Can't sleep, Reading the ol' Kos... Geez Louise.
Some of us here in this family have some seriously nasty attitudes.
Full disclosure. I did my time as an Evangelical Christian.
Studied Buddhism and Wicca to name a couple.
If you care to hear my thoughts, jump.
Imagine if you will:
Fuckin'blacks, who needs 'em?
Jews destroyed this country the last decade. They are all idiots. Mindless drones.
So why is it OK to talk this way about Fundamentalist Christians?
So, are we the party of tolerance and diversity? Or do we only feel tolerant of people who think exactly like us?
Do we get to know the person rather than make decisions about a whole group of people based on a few experiences? How about writing off any given individual because they are a member of a larger demographic that we have decided are Satan's spawn...like gays... I mean WTF!!!
This sounds like the Fundamentalist Christians raging against the Fundamentalist Muslims. Which is always fascinating to me. Fundalmentalist Liberals hating Fundamentalist Christians. Hatred is hatred. Now will you tell me why your particular brand of hatred is legitimate?
I am not talking about fighting against ACTIONS that we find reprehensible. But I thought our party stood for treating ALL people with basic respect. If I was a Christian looking for a new candidate and came here to take a peek; I would never come back after some of the shit I have read here tonight.
So, you might argue, "I'm not going to show respect to anyone who_____ (fill in the blank as you see fit).
Well then, your chance at transformation just dropped to zero. In my work, I deal with people from Great Neck to Harlem. (If you know New York, you will know that is a stretch). I HAVE to reach out and find common ground with EVERYONE if I have a chance of having them see my point. Calling people fuckin' morons isn't going to cut it.
We have a good friend who is TYPICAL in his beliefs. Everything some of you have railed against tonight. But my husband continued a respectful dialogue over time and has gotten this guy to realize that NO Christian can ever advocate for war even if he himself would like to kick the ass of any given country, because Christ would not approve.
This is HUGE for this guy.
Please folks, separate out behavior from the person themselves. and realize that any particular group or person you may have encountered is not the whole truth. Bigotry is bigotry. Prejudice is prejudice. Just because you are comfortable with your own prejudices doesn't make them right.
IMHO
Peace
Update: Please forgive me if I don't respond further, I am leaving for a 2000 mile motorcycle trip in a couple of hours and I have to load my bike!! Thanks for the dialogue. I look forward to reading the rest when I get home.
I will also be looking for Frank Schaeffer, from his book: Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back by Frank Schaffer. Tip of the hat to NCrefugee.