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Conformists are not born but raised and so are nonconformists.

by Traute Klein, AKA biogardener

Conformity and nonconformity can be instilled in children. My European parents and teachers raised me to be a nonconformist, and North American attitudes have not been able to change the attitudes which were developed in my early years.

My Halloween Tradition

I see by the calendar that Halloween falls on the publication date of this article. Every year I have published an article on the topic of nonconformity at the Suite for the occasion. There are two reasons why I associate Halloween with nonconformity:
• In the Middle Ages, many nonconformists were popularly labeled as witches, whether they had anything to do with witchcraft or not. The practice has not changed that much since then, except that we do not burn these people at the stake. We find other ways of making their lives miserable. When conformists feel uncomfortable in the presense of someone with a different background and customs, it is easier to blame that person rather than to examine your own motives. I wrote about this topic in my 1998 Halloween article.
• October 31 may be Halloween in the English-speaking world. In my native Germany, it is Reformation Day, the day when in 1517 Martin Luther nailed his theses to the church door in Wittenberg. My 1999 Halloween article tells about that.
Both articles are complemented with reflections on my own life. Both are linked below.

The Example of a Nonconformist Mother

I was born into the Germany which had been swept off its feet by a dictator, Adolf Hitler. He knew how to bewitch the masses with his rhetoric, he knew how to please the people with his charm, and he knew how to hold onto their support with social programs which treated citizens as members of one big family. I did not see the charm, and his rhetoric did not appeal to me, because I was raised by a nonconformist mother who frequently voiced her disapproval of the man and his political system. I really did not need anyone to tell me of the effect of Hitler on the country which he was ruling. I saw the destruction during air-raids, and I saw the tears shed by the women whose husbands and brothers were killed in action. More than that, I experienced first hand the horrors of the invasion by a foreign army, the army of a country which had been provoked by the dictator.

Taught to Be a Nonconformist

The teachers who taught me after World War II had been trained during Hitler's regime. Some of them had been forced to become members of the Nazi party in order to keep their positions. All of them had been indoctrinated in the religion in which Hitler was the object of worship. I learned one thing from those teachers, namely that it is a dangerous practice to go along with the crowd. This is the practice which led Germany into a dictatorship, and it was this dictatorship which caused Germany's ruin. Our teachers encouraged independent thinking. They allowed us to challenge everything they said. They were happy when we caught their errors, because it gave them a chance to correct them.

Taught to Be a Conformist

When I came to North America, I immediately noticed the difference in teaching focus. Pupils appeared to take their teachers' word as gospel truth. Those who dared to challenge the voice of authority were rarely supported by their peers, and they were labeled troublemakers by some teachers. In the schools in my native Germany, they would have been encouraged to express their reasoning and would probably have become excellent debaters. My younger brother Hans was well-read in European history by the time he entered high school. My father had been a voluminous reader all of his life, and he had shared his knowledge with his children. He had instilled in us an interest in history. At a young age, my brother started to read every book on European history which he was able to find. He and I had many lively and enjoyable discussions, especially about the events of the 20th century which I remembered better than he did. His history teacher, however, did not appreciate my brother's enthusiasm in his subject. He would have preferred to teach children who had no previous knowledge or opinions. In a school in which the student body is made up predominantly of immigrants and the children of immigrants, such a background is rather an improbability. The teacher decided to squelch my brother's input, and that in turn paralized all class discussion. A more tolerant teacher would have been delighted to have a pupil who was so knowledgeable in his subject. His input would have animated the class. This teacher expelled my brother from his classes for the rest of the year. He did not, however, have the authority to bar him from the departmental examination. It did not come as a surprise to my brother's classmates that he received the highest mark in the school, because that examination paper was marked outside the school by an impartial examiner who had no idea whose paper he was reading. And who knows, he may even have had a European upbringing. I would like to add that I got this story not only from my brother and his classmates but also from the vice principal who had been my high school mathematics teacher and who disapproved of the teacher's attitude.

Upbringing for Life

Early upbringing can never be denied. I had been taught to examine and judge everything I heard. Coming to a country where that attitude is discouraged and even punished was not going to change me. In my Teacher's College yearbook, the caption beside my picture reads, "The girl from Winnipeg who never lets a teacher get away with a mistake." I consider that characterisation of me as a compliment even now, 45 years later. Certainly, most of my professors did not have the narrow world view of my brother's history teacher. They felt sure enough about their teaching that they loved the student who prevented them from making mistakes, and I would like to think that my example encouraged my classmates to be more discerning.

Nonconformists, a Boon to Society

If we are to change this world, we first of all have to stand up for what we believe to be right. If we want to raise children who are going to have an impact on the world, we not only have to set the example, we need to foster an attitude where children will feel comfortable voicing their disagreement with us. How do you react when your child tells you that you are wrong? Do you flex you parental muscle and insist that you are right because you are the parent, or do you have the grace to thank the child for not letting you get away with a mistake? I remember when I told my thirteen-year-old son that I was sorry for something I had done. His answer was, "You should be." It did not shock me, because I had raised him to stand up to authority, even mine. If we want to raise children to be nonconformists, this is a good place to start. Or should we simplify our children's lives by hoping that they will run with the crowd? It is up to us.

Articles on Nonconformity

Halloween or the Reformation
My 1999 article explains how nonconformity creates reformers, e.g. Luther and Galileo, as well as every nonconformist I know.
Are you a nonconformist?
My 1998 article considers the price of nonconformity as well as the price of conformity. It also looks at the way in which nonconformists have been misrepresented in history.
At the Right Hand of the Father
My 2001 article illustrates from my life how some theologians like to be seen as the last authority. They have no use for nonconformists.
The Tyranny of Conformity
Carol Wallace's account of the destruction of my garden which did not conform to the appearance of the gardens of my neighbors.

Other Links relevant to October 31

Stories of Nonconformists in the Church
in German
The origins of Halloween
from a Christian standpoint