It happens everyday. We see it on TV and in movies, we hear it on the radio, we joke about it with our friends, we read about it in the news. Racism, sexism, ageism, the list goes on and on. You name it, it happens every single day; men degrading women, whites discriminating against blacks, blacks doing the same thing to whites, the old tearing down the young, the young mocking the old, the rich shaming the poor, and so on and so forth. Girls pick on other girls because they don't weigh 100 lbs, and boys humiliate other boys who aren't athletic enough. Americans as a whole seem to have forgotten that we all have the right to be treated as human.
We are currently seeing a huge movement that has spread across our country fighting for "Black Lives Matter." Now don't get me wrong, I am a firm believer in our first amendment right to believe, speak, write and peacefully protest however we please. However, I think as Americans we are missing the point. Of course black lives matter, but so do white lives, Hispanic lives, Asian lives, male lives, female lives, young lives, old lives, skinny lives, fat lives, etc. All lives matter.
I am not at all ashamed of the fact that I am a conservative individual with traditional Christian values, but at the same time, I don't go around telling everyone who doesn't believe the same way as me that they are going to hell or that they are somehow inferior to me. Nothing about my past, present or future makes me any better than anyone else. I don't care if someone is heterosexual or homosexual, rich or poor, fat or skinny, tattooed, pierced or neither; they are all human, and might I add that they all have feelings.
Until we can understand and achieve this, our nation will never be as great as it can be. We will continue to spend our time tearing each other down and killing our own bothers and sisters instead of focusing on handling threats to this country and bettering our future. We are one nation, and we must learn to stand together.
I am so tired of constantly seeing people hurt by what others say, and maybe I'm just delusional, but is it really that hard to treat others with kindness? We spend all too much time judging others for their sins instead of repenting for our own and trying to become better people. In the end, it does not matter that I disagree with those who support socialism or that I think no one should ever be denied the right to prayer, I still don't have the right to treat others who disagree as if they are inferior to me. I can absolutely fight for what I believe in, but I can't hate others for doing the exact same thing.
We were all created equally as people, and I personally believe that my God doesn't want me to hate others, but to love them. I was not put on this earth to bicker and fight with others over the things that make us different. Matthew 5:43-48 says, "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."
Just because you believe what someone else does is immoral or wrong, or you don't agree with how they look, dress or act, that doesn't give you any sort of right to belittle them. You have every right to express your opinions and beliefs, but you do not have the right to get mad when others do the same thing, no matter how stupid you think their opinion is. Sometimes I consider myself one of the guiltiest parties of this, but then again, aren't we all?
With that being said, there is a limit on how far this goes. There are absolutely people who have lost their right to be treated equally due to their actions. I am only saying that just because someone is different than you, that doesn't mean they aren't human.
