As I had predicted, before really getting into a plethora of the comments, there was a lot of discussion about God and why this happened. Some people were debating good and evil, some were debating about whether there is a God or not.
The comment that spurred the debate on good and evil stemmed from someone saying that they hoped the bus was from Westboro Baptist Church. They thought the church was in Wichita (which I felt a tinge of offense because he got the location wrong) until someone mentioned that the church was in Topeka and then laid into them about how no one should hope that children would be hurt. I don't think the original commenter meant for their quote to come off as wanting children (no matter where they are from) to be hurt, but his distaste for the things Westboro preaches. He said that they preach hate, which most people would find true.
Someone came along and said that the original commenter must not believe in God because he thinks that all churches teach hate. Well, that is not true either because clearly churches do not normally teach hate. The original commenter must have felt offended and probably just wanted to push everyone else's buttons because then a rant started about how God would not let something let that happen. This led to more people coming to the comment section and putting in their two cents about what goes on in churches, good/evil, what's real and what is not real.
This is where I might step on your toes. While reading this, I became very flustered when people stood on a soapbox when they expressed what they believed/thought. It made me a little sad that the comments had strayed away from feeling sad about what happened to these children, to being filled with their own hate from both sides. Maybe it is not so much hate, but more distaste for the other's point of view. People who did not believe in God were putting down those who did, and the people who did believe in God were saying those who did not were bad.
My take on this argument is right in the middle. If things were up to me, I would want everyone to just be quiet. I can understand both sides of the argument. No one wants to be told that they are "wrong" and everyone wants to be "right". There have been times where someone had told me something that I don't agree with, but I don't argue that I don't agree with them. Actually, that is a lie. I have had arguments with people that I have had a difference of opinion with, but I never told them they were wrong, I just told them that that is not something I would agree with.
Two weeks ago, NBC Nightly News had a report at the end of their telecast about how it was Ringo Starr's birthday. If you forgot who he is, he was the drummer of the world famous, British invasion, highly influential band, The Beatles. If you know me at all, you know that I love love love the Beatles. I was so happy to see this report because I have been very influenced by that band. I have seen their Cirque du Soleil production in Vegas TWICE, own movies based on their music, and get very excited when I hear their music. In fact, all their music was played during the dinner portion of our wedding reception.
While most of the Beatles have had controversial run-ins with the law (two being banned from two different countries), they stood for a lot of good. Two very important stances they took were on Love and Peace. They believed that love could make peace and peace could make love. I believe in both. When the nightly news was doing their story, they had a small interview with the now 70 (he does not look 70) Beatle. Ringo said that the only gift he wanted from fans that day was to say at noon "Peace and Love, Peace and Love". That is wonderful.
My version of peace and love is every accepting everyone regardless if you agree with them or not. However, there are gray areas to this thinking as well. I do not believe in agreeing with terrorists, people who hate, and racism. If someone planning on committing a crime were to tell me that they were going to commit a crime, I would try talking them out of it. If they decide that I was not convincing enough to keep them from committing the crime, then so be it. I would call the police, but that is all I could really do to help them. Anyway.
I was surprised that so many people could not just accept that someone might have a different opinion of them. We live in a world where everyone thinks they need to be right and if we don't agree with what they believe, than we are wrong. I was really sad that just because someone expressed their opinion, than they did not know God. Or if they did believe in God, they were small minded. I enjoy hearing people's opinions, and I think that all of these people had something in common without even realizing it. Both sides did not want to hear what the other had to say, and it made both sides mad. Why can't we realize that maybe we are all mad for the same reason? I have things that I believe and things I don't. There are days that I want to hear people's opinions, and days that I don't. I think we should all just state our peace, accept that someone may or may not believe it, and move on with our day. We should not continue so far into an argument to tell people that they are wrong and say mean things about them.
There are social things I believe in that some people do not agree with because of religious or personal reasons. For instance, I totally support gay marriage and people living a lifestyle different from my own. My take on peace and love helps me mold this opinion, plus I have many friends who are gay that I believe should have the same rights that I have. However, my upbringing would say that I am wrong. I grew up in a family that went to church where we were told that this is unnatural or wrong. I know that not all churches say this because now there are churches where there are homosexual preachers or churches that are with the LGBT Alliance. Regardless of what a church preaches, I still believe in gay marriage. If someone were to tell me that I was wrong and here are the reasons why, I would say "Well that is their opinion" and go about my day. If there was a ballot where you could vote on it, we obviously would not vote the same, but if they asked me why I felt so passionately about this, I would tell them. Never would I tell them that they are wrong, but I would try to maybe have them think about it in a different way. I also have views on feminist issues that are the same way. There are issues where I do not agree with my husband. We talk about them, but we never call each other names or say that each other is wrong. We have just learned to agree to disagree.
There are also the people that believe the same things I do, but they are so extreme that I have a hard time even talking to them. For instance, while writing this, Bill Mahr is on the Wanda Sykes Show doing a panel. Here is the thing about Bill Mahr, I tend to have the same thoughts he does, but he goes to an extreme where I cannot agree with him anymore. Or he makes people feel bad, which makes me feel bad for agreeing with him. He is very forward about his stance on religion and thinks that people are crazy for believing in a god. While I can respect him for having an opinion, he needs to be a little bit lighter about the way he presents it. He made a movie called Religiouless where he tried to show the crazy side of religion. I know tons of people who did not want to see this movie because he was so rude. He has the right to make a movie how he wants to make it, but he crosses the line when he goes to extreme measures to show people in a bad light or to make a point. I have seen clips of the movie in classes that I have taken, and that is enough for me.
I also believe in the legalization of weed. Personally I don't do it, never have and never will, but that does not mean that I do not see the good in legalizing this drug. You can stop reading here if you don't want to read my reasons (you are partaking in peace and love). Weed is not as deadly as drinking. I have not read anywhere yet where someone had died from inhaling too much weed. You can die from drinking too much without even getting on the road. Also, weed does not make people loud and obnoxious. It actually mellows people out. I know people who are very close to me that you can tell that they are much calmer after smoking. I would rather they are calm than full of stress and anxiety. People say that weed is bad because when you do it, you are so mellow that you cannot do anything else in the day. Well drinking too much has the same effect. When you drink, you cannot drive a car or perform a job to the best of you ability. When you smoke, you have to make the same responsible choice on whether it will keep you from doing something you really need to do. One of my friends suggested that we go out tonight but I said I couldn't because I had to get up early the next morning. I would have to make that same decision if I ever decided to smoke weed (which I would not). Also, the money going to try and catch people selling/doing weed could be spent elsewhere (like on education) if we stopped draining it into the ridiculous fight against the drug. Plus, jails would not be over crowded because we would have less people in them for something so small like possession. There is also the argument that there would still be crimes with people wanting drugs. My take is that the crime would be like any other crime: someone has something you want. Well, people rob banks for the same reason. A bank has money you want but don't have while a dealer has a drug you want but don't have. There should be punishment if you break into someone's home to steal their weed, but having it should not be a crime. Finally, there is the argument that weed is the gateway drug. That is not entirely true. Everyone I know who has done drugs have not necessarily wanted to try harder drugs. They smoke because they want to relax. There are some people who do harder drugs, but most of the time it is because they are adventurous and need something more exciting in their lives. My idea of being more adventurous would be to run a full mile. In conclusion, that is my opinion on weed.
This post started out talking about how we should just accept each others opinions and fight for love and peace, but it has ended with me selling my opinion to you. I believe that my opinions are all about having love for others and trying to make things easier and more peaceful for everyone. Take away from this what you want, but most of all I want you to have peace and love for each other.
Until next time....
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