You’re Not “Tolerant”

I find it interesting the best response a racist has when their racism is pointed out, is to cry how intolerant the person is for pointing out their racism. Then whenever they use the word tolerant, they do so in quotation marks.

In cases like racism, I have the choice to support the racist’s racism or I have the choice to support the dignity of the person or group the racism is directed. The choice, in my view, is an easy one.

Feel free to question my tolerance whenever I point out your racism.

Representing What it Represents

Representing What it Represents.

Order Yours Now!

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A Failure to Represent

Sarah Palin, wrapping her warped sense of patriotism around her poor sense of God’s grace, said “if I were in charge, they would know that waterboarding is how we baptize terrorists.” Her NRA audience gave thunderous applause.

Sarah Palin does not represent me on any level, least of all as a Christian. She may have her deplorable view of the baptismal sacrament, but it does not represent my view of baptism nor does it represent my view of Jesus’s calls to treating your neighbor, especially when that neighbor is an enemy, with the same love and respect you expect to be treated with.

I am greatly embarrassed that an uninformed person will hear her words and come away thinking all Christians think such ignorant and hateful things. Not all Christians are racist, bigoted, or fear mongering.

My faith heritage is in Community of Christ. We have several Enduring Principles that address our approach to others, including:

• God views all people as having inestimable and equal worth.
• God wants all people to experience wholeness of body, mind, spirit, and relationships.
• We seek to uphold and restore the worth of all people individually and in community, challenging unjust systems that diminish human worth.
• God wants shalom (justice, reconciliation, well-being, wholeness, and peace) for all of creation.
• True community includes compassion for and solidarity with the poor, marginalized, and oppressed.
• True community upholds the worth of persons while providing a healthy alternative to self-centeredness, isolation, and conformity.

Within Community of Christ, baptism is considered a sacrament, a sacred moment between an individual and God. We do not force it upon anyone. Those seeking baptism are encouraged to study and contemplate, pray and meditate, on the decision. Though some in Community of Christ may describe differently than I do, baptism, to me, is an outward expression of an already occurred inward experience. It is a public event, not done in private. It gives testimony of one’s own personal decision to become a disciple of Jesus, of washing away one’s old self and emerging as a new person.

I do not find waterboarding to be a means that upholds the worth of any person. I do not believe waterboarding someone would help them on the path to experience wholeness of body, mind, spirit, or relationships. I do not think equating waterboarding to baptism provides a healthy alternative to self-centeredness.

I do not find Sarah Palin’s comments funny. I think her comments were reprehensible and made without any intention to express the value or worth of anyone. They were said as a means to perpetuate stereo types and to re-enforce the racism, xenophobia, and Islam-phobia of the group she was addressing.

Sarah Palin’s decision to give an address that not only perpetuates stereo types, but bolsters the view that all white people, all Christians, and all Americans are ignorant, hateful, and self-centered.

Her comments need to be addressed for what they are. If Sarah Palin does not speak on your behalf, then clearly say so. Remaining silent allows her and that applauding audience to control the conversation.

Sarah Palin does not represent me. Does she represent you?

Community of Christ Enduring Principles http://www.cofchrist.org/ourfaith/enduring-principles.asp

A petition for those of us Sarah Palin does not represent http://act.faithfulamerica.org/sign/palinwaterboarding?referring_akid=314.270145.HQkiIp&source=facebook

 

Tarnished Sterling

It is just a matter of time before someone starts defending Donald Sterling and claiming his rights are being infringed upon.

For those who may be unaware, Donald Sterling owns a professional basketball team, the L.A. Clippers. Mr. Sterling is married to Rochelle Sterling. V. Stiviano is Mr. Sterling’s former mistress. Because Stiviano was pictured with Magic Johnson, Mr. Sterling was upset. There is a recording of Mr. Sterling “allegedly” telling Stiviano, “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people. Do you have to?”

What Mr. Sterling is caught on a recording saying is both racist and ignorant.

This is not Mr. Sterling’s first trip to the racism rodeo. So, when someone goes to defend him, they may want to be aware of abusive and racist comments he made that contributed to a housing dispute, which Mr. Sterling settled out of court. Just one example of his racists comments, he said his building smelled because “all the blacks in this building, they smell, they’re not clean” and “all of the Mexicans that just sit around and smoke and drink all day.”

There has been a lot of backlash from Mr. Sterling’s once again exposed racism. His own team wore their uniforms inside out so the name and logo of the Clippers were not visible. Other teams reportedly wore black socks. Sports figures have spoken out against Mr. Sterling’s racist remarks. Even President Obama weighed in.

So, before anyone starts defending Mr. Sterling and begins claiming his rights are being infringed: Mr. Sterling’s right to feel or think about a person or a group of people or some characteristic he thinks they may share is not being infringed upon. In fact, his right to express those thoughts, no matter how ignorant, is not being infringed upon. However, he does not have a right to a microphone or air time or column space nor is the NBA or any other sports organization or any media outlet obligated to provide him with a soap box.

What is wonderful about Mr. Sterling’s rights is they do not provide him immunity from our rights to disagree with him. We have the right to exercise our speech and denounce his ignorance. We have the right to turn our Clippers logos inside out or place them in the trash. We have the right to vote with our money and not purchase tickets or merchandise he benefits financially from. We have the right to vote with our remote controls and change the channels. And, believe it or not, our exercising our rights in no way infringes upon Mr. Sterling exercising his.

Mr. Sterling is free to be as ignorant as humanly possible and he is free to express his ignorance to his heart’s content. Mr. Sterling has all of the same rights Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty continues to enjoy. As President Obama said, “When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don’t really have to do anything, you just let them talk.”

Articles that discuss Mr. Sterling’s history of racism and ignorant remarks and include the recording that is causing this week’s controversy:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/26/donald-sterling-racist_n_5218572.html

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2042877-a-brief-history-of-donald-sterlings-alleged-racism

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04/29/2014
Today, Adam Silver, NBA Commissioner, announced how the NBA will deal with Donald Sterling’s racist comments, Mr. Sterling is basically banned from NBA functions and properties. Their decision includes:

• Mr. Sterling is prohibited from attending NBA games or practices
• Mr. Sterling is not permitted being present at any Clippers office or facility
• Mr. Sterling is not permitted to attend NBA Board of Governors meetings
• Mr. Sterling is not permitted to participate in any business or player personnel decisions involving the team
• Mr. Sterling will be fined $2.5 million, which is to be donated to various “organizations dedicated to anti-discrimination and tolerance efforts”

Mr. Silver also said he would work to ensure Mr. Sterling sells his ownership of the L.A. Clippers.
So, Mr. Sterling’s freedom of speech is not infringed upon. He is still allowed to say whatever he wants, no matter how ignorant it is. The NBA is exercising its right to not have to be in a position to have to listen to any of the nonsense that may come out of Mr. Sterling’s mouth.

As far as the NBA’s decisions regarding Mr. Sterling is concerned, I do not have an opinion. Without knowing what contracts and agreements Mr. Sterling has with the NBA it is difficult to say whether the decision is fair or not.

And know what else? His freedom of speech is still not being infringed upon.

It Is A Choice

Racists do not see that they are racist.

Sexists do not see that they are sexist.

Xenophobes do not see that they are xenophobic.

Homophobes do not see that they are homophobic.

Bigots do not see that they are bigoted.

They all are what they are even if they do not see it when they look in the mirror.

There is not a white pride day in the U.S. because white people were never marginalized and made to feel inferior simply for the shade of color of their skin.

There is not a straight pride day in the U.S. because straight people were never marginalized and made to feel inferior simply for who they loved or because they were physically/sexually attracted to the opposite gender.

There is not a national organization for men in the U.S. because males were never marginalized and made to feel inferior simply because they were born with a penis between their legs.

When you wish to belittle, demean, marginalized, put in their place, reject service to, lock out, not promote, treat as less than, not elect, not live beside, not work with, not associate, demonize, scape goat, blame, accuse, terrorize, deny rights, stand your ground against, verbally or physically abuse, beat, threaten a person simply for their skin shade/color, their gender, or their orientation you are a bigot.

Even if you wrap yourself in Bible verses and claim a certain level of righteousness when you do this you are a bigot and, on top of that, you have a poor interpretation of the Bible and live a poor example of the one whose name you claim.

Even if you wrap yourself in cherry picked quotes from the founding fathers and ignore that the Bill of Rights and the Constitution apply to all citizens of the United States you are a bigot and bring shame to those who have sacrificed for all of our freedoms.

Being a bigot is a choice. It is a choice to be ignorant. It is a choice to be inhospitable. It is a choice to be arrogant. It is a choice to be hateful. It is a choice and there is absolutely no excuse for a bigot.

Beautiful and Worthy

Is ignorance what unites us as a people?

This week’s controversy is Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl XLVIII commercial that aired Sunday 02/02/2014, featuring the song America the Beautiful sung by different Americans in different languages. For some, this was offensive to everything they hold dear as not only a consumer, but as an American.

There are two arguments our friends are making in support of their outrage.

First argument some of our patriotic friends are claiming is “English is our official language.”  Actually, the United States of America has no official language. Never has.

English is the prominently spoken language within the U.S. According to the 2009 U.S. Census, 80% of us speak English as our primary language,  Spanish 12.4%, other Indo-European 3.7%, Asian and Pacific island languages 3%. There is absolutely no Federal law, nothing in the Constitution, its amendments, or the Bill of Rights that states English is the official language of the United States. Nothing. Nowhere.

Granted, some groups and politicians have tried over the years to generate support for an “official language” or an “English only” culture. However, these attempts have all failed.

The second argument some of our purist friends are claiming “They ruined our national anthem.” America the Beautiful is a patriotic song, but it is not the national anthem of the United States of American. The national anthem is The Star Spangled Banner.

The text of The Star Spangled Banner was written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key to the tune of a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith for use at a men’s social club located in London, England. The text of America the Beautiful was written by Katherine Lee Bates in 1893 and the tune a hymn written by Samuel A. Ward. Key wrote his text after watching the bombardment of Fort McHenry. Bates wrote her text while travelling to and visiting the Rocky Mountains.

This may make it slightly more uncomfortable for our purist friends, Katherine Lee Bates was a lesbian. She was a Republican until 1924. She gave up her political affiliation with that party due to its growing xenophobic attitudes. Francis Scott Key was a slave owner and worked to make it a law that free slaves were to be forcibly returned to Africa and used his position as an attorney to quash any who were against slavery.

The commercial was nicely produced, beautifully sung in different American voices from diverse backgrounds. The only thing I found unfortunate about it, other than the blatant ignorant racism some of our friends seem unable to let go of, was that it was a commercial. I wish it was a piece of art that was created and stood apart from any corporation for the use of driving their product sales.

I will conclude my thoughts discussing briefly Community of Christ’s enduring principle. Our enduring principles “define the essence, heart, or soul of church identity, mission, and message. They describe the personality of the church as expressed through its participants, congregations, and affiliate organizations throughout the world.” For example, we hold these to be true to our understanding of the mystery that is God and God’s creations:

• God views all people as having inestimable and equal worth.
• God wants all people to experience wholeness of body, mind, spirit, and relationships.
• We seek to uphold and restore the worth of all people individually and in community, challenging unjust systems that diminish human worth.
• We join with Jesus Christ in bringing good news to the poor, sick, captive, and oppressed.

Stephen M. Veazey, president of Community of Christ, stated in 2010, “Former ways of defining people by economic status, social class, sex, gender, or ethnicity no longer are primary. … a new community of tolerance, reconciliation, unity in diversity, and love is being born as a visible sign of the coming reign of God.”

All people are of worth. Not just my friends. Not just those who resemble me or live near me or laugh at my jokes. Not just those of my faith or denomination or with the same political affiliation as me. Those who make me uncomfortable are of worth. Those who I disagree with and those who are bigoted and hateful are also of worth. People who some do not consider even to be a person are worthy.

Coca-Cola posted a comment with their commercial, “The only thing more beautiful than this country are the people who live here.”

Those who speak English or Spanish, Portuguese or Tagalog, Mandarin or Cherokee, or any other language with any accent or dialect are beautiful and worthy.

Those who are the palest of white to the deepest of black and all skin shades and colors in between are beautiful and worthy.

Do not allow the racists to be the only voice heard. Do not allow the bigots to control the conversation. Stand up, speak up. Do not allow ignorance to be the one thing that unites us. All are beautiful and all are worthy.

The full 90-second Coca-Cola commercial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhP5sDUnF6c

Community of Christ Enduring Principles http://www.cofchrist.org/ourfaith/enduring-principles.asp

U.S. Goverments response to an “official language” http://answers.usa.gov/system/templates/selfservice/USAGov/#!portal/1012/article/3206/Official-Language-of-the-US

Singing & Happy Back in the Good Ol’ Days

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