Pooh and Prejudice

A very kind neighbor was cleaning out their child’s DVD collection.  Our son, Nate, was to be the beneficiary of this cleaning.  One of the titles, Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, fast became one of Nate’s favorite movies.  The plot of the film is simple.  The inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood wake up one fine morning to the earth shaking and loud elephant like trumpet blasts.  Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, and the rest gather to see just what transpired in the night.  They soon come across large round footprints. The conclusion is reached that a large Heffalump has invaded the Hundred Acre Wood.  No one, however, has ever seen a Heffalump.  In true Disney fashion, the cast of characters soon erupt into song about the various nefarious traits of this mysterious animal.  The Heffalump is an evil creature to be sure.  It is soon determined that an expedition must be made to find and capture this threat to the peace and tranquility of the Hundred Acre Wood. 

Roo, Kanga the Kangaroo’s son, is told he cannot join the expedition.  Contrary to the wish of his mother, Rabbit, and the rest, Roo sets out to capture the Heffalump.  So, Roo follows the Heffelump tracks, over the boundary fence and in to dark and mysterious woods. Soon, he is face to face with a juvenile Heffalump which he has managed to lasso.  Heffridge Trumpler Brompet Heffalump IV, the Heffelump Roo has snared, is a playful and harmless creature.  He resembles a baby elephant.  Roo and “Lumpy,” as he is called, romp and play and become fast friends.  Soon, however, they become lost and cannot find Lumpy’s mother.  It is decided that Roo will guide them both back to his mother, because she will know what to do. 

The pivotal scene in the movie comes as Roo and Lumpy are making their way back to Roo’s house.  There is a boundary fence that separates the comforts and familiarity of the Hundred Acre Wood from the dark woods where the Heffalump live.  As the two reach the fence, Roo energetically hops the fence; they are almost home.  Lumpy is not so sure.  Just as Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, and Roo believe that what lives on the other side of that fence is evil and bad, so does Lumpy.  Lumpy begins to describe the evil tiger like creature who likes to bounce and the mean long pointy eared creature, too.  Lumpy has been led to believe that the inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood are to be avoided at all cost.  They are evil.  Roo, for his part, does his best to assure Lumpy that Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Rabbit are harmless.

What struck me was the marvelous simplicity with which this scene identifies the prejudice we teach our children.  Both Roo and Lumpy had been taught that the things or “people” who are not like them are evil and to be feared.  In each case, the influencing adults had never encountered the other.  The ideas which the adults had formed about what resided on the other side of that fence were based solely on misconception rather than real knowledge.  How often do we identify the others, those that reside on the other side of our boundary fences, as evil possessing the ability to destroy and pollute our young, without firsthand knowledge of who these people really are?    

We, in American history, and American Christianity, do this often. We identify anyone who does not believe like us as an outsider. We, probably not intentionally, tell our children to beware of these people. Soon, what might have started as a cautionary warning turns into a full-fledged prejudice based more on fiction rather than fact, leading us to dehumanize whole segments of the population. In the past, we have done this to African Americans. Today, we do it to Homosexuals and Muslims. Sure, we might find what they believe and how they behave a little dangerous, but they themselves are not the enemy. Perhaps, if we took time to seriously get to know those living on the other side of our theological/ethical/moral boundary fences, we would get along a lot better. Not to mention, we’d be better Christians.