I passed a church sign this weekend and basically screamed in astonishment right in the bf's ear when I read it. Something along the lines of "Adultery, sodomy, and fornication are only forgiven by the blood of Jesus." Ummm.... que? Last time I checked, Jesus already died. What are us fornicators supposed to do?! Eat his zombie corpse?! OH, GOD! WE'RE DOOMED!!!!!!!
Hold on. Wasn't that death supposed to be "for our sins?" Shouldn't these sins already be forgiven? Fuck. I don't understand.
Alright, alright. All jokes aside, this isn't about one church in North Carolina. It's not even about one person, one religion, one concept. It's about the idea of strangers prejudging and condemning other strangers. It's about the idea of letting the fear of opening up to different things cause pain, suffering, and bigotry of all kinds.
I understand that some people have been raised a certain way or that their religious doctrines may dictate what they can and cannot do. I understand that some people may have had bad personal experiences in their lives that have warped their perceptions. I understand that not everyone can love or even like everyone else. I understand that the world will never be perfect and completely peaceful. What I don't understand is how we don't even try because we are so scared of stepping outside of our comfort zones and discovering something new.
Instead of trying to research and comprehend the shoes of our opposites, even in the slightest, we post 50 links a day on Facebook about why their shoes are the wrong ones. What is that? What if you know NOTHING ABOUT SHOES?! What is righteous, in any land, race, or religion, about putting your mind in a dark, disgusting box of haterade?
While I wanted so badly to march up to that church with a sign of my own, proclaiming boldly how wrong homophobia and other discrimination is, I didn't. Why? Because fire with fire is rarely the way to solve our issues. While it feels good at the time, it merely creates a thick layer of smoke that none of us, not even I, can see through.
What we need to do is stop talking and start listening. We've gotta reach out beyond our comfort zones and attempt to understand one another. We have to do this because it is vital to a respectful existence. It won't necessarily be easy or fun, but it will be right. Isn't being right and good to each other what this whole life gig is about?
At the end of the day, no one's perfect. We all have a little bit of this closed-mindedness lurking in the depths of our souls somewhere, but those of us who have a little bit more of a peripheral have to help those crippled by their antiquated tunnel vision. It's time to open up to the ideas of the future.
Let's hope those ideas include hover boards for everyone.
You are so right on! This is surely a dilemma - to feel so much frustration and impatience (which can build into anger) toward basically angry and scared people. Scared and angry, I guess, is what creates the "CMAH" (Closed Minded Ass Hole) Syndrome. Feeling afraid - feeling threatened - can turn people into repulsive CMAH's . . . and then they do and say such terrible things, all you feel like doing is screaming or slapping them for the hatred they create and do harm with- kind of like how seeing a rattlesnake full of venom would make you feel. Taking the higher road is difficult, SO difficult. Sometimes it's hard to jump out of the way. But taking the higher road is tolerance and compassion in true practice. And it takes you down a better path. Like the one where (as you hysterically suggested) someone creates Hover Boards for everyone.
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