Peace

Is anyone else as tired of “Christmas Wars” as I am? I suspect so.

Some atheists feel strongly that they have several interesting and valid Constitutional points. Righteousness is also felt by many practicing Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, etc., but I’m bone-tired of any and all groups who use those points as weapons! I am tired of pure nastiness!

Perhaps the answer is to practice religious tolerance. Perhaps the truth is that no group should tyrannize others – period. Perhaps those who claim to espouse tolerance for others should practice some, instead of seeking to ram their views down the throats of those with whom they disagree. Let’s talk about tolerance later on.

For the present, I suppose that the irony has not escaped many of us: Those who most passionately and vehemently seek to ram their politics down the throats of others via an all-powerful and tyrannical government are the same folks who seek to remove Christian religious words and symbols from this same government on the grounds that it such religious display is inappropriately forceful.

People can twist the reported words of prophets, the believed Messiah, and God Himself/Herself.  People can pretend to understand the will of Gaia and to know how to act to protect Her. People can claim to be “spiritual” or agnostic, giving them infinite leeway and hedging our final, big bet – just in case. Even the highest priests can cherry-pick Commandments and interpret them to suit personally-held political goals, claiming to be God’s middleman on earth. People can also accept deliberate lying and deceit when it suits their deeply-held political goals, and approve of those who do claim limitless power and perform endless finger pointing while accepting zero personal responsibility – with or without teleprompters. People can whip up support for putting the blame on others, as some have made very successful careers doing. Whatever religion one espouses (or holds, without acknowledging it) some things are just WRONG by rational standards.

We do have at least this one free choice this season: to just try to be rational, civil, tolerant (within reason) and appropriately nice during a season when many of us try to celebrate what is good in people. Let us each choose this!

Parents used to tell their children that “actions speak louder than words”, and therefore individual actions are what we are likely to remember most about others.  We may disagree about many things personally dear to us, but when a fellow human being is courteous and respectful to us, acknowledging our individuality, valuing us for what respect we have earned, then that genuine and sincere acknowledgement is what we most remember. What a wonderful gift this makes!

I have a far-flung, differing, imperfect family, each member of which has many honorable and valued traits. I truly appreciate my dear friends for their many good traits and honorable deeds. During this season I try extra hard to acknowledge their best traits and the value they have earned as individuals, and, fortunately, there is plenty of good to acknowledge. I am glad that I work with diverse, motivated, smart, and genuinely kind people whose personal traits and important work inspire me and enrich my life.

During this holiday season I try especially hard to ignore the political sniping that I hear at work and among social groups. It does sadden me, and strikes me as extremely irrational and nasty, that some believe that other humans they deem to be intolerant should be smashed like bugs. I have to struggle hard, though, when the political extremists masquerading as “reasonable” folk try to use the holiday season to bludgeon each other. It isn’t very “Christmassy” of me, but my shadenfreude can’t be denied when the hypocritically intolerant, the deliberate liars, the smugly entitled, all fall down like Humpty-Dumpty. Irrationality is self-punishing.  I don’t need to burden others with in-their-face celebrations of the failures of politicians who are their de-facto religious leaders.

Perhaps if more Christians and Jews and Muslims went back to their common roots, then there would be less strife and more tolerance.  Can they at least agree on this (familiar) doctrine?:

1) I am the Lord thy god, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

2) Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

3) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

4) Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

5) Honor thy father and thy mother.

6) Thou shalt not murder.

7) Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8) Thou shalt not steal.

9) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

10) Thou shalt not covet anything that belongs to thy neighbor.

I believe that our most acute societal problem is that people have become confused about the meaning of tolerance.  Tolerance does not mean acceptance, nor does it mean celebration. Assuming that (as my grandmother used to tell me) one person’s rights end at another person’s nose, then we shouldn’t think we can force another person to accept, or embrace, or celebrate what we think. By this code we tolerate what someone else does or thinks as long as it does not force itself upon our own lives.

Although I share their atheism, I do not share in the desire that some atheists have to be nasty to others who openly observe personal religious beliefs during this season – especially not when those personal beliefs are merely expressions of respect for what they feel are the good things they see in fellow humans.  Let’s tolerate that others might have what we may think are irrational beliefs, and not go looking for ways to be offended by them.

Atheists, agnostics and the “spiritual” who have substituted religious acceptance of all-powerful and all-rectifying Gubmint as their higher power should ease up a bit, since their political beliefs are indeed their religion. Please don’t force any of it on others.

Peace through Freedom!