I read a comment today on good old, non-partisan Facebook where a woman made the statement "Obama spent 8 years tearing down America..." and I stopped there. Tearing down? I must have misread that, but no. I did not read on, I refuse to get sucked into the massive amount of comments that discourage me and inspire division. I often avoid the comments sections on the Internet altogether. This one gave me pause, though. I do realize, though it is always a surprise, impossible for me to fathom, just how frightened and angry people are at the notion of true equal rights. That every American is deserving of equal respect, equal opportunity and equal protection of these rights from OUR government. I do go even further as an individual and a Christian and profess unconditional love and friendship to all, at least offered, though not always returned, not even within my Christian church.
After 61 years on the planet, I still cannot understand why someone can have their toys in their sandbox, but not want to allow others to have their own toys in their own sandbox. God bless America, oh - but not you, or you, or you... It's my America and unless you walk, talk, pray and look like me, then you are not worthy of the same opportunities and protections. And to have such vitriol for a man and his wife who had to fight, not just work, for strides in what we profess as American values is still beyond me! You are free to hate, to think anything you like and I'll defend your right as a fellow citizen to do just that. But shame on you for saying that we all are not worthy of the same rights in this country, in any country. You will lose my respect, and if your hatred becomes physical, if I am not present to stop it myself, then I count on the law to protect the innocent.
What does it cost to truly live "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" for all of our diverse population? Worthy or not, it is the government in which we pledge to live. As tiresome as it is, it is the ideal in which I live daily as a citizen of the United States of America. And as a follower of Christ? Each day I remind myself of his life, his witness to love, his defense of the poor and innocent. And each day I also remind myself how his life ended, nailed to a cross as a criminal and left to die because the corrupt, the hate filled and fearful were too threatened by his lesson of universal love.
