Thursday, September 17, 2009

Bigotry in the U.S.

Okay, take a gander at the email I received today:





"USPS New 44-Cent Stamp!!! Celebrates Muslim holiday.

If there is only ONE thing you forward today... let it be this!

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of Pan Am Flight 103!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Marine Barracks in Lebanon !
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the military Barracks in Saudi Arabia !
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the American Embassies in Africa !
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the USS COLE!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM attack on 9/11/2001 !
REMEMBER all the AMERICAN lives that were lost in those vicious MUSLIM attacks!
Now President Obama has directed the United States Postal Service to REMEMBER and HONOR the EID MUSLIM holiday season with a new commemorative 42 Cent First Class Holiday Postage Stamp..
REMEMBER to adamantly & vocally BOYCOTT this stamp, when you are purchasing your stamps at the post office.
All you have to say is "No thank you, I do not want that Muslim Stamp on my letters!"

To use this stamp would be a slap in the face to all those AMERICANS who died at the hands of those whom this stamp honors.
REMEMBER ~pass this along to every Patriotic AMERICAN that you know and lets get the word out !!!
Here is something to chew on...
They (MUSLIMS) don't even believe in Christ, & they're getting their own Christmas stamp! BUT, don't dare to dream of posting the ten commandments on federal property! This is truly UNBELIEVABLE !!! "


Now prepare for my wrath.



First off, you seemingly incredibly-bigoted, narrow-minded, self-important muckraking, fly-off-the-handle, panic-spreading reactionists: the postal service has been printing this stamp FOR YEARS! Note the picture above…when postage was 33 cents. So your muckraking Obama-bashing on this is completely off the mark. Your Republican-hero past presidents ALSO "directed" this stamp released, every year. THIS HOLIDAY IS ALREADY BEING COMMEMORATED, and has been for YEARS! Our President is not “directing” anything!

In simple fact, this stamp is gorgeous, and I have purposefully purchased them for my Christmas cards for the last two years, to contribute to the holiday ideal of a peaceful and loving holiday season.

You have taken patriotism to the lowest possible level, to the point where it is no longer patriotism but full-out, undeniable BIGOTRY! I, for one, am in NO WAY this kind of “American”…I even go so far as to say that your reactionary bigotry is UN-American. Yes, that is what I said. UN-American. And, judging from your final lines, I think I can safely say you are also incredibly and undeniably UN-Christian, as well.

Most sane people are able to remember the TERRORIST bombings and attacks. They were awful and horrendous and insane…but generalizing that all Muslims are, or agree with, the terrorist factions is pure hatred and insane bigotry loosely and poorly disguised as patriotism…and THAT is a large part of what is wrong with America today, folks.

Americans are no more holy or learned or “right” than any other country, and Christians are no more holy or learned or “right” than any other religion’s adherents. What incredible hubris it is, to begin with, for any human to think they know what God wants or would do or thinks, and to presume to take His wrath into their own hands through word or deed!

People having different religious views from yours is not a crime. People not believing in your god does not mean that they are lesser, or wrong, or evil. All religions, all holidays, all celebrations of faith are equally valid, and should be equally respected as the celebrations of faith and hope and love that they are. God is sure as hell not nearly as judgmental as you people are…at least you had better HOPE not, since your path is one of darkness and hatred, and completely oversteps the boundaries that any god has set up for his followers to begin with!

By the way, the Eid stamp is NOT a CHRISTMAS stamp. It is a HOLIDAY stamp, which is why it comes out with the Christmas, winter, and Kwanzaa stamps. And I will probably buy them again this year…partly because of your outrageous email, to be honest.

By the way, I do not want the ten commandments posted, either…and I am not Muslim!Christianity is NOT the only religion in the world…nor should it be.

So chew on THAT!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

August 28th Doings




Being in the car accident at the end of June not only reminded me what a gift it is to NOT have to be sedentary, but also gave me a lot of time to read. With my newfound limits, a lot of books didn't get finished--my limit being, "You are 40. If a book does not make you want to finish it by page 40, let it go and move on." Quite a few books got let go, which was good for my towering bookshelf, even if it did not make much visible difference!


Thanks to a huge fine on my library card from letting my daughter check out books on it, I skipped the library most of the summer. Last week I finally paid the $20 fine. Today, August 28th, I left the house, which is irritating me near to the point of violent acting-out---I could FEEL myself about to start throwing shit--and went to the library. There were books on hold for me, to go with the books I checked out last week, and I decided if I could get to a quiet, preferably windowside table, I would treat myself to reading. Just reading. In the cool library, as it was hot out already at 11a.m., surrounded by books. Surrounded by books is one of my favorite places to be, in the entire universe, ever.


So, I put on jeans that don't really match my orangey tank, my pretty orange flowered shoes, and slapped my favorite sun hat onto my head to hide my greasy hair. These things combined--not matching, not caring to wash my hair--should tell those of you who know me exactly how irritated I had become...I never do not match in public. Ever. And rarely in provate. (To my credit, the hat goes with the tank well, and the tank goes well with the shoes, although the hat and the flowered shoes together?...not so much. And these jeans with the bling on the pockets--not really with anything. But they are clean. But, I digress...


I ran to the post office to mail off my Netflix. I got cash. I got to the library at 10:40, parked in the only-locals-know-this-is-free parking lot next to the library, under one of the library trees---I love trees---and started reading, waiting for the library to open at 11. Grayson by Lynne Cox.


There was less of a homeless population than usual waiting to snatch up the tables for a nap inside today. I got the books I had on hold, and found one of the best seats in the library---it faces city hall and overlooks a nice little corner of benched landscaping, and is shielded by a large maple tree that sits out from it on the parking. I love this tree because not only is it taller than the building, but it has thrived even though they have paved and added more cement around it until it's 7' x 18" patch is the only dirt around (until they landscaped under the windows of course), but the tree itself is still surrounded on all sides by lifeless concrete. City Hall has a yard, and lots of trees, so it's a good view. Very green. The only seat better than this is the corner one, but it's closer to an intersection, too---more traffic noise.


So, I got "my table", and kept reading Grayson. By 12:26, I had finished it, feeling a little misty and a lot jealous of the author. Grayson is about a baby gray whale and a swimmer, a true story that took place when the author was 17, over just a few hours of her life, and it ends happily. No one dies, no one is hurt, there are no guns or murder or lawyers or pain and suffering to a large degree. Sitting in the library, it did not make me cry with happiness; at home, alone, however, it may have. It made me want to go to the beach. It made me want to start life over and work for the Marine Mammal Center. It made me wish I could swim well enough to ocean swim. And it reminded me of a few very important things about living a full life, and being connected to the Universe.


It's a short book (only 147 pages), a quick read, and you should all read it. All of you, yes. Read it to your kids, too. Give it to everyone you know for their birthdays. I am not kidding. I myself am going to go out and buy my own copy, and put it in the place of honor on my bookshelf, next to Harold and the Purple Crayon, The Eight, and Mists of Avalon. And I fully plan to reread it at least once a year. And go whale-watching at least every two years for the rest of my life. Maybe even be nicer to my daughter's hellbound cat. Maybe.


I came home after an older hippie man, smelling of smoke and dirt, sat down to share the table with me at the library. Steve. Very polite. Introduced himself. Asked if he could give me his number. I nicely said no. Bet the VW van parked down from me was his, too.


Traded my jeans for my comfy sushi-print pants (which still don't match my tank), made some fries, read all night...sometimes, despite all the negative, life is good.