Religious Understanding

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Traute Klein Background

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Meet Traute Klein, biogardener.

More on Noncomformity

Paradise Lost, the Tyranny of Conformity
Carol Wallace reports on the illegal demolition of my garden in 1998.

Hallowe'en or the Reformation
Nonconformity creates reformers, e.g. Luther and Galileo, as well as many of people who are trying to make this a better world.

Conformists are not born but raised
Conformity and nonconformity can be instilled in children by teaching and by example. If we want to raise children who can stand up for principles, we need to start early.

At the Right Hand of the Father
Some theologians are so insecure in their beliefs that they cannot tolerate anyone to have an opinion of his own.

Are You a Nonconformist?

by Traute Klein, biogardener

People may not be as conformist as they appear. Maybe the price we pay for the privilege of being nonconformist is too high. On the other hand, we may pay a higher price by not being true to ourselves.

Are you a conformist or a nonconformist? Do you feel content looking and acting like other people? Do you feel self-conscious being different from everyone else?

Does your front yard grow the mandatory standard lawn? Do you wear the current style of clothes or do your clothes express your personality? Do you ever feel that you are the only nonconformist in your community?

Your house and garden may indicate that you are comfortable blending into your community, but what happens when your neighbor appears at a neighborhood event wearing the same dress as you? Maybe you are not as much of a conformist as you thought you were. Could you muster the courage to create the kind of garden which you visualize in your dreams, or did you abandon those dreams along with your teenage rebellion?

Nonconformity can be dangerous in our standardized North American society. As soon as your garden stands out from the rest, as soon as you are seen with you arms elbow-deep in compost and you legs ankle-deep in clay, there will be whisperings around the neighborhood:

the compost lady
the lady who burries dead birds
the witch

Do you feel comfortable as a nonconformist? In the Middle Ages, nonconformists were burned at the stake, often for no other reason than that they had knowledge which their fellow men did not possess. Some of them were mystics, some were herbalists, some were artists. Many of them were devout Christians who were labelled as witches because they refused to deny the special gifts which God had given them, gifts which they used for the benefit of mankind.

Do you still feel comfortable as a nonconformist? Are you prepared for the persecution your attitude could trigger? You may have read about my personal persecution in Carol Wallace's 1998 article "Paradise Lost, the Tyranny of Conformity," linked on the left. The article triggered a flood of Internet support from people all over the world.

Commenting on the persecution which my own nonconformity has caused, one of reader expressed the following thoughts:

What is happening to you, your family, and your home is truly frightening! People have hated and feared those who dare to be different since time began. There is a word in the Old Testament, xenophobia - a morbid dislike of foreigners - that describes the sickness which possesses your neighbours. Your garden was different, therefore it was to be feared. What a shame that there is so much hate in the world.

I have asked a lot of questions in this article, because I want you to think as I have been forced to think. I have asked myself whether I could possibly be happy pretending to be a conformist. Could I voluntarily create a garden like those all around me? Could I learn to tend a lawn like all my neighbors? Sorry about that. I would probably have to be put in jail to stop following the demands of my conscience, and even then I would try to find a way to share my ideas with the world. I have to be true to what I am and what I believe.

Are you a conformist or a nonconformist? Do you feel content looking and acting like other people? Do you feel self-conscious being different from everyone else? Sooner or later you will have to answer this question honestly to be truly happy with your achievement and purpose in life.

I hope I have made you think today. You can share your answers and thoughts in the guestbook or by emailing me.