The tornado in Oklahoma that took the lives of at least 24 people was devastating. My initial reaction was the usual numb distance I feel whenever I hear of something horrible. This was followed by my reading of various articles describing the heroism of the Teachers and first responders that went to work saving lives.
The story of a teacher that lay on top of her students to keep them safe was heartwarming, you can read about it here :http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20702199,00.html
I can’t believe dealing with the kind of devastation that occurred in Oklahoma. I felt my faith in humanity renewed after hearing the accounts of heroes. Then I came across this photo:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=435525179877046&set=o.429456927083530&type=1&theater
So the teacher said a prayer, good for her. No, that can’t be left alone though, can it? Read the comments, about how if we had more prayer in school then things like this wouldn’t happen or comments like this:
It is a shame that we as americans have to change the way we have been doing things, and this is my opinion, because of all these foriegners and their beliefs if you don’t like the way we do things here in america go back to your own damn country prayer belongs in schools, maybe if it our children were learning prayers and about religion in school they wouldn’t be learning it later in life in jails and prisons~~~I commend this teacher~~well done!!
So now the villains come out. They come out to push their agenda as “Christians”. I use that term loosely because any Christian that I know worth a damn would see this as a tragedy and they would never use it to talk about how the largest religious group in America is “persecuted”. Usually I’d let it go, and just ignore the racist, hate filled nonsense coming out of the extremists. Something hit a nerve today, maybe it was the memory of growing up, non-religious and mixed race in the middle of a white, southern suburb. Feeling like an outcast, and wondering how I would feel if some asshat started ranting about how anything bad that happens is because someone failed to have enough “faith”, or how being a minority meant I was spreading “bad ideas”. Maybe it was the thought of nine dead children in Oklahoma, who probably were very good kids, and even religious, but apparently not religious enough for God to save? It’s nonsense, it’s prejudiced and it is most definitely no the belief of the many good Christians out there.
Pray if you must. Do not let your faith mask your prejudice though. When you demand your right to pray, remember that there are others out there that choose to believe in something different. Are they less of a person than you because their heritage is different?
Remember those “rights” you think you are denied? Read the first amendment again:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Take your self-inflicted butt hurt and shove it. This is a country of many people, many religions and many diverse backgrounds. If you don’t like it, perhaps you should be the one that leaves.
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