Waging Peace: Proposition 8

We cannot change the past, but we can change our attitude toward it. Uproot guilt and plant forgiveness. Tear out arrogance and seed humility. Exchange love for hate --- thereby, making the present comfortable and the future promising. - Maya Angelou

This morning I've been doing some blog-surfing and have been reading some disturbing things.

It seems the afterglow of unity may be wearing off.

Since Election Day, there have been demonstrations here locally in response to the passing of Proposition 8. That's a good thing. That's educational. That is providing an opportunity for the public to hear some of the facts and considerations they may not have heard during the height of the campaign.

There has also been violence and the vandalism of Mormon temples in various cities in California. There has been a lot of anger and disparaging remarks made in the blog world about those who voted for the proposition.

It's hard to imagine how people who had been supporting the idea of unity among all Americans could behave this way because the unity might be marred by those who believe differently.

Maybe a critical point is to understand that many of the people who voted for it are ignorant (in the dictionary definition of that word - not a substitute for "stupid") of all the facts. Perhaps they are at a different level of evolution. They are still responding from fear.

How is hating those people going to dissolve the hate they expressed by supporting the "othering" of an entire segment of the population?

I'm only asking that people seriously consider this. It's easy to sit down and write vitriol. I've done it a few times, too. It's easy to try to "get even" with those whose thinking we find repugnant. It's easy to demonize an entire group of people, such as the Mormons, because that makes them different than us. It makes them not one of us. It turns them into a target for discrimination.

But that's the low road. Responding to hate with hate is equally repugnant. And it compounds and compounds until there's nothing else left.

Part of Barack Obama's message, as far as I'm concerned, was all about High Road thinking and unifying actions. It's about choosing our responses mindfully, looking at the larger picture and making a decision that will unify rather than separate.

The best way to change thinking (in my opinion) is by example. Be the change we want to see.

Maybe a key question to ask when deciding how to choose a response is "is this going to improve our community or further divide it?"


Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned.

Buddha

~*

You're it, I'm it.

Anyway, something captured my attention last night. e-Harmony is being sued for discriminating against gay people. Without getting into the specifics of that, I really wanted to raise another question.

It is difficult for me to grasp discrimination. The idea of exclusion is anathema to my sensibilities -- separatism seems such a waste of energy and spirit. Anyone who has read more than two of my posts knows how distasteful it is to me. I believe we have an obligation to grow up and put away childish things, to be more expansive, more mature, more loving and kind.

But I reserve a special distaste for those who discriminate based on something that someone has no control over, such as skin color or sexual preference. In my mind, the only thing that justifies exclusion is bad behavior.

It's unfortunate when formerly targeted groups turn out to be no more inclusive than the world at large. I'm sure in their minds they figure, hey, we're all just human and making it through the world under the weight of our various loads of baggage loads -- and sometimes, in the name of comfort or self preservation or whatever, we choose to be selective about the people with whom we associate.

So at what point does this become okay? At what point is it okay to say "I don't like that person, simply for who he is and I choose to not include him ~ and additionally, I'll keep my friends from doing it, too."

So I ask... when is this behavior justified?



Peace,


~Chani