I saw this on The Christian Left’s site:
“Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it. But I’m afraid He would ask me the same question.” – Anonymous
It’s pretty great. :)
So, I’ve been thinking a lot about God and religion lately (which are two separate things, of course) because I saw the movie “Life of Pi.” It was phenomenal, and I think it did the book justice. Anyway, because I’ve been thinking about these spiritual things, I did some writing. It may or may not be garbage, but this is essentially what I believe:
Fly like you mean it. Fly like you mean it, and puff through your lungs with every inch you go, because some people will tell you to stop. They’ll tell you to stop believing in what you can’t see, to stop explaining what’s not there. Stop pretending to be a superhero, they’ll say. You’re not.
But really? You are a superhero. You’re you. You’re you and fabulous and true, just like your teachers used to be before they stopped dreaming. The university destroyed their souls and spat them out with scorch marks, ready to teach, but not to learn. And now it’s your turn to instruct – some like to call it “showing off.”
If you’re going to dream, dream big. So fly. I’m begging you, baby, just fly with me. Alone, you can touch the sky, but together, we can rip the world.
“Be the change you wish to see in the world,” said Gandhi.
“A right delayed is a right denied,” said Martin Luther King Jr.
“All we are saying is give peace a chance,” sang John Lennon.
Why is it that the people who try the hardest for peace always end up getting shot? In case you couldn’t tell, I’m busy having a lot of feelings, and while I love all three of those lines and the ideals those men stood for, my favorite quote at the moment is, “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” I’m not exactly sure who said that (Google keeps contradicting itself).
IF YOU’RE NOT PART OF THE SOLUTION, YOU’RE PART OF THE PROBLEM.
I realize that I’m going to sound like a hypocrite when I say this. I realize that I’m not perfect and that I don’t always try. I also realize that I need to shape up and give a damn. And so do you.
Now that that’s been established, I need to explain what this is about. This note is about the LGBTQ+ Community, but it relates to all of us. Us: women, men, everyone who is both or neither gender, my parents, your next-door neighbor, queer people, straight people, writers, and giraffe-lovers because, hey, who doesn’t love giraffes?
Anyway.
I’ve been reading about things lately that make me really angry, but mostly sad. These things include, but are not limited to, the West Boro Baptist Church, anti-gay “correctional” therapy, and Lord Voldemort. Hate, whether purposeful or accidental, is at the core of each of these things (and yes, I did have to mention Voldy. It lightens the tone a little bit, right?).
Why does there have to be an argument over a Facebook picture of two women kissing? What’s with the name-calling? The Bible-thumping which, might I add, always involves taking words out of context and gives all Christians a bad name? Yeah, it’s all completely unnecessary.
Let’s stop arguing and do other active things. Like, positive things. Volunteer! Donate! Write! By no means am I saying “ignore the problem.” Never, ever ignore a problem. Rather, work for something good instead of wasting energy on people who won’t change.
I could say a lot more right now, but I’m afraid that it wouldn’t make sense because I’m tired. Thanks for reading!
PSA to the Michigan GOP.
both the post and the tags are A+
We should spread a mass movement where women will always refer to her vagina as “Voldemort” and treat it like it’s nbd.
At the doctor: “I think I there’s something wrong with my Voldemort.”
About to have sex: “Oh honey, I don’t think Voldemort’s gonna like that.”
Or have it in code:
I’m on my period: “Potter shoved a basilisk fang in my diary.”
“Potter shoved a basilisk fang in my diary.”
“Potter shoved a basilisk fang in my diary.”
“Potter shoved a basilisk fang in my diary.”
The only problem I have with this is how the caption says “loved,” not “love.” Other than that, though, it’s brilliant. I should just take out the f-word and post it on my church’s bulletin board! :)
So, I was going to post something else about marriage equality, but my thoughts have been preoccupied by other matters lately. It’s somewhat related to marriage, but it mostly concerns God and (yep, you guessed it!) LGBTQ+ struggles.
Anger.
It’s something that everyone, even Jesus, has felt, feels, or will feel at some point in their lifetime. I can think of at least one thing that all of my acquaintances are angry about. In the queer community, as in all of the other minority groups, frustration is prevalent. We’re frustrated because we don’t have equal rights (adoption, marriage, etc.) and we face discrimination on a daily basis. Queer people are killed or commit suicide every day because there’s too much hate in this world. Life is so unfair sometimes that it seems like there’s no possible way to *make* it fair. However, I think there is. I really, really do. Feel free to call me an idealist (or a fool), but if we stop thinking about the world that should exist and only think about the “real” world, hope will flounder, sink, and eventually drown.
Now I’m going to talk a little bit from a Christian angle, so for everyone who isn’t a Christian, please just hang tight for a second and bear with me. I swear I’m not preaching; I am not asking you to believe what I believe. First, consider the following Bible verse: “I shall not forsake you, neither shall I let go of your hand” (Hebrews 13:5). I just wanted to share that because I interpret it as, “Hey, I’m God. I love you and I’ll never let go, even when the times get tough.” In other words, trust in God. I think the best thing to get out of that verse is the message of hope. I’m a pretty big hypocrite when I say this because I’m an anxious person by nature, but for Christians and other people of various faiths (this mostly applies to Muslims and Jews because we share the same God), it is so important to see that although there is evil in the world, it’s not the end. In fact, I see our struggles as the beginning of a more enlightened generation.
At the same time, I realize that hoping and praying can only get a person so far. When people realize that they must step up and actually do things to make life fair, they tend to go too far. What do I mean by “too far”? Too far is shouting (again, I’m being a hypocrite, please forgive me). Too far is cussing people out and cutting their sentences off without letting them finish their thoughts. It’s also closing your eyes and speaking inaudibly — by which I mean, you can’t even hear yourself talk. And, naturally, violence is too far.
Violence is a broad term. For the purpose of this post, I’ll just narrow it down to physical violence, such as hitting, kicking, shoving, and things of that nature (killing is obviously included in this discussion). Wow, I’m finally getting to the point of this entire post! While I realize that everybody has the complete and total right to feel any emotion, the act of funneling nasty feelings like hate, jealousy, resentment, and anger into violence is futile. It’s pointless and advances nothing — except perhaps your stint in a jail cell for a few years. You want peace? Go and have a collected, organized protest or a march in a public area. Carry signs if you want, carry meaningful flags, or even a buck or two for coffee afterwards — just don’t carry guns.
You want equality? I know I do. Write political letters, hold reasonable discussions, start a campaign. When other people disagree, it’s your time to rise above them. Rise above the hate by demonstrating love and compassion and show that yes, we are all human and Christ did not die for nothing. “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do!” That’s what Jesus said when he was being crucified. Crucified. You know, being nailed to a tree with no means of escape or release of pain (P.S. I’ve heard that it hurts pretty badly).
You want justice? Forgive. Forgive, and while you are forgiving, do not forget. Do not forget that you are valid, do not forget that justice will come around, do not forget that the people who vote against our rights haven’t got a clue about what God really is.
Remember the love you are striving to have.
“Imagine if children could also buy bags of little toy African-American slaves and their white slave masters, or Jewish holocaust prisoners and their SS Nazi guards, or undocumented Mexicans and their INS border guards.”
“Imagine if the African-American set included little whips and ropes so the white slave masters could flog the slaves that were lazy and lynch those who defied them. Imagine if the border guards in the Mexican toy set came with little nightsticks to beat the illegal aliens, infrared scopes on their rifles to shoot them at night, and trucks to load up those they caught. Imagine if the Jewish and Nazi toys included little barbed wire prison camps and toy trains to load up and take the prisoners to the toy gas chambers or incinerators, batteries not included.”
-From Cowboys and Indians: Toys of Genocide, Icons of American Colonialism, by Michael Yellow Bird
Woah. I’d never really thought about this before! It’s a really good point.
