Why waste time with it?
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Tag Archives: bigotry
“All _____ are…”
When someone says something like, “All Republicans are…” or “All Democrats are…” or “All Christians are…” or “All Muslims are…” or “All Mexicans are…” or “All atheists are…” – when whole groups of people are lumped together as if they all feel, think, and believe the exactly same things just because they share the same label – that is called stereotyping. Stereotyping is a sign of bigotry. I really, really hate bigotry.
“It’s a very important thing to learn to talk to people you disagree with.” – Pete Seeger
I remember on Election Day when I was a little girl my mom and dad would go off in a car together to vote. My Dad supported one political party, and my mom supported another – but they cheerfully got in the car together and went to the polls to cancel out each others’ votes. They weren’t angry with each other because they disagreed about politics. They didn’t yell at each other, call each other names, cuss each other out, or think the other person was somehow an inferior human being – lacking in intelligence, reason, logic, and good sense. Nope. They loved each other. They respected each other. Although they’ve since then become members of the same party, at that time, they totally disagreed with each other about American politics – and it was alright.
They were a wonderful example to me.
Although one of my parents was, then, a Republican, and the other was a Democrat, although one was religious, and the other not – they shared the same values. Both my parents valued honesty, integrity, kindness, generosity, fair play, compassion, the beauties of Nature, and having a good sense of humor about oneself. They brought their children up to value those things, also.
Here are some useful things I learned about the exchange of ideas and opinions from watching my parents interact with each other:
– Be kind.
– Play fair.
-Laugh at your own nonsense, before you laugh at someone else’s.
-Sometimes saying you’re sorry is the most important thing you can contribute to a conversation.
-Avoid hearsay.
-Don’t assume that a person is lacking in intelligence or reason just because he or she disagrees with you.
-Listen.
-I’m really grateful I grew up with the parents I did. I think it would be a marvelous thing if everyone treated each other with the same respect my parents gave to each other as they drove off to the polls on election day.
A Republican Friend
My friend, Elizabeth, has a wonderful new son-in-law named Juan. Yesterday a woman talking to Juan on the phone told him that he needed to lose his accent because that could be a problem for him now. Juan doesn’t have an accent. He was born in the USA. All the woman knew about Juan, really, was that he had a Spanish name. Elizabeth had a chance to meet the woman when she came to her house later. Elizabeth let the woman know that they like Juan just as he is and there’s nothing at all he needs to change about himself. Elizabeth’s family uses the “safety pin” for each other – “We need to bring out a safety pin for… ” – to show support for each other and listen to each other.
By the way, my friend, Elizabeth, is a Republican and voted for Donald Trump. We do not agree on politics, but we share the same feelings about bigotry and hatred, and I’m really glad to know her.
She gave me permission to share this story.
“The weapons of bigotry, ignorance, envy, fall before an honest heart.”
– Mary Baker Eddy
Standing Together
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We have our work cut out for us.
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United for Kindness
One of our students was called a “nigger” in the Fred Meyer parking lot yesterday. This is not okay. I know my friends who are Republican do not like bigotry any more than I do. Whatever candidate you voted for – whatever party you align with – we need to come together right now and stand up for our brothers and sisters. We need to stand united for kindness.
It is the Humoristian way.
My dear Humoristian hooligans –
We have got our work cut out for us. We are entering times that will test our courage, our love of humanity, and our Humoristianity. The world is in desperate need of us. Our country is in desperate need of us. Our LGBT friends, Muslim friends, and Latino friends need our courage and love more than ever. Our friends at Standing Rock need us. This is not the time to cower and quake in our shoes. This is the time to think beyond ourselves and our own fears, and step up to help others who really need us right now. Courage, my friends! It is the Humoristian way.
Karen
Lincoln and Bush in the Same Lump?!
The weapons of bigotry, ignorance, envy, fall before an honest heart.
– Mary Baker Eddy
This will maybe tell you something about me. When President Obama got elected the first time and my friends and I were all excited and celebrating, someone – or probably a bunch of someones – said how awesome it was that we had finally elected an African-American to be our president. And – honest to goodness – up until that moment this hadn’t even occurred to me. When I voted for Barack Obama I was just voting for the person I thought was going to make the best POTUS. His race had never entered into any of my political conversations or been any kind of factor for me in deciding that I would like him sitting in the Oval Office.
Just as I don’t believe people should be denied equal rights because of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, non-religion, or sexual orientation – I don’t believe we should vote someone into the presidency just BECAUSE of her or his race, ethnicity, gender, religion, non-religion, or sexual orientation. There is too much at stake to focus on a person’s color or gender as a deciding factor in a presidential election.
So when I came across this while internet surfing, I was… well, “dismayed” might be the right word…
emoji art by Laura Olin
To lump all “white guys” into one big monolithic group doesn’t feel right to me. To put Abraham Lincoln in the same lump as, say, George W. Bush, is… well, it’s a little appalling, isn’t it? To paint FDR with the same brush as Herbert Hoover just because they both happened to be males is, I believe, a kind of bigotry.
If we’re going to vote for a woman for President, it would be awfully nice if we did it for the right reasons rather than just because she happens to have two x chromosomes. To vote for a woman just because she happens to be a female seems… well, in a roundabout way it’s disrespectful to the female candidate.
Okay. That’s all I have to say about this, I guess.
Carry on then…
Disapproval
If we could save disapproval for the really big stuff…
When Hatred Becomes Yesterday’s News
Any politician who plans to use marriage equality as her or his main focus will need to find another issue because – haleleujah, brothers and sisters! – marriage equality is now officially old news. I look forward to that happy day when bigotry of EVERY type is old news. We’re seeing the signs – the flags that symbolize racial bigotry are quietly being removed from their poles ( http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/surprise-move-alabama-confederate-battle-flag-comes-down ) – and people of every race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, and non-religion are coming together to speak out for equality and peace.
“What is going to happen, Dave?”
“Something wonderful.”
– 2001: A Space Odyssey
The weapons of bigotry, ignorance, envy, fall before an honest heart.
– Mary Baker Eddy
We Shall Overcome, performed by Joan Baez –
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 