Predator Vs. Prey

"They close up their callous hearts, and their mouths speak with arrogance. They have tracked me down, they now surround me with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground. They are like a lion hungry for prey, like a great lion crouching in cover." [Psalm 17: 10-12].

My young son is not even a teen yet, but he has already felt, many times, the sting of being bullied. How to explain this to him? He knows in his heart the cruelty and unfairness of this verbal and physical abuse.

I tell him that he is "one of the good guys"; that he does not deserve to be treated this way.

Yet-- how can I tell him that the world is essentially divided into Predator and Prey?

Am I exaggerating?

I tell him, as gently as I can, about war, about ethnic hate, about border skirmishes, about child abuse, about death threats and the torment of being bullied, about domestic violence, about stabbings and abortions. His eyes turn wide. He does not want to believe this about his world.

Above all, I do not want him to "internalize" the things being said and done to him by the bullies. If we are called fat or ugly or loser, or stupid every day, at what point do we begin to believe this about ourselves? When do all the hateful words become a part of our identity?

And so, in honor of National Bullying Prevention Month, I offer this list of famous people who were
once bullied during their childhood. I did not make up this list myself. You have only to Google it and
you, too, will find the names:

A
Christina Aguilera
Maya Angelou - abused
Clay Aiken


B
Beyonce
Mel Blanc (his teacher called him a "blank")
Joseph Biden
Justin Bieber
Mel Brooks
Humphrey Bogart
Susan Boyle
Giselle Bündchen
Victoria Beckham
Tyra Banks
Christian Bale
Pierce Brosnan
Sandra Bullock
Mary J. Blige (abuse)
Mayim Bialyk



C
John Cleese (Monty Python)
George Clooney
Henry Cavill (Superman)
Winston Churchill
Chevy Chase (abused)
Tony Curtis (by his mother)
Sean Connery
Lewis Carroll
Michael Caine
Tom Cruise
President Bill Clinton
Hillary Clinton
Jim Carrey
Jackie Chan
Miley Cyrus
Cher
George Carlin (dad bullied him)
Kevin Costner
Billy Connolly
Alan Cumming ( dad violent)
Joan Crawford
Barbara Corcoran - Shark Tank

D
Sammy Davis Jr.
Zooey Deschanel
Danny DeVito
Daniel Day-Lewis
Neil Diamond (by his dad)
Gabby Douglas (2012 Olympic Gold)
Viola Davis
Jason Day (abused)
Patty Duke (childhood abuse)
Leo DiCaprio
Ellen DeGeneres ( sexual assault)
Roger Daltrey (bullied)


E
Albert Einstein

F
Ian Fleming
Megan Fox
Harrison Ford
W.C. Fields
Ella Fitzgerald (childhood abuse)
Sally Field (childhood abuse)
Jame Foxx
Jane Fonda (childhood abuse)



G
Dr. Temple Grandin
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Mel Gibson
Bill Gates
Gloria Gaynor (childhood abuse)
Lady Gaga
Whoopi Goldberg
Cary Grant
Joel Grey


H
Bob Hope
Anthony Hopkins
Dustin Hoffman
Buddy Hackett
Jimi Hendrix - abused
Darryl Hannah
Prince Harry
Billie Holiday (sexually assaulted)

J
Billy Joel
Paris Jackson
Janis Joplin
Janet Jackson
Angelina Jolie
Elton John
Steve Jobs
Michael Jordan
Michael Jackson
Mick Jagger
Mahalia Jackson (abused)

K
Nicole Kidman
Gene Kelly
Yul Kwon (CNN reporter)
Stephen King
Yayoi Kusama - Japanese artist (childhood abuse)

L
Heather Locklear
Ralph Lauren
Demi Lovato
Cyndy Lauper (abusive step-dad)
Jeremy Lin


John Lennon
Liberace
John LeGuizamo

M
Rita Moreno
Marlee Maitlin (abused)
Zero Mostel (his parents called him a zero)
Tracy Morgan
Lea Michelle (star of "Glee")
Marilyn Monroe (abused)
Cesar Millan - the "Dog Whisperer"
Bette Midler
Kate Middleton
Madonna
Elon Musk
Eva Mendes
Dudley Moore
 Curtis Martin ( Childhood abuse)

N
David Niven
Chuck Norris

O
Eugene O'Neill
George Orwell
Flannery O'Connor
Barack Obama
Ozzy Osborne



P
Tom Petty
Elvis Presley
Robert Pattinson
Michael Phelps
Rosie Perez
Prince
Michelle Pfeiffer
Brad Pitt
Dolly Parton
Wolfgang Puck (stepfather hit him)

R
Al Roker
Leann Rimes
Mr. Rogers ("Mr. Rogers Neighborhood")
Gilda Radner
Eleanor Roosevelt
Daniel Radcliffe
Winona Ryder
Chris Rock
Renee Russo
Dorothy Rodham - Hillary Clinton's mother
Julia Roberts
Rihanna


S
Seal (physical abuse by dad)
Artie Shaw
Sam Smith
Meryl Streep
Rod Stewart
Dr. Jonas Salk - inventor of polio vaccine
Jon Stossel
Barbra Streisand
Kristen Stewart
William Shatner
Jon Stewart
Ben Stiller
Sylvester Stallone
Stephen Spielberg
Bessie Smith (abused)
Taylor Swift
Sir Patrick Stewart
Dr. Oliver Sacks
Adam Sandler
Michael Strahan
Bruce Springsteen
Frank Sinatra
Amy Schumer
Will Smith
Darryl Strawberry (childhood abuse)

T
Joe Torre (abused)
Pete Townsend (The Who; abused)
Steven Tyler
Justin Timberlake
Bella Thorne

V
Kirsten Vangness
Meredith Vieira (domestic abuse)

W
Andy Warhol
Gene Wilder
Barbara Walters
Robin Williams
Michelle Williams
George Washington (his mother called him a failure)
Virginia Woolf
Sigourney Weaver
Bruce Willis
Rumer Willis
Tiger Woods
Oprah Winfrey - abused
Emma Watson
Kate Winselt
Lawrence Welk
Stevie Wonder

Z
Lou Zamperini


Now, these folks cannot ALL  be "Losers"!!?

[Related Posting, "Love is Kind", February, 2011.]

(c) Spiritual Devotional 2012. All Rights Reserved.