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A review by yonnyan
No Is a Four-Letter Word: How I Failed Spelling but Succeeded in Life by Chris Jericho, Paul Stanley
2.0
I originally picked this up because it was recommended to me. While I did enjoy most of the advice he had to offer regarding how to be successful with your career and aspirations, I also found a section of this book to be terribly problematic and disrespectful.
There is a part where Jericho discusses the time he visited Dubai and it really placed his ignorance into perspective, specifically about religion and cultures he doesn’t understand. Yes, there is horrible oppression in that area of the world when it comes to women, but most of that is cultural rather than religious. There are many, many examples of how people utilise religion as an excuse as a means to oppress, using it to create governing laws and regulations. Does it mean that everyone in said religion around the world share the same viewpoints or beliefs in that regard? Hell no. The fact that someone could make a harsh judgment on an entire faith based off the cultural norms and individual perception of faith from one small region of the entire world was extremely harmful and offensive to me—specifically as someone from said faith—and it greatly illustrated his privilege and how that privilege affects the way that he views the world around him. It is because of ignorant and jaded viewpoints like this that the vast majority of the world sees this religion as everything that’s harmful, instead of taking the time to learn that it’s truly anything but those horrid things. People in positions of influence perpetuating harmful stereotypes due to their ignorance and unwillingness to understand.
I also did not appreciate the rude jokes he made about the faith, specifically using the word Allah. If you don’t like or respect people making jokes about your faith, and find them to be wholly blasphemous, then please be courteous and don’t do the same to those of differing faiths. Your faith doesn’t make you superior. It makes you different. It’s okay to be different. But being different doesn’t make one person better than another, and it sure as hell does not excuse inappropriate behaviour such as this.
After reading those portions, I was more open-minded to other ways that Jericho exhibited his privilege and ignorance, and while I still believe his advice is good, I cannot with sound judgment recommend this book.
2 outta 5.
There is a part where Jericho discusses the time he visited Dubai and it really placed his ignorance into perspective, specifically about religion and cultures he doesn’t understand. Yes, there is horrible oppression in that area of the world when it comes to women, but most of that is cultural rather than religious. There are many, many examples of how people utilise religion as an excuse as a means to oppress, using it to create governing laws and regulations. Does it mean that everyone in said religion around the world share the same viewpoints or beliefs in that regard? Hell no. The fact that someone could make a harsh judgment on an entire faith based off the cultural norms and individual perception of faith from one small region of the entire world was extremely harmful and offensive to me—specifically as someone from said faith—and it greatly illustrated his privilege and how that privilege affects the way that he views the world around him. It is because of ignorant and jaded viewpoints like this that the vast majority of the world sees this religion as everything that’s harmful, instead of taking the time to learn that it’s truly anything but those horrid things. People in positions of influence perpetuating harmful stereotypes due to their ignorance and unwillingness to understand.
I also did not appreciate the rude jokes he made about the faith, specifically using the word Allah. If you don’t like or respect people making jokes about your faith, and find them to be wholly blasphemous, then please be courteous and don’t do the same to those of differing faiths. Your faith doesn’t make you superior. It makes you different. It’s okay to be different. But being different doesn’t make one person better than another, and it sure as hell does not excuse inappropriate behaviour such as this.
After reading those portions, I was more open-minded to other ways that Jericho exhibited his privilege and ignorance, and while I still believe his advice is good, I cannot with sound judgment recommend this book.
2 outta 5.