The world is in a lot of uproar and term oil right now, there is no doubt about that. No matter what your race, religion, creed, or sexual orientation there is something to get fired up about around ever corner, on every breath, on the tip of everyone's tongue.
It is almost like people can't wait to scream discrimination and see how far it gets them and I really just don't understand any of it. The old saying "Can't we all just get a long" became overused and under appreciated. When will this madness stop?!
The latest news coming from Indiana regarding the state passing a Religious Freedom law really has me shaking my head. This is what I have to say about it....
When did rights stop being for everyone involved? When did a "minority" group become the only group worthy of rights? Let's paint a picture shall we?
A gay couple walks into a bakery wanting a cake made for their wedding, the baker turns down the job. Thanks to the media we are to believe that they turned down the job because they didn't not agree with or support gay marriage and they didn't feel they wanted the job of baking the cake. Is it because the people are gay? Is it because the job is too much for their schedule? Is it maybe because they simply don't offer the design the couple is looking for? Well, none of the latter reasons actually matter because the gay couple is angry that the baker won't bake their cake so now they are able to scream discrimination. The owner of the bakery now has been sued, has had death threats against their family, has even had to close their business down because, lets just presume, they wouldn't make a cake for a gay couple's wedding because their belief system is different than the belief system of the couple wanting the cake.
The rights of the gay couple are being upheld, fought over, argued about yet...what about the rights of the baker? Where did their rights go? They don't have the right to make a decision because someone else feels their rights are more important. When did this become reasonable?
Civil rights are rights for ALL PEOPLE!! All of them, every single one of them. I don't care if you are gay or straight or black or white or fat or thin or old or young. Every single one of you has the same, equal rights as the other but for some reason when an issue is blinded by what one group of people or person feels, the people with the opposing opinion suddenly no longer have any rights at all. No rights to do business, no rights to feel safe, no rights to just get up and go to work and live their life not hurting anyone along the way.
I personally have been turned down by more than one baker on more than one occasion when asking to have a cake made. They never had to tell me the reason, they simply said no thank you and I went on my way, finding a new baker. Keep in mind, I ALWAYS found a new baker to do the job. Never did I believe they were turning me down because of my religious beliefs, my sexual orientation, or color of my skin. I didn't even ask, I simply said "Thank you for your time" and went on my way. When did people stop just being nice people?!
At the end of the day does it really matter that the baker down the street doesn't agree with something you're doing? Is it going to stop you from doing it? Will it change your day or the outcome? The answer to that question is and always will be NO. It doesn't. If for some reason it does, you need to reconcile that within yourself, not sue a baker who is just trying to make a living.
This world better figure their crap out really quick or it is quickly going to become a place where you can no longer let your children play with the neighbor kids, you can no longer have a friendly conversation with a stranger in the grocery store and you can no longer count on that one person in the parking lot who will help you out when you have a flat tire, three small children, and a hand full of groceries!
Hate only breeds hate, it doesn't breed knowledge, it doesn't breed kindness, it doesn't breed understanding. It can and will forever only breed hate. Take a step back, take a deep breath and find it within yourself to just be kind. You don't always have to like the answer but you should always have to accept it and move forward. After all, this is the way life works.
Just once today, take a deep breath and be more kind than you need to be and see how it makes you feel. Tomorrow, maybe you can try it twice and before you know it your days will be filled with kindness and your heart will be full of love instead of hate.
