“Hate cannot drive out Hate, only Love can do that.” Martin Luther King, Jr. said this. And…as much as people love to quote him in their arguments…I don’t believe I have seen anyone I know share this one.
Why? Because change is often believed to rely on justice. And justice is often believed to be dependent on vengeance.
Instead of fighting for love and understanding and compassion…people fight for vindication.
And, honestly, it’s exhausting to watch.
Here’s the thing. What’s right for you doesn’t mean it has to be right for everyone. And that goes in both directions.
I’ll start with the one that I have a personal ouch with. Lol
I’ve never cared one way or another what religion someone is. I support faith, not religion. The reason I support faith is because faith helps us get through the darkest times. Faith in there being a meaning to the seemingly random hurts we face in life…faith that to something out there…we matter. So, faith is important to me, personally…but I don’t care what you have faith in…and that includes people who have faith in science over a spiritual faith.
I have never, nor will I ever, bashed anyone else’s beliefs. On the contrary, I have fought for everyone to have the right to their own faith.
But…for years…those who choose to not have faith in a higher power have been ridiculed and hated. And I understand the hurt that that caused them. I don’t just understand and sympathize…I empathize.
How, right?! I’m one of the mighty Christians! The ones who supposedly rule this society with an iron fist!
Because…now that a choice to NOT believe has become more commonplace…now that there is a platform with which to fight this injustice…it is not fought with love. It is fought with a thirst for vindication and vengeance. Many who choose not to believe…do not fight for understanding and compassion…they fight to prove those who do believe wrong.
They fight for the other “side”…including those who never hurt them…to bleed as they did.
What was done to them is how they will fight. A post from one person about their belief in God…will be met with mocking comments from those trying to change their mind. A meme shared by a non-believer asks for vengeance or change to their “side”.
Here’s the truth. Change means there should be no more sides. Change means love and compassion for all.
Faith is not wrong.
Lack of faith is not wrong.
Being Black, Latino, Indian, or any other “check this box” label is not wrong.
Being Caucasian is not wrong.
Being homesexual, bisexual, transgender, etc is not wrong.
Being straight is not wrong.
Being married…being divorced…being single…being a parent…being a pet parent…none of these are wrong.
I love people for who they are, not for what label they self identify with.
Do you? Or do you love people hoping to guilt shame them to your side as you believe others did to you?
Vengeance and vindication are not the same as justice.
Justice is not the same as change.
Change is love, compassion, understanding and acceptance.
From everyone.
And …now…I wait for the comments of, “yeah! But not everyone is like you Sheri! Some people still don’t believe my side is right and they need to learn!” You’re right…not everyone believes and acts as I do…but is fighting with hate going to change that? Or will you teach people to be more loving by fighting for change with love?
*fall clumsily off soapbox*
/scene
*Jazz hands*
*Jazz Hands* Mom 
I’ll go first: “Not everyone is like you, Sheri.” …but it’s too bad they’re not.
I think Christians, as a whole, approach these differences in society in a completely wrong way. Part of me can understand it (because I was, unfortunately, part of the problem for a while). If I believe that being [whatever] is wrong, and if you’re [whatever], then you’re wrong…and if I want you to be right, I have to convince you that you’re wrong. The logic is there, I suppose.
But I’ve never, not once, heard of anyone who changed from being [whatever] because some holier-than-thou person got in their face and called them wrong.
Jesus had some pretty good insight on this when he said that we should first love God with everything we have and then we should love people like we’d love ourselves. Christians seem to get the first part of that (or at least believe they do), but then they get lost on the second part and end up treating people that are [whatever] as lesser citizens. It’s no wonder the whole [whatever] community isn’t a big fan of Christianity. You really can’t blame them. Was it Ghandi who said something like “I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians”?
I used to be that way. I hate to admit it, but it’s true. Stay away from the [whatever] people because they’re so obviously wrong. But then, when life as I knew it fell apart and all my “Christian” (quotes used intentionally) friends abandonded me, it was the [whatever] people that I’d met who were the ones who showed me love and support. I think maybe they understand a bit of what it’s like to be ostracized when life doesn’t go like other people think it should. Or maybe they’re just good people, and I never realized it because I was too focused on the fact that they’re [whatever].
I love those people. Some of them are directly responsible for helping me out of a pretty deep depression a few years back. They loved me when I was at my worst. And that “church” I used to go to…it’s a bunch of worthless hypocrites. I love my [whatever] friends. I don’t agree with everything they do/say/believe, but I love them. And if they need me when their life is messed up, I’ll be right there for them.
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