I was reading an article about white teachers recently. The author was listing various issues that are facing education as students become more diverse but our teaching force remains largely white. I thought the author made some really interesting points but one issue she brought up in a few different ways is that white teachers shouldn't ask their black friends or co-workers questions regarding issues of race.
I found a similar train of thought on a short Buzzfeed video about sexuality. They cut back and forth between various folks giving commentary on their experience within their subgroup. There was one individual who seemed to have a chip on their shoulder. This person was constantly rolling their eyes in respect to anyone who did not understand the various sub-categories. When asked about what it means to be gender fluid, the person scoffed, "I am so sick of answering that question!"
These are just two examples of an attitude and perspective I feel I have run into dozens of times in the past year. I teach, so I understand the feeling of impatience that can arise from answering the same question over and over... particularly when you feel something has already been explained or should be self-evident.
However, I am concerned that - just when our country is hitting a stride of listening, probing, and looking to be educated, the door is being slammed in many questioning faces. If you think no one is really listening or questioning, consider how the issues of race, sexuality, and feminism were discussed through most of the 20th century.
I am a middle-aged white dude. My experience with being a minority is pretty thin. My insights are vicarious. As a teacher, I work mostly with women (I am the only male teacher on my staff). A good chunk of my friend circle is gay. I spent 8 years working at a school where 95 percent of my students were non-white.
I was raised in a highly conservative environment. I cringe when I think of the various sexist, homophobic, and racist things that have come out of my mouth and attitude over the decades. If it were not for the exposures and experiences I listed above, I would probably still consider a lot of that bad thinking to be acceptable. It was through conversations with people different than me that my thoughts have begun to change.
I am an atheist. I was an evangelical for 30 years, so I know from experience the wrong-headed ideas a lot of religious folks have about me. Those ideas they have will continue to spin as long as their only thoughts about atheists are what they tell each other. If one wants to understand the atheist experience, don't ask a believer, ask an atheist.
If you are in any kind of minority group, I would hope you could be patient with answering questions and sharing your experience. There is no one better equipped to share your story than you. If change is going to happen, it will be because of more conversations, not less.
Showing posts with label Homosexuality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homosexuality. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Monday, June 04, 2018
America That Was
There are a number of scenes that depict the racism and sexism of the time. In one instance, a black woman runs out of gas and walks 12 blocks to a service station. The attendant refuses to service her and points her to a station a mile away that will serve "her kind".
My son was taken aback by these scenes. He could not wrap his head around such blatant inhumanity.
It reminded me of a conversation he and I had a few years earlier. Utah's 10th court was deciding whether gay marriage would be allowed in our state. There was a leader from the LDS church on the radio stating why the church stood against gay marriage. My son was concerned about how this would affect friends of ours who had been married in a state that honored gay marriages. He asked me, "What does the church want? For them to get a divorce?"
I envy the clarity and openness my children have on these issues. I did not start to work on things like equality until I was in my 30s. Even now, approaching 50, I find I am still digging out roots of bad thinking. For my kids, seeing clearer on issues of race, gender, and equality seems so much more second nature.
My kids give me hope for a better future. We will need it because many Americans have forgotten where we came from. They seem eager to undo our progress and send us back to a time when it was acceptable to point to a sign and say, "We don't serve your kind here!"
Saturday, June 02, 2018
Full Disclosure: I Am Racist
My first thought is that, in general, I am not accused of being a racist. I won't say it has never happened but it is not so frequent that I have put it on my list of topics to refute. So, if this is something you are feeling a little singled out about, you might want to consider that maybe underneath all of your annoyance with the accusation, you are just reacting negatively to a fair description.
Second, I don't think this is an accusation one should run from. I don't. I am racist.
I am also bigoted, homophobic, sexist, and an ageist. There is hardly a week that goes by where I do not unfairly categorize someone. I often do not give individuals proper respect based on some prejudicial notion swimming around in my head. The truth is I give favor to the people who most resemble me and suspicion to those least like me.
Now I don't beat myself up over this too much. Evolution has developed us as pattern makers and conditioned us to be tribal. It is our default setting. However, natural is not always best. Many recovery programs list admitting you have a problem as paramount. I admit I am all these things... because I don't want to be any of them.
It would be arrogance to deny these states of being in my life. What? Would I really think a little enlightenment given to me over the years would change century upon century of societal inertia? Would having a gay or black friend uproot all the paths of thinking that were laid out for me before I was even born?
So if you find yourself being annoyed at being called racist, I have news for you - it's true. But don't lose hope, now you know- and as we learned from G.I. Joe, "Knowing is half the battle". What you do with that knowledge will determine how you tend to be known.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Facebook Faith #55 - Christian Munchausen Syndrome
However, when you dig past the rhetoric, you often find that how they use the word persecution tends to differ from the definition most of us use.
For example, I was reading a Facebook post regarding Al Mohler's (president of the Southern Baptists) comments that Christians should not attend the weddings of their gay family and friends. A Christian blogger posted in the comments section that Christians would be insulted by being asked to attend in the first place. The following is part of our discussion.
I know a lot of the push back to this would be that David has an extreme view and that he does not represent most of Christendom. Honestly, I don't know what the numbers are like. I know Christians of all stripes on this topic.
But here is what I do know: There are Christian mayors who think like David. There are Christian governors who think like David. There are many Christians in Congress who think like David.
Nearly all of the the Republican presidential candidates think like David.
The religious powers in the Dark Ages thought like David and much of the pain and suffering in the Middle East is being caused by religious people who think like David.
We all need to fear religion that considers the existence of the "other" an insult and a slap in the face.
Tuesday, September 01, 2015
Religious Tantrums
However, what accommodations, if any, should society make for religious conviction? For the most part - I say none. I agree with the direction of the meme. This man has a personal conviction concerning pork and HE navigates its burdens.
When Ultra-Orthodox Jews refuse to sit next to women on planes, and hold up flights with their tantrums, they are expecting everyone else to shoulder the burden of their conviction. When Kim Davis refuses to issue marriage licences, she is insisting that others carry her load.
If the Ultra-Orthodox Jew is so convicted, let him buy a 2nd seat. If Kim Davis cannot execute the full scale of her duties, she should move to employment where she can.
Instead, these religious folks throw a tantrum. Rather than doing the heavy lifting themselves, they lay the weight of their issues on to the backs of others.
We control our disdain when toddlers act this way... after all, they are only toddlers. Adults should get no such considerations.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Facebook Faith #52: Supreme Court High Five!
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| Turning on the computer - June 26, 2015 |
I was, of course, happy with yesterday's ruling and it was great to see all of the celebrating going on. I was also surprised to see normally conservative folks coming out of the woodwork to back the SCOTUS on this one.
The video of S.E. Cupp on CNN was particularly interesting to me. Not only was I unaware that she was so passionate about gay rights, but it again demonstrated the rift in the GOP. Going to The Blaze to read a write up about that interview, I was taken aback at how viciously the commentors spoke of her. She was not a fellow republican with a different opinion, she was a @#$%! Reading those reactions, and then seeing Governors like Jindal declare that they will do everything they can to resist the SCOTUS on this.... I realized we will not see another Republican president until there is a split in the party. Old school Republicans see these new Republicans, who are more inclusive, as the enemy.
Then there was the pastor from Texas who said he would set himself on fire if gays got the right to marry. He quickly recanted once the court ruling became known.
No one really wanted this guy to set himself on fire. However, his hyperbolic reaction is indicative of typical Religious Right behavior. Everything is always extreme, oh no the sky is falling - the world is ending, kind of responses.
The reality is, despite yesterday's events, the sun rose and life went on. I have no hope the Religious Right will ever learn to behave differently. They have been over-reacting and the world has been coming to an end since I was a little kid. They will never change. The only thing you can do is leave... which I did.
While most of the nation celebrates, the Religious Right are planning their next strategy. Some are calling for revolution, both violent and non-violent. Others are encouraging each other to just hold their nose and try to be polite so they can demonstrate how good they are as religious people.
So much drama over something that has almost zero impact on any of them.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Facebook Faith # 46: Heresy Is A Beautiful Thing!
I find the topic of heresy fascinating. Most of the greatest souls our world has ever known were regarded as heretics by the religious powers of their time. They advanced science, philosophy, human rights, and even religion... all while being derided by the protectors of orthodoxy.
Given that, it amazes me that we cannot seem to learn the folly of using the charge of heresy to shut down ideas and close up our ears. No, like EF below, Orthodoxy is real and must be defended... it "is a matter of life and death." It never occurs to her that it might just be a little too convenient that, out of the myriad of voices out there claiming Orthodoxy, hers just happens to be the right one! Well, not hers... it's "God's". :)
Anyway, below is the tennis match between EF and me. My friend JL jumps in and adeptly shows an example of what I am confident are MANY cherry pickings of scripture on EF's part. As I discovered in my many years in church circles, NO ONE cherry picks scripture from the bible more than the person who says they don't cherry pick scripture. :)
Here it is:
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