I find myself caught in a never-ending debate about right and wrong. Facebook, and the internet in general are full ofhaste, intolerance and disrespect. Politics, racism, and religion seem too be at the core of the issues.
I don't claim to know everything about every religion. I was raised in a holiness church and we were taught to love everyone. Despite my church being in the backwoods of Eastern Kentucky, I never felt like I was encouraged to look down on people of another race. I have biological family members that are Black and that was something that we did not even notice growing up.
Now before I get too far ahead of myself, we weren't sheltered from that either. We were fortunate that we didn't have to experience that day to day, but we were also aware that we were extremely lucky. I do not sit here and claim to know everything about my cousins' experience with racial divides because I am not them, and I'm about as pasty white as you can get, but I know that I have seen the good from religion and in my adult years have seen people use it to spread intolerance and hatred from the pulpit and I can tell you that in my church, hatred was not something that Jesus would have been ok with.
I am firmly of the belief that most religious texts are translations of the same story that have been misconstrued over time. I'm not saying mine is right or that any particular one is wrong, but I believe they all center around the same stories and most even have the same core values. Do no harm to others, and treat people with respect are essential to most religion that I have studied. I think that is essential to everyday life as a decent human being.
I would urge people discussing politics right now to be a little more mindful of that. On Election Day, done Will have voted for a winner and some for a losing party, but be mindful of the words you use to discuss the race because, words of racial intolerance, and hatred can not be taken back because the race is over. I will also be mindful of the words that candidates use during their road to Election Day because I consider myself a man of faith and my faith will not allow me to promote hatred and influence with my vote. You of course are welcome to vote for whomever you please, I just thought you may be interested in the barometer that I will be using.
Be kind to each other and to steal a line from vlogbrothers, "don't forget to be awesome!"
