Tag Archive for religion

Goodbye First Amendment

Can someone please explain to me–WHY?

Isn’t it bad enough that, for a long while, we’ve been seeing hate crimes against people because they are or are perceived as Muslim?  That they’re being killed, attacked, and their places of worship desiccate?

NOW it’s Jewish people.  In the first two months of this year–two months!– there have been 90 hate crimes in 30 states against Jews, their centers, their schools, and their cemeteries.  30 is over half our total number of states.  What does that say about us as Americans?

According to Pew Research, “There are about 4.2 million American adults who say they are Jewish by religion, representing 1.8% of the U.S. adult population. But there are roughly 5.3 million Jews (2.2% of the adult population) if the total also includes ‘Jews of no religion,’” plus  2.4 million adults who claim a “Jewish background” (raised Jewish but have converted to another religion or no longer “feel” Jewish).  Plus another 1.2 million who weren’t raised Jewish but feel they are, in some way, Jewish.

Over 13 million.  That’s a lot of fellow Americans.  That’s a lot of fellow human beings.  Why do we  allow it to happen?  Why do we turn a blind eye toward our countrymen whose only “crime” is being associated with a religion?  When something is as widely accepted and practiced as this is not stopped, it may not be a law but it has the force of law.

Goodbye, First Amendment.

Try this Sign on Your Front Door

Tired of rushing to answer that knock at your door, thinking it’s something or someone important, only to be hit up by a stranger trying to sell you something?  Try this sign.

 

 

“Suffer Fools Gladly”

Enjoy the fun of the day, but, please, consider the person you’re pranking.  We’ve all been the butt of cruel April Fools jokes that have humiliated us, or watched jokes pulled on others that were obviously an expression of the jokester’s prejudices, using the day as an excuse.  These tricks not only feel bad but seem to give some legitimacy to cruelty and prejudices.

There are so many pranks that are harmless and so ingrained in our culture that few people are terribly embarrassed by them, like the Whoopie Cushion, switching the Push and Pull signs on a door, and putting hundreds of post-its all around someone’s office.

But something that is dangerous, will clearly mortify someone, makes a person look stupid, or is based on ethnics, gender, religion, or sexual orientation is not okay.  And that means no posting of the victim online, which makes it even worse.

So, go ahead and enjoy the day.  But be mindful of the person you’re pranking and how it will affect him or her.  Remember that your joke reflects who you are as a person.

By the way, the title of today’s posting is from St. Paul.  If you want to know the context and meaning, you can find it at 2 Corinthians, verse 11:19.

 

Do You Face Discrimination at Work?

So, you think you’re being discriminated against at work because of your religion–or lack of religion.  Guess what. You may be right.  Doesn’t matter if you’re Muslim, Christian, atheist, or whatever.  This is according to a 2013 national survey released by the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, which says that a third of American workers either feel religious discrimination or observe it at work.

In America, a nation built on religious freedom!

Read about this trend at “Study: Workplace Religious Discrimination on the Rise.”

Then, go to work and do something about it.

 

 

Listen Up, Trump!

I’m angry!  Donald Trump continues to portray Muslims as evil people bent on killing Americans because Allah wants them to. This is SUCH a perversion of true Islam, which is a peace-loving religion.  He refuses to acknowledge that ISIS and their kind are being disowned by most Muslims.  In fact, they want them to go away so they can live out two of their religion’s teachings–peace and harmony.

Yesterday in an interview Trump said it again: “Islam hates America.”

Get it through your thick skull, Trump–you are WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!

 

Memorial Day Tribute

Today, pause to remember the men and women who died fighting America’s battles.  Their goal was to stop tyrants and regimes that treat people like insignificant, disposable, unworthy non-humans.  This was their contribution to upholding the dignity of man and working toward peace.  A fitting memorial to them is to carry on their mission.  Not fighting in a far-away land but living our daily lives as though those around us, those of different skin colors, religions, socio-economic status–everyone–were human beings.  Such a peaceful, tolerant attitude must start with us individually, in our homes, schools, and workplaces and spread to our cities, states, nation, and, ultimately, the world.  Maybe such a global attitude will prevent tyrants and hate-groups from getting a foothold.  Yes, this is idealistic, but so were all those who died in uniform.  Carrying on their idealism is an appropriate way to honor them.  Even if we succeed in making a more peaceful, tolerant world just in our own lives, that is a tribute to the principle they fought for.

Enjoying April Fool’s Day

Enjoy the fun of the day, but, please, consider the person you’re pranking.  We’ve all been the butt of cruel April Fools jokes that have humiliated us, or watched jokes pulled on others that were obviously an expression of the jokester’s prejudices, using the day as an excuse.  These tricks not only feel bad but seem to give some legitimacy to cruelty and prejudices.

There are so many pranks that are harmless and so ingrained in our culture that few people are terribly embarrassed by them, like the Whoopie Cushion, switching the Push and Pull signs on a door, and putting hundreds of post-its all around someone’s office.

But something that is dangerous, will clearly mortify someone, makes a person look stupid, or is based on ethnics, gender, religion, or sexual orientation is not okay.  And that means no posting of the victim online, which makes it even worse.

So, go ahead and enjoy the day.  But be mindful of the person you’re pranking and how it will affect him or her.  Remember that your joke reflects who you are as a person.

 

 

Don’t Talk About Your Religion…Unless

Cory Booker is spot-on in what he says in this Thoughtful Thursday quote: