Prince Charles opened up about the era he was born into — and why we should never go back.
"All of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s."
With Christmas just days away Charles, the prince of Wales, appeared on BBC Radio 4 to deliver a holiday-inspired "thought for the day" that came with a dire warning about the state of world politics.
The Christmas story — the Nativity story — is in many ways a story about a family fleeing religious persecution; it's a story about refugees. While it's easy for that portion to get overshadowed by things like angels, virgin births, wise men, and mangers, Prince Charles thought it appropriate in our current political climate to draw attention to the holy family's refugee status.
All GIFs from BBC Radio 4/Facebook.
Prince Charles described a conversation he had recently with a Jesuit priest in Syria and how it reminded him that religious persecution is not limited to faraway lands.
Even as people flee lands in which their lives are put on the line due to religious persecution, the world political climate is making it harder for would-be refugees to find safety and acceptance anywhere.
"We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith."
— Prince Charles
"The suffering doesn’t end when [refugees] arrive seeking refuge in a foreign land," he said. "We are now seeing the rise of many populist groups across the world that are increasingly aggressive towards those who adhere to a minority faith."
"All of this has deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days of the 1930s," Charles said.
He invoked his own memories of growing up in post-World War II Europe as a reminder that we can't let a fear of people who are different from us lead us back down that dark road.
"I was born in 1948 — just after the end of World War II, in which my parents' generation had fought and died in a battle against intolerance, monstrous extremism, and an inhuman attempt to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe," he recalled. "That, nearly 70 years later, we should still be seeing such evil persecution is, to me, beyond all belief. We owe it to those who suffered and died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past."
Whether you're Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or something else entirely, there's a deeper human message we can and should take away from this particular story: respecting and valuing others.
We can fight back against the impulse to close off people who don't look like us, think like us, pray like us, eat like us, date like us, and so on. We can fight back against the popularity of far-right isolationist policies. We can value the humanity of all, and if Christmas is what it takes to inspire that within us, then so be it.
Watch a portion of Price Charles' speech below, and check out the full transcript at the BBC website:
The Prince of Wales delivers his Thought for the Day"Whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same: to value and respect the other person, accepting their right to live out their peaceful response to the love of God. That’s what I saw when attending the consecration of the Syriac Orthodox Cathedral in London recently. Here were a people persecuted for their religion in their own country, but finding refuge in another land and freedom to practice their faith according to their conscience. It is an example to inspire us all this Christmas time."The Prince of Wales delivers his Thought for the Day.
Posted by BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, December 22, 2016
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."