The phrase is usually "bones to pick", but I think grapes to pick fits better for this blog. I've got a few random grapes I want to pick, so I hope you'll appreciate at least some of what I have to say here.
Bobbi Kristina: May she rest in peace, although I believe she was already trying very hard to "rest" in peace, except for her family insisting she would recover. The poor girl was kept "alive" by machines, and I just don't know why. If there was some significant progress, I understand not turning off the machines, but if all indications were clear she was brain dead, it saddens me to think they kept this going so long. Let the poor girl be with her mom again (maybe she already was), I kept thinking time and time again these past few months. Thank God (or the doctors), she now is.
Satanic Statues: I believe in the separation of church and state. I don't want any church or religion to have anything to do with the government of all the people, and I don't want the government to have anything to do with an individual organization or precepts of any particular faith communities. This is why there should not be a statue of the 10 Commandments on church grounds. Are they very good rules to live by? Absolutely! And I don't have to declare myself a Jew or a Christian to think so. But they don't belong on state grounds. Period. That said, neither should these horrible statues of Satan some folks are trying to put up. I simply refuse to believe there are that many people out there who really believe themselves to be Satan worshipers. I think most of them are just trying to make a point, and to that end, I understand. However, you cannot make your point valid with an invalid message. If you believe as I do that the religious statues don't belong on state grounds, then you ought to also believe that anti-religious statues don't belong there either.
Confederate Flag: If you truly believe this is a representation of the South, and not a representation of hatred or racism, that's fine. We'll leave the history out of it for now. You can't leave the truth out of it though. Black folks stay away from businesses flying the Confederate flag in the south. They don't feel welcome, nor should they. For a whole lot of people, it represents hatred and racism, even if it doesn't do the same for you. To that end, if a flag is known by that many people as a negative, even racist symbol, why would you continue to champion it? Love the South and want to tell the world? Great. Then fly an Alabama state flag or something.
Caitlyn Jenner: I'm not transgender, so try as I might (and I do), I don't fully understand what it means, or why people feel so strongly in their heart of hearts that they need to be someone other than who they were born to be. I just don't get it. But why should my ignorance or yours try to change someone's mind or heart? Why do we even think about criticizing the heart of someone else who is just trying to be who they feel themselves to already be? Caitlyn and so many others who identify as transgender or similar are screaming out to us in so many ways over so many years now that they know themselves better than we do, and they just want us to try to understand. So that's what I think. I don't get it, but why the hell should I use my ignorance as a weapon on someone else? Why can't I just be happy for someone who is chasing after their own happiness? I can.
Anti-Muslim hatred: I've seen this so much for so long now, it's starting to really make me angry. I got an email this morning from someone close to me who was passing on a story about a Muslim woman trying to kill her doctors who saved her. I read the piece hoping to understand why it was sent, by the person close to me but also by whomever created the e-mail in the first place, and all I can see is hate. People speak about every Muslim everywhere as if they are all terrorists. It's sick and evil thinking, and it simply must stop now! There are over a billion Muslims in the world--1.6 billion in fact, based on a 2010 figure I just saw. That's approximately 23.4% of the world's population! Not the population of Asia or Eastern Europe...the whole world! Close to a quarter of the whole world's people are Muslim! So anyone who spreads this kind of hate needs to wake up and stop it right away! I'm sick of it! Wanna hate on terrorists? By all means, go ahead. There are evil-doers out there who need to be stopped. But to hate on all Muslims, even coyly, even subtly, is just plain wrong.
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