I don’t know what to say that I haven’t said before. I don’t know how to convince people if it didn’t work before. I don’t know how to hold back this tide of fear and hate that seems to be gaining tread in this country, in this world.
But, being quiet doesn’t feel like an option.
Bigots won today in North Carolina. They won last week at the Methodist General Conference.
The definition of a bigot is a “person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, irrationality, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs.”
How is deciding that others should not have the very same rights that you enjoy just by existing not being irrational and intolerant?
I am not “name-calling.” I am “naming.” There is a difference. This is not a word meant to hurt, but a word meant to make them open their eyes. If there is a tiny shred of humanity left in them…it just might make them listen and think about what they do.
The whole thing just makes my heart hurt and I get a feeling that we are feeling what the civil rights worker in the 60’s felt. But, then, realizing that what they felt was probably even stronger and that they really were in the face of greater odds (we at least have that legislation and time to piggyback on), I feel like we can do this. This is only a blip in time and one day it’ll be in a history book. And, when our grandkids read about it, we can say “We fought for equal rights. We lost friends. We lost battles. Sometimes, we lost hope. But, we picked ourselves up and we kept fighting. We did it, because it was the only right thing to do.”
Hopefully, by then, this will all be over and out grandkids will be amazed that this was ever an issue.
