The devil is most likely right-handed

I haven’t seen the devil sign his autograph and neither have I seen him throw a ball so I probably don’t know his (assuming he’s male, of course) dominant hand but what are the odds? Handedness have only been a big issue for many centuries simply because of the percentage of left-handed people. Come to think of this: supposing everyone from age to age used just either the left hand alone, or the right hand alone as their dominant hand, would there be such a thing as “handedness”?

Image source: http://goo.gl/t2g1Ik

The use of the left hand as the dominant hand has been associated with so much negativity that a thoughtful person could not but wonder what exactly is evil about the hand. Life, as we know it, will be extremely difficult if we only had the right hand and no left hand. Suffice to say, the left hand is not made redundant by the right hand. “Sinister,” “evil” and “unlucky” are few of the words associated with the word ‘left’ from as early as the 11th century with more despicable terms following through to the 20th century. The most despicable of all would probably be the hypocritical euphemisms associated to the word in certain cultures. In ancient Greek, the word translated as left is euōnymos, meaning “of good name” and is a euphemism used in lieu for “ill-named.” In Africa, the Yoruba culture refers to the left side as owo alaafia meaning ‘peaceful side’ which is obviously a euphemism used instead of saying ‘evil side’ or ‘wrong side.’

What exactly qualifies the right hand as good and the left, evil? It is a known fact that around 8 - 10% of the world population are left-handed while around 70 – 90% are right-handed. While it remains a mystery that this 1:10 ratio is infallible and that the reason these elite 10% choose to favour the left hand over the right hand remains unknown, it is apparent that left-handedness has no evil associated with it except the one inflicted by man through discrimination, bias and unfavourable cultural associations. That only a few use the left hand does not justify others to see their uniqueness as a defect or abnormality. And the biblical association of the left side with rejection does not precede the fact that God shows no favouritism just in the same way the statement “if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off” does not make the right hand evil.

In many cultures, a child who tends to favour the left hand is quickly rebuked and subjected to physical and emotional abuse in a process of trying to “correct” the child. One would think such inhumane bias had been abolished with the likes of slave trade in the 19th century but a quick reconsideration is made at the sudden awareness of the notions and beliefs still being held by people around the world. Just about two weeks ago in Oklahoma, U.S.A., a 4-year old left-handed child, Zayde*, began writing with his right hand to his mother’s shock. When asked what the reason was, he raised his left hand and said, “Teacher says this one’s bad.” The teacher’s response to a letter written by Zayde’s mother to know what was going on made reference to an article calling left-handedness “evil” as well as the belief that “the devil is often portrayed as left-handed.”

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The article referred to by the teacher in her supposedly “enlightening” response to a left-handed mother of a left-handed son appeared to be on how to recognise a child’s hand dominance and only made reference to what many cultures have associated the left hand with. The society have sold many lies to children in its inability to explain many things and the craving of laying blames, and the topic of left-handedness is no exception. In a world designed for right-handed people – considering they’re a larger population, with tools, instruments and mechanisms designed to favour them, the clumsiness and ultimately, health risks associated with left-handedness is of course not far-fetched.

Left-handed people have suffered enough discrimination and abuse for no just reason. The left hand is extremely important for right-handed people just in the same way the right hand is to left-handed people. And if no one will do away with the left hand because it is deemed evil, or render it redundant and desist from using it (Imagine an attempt to run while moving just the right hand and leaving the left hand glued to the side or use just the right hand to type on a computer keyboard while the ‘evil’ left hand lies inactive), then there is no justification to discriminating against it as the dominant hand. People have to be enlightened and do away with the erroneous ideas and beliefs associated with left-handedness.

Handedness is by no way different from skin colour or ethnicity. I believe it is a choice made for us and our only responsive choice is acceptance. If probability is anything to go by, and 70 – 90% of the people are right-handed, then the devil is most likely right-handed.

Everything is right with being left-handed; it is left to you to believe and accept it!

*The story about Zayde was learned about from anythinglefthanded website.