I got into another political discussion at work today. I try not to, but it just seems to happen at least once every couple of weeks.
A little background – I work around a lot of conservatives who admit to getting the majority of their news from Fox. I just can’t help but interject when people start talking about their religion being taken away (I’m speaking of Christians who think Christianity is in danger), having to take the country back, immigration, and freedom of speech. The reason is that, while I can see where certain opinions are coming from, there is really no actual evidence that what they fear is going on really is. It’s all based on emotion.
For instance, the predominant religion in the US is in no possible danger of being taken away or suppressed. Nobody is trying to take anyone’s religion away (well, except for extremist Christians who would like to abolish Islam in the US). Just because a mosque is being built near ground-zero does not mean we’re on the path to eliminating anyone’s Christian beliefs.
We got into a brief discussion on nativity scenes being banned at Christmas. Ok, here’s the thing. Nobody has been banned from having a nativity scene on their own property. I have heard of a few controversies over nativity scenes or other religious items being removed from PUBLIC property. Doesn’t anyone realize that the government can’t endorse a specific religion? It’s not an affront to your personal beliefs when a city hall doesn’t put out a nativity scene – it has nothing to do with your personal rights and what you can do or believe.
On the other hand, it’s exclusionary for a public, governmental entity to openly endorse or practice anything religious. Why? Well, it’s not their function to be religious or celebrate certain holidays. I mean, my personal take on seeing a nativity scene is – whatever – I honestly don’t care if one is sitting on the lawn of city hall. It doesn’t mean anything to me, and I think it is petty when “controversies” arise over this sort of thing. But let’s face it – if someone does challenge a public religious display, then they’re kind of … correct. Why should a public entity that is supposed to represent ALL of the public (contrary to popular belief, not just the white Christians) basically make a statement like “we’re Christians and the rest of you don’t belong or matter?” Because that is what it amounts to…
The way I see it is white Christians have enjoyed “being in power” so-to-speak for the entire history of the county that the minute we get a half-black president, they feel that somehow the country is slipping away into the hands of “them.” “Them” means non-white, non-Christian, non-male, or educated. Why is it so hard to see that, yeah, some Americans are Muslim, or Hindu, or atheist, or whatever. We’re all Americans – it’s not Christians are American and nobody else is welcome in the club. Us non-Christians are not trying to “usurp the country” or impose our beliefs/opinions on you; it’s just always been OUR country TOO and we’d like the majority to at least acknowledge that.
And the same thing happens with 1st amendment- freedom of speech, specifically. The majority feels hurt and put upon if anyone suggests anything negative about their religion, or if anyone wants to be able to practice their own non-Christian beliefs, but they want the freedom to slam Islam, for example. So they can’t say anything about you or try to “oppress” you, but you want to say whatever you want about them or restrict their worship or whatever else in the name of freedom of speech? I thought the 1st amendment applied to all Americans? Personally, I think all religion is complete and utter bullshit and I would like to see all of it disappear from the planet. Not banned, just poof – vanished. I don’t like religion, but I do acknowledge that we were founded with the idea that you can worship (or not worship) HOWEVER you want to without persecution. That’s just my personal take on it. I bet I can find people who would look like a bobble-head agreeing with me if I suggested the abolition of Islam in the US or something, but whoa… WHOA Christianity? You can’t say that!
It’s just frustrating. I really like the people I work around, don’t get me wrong, but they all fit the ‘American majority mold’ so hold that perspective. When I question the things they say or ask for specifics on why they think what they do, I draw offense and shock, like how can I possibly not ‘get it’ or agree. But I just don’t – I think a lot of people are just flat out wrong in their conclusions.
