Monday, September 8, 2014

I was so angry I could spit!


Yesterday was just a terrible day. And today, I am still suffering the consequences. It started when I saw this article in my local paper: Kennewick city councilman wants to start meetings with prayer to Christian God

That was bad enough. The thought that someone I voted for (oh, the shame!), a former journalist, could do something like this. I had to put the paper aside. I was just too angry. 

Then it got worse. I ended up having arguments with an anti-vaccine zealot on Google Plus and pro-gun zealot on Facebook. I've even been having on ongoing discussion with a Mormon friend (I'm one, too) about whether or not the LDS Church should be getting involved with Supreme Court decisions (re: gay marriage laws).

Why is this bad? Because it's not healthy. I suffer from a seizure disorder and stress makes things worse. So, I put the paper aside and I tried to get myself away from it. I listened to classical music. I took my book and my dog outside and listened to jazz music. I watched the Mariners (they lost!). I watched AMERICAN HUSTLE and then later the new episode of THE STRAIN.

Still, today, I am suffering. So what should I do? Should I become more involved? Should I be less involved? Unfortunately, I am veering towards less. I feel like I should leave all social media and news behind. I pared back on who I follow on my social media sites, and I am debating whether or not I should stop reading my paper. (We have some serious right wing nut-jobs in my area.) 

I am already staying away from my church. I am tired of making excuses for them and trying to find excuses for staying. I am getting so bad that I don't want to expose myself or my brain to things I don't agree with. And that is wrong. That is why the right wing is the way they are because they refuse to expose themselves to things that don't agree with their worldview.

My problem is I need to find a way to deal with this. A way to not let it get to me. Thanks for letting me vent.



Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2014/09/06/3140386_kennewick-city-councilman-wants.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2014/09/06/3140386_kennewick-city-councilman-wants.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Israel policy just makes me cranky!

This whole Israel-Palestine thing just makes me cranky! Not because war is wrong. (It is.) Not because I'm a Muslim or an Atheist. (I'm not.) No, it's because I'm disgusted with the justifications people give in support of the Israelis. It's because of the sheer hypocrisy of US government support of Israel.

Every day I read of more actions that I can't believe we support (or don't condemn) by the Israelis in the news. I read Letters to the Editor in my local paper by people outraged by even the slightest of defenses of the Palestinians. Hell, even someone expressing sympathy for those killed on the Palestinian side gets attacked.

Once upon a time (to my shame), I agreed with them. I thought since it was the land of David and Solomon and Christ, then it obviously belonged to the Jews. (After all the sufferings they've lived through - the Inquistion, the Holocaust - didn't they deserve their own homeland?) The Palestinians could move. The Arabs, the Muslims have so much land -- they could spare some. Right?

But that's wrong (and just plain shameful, on my part). The Palestinians - if they're descended from the Canaanites - it's their home. Moses sent Aaron in to oust the non-believers (if I remember my Bible correctly). If the Jews have a true origin place, it's in Iraq. (Abraham, the great Patriarch, was from Ur.)

But it goes so much farther than whose rightful place it is. After all, how many of us live in our ancestral homeland? I live in eastern Washington State, near the confluence of the Columbia and Snake Rivers. 


If I lived in my ancestral homeland, I'd not be here. I'd be in Northern Europe, probably Holland.


No, it needs to go beyond ancestry and religion. It's about morality and the hypocrisy of how we treat Palestine and Israel. Ask yourself, it were any other two countries, if the crisis were not in the Holy Land, would we have the same policy? Would the US consistently walk out of discussions on Palestinian human rights at the UN? Would we continually support policies of (and sell equipment to) Israel knowing what is happening?


If it is unconstitutional to say a prayer in public schools, to place a cross on public land, and other conflations of religion into government, why is it acceptable (or even constitutional) to have an entire foreign policy based on religion?

I admit I have no solution to the Middle East. But I do think we need to have a proper discussion. And I do have some suggestions for the United States: We need to become a truly objective player. We need to stop giving aid (to either side) except for humanitarian. We need to base our foreign policy on democratic principles and human rights. We need to start judging Israel by the same standards as we do for any other global country. 

In short, we need to be faithful to the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.