“There is no monument dedicated to the memory of a committee.”

-Lester J. Pourciau

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Even today’s teenagers have to figure out whether they want to eat organic or not organic food. Or whether they should have regular beef or the torture free variety. As I recall, the beginning college years is when all of those choices become “important” to us. This brings us to my point. There are so many “yes” or “no” choices out there that people have really made it impossible to like each other:

• “Oh my. You were such a nice person but then I found out you don’t care if your beef is tortured or not.”
• “I love you. But you’re a Democrat. I can’t love a Democrat. Goodbye.”
• “You’re Southern Baptist. I’m Free Will Baptist. It just wouldn’t work.”
• “Your mom worked for the steel mill. I can’t stand feminists. We can’t be friends anymore.”
• “Wait. You’re from Texas!? I can’t be seen with you.”

“But Mike. Those are absurd. I’d never be like that.”

Really? Are you sure. Have you ever seen someone with a tattoo and immediately decided they were “bad news”? Or maybe someone with a Mohawk haircut walks by and you get freaked out? Or maybe you read my “taboo” post and decided you didn’t like me? These are only examples, but you should get the point.

The problem is people don’t have tolerance anymore. According to Merriam-Webster, a definition of “tolerance” is:

2 a: sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one’s own

What’s wrong with other people’s beliefs? Do they affect you? Is the fact that someone somewhere believes in reincarnation going to affect your own beliefs of what happens after you die? Tolerance is necessary to become an informed individual. I know. I know. I said there are things I wish I could unlearn. But that was a fib. I like knowing things. I think knowing things is important. How can you truly say that you don’t agree with someone else’s beliefs if you don’t even know or understand those beliefs? Isn’t it possible that your beliefs and theirs are more alike than you may think?

I’ll give a quick religious example:

1. The Hindu religion is based on reincarnation. A quick way of saying it is that if your soul has not learned everything it needs to learn it is sent back in another physical form to learn more. Once your soul is fully knowledgeable, it goes to live with God.
2. The Christian religions believe there is a hell that people who are non-believers go to when they die. Hell is a place of suffering. They also believe there is a Heaven where people who believe go when they die. There is no suffering there.

With those two concepts in mind, wouldn’t coming back to live on Earth be a form of suffering? And if you’re always a non-believer and never learn enough to believe, would you not suffer for eternity in a physical body on Earth? Couldn’t hell be what we experience in our physical bodies? And then when we believe, we go to Heaven?

I’m not expressing my own beliefs here. I’m playing the “what if” game. But there is a possibility that those things could be true. I think it scares people to think that their beliefs may be “wrong” and it makes them go nuts when someone challenges them. But, again, “what if” there’s no such thing as a right or wrong answer?

I’m not saying I’m right. What I am saying is I’m giving you something to think about. Have a mature debate with your friends about it. Listen to what they say. Listening is a really good skill to use to gain knowledge. Speaking of listening, the next time you see a tattooed guy with a Mohawk, try asking him what he believes. He may surprise you.

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So, here’s seven things you need to know about me before I start:

1. I’m Caucasian.
2. I was raised Baptist.
3. I’m male.
4. I was born in the United States.
5. I live in the United States.
6. I’m a Southerner.
7. I’m right handed.

Ok. So some of those might be a little obvious. But it’s important for you to know them. Or is it?

First, let me say, “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist.” Avenue Q. Love ‘em. Here’s the song:

Now. Back to my philosophy. Let’s take that phrase just another step:

Everyone’s a little bit biased.

It is absolutely human nature to be biased towards some group they belong to. Humans like to belong to something and they normally protect that group fiercely. Religious wars are based on a bias towards a certain religion. Fights break out in the streets over a bias towards a certain race. People get beat up in back alleys because of a bias towards a sexual orientation.

Bias is natural. Bias is not a bad thing. It’s ok to be proud of your background or proud of a group you belong to. The problem with bias is when it becomes so forceful that anger and hate come into the picture. And that normally happens when people feel they are being treated differently than those in another group.

“What’s your point?”

My point is this: When you get into a debate about some topic such as racism or sexism and you’re claiming someone is being one of those, you really need to carefully consider the level of bias within the situation. When a bias is so strong that hatred rears it’s ugly head, then there are problems.

For instance, if a group of people who are in a guild together while playing World of Warcraft decide to all meet in Vegas to hang out, is it too biased of them not to invite others to do so too? However, if a group of people decide to go kill someone who is not the same religion as they are, are they being too biased? Has hatred entered the equation at this point?

So, before claiming racism, sexism, or some other bias, think logically about the situation. Did the other party/group truly mean to be hateful when they treated you differently than others in their group? If the answer is “no,” there is no argument needed. If the answer is “yes,” it’s time for something to be done.

• DO embrace your differences.
• DO realize that everyone holds different things to be dear to them.
• DO tolerate those differences and learn from them.
• DO understand that people will treat those who are within their groups differently than those who are not.
• However, DO NOT ever accept hatred as a treatment.

Oh. Here’s another part of this post where I completely break the rules of that meme, as I’m going to tell you an 8th thing about me:

I’m human. So are you.

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1: God.
After many years of learning about the different religions and versions of them, I have come to a conclusion (this coming from a man who was music director at a Baptist church for 7 years from the age of 14): I believe in faith. But I believe that everyone has a different way of connecting to their faith. Wiccans believe in nature, and they have faith. Christians believe in Jesus, and they have faith. Scientists and logical thinkers connect through the senses, but they also have faith, as they have theories without all of the facts, but they still believe in something. I connect to my faith through Christianity because it was how I was raised and it makes the most sense to me because of that. If I was raised Wiccan or by a scientific minded family, I probably would connect to my faith in a much different way.

2: Organized Religion.
Organized religion is not truly the problem. Sure, I’ve seen my share of people in large groups being stupid. I’ve watched a church vote out a pastor who was a good man only to turn around and leave the church because it was without pastor. I’ve seen friends of mine burn thousands of dollars worth of Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons cards and books because Pat Robertson told them they represented the devil. I’ve read about the Crusades. But the people getting the “air time” are a minority among the groups. They are the fanatics and the hypocrites. They are the men who praise God, condemn homosexuals, and then come out of the closet. They are the men and women who preach “mercy” and “love” but put a small town bar out of business by building a church within 50 yards.

I’m all for getting together and praising my faith. I’m all for enjoying the brotherhood and sisterhood of my fellow human beings. I’m all for loving one another. I’m not for killing someone over their faith. I’m not for being hypocritical. I’m not for fanaticism. I’m for an open mind and an open heart.

3: Evolution.
These days, every generation is physically and mentally better than the last. I know I’m going to get reamed about saying that, but it’s true. I could go on all day about showing the proof, but I’m not. The problem is everything moves so fast that wisdom is playing a much smaller role in the hearts and minds of the generations. So do we evolve as a race? Most certainly. Could we have evolved from apes? Definitely. Could we have evolved from bacteria? There is nothing to say that it didn’t happen. There is nothing to say that it did. It’s conjecture, and it always will be. And before you start throwing Genesis in my face, remember that the Bible is not meant to be taken literally. It is a teaching tool for morals. God did not create the earth and the heavens in seven of our days. This is conjecture also, but when a being exists eternally, a day to him could be millions of years to us, plenty of time to go swimming in the evolutionary pool.

4: Abortion.
Abortion sucks. No one is gonna say different. But the legalization of it is a necessary evil. Weigh the pros and cons. Seriously. Write a list of all of the pros of keeping abortion legal and all of the cons of doing so. Next to each item, put a number from 1 to 10, 10 being really important to you and 1 being much less important but a pro or con nonetheless. Add up the numbers. Which side wins? That is your moral view of abortion. Now, imagine walking to your car. You’re fumbling with your keys at the lock and drop them. You reach down to pick them up and a large hand presses on your back, locking you in place. Imagine the next week you find yourself pregnant with a baby that you can’t love, or a baby with genetic defects that will kill it by the age of 5, or a baby that is killing you. Would you bring it to term? Make your list again. Make sure to include the rusty scalpels, smell of alcoholic beverages, and the lack of being able to ever have another child again.

5: Flag Burning
We have the right to burn the flag, but that does not necessarily mean it’s the right thing to do. Heck, you have the right to snort talcum powder and pepper flakes up your nose. Doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do either.

6: Capitol punishment.
I am a God-loving Christian. “Turn the other cheek” works in most situations. Heck, one of the best working responses I had for insults thrown in my direction was “Thank you.” It always shut them up. But if I find out you raped or killed my daughter… Well, that leads me to my next topic:

7: Gun Control
Whether it’s by gun, knife, or fist, if a person wants to kill another person, he’s darn well gonna try. The weapon is not the problem. The morals of the people holding them is. But morality cannot be legislated. It, however, can be taught… by the parents.

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Is white due over the red or the blue?
Yes, it is due an explosion of light.
Enlightenment is not ever a fright
unless the red and the blue say it is true.

White is all of the colors working together.
The mother blue and strong red must step down
from soap boxes and untie the tether
and be part of white, part of the ether
that poisons and cures the pink, green, and brown.
White is not the cow, it is the leather.

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