe, and should be doing. And truthfully, I consider it part of the cost of the path God has called me to walk. We’re all going to get pigeonholed from time to time. That’s just how life works.
But acceptance doesn’t mean non-resistance. Pigeonholing is just plain wrong. It is prejudice and the sworn enemy of the open-mindedness we need to exist as a healthy society.
If you want to know what I believe about something, ask me. If you want to know what a particular candidate believes, read his material, attend her “meet and greets,” and ask. If you’re going to label someone, start by getting firsthand information from them, and maybe even ask them to define themselves before shoving them into one of your pre-packaged moral, political, or religious boxes.
In other words, people should be seen as people first rather than as members of some group or ideological faction.
Remember, no label can tell you everything you need to know about someone. As much as we may find it convenient to pigeonhole people, the consequences of acting on labels rather than knowledge have proven disastrous.
As we look at the year ahead, let’s invest in the hard work of truth-finding rather than the convenient habit of pigeonholing. Our decisions have long-lasting consequences, and we owe it to ourselves and our neighbors to make them based on what is accurate rather than what’s on the label.
Let the pigeons have their holes while we maintain our integrity, repudiating prejudice in favor of seeing, asking, and listening to discover who others are and what they believe.
Local resident David Hegg is senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church. “Ethically Speaking” appears Sundays.
