Happy Pride Month Scribblers. This month I wanted to focus on all thing Pride, including the wonderful #PrideReads we have going on over at Twitter (you need to check it out, click here), but with the decision from the US Supreme Court I wanted to address discrimination and hate. I want to talk about this because it’s ugly and not who we should be. As I tried to have a level head about the ruling, I found I was getting increasingly angrier. If you have no idea what I’m talking about click here this is disturbing because I like to believe we, as a people, we are better than this. That somehow in my Pollyanna world, we don’t treat others this way. But we do! It’s disgusting! And I’m getting tired of it.
Before this ruling came down, I was talking to a Blogger whom I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know over these last few months. She’s a wonderful person and I find that I respect her. I love seeing her notes and so forth pop up on my news feed. Anyway, she mentioned that a few days ago she and her Relator were looking at a home when someone called the police on them. The officer showed up and sat in the cop car until this Blogger and Relator left.
How many times have we heard stories about this happening? Too many. It seems to be happening more.
Then we got this ruling from the US ‘Freaken’ Supreme Court that it’s okay for a Baker in Colorado to refuse a wedding cake to a gay couple. Yes, I read the ruling. Yes, I understand all the circumstances. And yes, I understand that there are more cases in the pipeline and with luck the Supreme Court will fix this. Is that real issue?
The problem is you can’t legislate what’s in a person’s heart. You can’t keep people from hating you. It’s impossible. And that is at the bottom of all discrimination; hate.
Not surprised, well duh, I’m not saying anything that any rational person doesn’t already know. But here’s the thing these people claim to be ‘rational’, ‘good Christians’, ‘good Muslims’ ‘good Jews’ ‘good Citizens’, ‘good People’, guess what? You’re not. You’re a Hate Monger. Plain and simple.
Typically, when I get home, Eric greats me with a kiss, or I stalk after him till I get a kiss. When the ruling came down I walked in and the first thing we said to each other was, “have you heard the news?”
Why is this important? Because, Eric, doesn’t pay attention to the news and rarely gets phased by it. He’s my rock. I’m the one who gets a little dramatic about the news. But not then because we were both shaken by what happen with the court ruling.
Not only did we talk about the ruling but we talked about discrimination. Seth MacFarlane summed it up when this hit the news. He said, “It’s a shorter walk than we think, particularly today, from ‘I won’t bake them a cake because they’re gay’ to ‘I won’t seat him here because he’s black.’…” for the whole article click here he got called out for his remarks but I think he responded perfectly. When asked if he would bake a cake for a Trump supporter. His response was, “yes, you bake a cake for one. You bake a cake for all.” How long until we see other minorities refused services? I bet it will be sooner than you think.
And that is part of my point. How we treat one person is how we should treat everyone. “Equal under the law.” But we’re not. Are we getting there? Slowly, but even than you can’t legislate the hate in someone’s heart. My Blogger friend had the police called on her because they are black, and Eric and I can’t buy a wedding cake because we’re gay. Like Mr. MacFarlane suggests where does it stop?
Another friend of mine, she is Jewish (possibly the most discriminated group in human history), she reminds people about the Holocaust. It didn’t start with gas chambers. It started with small things and the inaction of people. Are we heading that way again? Are Eric and I going to be rounded up and taken away. Is my Blogger friend going to be pulled out of her home in the middle of the night never to be seen again? Is my Jewish friend going to one day vanish?
I hear you shaking your heads and rolling your eyes. “That could never happen, we’re in America.” Well…
What about all the undocumented Immigrants, they are already being rounded up? Children pulled from their parents. Families separated. That’s happening right now. (Okay, before you go off on a tangent, yes the argument can be made that they are breaking the law and are criminals, but to separate children from the parents um… no. That is a little to Germany 1940 for me.)
So, who’s next?
Am I sounding like a Paranoid Alarmist. Perhaps. But, I don’t know? What I want everyone to think about is how much farther is this discrimination going to go? How much longer is all the hate in people’s heart going to last? When do we stop hating each other?
Oh, and just to be clear this isn’t a liberal vs. conservative thing, because I’ve seen hate from both groups that should make everyone ashamed. I come from a family of conservatives and you will never know a nicer more giving tolerant group of people in your life, so don’t for a minute think I’m pitting one side against the other. Because I’m not. Both Democrats and Republicans caused what we are seeing now. They feed off it, and hold on to power by putting us against one another.
My point. Hate hides behind many faces: Religion, Nationalism, Conservatism, Liberalism, Racism, Sexism, and any other ‘ism’ you can come up with.
The worst thing, for me, is that I think hate is part of who we are. We’ll never be rid of it, which means we’ll always have discrimination which is heartbreaking.
All I can ask is for you to think about what I’m saying, even if you don’t agree. Also, when you’re out and about please be kind to one another. Please respect each other. Help each other. Be there for one another. When you see hate, confront it. Don’t stand for me. Don’t let hate (in any form) win. We might not control what happens everywhere, but we can control what we say and do. Where we spend our money. Don’t propagate hate by spending your money in places that discriminate. We can control how we treat each other. If we treat one person like second-class citizens then we’re all second-class citizens, because someone will find a way of discriminating against you. Trust me. Hate will find a way.
What do you think? Do you think I'm over reaching here? Let me know in the comments below.
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