Opinion and Prejudice

Opinion is >the judgment which the mind forms of any proposition, statement, theory or event, the truth or falsehood of which is supported by a degree of evidence that renders it probably, but does not produce absolute knowledge or certainty. It has been a received opinion that all matter is comprised in four elements. This opinion is proved by many discoveries to be false. From circumstances we form opinions respecting future events. Further, opinion is when the assent of the understanding is so far gained by evidence of probability, that it rather inclines to one persuasion than to another, yet not without a mixture of uncertainty or doubting; the judgment or sentiments which the mind forms of persons or their qualities. We speak of a good opinion a favorable opinion a bad opinion a private opinion and public or general opinion etc.; settled judgment or persuasion; as religious opinions; political opinion.Webster’s American Dictionary


“Most people are experts at holding opinions.”


Predjudice is prejudgment; an opinion or decision of mind, formed without due examination of the facts or arguments which are necessary to a just and impartial determination. It is used in a good or bad sense. Innumerable are the prejudices of education; we are accustomed to believe what we are taught, and to receive opinions from others without examining the grounds by which they can be supported. A man has strong prejudices in favor of his country or his party, or the church in which he has been educated; and often our prejudices are unreasonable." Prejudice is further defined as "a previous bent or bias of mind for or against any person or thing; mischief; hurt; damage; injury. As a transitive verb, prejudice is to prepossess with unexamined opinions, or opinions formed without due knowledge of the facts and circumstances attending the question; to bias the mind by hasty and incorrect notions, and give it an unreasonable bent to one side or other of a cause; to obstruct or injure by prejudices, or an undue previous bias of the mind; or to hurt; to damage; to diminish; to impair; in a very general sense. The advocate wo attempts to prove too much, may prejudice his cause.Webster’s American Dictionary

Many opinions are rooted in hidebound intellect — a misuse of the Wisdom principle—prejudices in stagnant emotions—a misuse of the Love principle. Neither opinions nor prejudices involve thinking or logic—only knee-jerk reactions, intellectual or emotional. Dogmatic opinions and prejudices are the height of lazy, nearly petrified thinking.






Edna Lister on Opinions and Prejudices

Resistance, resentment, opinions, prejudices bar you from making perfect creations.—Edna Lister, Beatitudes, January 29, 1933.


Search all secret places of your soul for hidden, menacing tendencies of slow detriment. Lift the vain emotions of prejudice so that your heart will stand free in joy for your great service to your Father.—Edna Lister, October 12, 1938.


Reason deals with the relative, the changeable and is based on manmade premises and outer facts. When reason refuses to be guided by logic, the result is opinion and prejudice, which are the source of so many cults and "isms" — it usually causes hopeless confusion.—Edna Lister, A Design for Ascension, 1941.


One can so color a modified law of doing with negative desires, opinions and prejudices that it no longer acts positively, but reacts negatively.—Edna Lister, A Design for Ascension, 1941.


Soul growth comes but slowly because many find it difficult to give up old orthodox opinions and prejudices.—Edna Lister, A Design for Ascension, 1941.


Opinions and resentments leave dense, prison-bound spots on physical organs. Many lose their bodies because of one small part not lifted.—Edna Lister, August 26, 1941.


You must "lay down your life" of opinions and prejudices, step up from the fate line onto your path of destiny, pick up your cross and follow the Master.—Edna Lister, The Millstone, March 1, 1942.


Examine and monitor your subconscious grooves. If you think, "Oh, I wouldn’t do that," you’ve found your opinion and prejudice.—Edna Lister, July 22, 1945.


An automatic "I don’t understand" or thinking that another does wrong is opinion and prejudice.—Edna Lister, July 22, 1945.


You induct from the outer via the solar plexus constantly, and it becomes an emotional experience. Compare present events with experiences, then apply the sifting process of deduction. You bring reason and logic to bear as rationalization when you analyze. Synthesis is the final formulation of all data into a conclusion. Yet an opinionated attitude precludes synthesizing a formula.—Edna Lister, July 25, 1945.


Prejudice, opinions and the "enemy" idea close the door to higher truths.—Edna Lister, July 31, 1945.


Hourly self creates graven images from distorted opinions and prejudices, and worships them until you return to the Light. Lift opinions and prejudices, which entice you to create falsely, without your conscious consent.—Edna Lister, October 12, 1945.


When you move up in consciousness, you don’t look inward to intellectual opinions and emotional prejudices, but look up to God.—Edna Lister, The Three Phases of Life Through Faith, April 20, 1947.


Opinions and self exaltation that you "know better" cause you to forget. When told to do something differently, your ears hear but your subconscious mind rejects, and registers nagging, not a new idea.—Edna Lister, August 21, 1947.


Remove your mask of opinion and prejudice. Every time you sacrifice an opinion, an old, deep-seated reaction, disappointment or criticism, you loosen the physical moorings of the desire body; this enables you to see and hear spiritually.—Edna Lister, To Seek the Light, June 10, 1951.


Look at people with faith, love, and compassion, not prejudice and judgment.—Edna Lister, To Seek the Light, June 10, 1951.


You have no adversary except your own petty little self. Petty "little me" can invest your soul substance negatively in others until it becomes the "dweller on the threshold of consciousness," an aggregate of opinions and prejudices, all the evils the little self creates through its own misuse of substance and of law.—Edna Lister, The First Days, June 17, 1951.


"Then he said to the disciples, It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, I repent, you shall forgive him."—Luke 17:1-4.

If they took the Bible from us, these four verses contain the essence, the four phases of the soul for ascension. First, it says that it is impossible but that offenses will come. Logically, you know you cannot change your own or another’s disposition by force or by orders. Face these facts and apply logic. Consider individual differences of opinion and prejudices, then remember that if you are lifted up into the realm of love, you draw all men after you. If you are lifted up where there are no offenses, for pure love cannot see offenses, you will lift all others up with you. People run out of ammunition when you are lifted up; it leaves them wandering without a target.—Edna Lister, Forgiveness, the Path of Glory, October 21, 1951.


Intellectuals argue between opinions and prejudices; they chain their souls to the mundane, and so cannot spread their wings and soar. Never bind yourself between the covers of a book.—Edna Lister, Prove Me Now, October 28, 1951.


People torture themselves by hanging onto worn-out ideas, opinions, prejudices, criticism and blame.—Edna Lister, April 22, 1952.


Yesterday’s "new" becomes today’s opinions and prejudices unless you move on toward tomorrow’s goals.—Edna Lister, The Flaming Sword, July 6, 1952.


Never let your ideals become your jailor or hold you in bondage, which they can do if you settle into opinions about truth or prejudices against anything.—Edna Lister, The Flaming Sword, July 6, 1952.


Opinions and prejudices are the "stinkers," and you flare up because of them. Yesterday’s ideals and visions become today’s opinions and prejudices, unless you add tomorrow’s ideals and visions to today. The minute ideals and visions crystallize, they become opinions and prejudices.—Edna Lister, October 23, 1952.


Opinions and prejudices form the dross of self that you must surrender.—Edna Lister, The Gospel of the Cross, October 18, 1953.


To waste time with opinions and prejudices is like wearing new clothes over your old ones.—Edna Lister, May 17, 1954.


Repentance holds an open mind, and sacrifices opinions and prejudices.—Edna Lister, Your Life’s Practice, May 23, 1954.


"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."—Matthew 16:24-25. If self holds fast to its life of opinions and prejudices, it loses its life.—Edna Lister, I Surrender, July 4, 1954.


No one has an excuse to hold opinions or prejudices, even in the business world or about politics. God does not release Power through opinion or prejudice.—Edna Lister, November 21, 1954.


God isn’t interested in people’s opinions and prejudices, but judges by their lights.—Edna Lister, November 21, 1954.


Boasting includes a claim on a virtue and means one is chuck full of opinions and prejudices.—Edna Lister, August 11, 1955.


When the door opens even a crack, dare to step through and do. If you upset others’ bone china opinions or prejudices, pick them up in love.—Edna Lister, June 18, 1956.


There is never an argument except on opinions and prejudices.—Edna Lister, June 25, 1956.


You must have an affinity cell to draw anything Light or dark. Only your opinions and prejudices can bind you.—Edna Lister, July 9, 1956.


You cannot criticize or blame if you have no opinions or prejudices. Prejudice lives in a closed mind, and is born of self, pride and self-indulgence. Yesterday’s ideals become tomorrow’s crystallized opinions and prejudices unless you accept new insight about them today. An alert mind is broadened and has an enlarged outlook. Look through everything in all its stages, from black to grey to white, and make it pay you a dividend.—Edna Lister, February 5, 1957.


Opinions and prejudices form your sonic barrier. They change no one, but are the greatest of earth’s tragedies.—Edna Lister, September 30, 1957.


Opinions and prejudices are the offspring of a lazy mind, too atrophied to think of something new. Opinions are born of willfulness, prejudices of emotions.—Edna Lister, Conquering Space, October 15, 1957.


Sacrifice of self means to give up opinions and prejudices, give up guilt, give up fear.—Edna Lister, December 30, 1957.


Everyone has opinions and prejudices. Prejudice is to prejudge, and you do so according to your experiences. All prejudice is a buildup of experience, and it’s all you have after your experiences.—Edna Lister, January 3, 1958.


You must overcome opinions and prejudices for mental balance.—Edna Lister, May 12, 1958.


Yesterday’s most beautiful idealistic visions become tomorrow’s opinions and prejudices unless you add something or renew your vision today. You can hold to a truth until you become crystallized.—Edna Lister, May 30, 1958.


You would not wish to step off the Path of Gold for opinions and prejudices. So, move up in consciousness. God doesn’t need earth talk.—Edna Lister, August 7, 1958.


Justify means "to defend" yourself, but law needs no defense, for it stands. Qualify means "to explain" or "to point out." The self supposed that the other misunderstood you or disagreed and you must "correct" his opinion.—Edna Lister, October 9, 1958.


What you loose on earth, you loose in heaven. As you loose imagination from inducting from earth, you find that you have loosed vision in heaven. As you lift, you are freed from opinions and prejudices, those violent, hindering twins of darkness, and learn that opinions come from willfulness and prejudices from rebellion.—Edna Lister, Oracles of God, November 16, 1958.


"This is my opinion" is self-righteousness.—Edna Lister, May 11, 1959.


If the whole world would join in Christed love at once, all darkness would cease to exist. However, we dilute and adulterate our love with griefs of self, opinions and prejudices, so we have been unable to obliterate darkness.—Edna Lister, May 17, 1959.


The best place to be steadfast is in the Light. Some have one truth and settle down on that until their steadfastness becomes stuck as opinion and prejudice.—Edna Lister, Desire Is Your Glory, June 14, 1959.


People always have some type of inner conflict; opinions and prejudices are of the mind and emotions.—Edna Lister, I Am the Truth, October 11, 1959.


Fanatics are often filled with opinions and prejudices that pass for devotion.—Edna Lister, Behold, I Am With You Always, November 1, 1959.


The pseudo good and self-righteous souls form tribes according to their opinions and prejudices.—Edna Lister, June 8, 1960.


You may not pass out opinions and prejudices as law.—Edna Lister, July 18, 1960.


Each has the right to be in his class. His actions may displease you, but each pleases God according to his efforts. Let God work without your condemnation, opinion or prejudice, which hang a veil between you and glory. You erect the blocks of interference.—Edna Lister, October 10, 1960.


In analysis, you can still be critical, condemning and intensely personal. Your own opinions and prejudices are involved always, and you may use analysis as self justification and to congratulate your own self-satisfying insight.—Edna Lister, June 12, 1961.


Self has no qualities of perfection, only opinions and prejudices.—Edna Lister, July 26, 1961.


It’s hard to give up your firstborn, your opinions.—Edna Lister, September 7, 1961.


You must ascend in consciousness from the intellectual to the spiritual. Intellect and pride form a barrier that fosters a sense of inferiority and inadequacy, because people, by pattern, not of need, hold rigid ideas on which they establish certain opinions and prejudices.—Edna Lister, September 10, 1961.


Intellectual intelligence is still part of instinctive intelligence, of creature makeup. Truth challenges intellectual beliefs, breaks up your opinions and prejudices, and you expand beyond tightness of mind.—Edna Lister, Heaven, a Place to Fill, April 10, 1962.


Truth is a challenge to your intellectual beliefs, and breaks up opinion and prejudice.—Edna Lister, Fourteen Stations of the Cross, April 17, 1962.


Many "good" people’s bodies vibrate at the horse and buggy stage because their opinions, prejudices, likes, dislikes, condemnation and criticism lower their vibrations. When you strip yourself of preconceived ideas about God and no longer say, "That will never happen," you will graduate from the horse and buggy. Watch yourself; you can mentally accept all modern benefits yet remain in an emotional Model T.—Edna Lister, What Is Compassion? May 6, 1962.


If you don’t add some new insight to yesterday’s idea, it becomes today’s opinion and prejudice.—Edna Lister, What Is Illumination? May 13, 1962.


As the seeds and bulbs burst their bonds of darkness, so does humanity periodically burst its enslaving shackles. Crystallization and bondage, slavery of all kinds — physical, mental, emotional must be shattered, broken. Conditions caused by opinions and prejudices must be changed. Civilization must move onward, upward.—Edna Lister, Christed Consciousness, September 7, 1962.


"I don’t think" and "I can’t accept that" is repudiation, which expresses as opinion and prejudice.—Edna Lister, January 10, 1963.


Seek facts. Just because someone on TV [or the internet] talks about it, doesn’t mean it’s so. Do not ask an opinionated ass for advice, or mistake an opinion for advice. Seek advice of someone balanced. Apply a just appraisal and do not take it into yourself.—Edna Lister, April 4, 1963.


Never forget that subconscious opinions and prejudices short circuit prayer.—Edna Lister, The Cross, June 23, 1963.


Opinions and prejudices are both repudiations of fact.—Edna Lister, July 28, 1964.


Insecurity and creates an inferiority complex that bolsters itself by fostering opinions and prejudices.—Edna Lister, December 6, 1965.


People die by the score rather than live by nonresistance, which is the pure law of love. No one cares about your opinions and prejudices, which are the seats of all illnesses.—Edna Lister, Decree and Establish, June 26, 1966.


Under opinion and prejudice, people blind themselves to God’s abundance.—Edna Lister, Eight Great Powers of Being, October 18, 1966.


"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."—Matthew 19:24. Lop off your "humps" of opinion and prejudice, then ascend into Light through the "eye of the needle."—Edna Lister, Judgment and Love, May 14, 1967.


Mental willfulness breeds opinions, and emotional rebellion breeds prejudice. You receive just what remains after your deductions from complete love, such as resentments and criticisms.—Edna Lister, All Healing Comes Through Beauty of Soul, May 16, 1967.


Opinions and prejudices harm the body more than doubt or fear.—Edna Lister, Religion and the World, November 5, 1967.


You trap yourself in your opinions and prejudices.—Edna Lister, How to Make a Just Appraisal, May 14, 1968.


Anyone who is a fanatic stiff-necked has taints of opinion and prejudice.—Edna Lister, Awareness and Becoming Law, May 26, 1968.


Opinions and prejudices are curses that create blocks. If you are not declaring that everything is good, you are declaring it evil.—Edna Lister, January 12, 1970.


The abyss between desire and performance keeps you from becoming; you bridge it only by surrendering self. Yielding opinions and prejudices is the first step in surrender.—Edna Lister, Undated Papers, 1924-1971.

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Treatment for Opinions and Prejudices

Say, "This day, I ascend. I lift my resentments, opinions and prejudices."—Edna Lister, God’s Eternal Purpose, February 24, 1950.

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A Story That Illustrates Opinion and Prejudice

Behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.—Luke 10:25-37.

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Edna Miriam Lister
1884—1971
The original Pioneering Mystic,
Christian Platonist philosopher, American Idealist, Founder, Society of the Universal Living Christ, minister, teacher, author, wife, and mother.


Edna Lister


Etymology of opinion: Latin opinio, "opinion."

Etymology of prejudice: Latin praeiudicium, "prejudgment."


Opinions and prejudices are soul taints. A taint always becomes the breeding ground for sin.


References

Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, 2024.

The Holy Bible. King James Version (KJV).

Webster, Noah. Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language. New York: S. Converse, 1828.


Related Topic

Being Judgmental