As not to derail another thread I thought a new thread was needed.
I believe firmly that this subject is becoming taboo today even though the problems still exist. So let's begin with a definition of bigotry.
big·ot·ry
ˈbigətrē
noun
noun: bigotry; plural noun: bigotries
bigoted attitudes; intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself.
The key word in this definition is intolerance.
rac·ism
ˈrāˌsizəm
noun
noun: racism
the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.
prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.
synonyms: racial discrimination, racialism, racial prejudice, xenophobia, chauvinism, bigotry, casteism
I so wish I could say these words have never applied to me but by the definitions I can't tell that lie.
I have found educating myself on things I find myself intolerant of seems to be good medicine. There is something missing from these definitions. Hate.
I want to share a story a woman shared with me about her life. she said she never considered herself a bigot or a racist. Then it reared it's head in her. Her daughter began dating a black man. She found herself dead set against it. She'd never met the man but just felt it was wrong. Her daughter was in college and wanted to bring her beau home for the Christmas vacation. The woman forbid it hoping this was just some passing phase in her daughter's life or some kind of rebellion she was expressing. Her daughter came home for the holidays and tried to talk about it with her mother. Mom would not speak about it and forbid her to speak about it in her home it caused a rift between them and they did not speak for four years. Her daughter married the man and never told her mother. Then the daughter had a child and became a mother herself. She felt it was time to deal with the rift between her and mom. She called her mom and told her she was a Grandmother. mom asked who the father was and she said her husband. mom asked who her husband was. She told her mother she'd married a doctor after college and then told her mther she was buying her an airline ticket to come meet her granddaughter and husband.
Mom was thrilled. Throughout the flight she was happy with herself for being so harsh on her daughter for her rebellion. At the airport she met her new son-in-law and granddaughter. She fell in love with them both.
I bring this subject up as I see this between Christians just as often if not worse than i see it in the world. In the US we have something called the Black Church. We also have a white church although we of the Caucasian race don't like to say it of speak those words. The truth is there is but one Church began by a man that was most likely neither white of black but probably a bronze Middle-eastern.
There is nothing bigoted about disagreeing. There is nothing bigoted about having differing views and beliefs. That is unless we are intolerant of the views of others. Being tolerant does not mean you have to agree. It means you understand they believe such. It means you understand they don't see things the way you do. It means you love them despite the differences.
If we are to be bigots, let it be toward hatred.
God forgive me for my own bigotry.
Any thoughts?
I believe firmly that this subject is becoming taboo today even though the problems still exist. So let's begin with a definition of bigotry.
big·ot·ry
ˈbigətrē
noun
noun: bigotry; plural noun: bigotries
bigoted attitudes; intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself.
The key word in this definition is intolerance.
rac·ism
ˈrāˌsizəm
noun
noun: racism
the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.
prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.
synonyms: racial discrimination, racialism, racial prejudice, xenophobia, chauvinism, bigotry, casteism
I so wish I could say these words have never applied to me but by the definitions I can't tell that lie.
I have found educating myself on things I find myself intolerant of seems to be good medicine. There is something missing from these definitions. Hate.
I want to share a story a woman shared with me about her life. she said she never considered herself a bigot or a racist. Then it reared it's head in her. Her daughter began dating a black man. She found herself dead set against it. She'd never met the man but just felt it was wrong. Her daughter was in college and wanted to bring her beau home for the Christmas vacation. The woman forbid it hoping this was just some passing phase in her daughter's life or some kind of rebellion she was expressing. Her daughter came home for the holidays and tried to talk about it with her mother. Mom would not speak about it and forbid her to speak about it in her home it caused a rift between them and they did not speak for four years. Her daughter married the man and never told her mother. Then the daughter had a child and became a mother herself. She felt it was time to deal with the rift between her and mom. She called her mom and told her she was a Grandmother. mom asked who the father was and she said her husband. mom asked who her husband was. She told her mother she'd married a doctor after college and then told her mther she was buying her an airline ticket to come meet her granddaughter and husband.
Mom was thrilled. Throughout the flight she was happy with herself for being so harsh on her daughter for her rebellion. At the airport she met her new son-in-law and granddaughter. She fell in love with them both.
I bring this subject up as I see this between Christians just as often if not worse than i see it in the world. In the US we have something called the Black Church. We also have a white church although we of the Caucasian race don't like to say it of speak those words. The truth is there is but one Church began by a man that was most likely neither white of black but probably a bronze Middle-eastern.
There is nothing bigoted about disagreeing. There is nothing bigoted about having differing views and beliefs. That is unless we are intolerant of the views of others. Being tolerant does not mean you have to agree. It means you understand they believe such. It means you understand they don't see things the way you do. It means you love them despite the differences.
If we are to be bigots, let it be toward hatred.
God forgive me for my own bigotry.
Any thoughts?
