Recently I invited a few friends over to watch a documentary with me. The title of the movie, The Lottery of Birth, gave me a different expectation from my viewing experience. The movie is not at all about birth, genetics or anything even close to that. However it was a thought provoking documentary and well worth watching.
The basic premise of The Lottery of Birth, is that most people allow themselves to be shaped by the world around them even though we have the power to be ‘world changers’ or co-creators. Our choices are limited by the society, culture, family and the historical time period that we grow up in. Most often people choose to fit in with the norm, or a particular sub-set norm that exists within their social environment.
Expectations Condition Our Choices
From early childhood we begin to make choices based on our family norm and the socio-economic environment around us. The way we raise and educate our children tends to push them along within a narrow set of expectations about life, and people become accustomed to making choices within that set of expectations. Even in countries like the US where we have far more choices and opportunities than in 3rd world countries, we still tend to make choices based on inherited and cultural expectations rather than ‘thinking outside the box’.
The question was posed: What if the family, educational system, and corporate world were more interested in supporting creative ‘out of the box’ type thinking that would allow individuals the freedom to forge new paths and find new solutions to world problems?
This documentary suggests that the most unique aspect of being human is the capacity to transform ourselves and to create the world that we really want. However, historically we see time and again that people are often afraid to take that chance, to move in a different direction, to step outside of their comfort zone, even when it’s no longer comfortable.
Fear of Loss & Insecurity Increase Conformity
The Stockholm effect was used as an example of how people conform and even become sympathetic to the oppressor as a survival mechanism. Another example that was used was how during WWII German citizens were capable of going along with the atrocities being committed against the Jews, even if they knew it was wrong. This stimulated a scientific study at Yale University (which resulted in similar studies repeated around the world) to discover what percentage of people will conform to authority even under conditions such as inflicting pain or death on others. The data uniformly showed that 65% of people will conform to authority even if it goes against their conscience.
Conformity itself is not inherently wrong, but when our tendency to conform is out of balance with our true inner being we end up living a life of contradiction. To conform to reasonable authority and rules allows people to function harmoniously together whether it be in the family or in society. However, when we find ourselves conforming against our own conscience because of fear, insecurity, desperation or the threat of loss or failure, it’s time to step back and examine our thought processes.
What are our choices?
The choice is not whether we obey or disobey, but what we obey or disobey. It is appropriate to obey laws, to respect parental authority, and to respect the rights, property and freedom of others. The question is: Have we developed our own divinity as a child of God enough to obey the calling of the highest good? Are we simply following old patterns of thought, or are we developing ourselves and our world in a way that expresses the true love of God?
This documentary is part of the Creating Freedom series, and can be found on https://fmtv.com.
