With so many people in the country screaming for political
correctness in every aspect of our daily lives it seems no one can voice their
honest opinion about anything without being labeled. Some people are so afraid of offending
someone else that they won't express themselves openly for fear of being called
a bigot or a racist or some other form of hater. And may who throw those names around do so
seemingly without conscience or even facts.
If you voice an opinion that disagrees with theirs you are given a name
and dismissed as irrational.
This has been building over the years but it seems to have
truly come to light since the election of our first African-American
President. In my lifetime of 55 years I
have never seen more racial division except maybe in the early 60s. In 2008, Americans elected Barack Obama to
the Office of the President of the United States. He didn't win 80 or 90 percent of the total
vote but he won the majority of electoral votes that put him in office. Back when Dr. Martin Luther King was still
alive I knew that in my lifetime I would see a black man elected President one
day. Mr. Obama was a surprise only
because he was an unknown to most of us.
He was also a surprise because he expressed liberal, left-wing views
(such as sharing the wealth) and won anyway.
Sadly, those who opposed him were often labeled as racists even when you
could easily voice your disagreement with what he stood for and what he wanted
to do to "fundamentally transform America." Labeling someone a racist is easy - you don't
have to think about it. You can put
everyone in the same category and ignore what they're saying simply by putting
a label on it.
Certainly I know a few people who oppose President Obama
because he's black. That's not their
only reason but it is definitely one of them.
They are wrong to believe that way.
Racism should have no part in American politics nor in American everyday
life. In the year 2012, hating someone
because of skin color is ridiculous.
Life is complicated enough.
Along the same line, the recent gay marriage controversy
involving Chick-fil-A caused an uproar that led to people screaming that if you
disagree with gay marriage you simply hate
gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders. But since when did one's personal opposition
to something transform into hatred? Many
Christians believe in the Biblical and religious definition of marriage between
a man and a woman. They believe marriage
is ordained by God and that homosexual marriage goes against the teachings of
the Bible. Believing that does not mean
that Christians hate homosexuals, etc.
The Bible says love everyone equally but it doesn't say accept and agree
with everything anyone wants to do to prove that love. Christians are commanded to love sinners but
are not commanded to love sin.
Atheists believe there is no such thing as God. They completely disagree with the notion of
religion and believe Christians are misinformed and just plain wrong. So does that mean atheists hate all
Christians? I don't think so. And I don't believe they'd be happy to be
labeled a hate group simply because they don't agree with the Bible or
Christianity. So why does it seem one
group can oppose something and not be labeled and another group is
automatically labeled for their disagreement?
I'm thinking it all depends on who's doing the labeling.
One other point I want to discuss is Islam and Islamaphobia. Those of us who believe Islam to be a threat
to the United States (and even the world) base our beliefs on worldwide actions
of Islamic terrorists and on the teachings of the Quran. Granted, there are many Muslims in the world
who do not participate in terrorist acts and have no desire to kill as many
infidels as possible. However, of the
millions of Muslims in the world there are precious few who will stand up and
say "No more. We will not tolerate
the violence any longer." There are
certainly enough radical, terrorist types to make the world a very dangerous
place and they are everywhere - even inside our own nation. Islam is not a religion of peace. Religions of peace do not kill people for
disagreement. They do not stone a woman
who has been raped because she is no longer clean. Religions of peace do not kill their children
for the "honor" of the family.
And they don't go around threatening to wipe a country off the face of
the Earth simply because that country is not Islamic.
Yes, there are many of us who believe Islam is a powerful
threat to all of us. Does that mean we
hate Islam? I've been accused of
it. I don't hate anyone.
If you want to be my neighbor and friend I will judge you by
how you act and how you present yourself to me rather than your political,
religious, or even sexual preferences.
If I disagree with you I'll tell you up front that's the case. I won't ridicule you or chastise you for your
beliefs (unless we're in a good natured discussion about them) but neither do I
expect you to do it to me. I may
disagree with you on several things and you may disagree with me on more. But there is a huge difference between
disagreeing with someone's beliefs and hating them because of it.
The hatred does exist.
I'm not naive enough to believe it doesn't. But it's not the majority of people who carry
this hatred. And those who are quick to
pass out labels need to understand that.
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