I was raised in a time of tolerance and intolerance. A contradiction, surely, but hear me out. My father always taught me to never, ever make fun or speak ill about anyone's religion. He explained that how someone worships is of concern only to them. THIS was called being tolerant of others. We did not poke fun at the handicap persons, or the homeless men who we would occasionally see hopping a freight train in our neighborhood, those that appeared different from our suburban norm. Everyone is different, he would say. You don't know their history, what hard times they have endured. But I was also raised in the 1950's and 60's, so yes, there was prejudice. Not from my dad and mom, ever. They never used derogatory slang for people of color. Ever.
Gays and lesbians certainly were around, just not talked about. It is what it is. When the movement for equality in marriage started, my thoughts were "cool". This doesn't concern me, doesn't hurt me in any manner. I am not now a religious person, but I was raised in the doctrine of the Lutheran church. Having always been my own thinking person, thanks to my dad, I don't follow the church rules to the letter. Never have, never will. I am true to myself. Try to be kind to others, you don't know what they have been through.
So this Kim Davis freak down in Kentucky truly pisses me off. This pillar of the community, with her multiple marriages and what sounds like affairs, making a judgement call on issuing marriage licenses to gay couples needs to sit down and shut up. If you want to judge others, based on your religion, then be a Southern Christian preacher somewhere. Go for it. But don't choose to be a county clerk. Why is her ass still working in Kentucky? Notice I said "choose". It is her choice to work for the government. No one is holding her hostage to that job. So let's be truthful. Why is she there? Because it is probably the best damn paying job in that area. Of course it is. Well, tootsie, either move or work 2 or 3 minimum wage jobs that the Republicans love so much to make up for those wages.
Let us also put this in perspective. I can't take credit for the following, because I saw something like it on Facebook, but boy, it hit home: if you are Catholic and work at a pharmacy, do you refuse to dispense birth control? If you are an Orthodox Jew or Muslim and work at a grocery, do you refuse to sell a ham? If you are a Southern Baptist, and work at a liquor store, say what?
The point is we have freedom of religion in this country. That means you are free to worship how you want. It does not mean you get to enforce your religion on anyone else.
Get over yourselves. The time to return to the tolerance my parents taught and practiced has come.
Linda
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