I don't know if I'm just being naive, or simply idealistic. Perhaps both?
Being today is the anniversary of the 9/11/01 attacks on the United States, there was a post on FaceBook where you can add Old Glory onto your profile. Of course I immediately went for it and after I was done with the process, simple in itself, I ended up on a page with a huge photo of Ronald Reagan.
Once again, it gives the impression that one must be a Conservative to love and support our country.
I've learned to brush that insult away, although it still tugs at my heart. For the record, liberals are Americans too! And we love this country just as much as anyone else. Anyway.......
Here is the link you get averted to for showing your support for those who died on 9/11/01
Please "Like" Being a Conservative
With these words:
Unlike Obama, President Reagan would
stand in strong opposition to the
Muslim super center at Ground Zero
and we should too.
Again, not too surprising that the message they want to convey is that to be a good American, we must all think like them. Typical. (psssst..it's not at Ground Zero..you are just supposed to think that).
What got me, and this is where I must be completely naive, is the number of my friends, not people I "friended" on FaceBook, but rather life long friends who are as much like family as my blood, that support this line of thinking. Each of them I would consider to be "good" Christians. I have to say I was very taken aback.
As a matter of fact, even as I write this it's bringing tears to my eyes.
This is why I stopped going to church. I was taught at a very young age that tolerance was necessary for people to get along in the world. I was also under the impression that the Bible taught us to "Love thy neighbor" and "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".
However, unfortunately, I found the church teaching intolerance. Once we became teens, Sunday School took on a different tone. The classes became less and less on the teachings of the Bible and of Jesus, and more about the evils of other religions. I was being taught that my Catholic relatives were evil. My Morman friends at school were evil.
Through the years I've watched as it spread and now even caring about the poor, sick and unfortunate are bad, liberal ideals. Folks have even been brainwashed into believing that "liberals" can't be Christian. And you know what? It's all politics!!
Politics, politics, politics!! Religion and politics mix as well as oil and water. They don't belong together. America is a melting pot. It's a great mix of diversity. It's what makes us unique. It's what makes us strong! Diversity, not division.
Today marks the 9th anniversary of the attacks on America by Osama Bin Ladin. Not by the Muslim people or the Muslim religion. How many Muslims died as a result of the attacks. How many died who were first responders? What have their families and those of the Muslim faith been subjected to because of their religious beliefs and our ignorance?
Here's a link with a couple of stories pertaining to just that. It also includes a partial list of the Muslim casualties.
Muslim Victims of 9/11
AND before someone says I'm not paying homage to everyone who lost their lives that awful horrible day, you're missing the point. Every life adversely affected by the attacks is most important. Each individually and collectively.
The point I'm making is that we are all Americans. All religions, non religions, race, lineage. I see nothing wrong with building a Muslim cultural center blocks away from "Ground Zero".
Forcing them to move and fueling bigotry around the country just makes America look bad. And it plays into the hands of the terrorists, by giving them more ammo with which to spread their hatred for us. Not to mention the very fact that they have a constitutional right to be free to practice their religion on private property.
My personal opinion is that those who perished
would not want this division. And neither do I.
I love my country with all my heart
and am proud to be an American.