Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Intolerance

Warning:  This is a political post.

Today I read something on Facebook that made my blood boil.  Yeah, really.  This is what it said:

HERE IS ALL I WANT:

OBAMA:  GONE!

BORDERS:  CLOSED!

LANGUAGE:  ENGLISH!

CULTURE:  US CONSTITUTION AND BILL OF RIGHTS!

DRUG FREE:  MANDATORY DRUG SCREENING BEFORE WELFARE!

NO FREEBIES TO: NON-CITIZENS!

And on and on....................You get it.  I hate cut and dry statements like these. No one is 100% like you..  You don't know what others have been through, what their history is.  They may not have the privileges you've had.

I thought we, as Americans, took pride in the fact that America is a melting pot and we stood by liberty and justice for ALL!  Yes, ALL!  

Our ancestors came from all over.   We're all immigrants to some extent, if in fact we accept our heritage.  What if the borders were closed when our ancestors came to America?

We don't all need to think the same, speak the same, look the same, eat the same.  Don't you feel proud of that?  Aren't you proud that our country can claim that we're accepting of black and white, conservative and liberal, multilingual,  religious and agnostic, bluegrass and classical, gay and straight, rich and poor, cat and dog???????????????????

Keep in mind, hate and intolerance is never becoming.  That's all I'm going to say.


 

5 comments:

  1. Maybe this explains many of the hate crimes. Even the "good guys," including moms and dads, hate too much. I think I heard once upon a time someone said "Love one another."

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  2. I've thought a lot about this and I think the root is fear. People see the world they knew, the culture they grew up in, changing in ways that they don't understand, too rapidly for them to adjust to. They retreat to things they do understand, to things that make them feel safe. They want some control over a world in which they feel increasingly out of control. It doesn't excuse the hate which follows, but trying to understand the roots is important since you can't change what you don't understand.

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  3. It makes me very sad, but I agree, fear and ignorance or thoughtlessness seem to be behind it. I've been called a radical. Older folks especially can't understand and ask me if I don't care about the next generations, which to me means, they're thinking about their own well to do family's children. What gives me hope is the number of young folks who think for themselves and don't go along with their parents on this.

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