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.”
Image source: https://goo.gl/laJqDj |
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.
*The story about Zayde was learned about from anythinglefthanded website.