This has become my Srs Bznz page...
When I really want to rant and rave and talk about what's close to my heart, what hurts, there's still LJ. There's a certain comfort in what little illusion of anonymity it provides, in knowing that avatar isn't my picture (or rather, not a picture of me, because I did draw it) and that my real name isn't plastered all over the page here. Anyone who really wanted to figure out who I am RL could, I'm sure, but that doesn't matter. When you type my real name into Google, this isn't the first (or second, or third) result that comes up, so I'll have to settle for that.
The first thing I want to say is that I'm glad for those of you who still bother with this journal - I know I don't really post much to it any more, that LJ on the English side is pretty quiet and almost dead. But if anyone does read this... sorry for the depressing subjects all the time. Light and fluffy I tend to reserve for my FB page, fandom I barely have time for any more, but this is where I can come and talk, and I'm grateful to have it, because it lets me get things out before I explode RL.
So without further ado, my thoughts on the recent events in Texas, and Minnesota, and too many other places at home and abroad...
Our nation is suffering from a disease. The whole world is suffering from a disease.
You may not understand why I say that. But have you ever thought about that word? Disease. Dis-ease. A lack of ease, of comfort, of relaxation. A feeling that all is not right.
We are all suffering from this, to one degree or another. We are all feeling that something is not right with the world around us, that there is something not right within ourselves. There is a feeling that we are missing something, have forgotten something, that something is just... off.
We all feel that somewhere, the other shoe is about to drop, that Something Bad Is Coming.
It's already begun. There's 9/11, there's Paris and Istanbul and ISIS and Al Quaida and Black Lives Matter/All Lives Matter and taking down the Confederate flag in South Carolina and Treyvon Martin and Donald Trump's rants against just about everybody who isn't white, rich and straight and Benghazi and so many, many, many more.
Part of that is the media (yes, I'm looking at you, Fox News - but I'm also looking at CNN and MSNBC and all the rest, because all of you are just as guilty) and their willingness to keep pouring poison in our ears about Trump Says This and Hillary Says That and Death, Doom and Destruction Are Everywhere and All Muslims Are Terrorists and on and on and on because the facts don't matter, they are unimportant compared to the almighty ratings and the advertising money that comes with them - because sex sells, but so does racism, hate and destruction. The media is trying to bring in the lowest common denominator, and the lowest common denominator is the kind of person who slows down when they see a train wreck in hopes of seeing dead bodies that they can talk about at the office the next day, who thinks that if someone isn't with us they're against us, who fears the Other. And also, the Muslim who lives next to a Jew and a Christian and across the street from a Pagan and they all go out golfing together on the weekend isn't interesting, because believe it or not, that is the norm. People don't want to hear about the things that happen every day, that are part of their ordinary lives. People want Drama in their infotainment. They want the Other.
The Other. It doesn't matter if the Other is gay or straight or Christian or Muslim or black or white. All that matter is that they Aren't Like You, and therefore they are strange and different and possibly dangerous. You're a good person, and the people you know who are like you are good people, therefore they may be - must be - bad.
Why don't Those Muslims condemn the actions of the terrorists? (News flash - they did, they do, they continue to do so, and are in fact the primary targets of the terrorists, not Christians. It just doesn't make the news, because fear, hate and destruction are what makes the news, not the good things and good people in life. Because believe it or not, MOST people are good, MOST people are wanting to just live their lives in peace.)
Why are Those Gays raising such a fuss about getting married? Don't they know that Marriage Is A Sacred Union Between One Man And One Woman? (News flash - the Bible says no such thing. There's a couple of passages about men not wasting their "seed", and lying down with other men as with a woman, but that's because you can't reproduce that way, and the Bible was all about "go forth, be fruitful and multiply". The Bible also says that eating shrimp is a sin, along with cheeseburgers, and that anyone wearing a cotton-poly blend is going to hell. Yes, I'm serious. It's in Leviticus, go check it out.) Why does it matter that your neighbors who are both male or both female are sharing a bed and would like to enjoy the same legal benefits as any other couple who have pledged their lives to each other? As long as they don't try to drag you into it, it shouldn't. But people have fought and killed to try to keep gay couples from being able to file joint taxes and visit each other in the hospital when they're sick.
I've seen a lot of people lately saying that Our Nation Needs to Turn to God, and when we all give ourselves to Jesus, all the world will be made right. I think that's exactly what we don't need to do. You see, when we turn to God (whatever god it is, whether Yahweh, Jehovah, Jesus or Zeus) we are turning away from our fellow man. We are pulling in on ourselves and away from those who are Other.
We are forgetting that we are all one family. I am your sister. You are my brother. Whether you believe in Adam and Eve or evolution, we are all kin. (Atheists, hold off on throwing stones and go look up "mitochondrial Eve" before you start ranting and raving - we are literally all related.) We need to start acting like family again.
Don't let the color of someone's skin stop you from wishing them a good day, or stopping to help them. Don't let the way that someone chooses to worship or the name they call the Creator stop you from learning about them, their lives and their beliefs.
The only way to fight fear is with knowledge. The only way to fight hate is with love.
Reach out. Sometimes you'll be hurt.
Reach out. Sometimes you'll find a friend.
Reach out.
Because if we don't reach out, and they don't reach out, then our spirits will never touch.
We will never find our brother or our sister, our friend or our lover, unless we reach out... and touch.
The first thing I want to say is that I'm glad for those of you who still bother with this journal - I know I don't really post much to it any more, that LJ on the English side is pretty quiet and almost dead. But if anyone does read this... sorry for the depressing subjects all the time. Light and fluffy I tend to reserve for my FB page, fandom I barely have time for any more, but this is where I can come and talk, and I'm grateful to have it, because it lets me get things out before I explode RL.
So without further ado, my thoughts on the recent events in Texas, and Minnesota, and too many other places at home and abroad...
Our nation is suffering from a disease. The whole world is suffering from a disease.
You may not understand why I say that. But have you ever thought about that word? Disease. Dis-ease. A lack of ease, of comfort, of relaxation. A feeling that all is not right.
We are all suffering from this, to one degree or another. We are all feeling that something is not right with the world around us, that there is something not right within ourselves. There is a feeling that we are missing something, have forgotten something, that something is just... off.
We all feel that somewhere, the other shoe is about to drop, that Something Bad Is Coming.
It's already begun. There's 9/11, there's Paris and Istanbul and ISIS and Al Quaida and Black Lives Matter/All Lives Matter and taking down the Confederate flag in South Carolina and Treyvon Martin and Donald Trump's rants against just about everybody who isn't white, rich and straight and Benghazi and so many, many, many more.
Part of that is the media (yes, I'm looking at you, Fox News - but I'm also looking at CNN and MSNBC and all the rest, because all of you are just as guilty) and their willingness to keep pouring poison in our ears about Trump Says This and Hillary Says That and Death, Doom and Destruction Are Everywhere and All Muslims Are Terrorists and on and on and on because the facts don't matter, they are unimportant compared to the almighty ratings and the advertising money that comes with them - because sex sells, but so does racism, hate and destruction. The media is trying to bring in the lowest common denominator, and the lowest common denominator is the kind of person who slows down when they see a train wreck in hopes of seeing dead bodies that they can talk about at the office the next day, who thinks that if someone isn't with us they're against us, who fears the Other. And also, the Muslim who lives next to a Jew and a Christian and across the street from a Pagan and they all go out golfing together on the weekend isn't interesting, because believe it or not, that is the norm. People don't want to hear about the things that happen every day, that are part of their ordinary lives. People want Drama in their infotainment. They want the Other.
The Other. It doesn't matter if the Other is gay or straight or Christian or Muslim or black or white. All that matter is that they Aren't Like You, and therefore they are strange and different and possibly dangerous. You're a good person, and the people you know who are like you are good people, therefore they may be - must be - bad.
Why don't Those Muslims condemn the actions of the terrorists? (News flash - they did, they do, they continue to do so, and are in fact the primary targets of the terrorists, not Christians. It just doesn't make the news, because fear, hate and destruction are what makes the news, not the good things and good people in life. Because believe it or not, MOST people are good, MOST people are wanting to just live their lives in peace.)
Why are Those Gays raising such a fuss about getting married? Don't they know that Marriage Is A Sacred Union Between One Man And One Woman? (News flash - the Bible says no such thing. There's a couple of passages about men not wasting their "seed", and lying down with other men as with a woman, but that's because you can't reproduce that way, and the Bible was all about "go forth, be fruitful and multiply". The Bible also says that eating shrimp is a sin, along with cheeseburgers, and that anyone wearing a cotton-poly blend is going to hell. Yes, I'm serious. It's in Leviticus, go check it out.) Why does it matter that your neighbors who are both male or both female are sharing a bed and would like to enjoy the same legal benefits as any other couple who have pledged their lives to each other? As long as they don't try to drag you into it, it shouldn't. But people have fought and killed to try to keep gay couples from being able to file joint taxes and visit each other in the hospital when they're sick.
I've seen a lot of people lately saying that Our Nation Needs to Turn to God, and when we all give ourselves to Jesus, all the world will be made right. I think that's exactly what we don't need to do. You see, when we turn to God (whatever god it is, whether Yahweh, Jehovah, Jesus or Zeus) we are turning away from our fellow man. We are pulling in on ourselves and away from those who are Other.
We are forgetting that we are all one family. I am your sister. You are my brother. Whether you believe in Adam and Eve or evolution, we are all kin. (Atheists, hold off on throwing stones and go look up "mitochondrial Eve" before you start ranting and raving - we are literally all related.) We need to start acting like family again.
Don't let the color of someone's skin stop you from wishing them a good day, or stopping to help them. Don't let the way that someone chooses to worship or the name they call the Creator stop you from learning about them, their lives and their beliefs.
The only way to fight fear is with knowledge. The only way to fight hate is with love.
Reach out. Sometimes you'll be hurt.
Reach out. Sometimes you'll find a friend.
Reach out.
Because if we don't reach out, and they don't reach out, then our spirits will never touch.
We will never find our brother or our sister, our friend or our lover, unless we reach out... and touch.