"Reason has very little influence in this world: prejudice governs." William Tecumseh Sherman in a Civil War letter
I ran across this quote a few weeks ago and thought and thought about it and have decided it rings true. One of my dictionaries says it means a judgment or opinion is formed before the facts are known. A Ford is better than a Chevy? Mandan is a better place to live than Bismarck? Blondes look prettier than brunettes? Robert Frost is a better poet than Carl Sandburg? Private health insurance is better than universal health care? Lawyers are mostly a crooked lot? The US of A is the best place in the world to live?
All of these examples can be argued because they cannot be proven to the satisfaction of everybody. I walk on thin ice regarding one of them - my wife is brunette. It is in the eyes of the beholder, a person's opinions lean one way or the other. Hardly anyone cares enough to find conclusive proof to support his contention, even if it exists. Most of the time we exhibit an automatic reflex in matters of argument. People often think of prejudice in matters of race relations, but it goes further than that: religion, ethnic foods, governmental systems, etc. Ask a Christian what is the true religion and an ingrained answer will automatically pop out of his mouth. A preacher might stand and "preach" of the proofs he has, but a Muslim mullah could do the same thing.
I don't know the context of the Union General Sherman's written statement or what prompted him to write it. I have read Sherman is still detested in the South by some because of the havoc and destruction his invasion of the South caused during the Civil War; he laid waste a path 300 miles long and 60 miles wide, but it hastened the end of the Civil War. We in the North for the most part say that was good, while a reverse opinion is held by some who live down there. Prejudice!
