We are all equal ........ but some are more equal than others!

The General Medical Counsel (GMC) in the UK is addressing some issues around doctors training and the question of disability…..how to balance between equality and fitness to practice? Are we all equal? And can my medical history, mental status, circumstances affect my ability to do my job or is this discrimination?

 There are no easy answers – as usual –  and as I think about the issue, I think this affect not only medical education but all walks of life. To be a police officer I have to be certain weight and height, not discrimination against overweight people but practical requirement to be able to catch the cheeky mugger as he runs like the wind in a busy shopping centre. I can not role on a wheelchair expecting to be offered a job as an airhostess not because of disability but because it will not be safe for me or the passenger in my care if I am not mobile quick enough to evacuate in case of an emergency.

I don’t want to see a doctor who needs more help and support than all his patients! I equally don’t want to see people rejected from jobs just based on their skin colour or gender or because they simply ‘don’t fit in’.

In this seesaw, I feel that equality is becoming a huge issue and almost all other factors seems to be forgoten. I think there are few questions to consider with any job;

-        Can I still do the job?

-        Am I a danger to myself or others?

-        Will my ideas, beliefs, mental status, medication etc get in the way of my professional judgement?

Equality, yes sure, great and wonderful but let us keep the balance on this seesaw and make sure that fitness to do the job is considered too.

Because you are worth it

Today came the news of the release of Giliad Shalit, the Istaeli soldier who was captured by Hamas back in 2006. His release came as part of a deal that involved releasing more than 1000 Palestinian.

As I heared the news, I wondered how he feels, apart from the obvious relief, sence of freedom and the longing to see his family. How do you feel if you know that your life is worth more than a 1000’s others? With a simple calculation, every small bone in Shalit’s body is worth 5 people. Most importantly, how do the other 1000 men feel about their worth and their value?

Where we live, how we live and who we live with give us our self-value whether we are aware of that or not. But it was never like that from the start. God created us equal, men and women, black or white. There was no difference. We were all made in his image. We then started to group ourselves based on our wealth, education, status, resources etc.

One prisoner is worth a 1000? Or 1000 prisoners are worth nothing? Politics decided that today. But on a day to day basis, we judge ourselves all the time in the same way.

How do we see ourselves? Because no matter how our governments, our friends, our families and our neighbours see us, we are still highly valued by the almighty creator. We are all still equal in his eyes, rich or poor, famous or unknown, men or women, able or incompetent.

I believe that I was wonderfully and fearfully made by almighty God that it is why I am worth it,

What about you?

Gingerbread "person" anyone?

The birthday week for my blog continue with some of my old posts. Here is the gingerbread person post. Enjoy.

This is the last straw I think. The news that we are now supposed to change the name of gingerbread man to gingerbread person or gingerbread people as it is not politically correct anymore.

I don’t like gingerbread anyway (nothing personal really) but I had so much fun helping in my local school with making gingerbread man with the kids, it was fun and messy experience. I was trying to follow the recipe while running after the kids who are trying to taste the dough that had raw eggs and stopping others from dipping their toys in the honey or making tracks on the floor with the flour. However, eventually we made the gingerbread man and they were really nice.

So what is the problem with calling them gingerbread man? And who exactly got offended by that? And where is all this political correctness taking us? and what is next? protest against snowman? Most women -in my opinion- do not actually mind what we call those ginger cookies, and it is not– as far as I am concerned - an equality problem in anyway. When God created us both men and women, He created us on His image, equal in His sight. Equal in being sinful, equal in our need to His grace, equal in being human and equal in our need to be accepted and loved. But saying that, He gave us different talents and different characters and so different ways to contribute and make a difference.

So when it comes to fitting that IKAE bookcase with instructions that only an expert in Egyptology can read and understand (as it seems to be in Hieroglyphics), men are well talented to do that and most women will have no problem accepting that. On the other hand, cooking, tidying and baking “gingerbread man” is enjoyable and women love doing that. I might be still sticking to the old stereotype but I believe that the issue is not who does what or what do we call things, gingerbread men or postman or chairperson etc. The point is that we are all accepted as equal in God’s eyes and it does not matter who does the ironing, what matter is that we are equal in being people who need to be loved and accepted as we are.