Soapbox blog

I am not going to post anything about my journey with cancer today but seeing the events in New Zealand, I just have to say something so....

Climbing up on my soapbox now - it's a little higher than I thought but that's because I had leg day at the gym the other day. Straightening out my tie (oh wait, I don't wear a tie - only a good preacher does 😏).....

I woke up this morning to the devastating news of two mosques being attacked by "good ole boys" in New Zealand. 49 confirmed dead and 20 seriously injured. I want to say "I can't believe it" but I can. The 79 page manifesto allegedly left by one of the attackers, was filled with anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim ideas and explanations for an attack.He also had the audacity to live stream the attack. The manifesto praised Trump as a "symbol of white identity and common purpose". Yet many right wing evangelicals support him and think he has been sent by God. What????

Today, I scrolled through my facebook timeline and found so many posts from days past, expressing hatred, xenophobia, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, and more. These are posts from seemingly normal people, Christians, peers..... 😢

In a few days, we hope to attend a stage play of Beauty and the Beast. We're traveling almost 4000 km to see it, so I know it's going to be great! I was thinking of the part where Gaston riles up the villagers by showing them the mirror image of the Beast. I am going to post the link here but not sure it will show up (copyright?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCENkwPiuU0

In this song, Gaston says
 

"We're not safe until he's dead
He'll come stalking us at night
Set to sacrifice our children to his monstrous appetite
He'll wreak havoc on our village if we let him wander free"

 

Gaston has never met the Beast yet he spreads fear of the Beast based on his own jealousy and hatred. The villagers peer into the mirror that he holds up and see a monster that will destroy everything they have or have worked for. Hmmm - sounds like some of the posts on Facebook!

 

There's the post that depicts the apartment of a refugee family and then a picture of a home on the reservation up north. I realize that the home of the native is horrible and to add to that, there isn't usually any clean running water but I fail to realize why that is the fault of the refugee family? Check your anti-refugee views and realize that the problem with the home on the reservation is not what the refugee wants for Natives either! Instead of posting racist stuff, get on your MP's ass and demand better housing up north. Demand clean, running water. Don't blame the refugees.

 

There's the old post about the passengers on the airline where a "Muslim" man won't sit beside a woman so she gets bumped up to first class. I've heard this same story with a black person and a white person or whatever your phobia calls for. This is fake and just spreads the hatred!

I saw the "pork in the schools" post about Muslims wanting pork removed from cafeterias in Quebec. Once again, proven over and over to be false. The point of this post is Islamophobia! It is like Gaston, who will do anything to turn people to hate the beast through false narratives. 

 

There is often a post of a refugee who has committed a crime or a killing. Deport, condemn, hate although on average, more native born, European descendants commit more crimes and are often much more brutal (Paul Bernardo, Karla Homolka, Russel Johnson, David Williams, Dellen Millard and Mark Smich....). The posts tend to blame the entire refugee community instead of the actual person.

Then there's the ones that deride Trudeau for praying in a Mosque with Muslims. So, help me here - - it's ok for him to go into a church to pray with Christians in some Cathedral but not with Muslims in a Mosque? He should avoid Muslims at all costs because they are evil and will wreak havoc on our villages? 🤔
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal. 3:28) So I guess the best way to convert Muslim to Christians is to pour hatred and distrust on them because nothing spreads the love of Jesus like some good old fashioned shaming. 

 

Every post like this just perpetuates hatred and distrust. These disillusioned killers feed off posts like this, and we are all to blame for the blood shed in New Zealand, and Quebec City. I would like you all to look and see who you see in the mirror that Gaston is holding before you - is it someone in a hijab or maybe a burka? Maybe it is someone wearing a turban or a kippah? Are they wearing their hair in a braid or is their skin darker than yours? Maybe it's a Mexican or Central American?  Is  your post racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, xenophobic, anti-Semitic? If it is - stop and don't post it! What the world needs now is love and plenty of it. Thoughts and prayers aren't enough!

I'm getting down from my soapbox now. I am calling in a crew to remove this board from my eye and I hope you can find someone to remove the splinter from your eye. We have all said stuff, posted crap and perpetuated some form of hatred and I want it to stop. Can't we just accept one another as we are - just humans trying to navigate a way home? Turn off the rhetoric that certain leaders have unleashed as truth when it's really hatred. Stop supporting sites that perpetuate hatred. Educate yourself and get to know someone who is feeling scared or a little worried these days. Have a coffee or tea with someone who thinks they need to keep an eye over their shoulder at all times. Support them with your understanding and love.

Two quotes before I step down -

If we can find a way to walk each other home, we could reach a point where there is no more conflict between egos and nations. The way the world changes is heart to heart to heart by individuals, not by institutions. (Ram Dass)

Love one another as I have loved you (Jesus - John 13:34).