Intolerance and Hatred Or Love and Respect? It's a Choice.

One Man's Blog posted about Christians on FOX News threatening to kill and rape others who don't want a Christian memorial placed at the site of the World Trade Center. His post was quite excellent.

I was thinking about the situation. It doesn't matter what religion someone professes to believe; it doesn't mean they actually uphold its tenets. People can call themselves anything: Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Pagan, Buddhist, Atheist, Agnostic, etc. People are human, and as such, are fallable. People can choose to live in love or fear; they can choose to show kindness and compassion or unkindness and cruelty. Rather than be respectful, kind, civil, and compassionate...some people choose to bully, ridicule, scapegoat, deride, hit, rape (do I need to keep going?) others just because they don't follow the same belief system (or any other multitude of reasons/excuses). They do themselves, the other person and their belief system the greatest disservice. Life is all about choices, and our ability to be humane towards others is what determines the course of our lives, our society and our world.

http://onemansblog.com/2011/08/06/christians-openly-advocate-killing-athiests-on-fox-news-facebook-page/

Comment to President Obama on Remove Arne Duncan Petition

Get politicians and corporate CEO's out of education. Put those who actually educate in charge. It's that simple!

Children are not widgets, clones or copies. No two are exactly alike. Societal, economic, family, and personal factors DO impact their "performance" on test scores. The purpose of education is not for children to perform well on tests. A test score is not the final product of an education. The purpose of education is to teach children how to think critically, how to find information, how to learn, while respecting their individuality, and to do this creatively. We do this, in part, by teaching them literacy, numeracy, science, social studies, etc. These are not all that we teach. We also teach social skills, respect, integrity, taking chances in learning, persistence, etc. You can't test that!

We need to be given the autonomy, resources and time to teach. Instead, we've had to spend the last 10 or so years fighting for our profession, our jobs, our rights, our education budgets, our resources, our reputations, and most importantly...our students. Teachers should not have to waste any time on fighting for any of these things that diminish our time and energy from doing our job...teaching children.

Shame on those who are using and abusing us, taking us away from our mandate - to teach our nation's children, as they work to game us and the system to privatize education so they can simply make more profits. Shame on you, President Obama, if you allow this political and corporate circus of education "reform" to continue. Instead, why don't those politicians and CEO's do their own jobs and fix the stalemate and partisanship in Congress, produce American jobs with living wages and decent benefits, get money out of politics, and end corruption?

Oh, and if you truly do want to end bullying, perhaps leading by example would be a good start. Stop bullying educators, stop bullying each other, and start modeling respect, decency and honor. Lead by example, as children learn what they live.

Respect, Social Justice and Non-Violence

There are many paths to choose in life, and even those who choose the same path may follow it using a different form of transportation. I choose the path of social justice using non-violence as my mode of transportation. If we want social justice to prevail, let's embody it. Let's not demean or demonize those with whom we disagree. Let's be non-violent in our approach with them, using facts, figures, history, and principles of ethics/morality in our own communication with others. It is so much easier to put down, laugh at, demonize, share cartoons and curses, show disrespect, dehumanize, and be outraged or angry. It takes conscious thought to be ethical, to show respect for those with whom one disagrees. I have been guilty of some of the former, while I strive for the latter. I am human and am trying to live from a higher level of consciousness in all areas of my life.

Social Justice, Respect, and "Entitlement" Spending

Americans do not need to cut "entitlement" spending when there are so many of us that are homeless and hungry. The most recent census puts 1 in 3 Americans in poverty or near poverty. Which ones would you be willing to look in the eye and say, "No help for you, or you, or you. You can starve and sleep on the street for all I care, because it's more important to me to pass a balanced budget than make certain my fellow humans are treated with compassion and given a helping hand."

If we took all of the money we spend on the military-industrial complex and spent it, instead, on our own people, we would live in a more just society. The extraordinary income inequality, lack of education, health care, housing, and a proper diet are inexcusable in these times. Many of us live in relative abundance, and can provide help for others who are down. We are our brother's and sister's keeper. When our brother or sister is down, we don't stomp on them and tell them, "Go get a job!" when there is only 1 job for every 4 unemployed people. We certainly don't turn our back on them and ignore their pain and suffering.

My mother used to say, "There but for the grace of God go I." Many people work hard, not just the rich and middle class. Why is it so easy for people to dehumanize and castigate others who are less fortunate? Why is it so easy to dismiss them by saying they are lazy good-for-nothings? Are we really so superior and entitled to our own position in life? All it takes is one bad medical illness to bankrupt someone and send them and their family onto the street. One illness!

As for the possibility of giving someone a hand, who one may believe does not deserve it, I say don't judge. One doesn't know another's soul. One doesn't know the pain and suffering of another. Would Jesus have turned anyone away? Doesn't the Church preach compassion and tell its people not to cast stones?

Perhaps the great minds of our time can come up with a more humane form of American capitalism, rather than the current one that breeds greed and spreads inequality and poverty. Rather than judge others, perhaps we might give each other a helping hand, out of love and respect for our common humanity.

Another Child's Suicide - Bullying is Deadly

How many more children, women, men, animals have to die because someone has to have power over them? How long will this be allowed, and even encouraged? When will parents teach their children not to abuse by setting a better example of how to behave with respect towards each other, their children and pets? When will government leaders and workplace managers lead by example, by following the rule of law to both respect and defend the human rights of all people? Human trafficking, rape, abuse, bullying, greed, a culture of youth and beauty, a patriarchal society, a sense of entitlement, and a lack of enforcement of laws and protective regulations are all symptoms of a complete and utter lack of respect for others. All of these also dangerously combine with a lack of personal responsiblity and the absence of prosecution of those who abuse human rights to create the society and world in which we live. As long as we, and I truly mean we, as we are each and every one of us responsible, tolerate this, nothing will change.

Trillions of dollars are spent on war, while only a miniscule fraction of this is spent upon peace education, the teaching of mediation, ethics, and the rights of all sentient beings to basic rights; not just for men, straight people, or people of a certain religion, class, or level of educational attainment. Since you do get what you pay for, we have both unfortunately and obviously gotten all of our money's worth!

A patriarchal society, by definition, deprives women of equal rights over those of men. Maybe we should begin there. Religions that deprive women of equal rights are also guilty of promoting a culture of power over others, along with the accompanying abuse, rape, trafficking, etc. that power over others engenders.

Equality and respect for all should be the foundation of any society, culture and religion. When one group is given power over another, there is always someone who will abuse the power. Tolerance and respect for others, instead of inequality, should be expected, regulated and enforced with very real consequences. When we change our expectations, and put our money towards educating all people about human rights and peace, instead of war, things will begin to change for the better.