THOUGHT PROVOKER 78

Blind Savior

     “You look just like the woman who taught the peoples of my world to give up violence amongst ourselves.” said an accented male voice that seemed to come out of the blue.

     “WOW!” was my first thought, then “WHOA.” This guy had just walked up to me on the street and these were his opening words! I was at a bus stop, on my way home from work. My reaction was a flash to answer him back in just as bold of manner as he had used on me. So I held up my long white cane for him to take note of and said, “You mean she was blind and used a travel tool like this one?”

 
     “Yes. I have also seen her use a dog guide or take someone’s arm or use high technology, or a combination of these things.”

 
     Intrigued and not feeling threatened by this guy, I asked, “So what do you mean by YOUR WORLD?” I was getting the idea this guy was serious and I had this unsettling feeling that I had to consider, this may be a believable conversation.

 
     “I am a Soullian. I do come from a different planet. I was just sharing an observation. I think you are a picture image of the woman who is considered by the people on my world to be a savior of sorts, not in a religious sense, but more of a philosopher. Through her we were able to eliminate violence in our culture.”

 
     I was interested in finding out more, I wanted to know how that came about. So I asked, “What did she do? How did she do it?”

 
     “She wrote a story, it provoked thought and it took hold. People made it work.”

 

RESPONSES
e-mail responses to newmanrl@cox.net

**1. I am taking this story in the vain of how the author presented it to our forum, as science fiction. And I will say that yes, I can see this being a reality, some where. In fact, I bet that in more than half of the worlds where a person has brought about peace, it was a woman who did it, not a man.

Ann More USA

**2. Reification and demonization in our human cultural record of
individuals with physical and mental differences are polar ends of
the same extreme by which individuals without the presence of a
disabling condition have objectified essential human experiences for
their amusement or redemption. Through such false pursuits ordinary
people fail to reach true intersubjectivity with the perceived other
where extraordinary insight lies. Mythological narratives such as the
one depicted in the "Blind Savior" perpetuate these misinformative
conceptions of humanity into the future, thwarting any possible
transcendent view.

Elizabeth Caplan
Earth, Seventh Strand, Milky way Galaxy

**3. I could believe this story happening too. Yeah, it would be a friend of mine that would change his voice and try and pull it off! But being fair, I have seen some non-disabled people making fun of the disabled, and that makes me sick.

David Pello Texas, USA

**4. The part I liked about this story was the woman being depicted as an individual with a job. There she was, traveling independently, a worker on their way home within a society that found it normal to hire the blind and do expect them to get out and use public transportation.

Mary Jo Parker Nevada USA

**5 I find this a rather interesting story/thought provoker, as it introduces the idea of people in different worlds, cultures, and/or countries wanting
to save their physical, psychological, social, and emotional environment without the use of violence. It didn't matter to this stranger from the different
world that the person with the cane was blind. All that mattered to the stranger is that he find help in stopping violence. The idea that I see is that,
when a situation gets bad enough and they cannot find help from those known or familiar to them, they will seek help from outsiders; a person who happened
to be blind in this case. As for how the blind person could be a savior and stop violence, while it is possible for anybody, blind or sighted, to stop
violence in any culture, the want to stop violence and save the world or culture has to come from among the people causing the violence themselves. What
the blind person can do, though, is to give the people in the other world tips on how to stop violence. A blind person can also be like dr. Martin Luther
King, who fought for Civil Rights with nonviolent tactics, or Yitzak Ravine of Israel, who fought for peace as a Prime Minister. I think that the idea
of this is that a blind person can be what they want to be and do what they want to do, including contributing to the community and society to stop violence,
if they put their heart and mind to it.
Linda