When I was 3 my grandpa bought my mom a book about how to raise a strong willed child. When I was in high school the only flight I got in was when someone started chucking books at me because I said that the sex trade is wrong and still very much happening today (I didn't to anything back but the whole situation became a mass). But mixed with that person is also a people pleaser who doesn't like to upset other people.
But this is a time where saying the right thing is not hard...
A lot of things going on around this country are just plain WRONG.
Racism is wrong
Marching through the streets with tiki torches chanting racist things is wrong
Running anyone over with your car is wrong
Claiming your ok with what happened this weekend because you like confederate statues is wrong
Politicians not standing up right away and saying white supremacists are evil is wrong
Politicians throwing fits on social media is wrong
Living a life in such a way that causes others to be unsure if you are part of a hate group is wrong
Our president tweeting crazy or mean things is wrong
Lets remember a few things about this horrible group of people, they don't just dislike people who are not white, they dislike anyone who is not white male in perfect health. Newflash, they hate kids like mine too. Many many people with disabilities were killed during the holocaust. They have already turned on the woman killed at the event because she was over 30 and not married and without kids. If you don't fit into their perfect little mold they hate you and that hate too often turns into horrible actions...
And guess what, you either have two choices... you either denounce them and say you are not a part of them and actively stand up and and use actions of love towards the people they hate... or you are with them... there is no inbetween. There are few black and white things in this world but this is one of them. And if you choose not to speak you are with them. Your lack of telling them what they are doing is wrong just emboldens them. If you are a person who posts things daily on facebook and choose to post nothing about this but have posted things about every terror attach done by people from the middle east, your silence is deafening and speaks volumes. If you decided to post things this weekend making excuses for them or some reason saying that because you are a republican you can't speak out against it because they are on "your side" then your words spoke loud and clear. You don't have to be marching in the streets holding torches to empower them. If you are conservative you need to be standing up and saying that this group does not represent limited government and spending and if this is the direction the party is headed then maybe it is time to make a new party that actually represents conservatism. Because this is not the party of Lincoln...
And lets not forget that many of those people marching are doing it in the name of Christianity and that makes it even more important for the church to stand up and say this is wrong because guess what, there may be people in your church that aline with that group as well and if your church is not actively saying no then you are helping it to continue. What they are saying is not Biblical. I would much rather have no one say Merry Christmas to me in a store again then to sit quietly about this, this is a much bigger deal....
And on the topic of Merry Christmas in stores... I am about to make some people mad... I don't give a crap if any store clerk tells me Merry Christmas... my celebration of my faith has nothing to do with a retail employee. And honestly I think this whole situation is messed up, we were a country founded on religious freedoms... because our founding fathers didn't want anyone telling anyone else how they had to practice their religion... I don't want someone telling me that I have to participate in every holiday from every people group because that is not freedom of religion just as well as I don't think we should be expecting anyone who is not Christian to participate in Christian holidays. Because I don't want those tables turned. Lets focus more on loving others and leading by love and showing people why we follow God instead of worrying about being so offended when non Christians don't do Christian things. Just like I don't feel anyone should be forced to pray in public school. I was a public school teacher, I prayed so many times in my head, not a problem but I couldn't ask my students to join and you know what, that is ok because we would have people burning down schools if a teacher asked their students to pray to Allah with them... see we don't like it when the tables are turned. If we are a nation of religious freedom then we need to be free to all and Christians need to do the hard work of showing others why what we believe is different, stop asking the government to try to do that. For some strange reason it seams to be the "side" that claims they want limited government that like to use Christianity at every opportunity. Enough! Stop expecting non Christians to act like Christians, they were not called to do that, you as a Christian were. You were also not called to play the victim... how many times was Paul thrown in prison and he didn't act like the victim. Learn about what is happening in India right now and that reminds me how much I don't want the government to have any say in religion. Christians lets move on to bigger and better things, things that really change people's hearts and stop all this show everytime a news story comes on about all of this the song "Instead of a Show" by Jon Foreman plays in my head.
Also I was in a few conversations with people this weekend that claimed what happened this weekend was the same as the woman's day march or the Black Live Matter movement and you need to stop. First, that tried to dumb down what happened this weekend and try to point the finger elsewhere and that is not ok. Next I know many woman who marched in the womans day march and each of them have their own reason. I know many Christian women who marched that day for upstanding things we should all be able to get behind (disability rights, wage gap, education, moral integrity, more women in leadership...) so before you go and tell me again that is was thousands of women marching to murder babies please talk to people who were there are get off of far right winged news media. I know that some people involved said they were pro choice however there were thousands that marched that day and it is disrespectful to them to lump them all together. There however is no respectable reason for someone to march in a white supremacist march. Now I have struggled with the BLM movement at times, I really struggled with what happened in Milwaukee after having student taught in that area. That area has a different place in my heart because I know the kids and parents. I only understood that area though has much as a white girl who drove into a fenced parking lot in the morning and drove back out of the area when I was done with work to my modern apartment in an area with a low crime rate. But it hurt me to see the violence that went on there, however I see and understand why the BLM movement started and do not lump everyone involved with the actions of a few people to destroy and burn things. Many people in the BLM movement had real concerns and are working to help others. They were marching for racial issues in our country that I as a white girl will never fully understand. They also were not out looking to kill everyone who did not look like them. Do I wish that none of those protests became violent, of course but I also understand the systematic things that have happened over generations in this country that led up to that, although that is not an excuse to become violent. You can not group these other things with the group of tiki torch screaming raciest people this weekend. I am so sick of this administration and their way of saying "oh yea here is an issue but look over there." Its old and it never solves anything and it is teaching a ton of Americans to do the same thing.While we have freedom of speech in this country that says you can say what you want but it doesn't say that you wont be held responsible for what you say.
So yes, I have used some strong words here. Yes I feel passionately about all of these things. Yup I still feel just as uncomfortable about making people mad but sometimes you need to stand up for what is right. Romans 12:9 in the Amplified version rang so loudly to me yesterday and for me it is a "life verse." Love others when it is hard. Love others when you are tired. Love others when others don't agree. But be willing to say when something is wrong.
PS, if you want to know how I feel the president handled this all go watch this Seth Meyers clip because I feel he said a lot of what I am feeling
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