Right Wing Christians

I have finally realized that age has nothing to do with common sense and that religion is truly the opium of the masses. Recently I had an encounter with a friend that truly shocked me. Let me give some background. Coming from Jamaica where affiliation with your political party is akin to religion, when I came to the US, I was pleasantly surprised at how rationally people approached their politics. Because I've spent most of my time either in school or working in a University environment, I'm always surrounded by scholars and intellectuals (don't worry, I'm not classifying myself as one of them). I've always appreciated how people examined the issues and made informed decisions based on the facts they had. You didn't simply vote democrat or republican because that's your party affiliaton, instead you looked at the best candidate and the one who most closely aligned with your views and then you voted. Love the system, think it's great, allows you to use your brain.

Then we have 9-11 and suddenly people's ability to reason goes through the door. Last year I was astounded at how seemingly reasonable and intelligent invidivuals could not see past the drivel that was being shovelled at us daily by the government, instead all they could see that we were going to be attacked by terrorists. Okay, then I wanted to yell at them, then we should go after the terrorists and not use smoke screens to blow things up the voters a--es.

Then there was the issue that drove it home for me - allowing lesbians and gays to get married. Everyone got all up in arms about how the fabric of the country was going to be destroyed if they were allowed to be married legally. Now these are people that are already living together, paying taxes, raising families and are already a part of the fabric. How the heck was a piece of paper going to change that? But I guess that since I'm a liberal and truly believe that gay people are born that way and we need to accept that - I guess I'm also one of those people destroying the fabric of the community.

What upset me was that some of these conservatives are espousing thier views so strongly that thier children are going into schools and spewing their parents venom at other children. I wonder how parents feel when your child is responsible for shattering a child's illusion and sense of security because of your views. I'm not saying that you shouldn't teach your child morality and a sense of values but there is a way for you to do this and have your child live tolerantly with those of differing views. While being gay may not be a value you choose to espouse and embrace, your children need to understand that this is not something your family believes in and give the child reasons why. You then further explain that you don't tell anyone that their or their families life is wrong because utlimtely we'll all be judged by God. This way you've passed on your message and taught them how to be tolerant. We as black people must be especially sensitive to this since 50 years ago, we were the ones bearing the brunt of discrimination that we so blithely now cover gays and lesbians with.

Also, I can't always equate morality with leadership. Our current leader claims to be moral yet he has no issue with continuing to condemn thousands of young people to death so that he can win a fight his Dad lost and control some oil while Osama is still running around Afghanistan hauling an oxygen tank behind him. Right wing christians are way too distracted by minutiae. They need to stop, look and examine the facts before they keep running off half cocked and making decisions that we'll only live to regret in the days to come.