"America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, she will cease to be great."
~Benjamin Franklin
The month of July is always an inspiring one for me. Beyond the busy-ness, the parades, rodeos, fireworks, and family, I love hearing stories about both the founding fathers and the incredible journey that America has come on, as well as the stories about my pioneer ancestors as they dealt with the persecution that came to the early members of the LDS church. To hear about what they had to live through and overcome and to see the strength that these people had as I read their journals and hear their stories never ceases to inspire me.
One thing that I am always reminded of as I study history is that no matter who you are, no matter what your background, everyone has a history of suffering that they have had to deal with and grow from.
A few weeks ago, I shared some of my experiences from grade school and Jr. High to help illustrate a part of my path to self-confidence and learning to love my own beauty. I was surprised to see some of my dear friends comment on my blog and praise me for handling the bullying that I had experienced in such a dignified manner. I was touched to read their kind words, but to be perfectly honest, I had never thought of myself as being bullied before that moment--and I know for a fact that I didn't handle it in the most dignified manner! I was young, I was immature, and I was petty, so although I may not have been the one necessarily calling names or pushing people around on the playground, I also know that I wasn't always the nicest person to everyone around me. Believe me, I have a lot of regrets of people I may have excluded or hurt because I was too self-centered or self-conscious to reach out and be kind. It's just a part of growing up to go through experiences like these.
However, I assume (and I'm pretty sure I'm assuming correctly) that everyone has had experiences where they felt left out, excluded, different, and lonely. Everyone has had someone, somewhere, say something hurtful to them. On the other side of the coin, everyone has probably, at some time in their life, said something hurtful, excluded someone from their group, or caused someone else to feel pain. We are all human--it's a part of the human experience to interact with others in some positive, some negative ways.
So, when I hear of people being bullied and put down, I empathize. I remember. I ache. It simply breaks my heart that people treat other people in unkind ways. I hope to teach my children never to be unkind or hurtful to other kids--but I know that occasionally, they will, as I did, and I will have to teach them why it's never a good thing to hurt someone else just to gain popularity or acceptance with a certain group.
I also hope and pray that people that I have hurt or offended will be kind and empathetic enough to forgive me when I cause them pain, as I have attempted to forgive people who have hurt me in the past.
On a much grander scale, I feel as though America is becoming a nation of bullies right now. We have so many different groups bullying each other about rights, equality, fairness, and morality that it nearly gives me ulcers just to read Facebook or watch the news. We have people throwing out horrible insults, threats, and statements without so much as giving a thought as to who they might be hurting.
I have friends on Facebook who are incredibly conservative people, with incredibly conservative values and political views, who will post on my news feed directly above or below my other friends--who are incredibly liberal, with incredibly liberal values and political views. Although I may not always agree with everything that is posted on my Facebook feed, I still consider ALL of those people my friends and worthy of my respect and love.
I had one friend who recently posted this status, with a link to an article: "This article combines everything Republicans hate: immigrants, gay people, the NY Times, and love."
I had a hard time with that statement--although I don't necessarily link myself to any one party, I have relatively conservative values, and I have tended to vote more Republican in the past than Democrat. However, that doesn't mean that I hate gay people or immigrants--I have many friends who are gay, and many other friends who are immigrants (in fact, my own grandpa was born in Mexico). The NY Times isn't necessarily my favorite way to find out the news, but I read and try to make informed decisions based on several different news venues, rather than just one. And I love the very idea of love. So this blanket statement, intended to shock and dismay, actually hurt me.
Labels are so easy, but so hurtful to use. No one belongs in some cubby. Limiting anyone's thoughts, capabilities, and potential based on their political views, race, religion, or background is cruel and inappropriate.
Shouldn't we all just remember that we are ALL children of God? We are all going through this human experience together, and although there are times someone will say something we don't agree with, we can handle it in a kind, loving, charitable manner, rather than immediately going up in arms about it. We can choose not to get offended when someone states their beliefs. We can attempt to have well-worded discussions, even debates about issues, rather than attacking and calling names. We can try to look beyond stereotypes and love people as individuals--even if they don't believe what we personally believe or think the way we tend to think. We can truly be open-minded--and not only "open-minded, so long as it goes along with what I already believe or think."
Guess what? It's not hard to be kind. I'm not saying we have to change our standards or opinions or become spineless followers of whatever the biggest trend is--I'm just saying that we can stand up for what we believe in as kind and loving a manner as possible.
After all, we are supposed to be the United States of America--maybe it's time we started acting that way.
~Benjamin Franklin
The month of July is always an inspiring one for me. Beyond the busy-ness, the parades, rodeos, fireworks, and family, I love hearing stories about both the founding fathers and the incredible journey that America has come on, as well as the stories about my pioneer ancestors as they dealt with the persecution that came to the early members of the LDS church. To hear about what they had to live through and overcome and to see the strength that these people had as I read their journals and hear their stories never ceases to inspire me.
One thing that I am always reminded of as I study history is that no matter who you are, no matter what your background, everyone has a history of suffering that they have had to deal with and grow from.
A few weeks ago, I shared some of my experiences from grade school and Jr. High to help illustrate a part of my path to self-confidence and learning to love my own beauty. I was surprised to see some of my dear friends comment on my blog and praise me for handling the bullying that I had experienced in such a dignified manner. I was touched to read their kind words, but to be perfectly honest, I had never thought of myself as being bullied before that moment--and I know for a fact that I didn't handle it in the most dignified manner! I was young, I was immature, and I was petty, so although I may not have been the one necessarily calling names or pushing people around on the playground, I also know that I wasn't always the nicest person to everyone around me. Believe me, I have a lot of regrets of people I may have excluded or hurt because I was too self-centered or self-conscious to reach out and be kind. It's just a part of growing up to go through experiences like these.
However, I assume (and I'm pretty sure I'm assuming correctly) that everyone has had experiences where they felt left out, excluded, different, and lonely. Everyone has had someone, somewhere, say something hurtful to them. On the other side of the coin, everyone has probably, at some time in their life, said something hurtful, excluded someone from their group, or caused someone else to feel pain. We are all human--it's a part of the human experience to interact with others in some positive, some negative ways.
So, when I hear of people being bullied and put down, I empathize. I remember. I ache. It simply breaks my heart that people treat other people in unkind ways. I hope to teach my children never to be unkind or hurtful to other kids--but I know that occasionally, they will, as I did, and I will have to teach them why it's never a good thing to hurt someone else just to gain popularity or acceptance with a certain group.
I also hope and pray that people that I have hurt or offended will be kind and empathetic enough to forgive me when I cause them pain, as I have attempted to forgive people who have hurt me in the past.
On a much grander scale, I feel as though America is becoming a nation of bullies right now. We have so many different groups bullying each other about rights, equality, fairness, and morality that it nearly gives me ulcers just to read Facebook or watch the news. We have people throwing out horrible insults, threats, and statements without so much as giving a thought as to who they might be hurting.
I have friends on Facebook who are incredibly conservative people, with incredibly conservative values and political views, who will post on my news feed directly above or below my other friends--who are incredibly liberal, with incredibly liberal values and political views. Although I may not always agree with everything that is posted on my Facebook feed, I still consider ALL of those people my friends and worthy of my respect and love.
I had one friend who recently posted this status, with a link to an article: "This article combines everything Republicans hate: immigrants, gay people, the NY Times, and love."
I had a hard time with that statement--although I don't necessarily link myself to any one party, I have relatively conservative values, and I have tended to vote more Republican in the past than Democrat. However, that doesn't mean that I hate gay people or immigrants--I have many friends who are gay, and many other friends who are immigrants (in fact, my own grandpa was born in Mexico). The NY Times isn't necessarily my favorite way to find out the news, but I read and try to make informed decisions based on several different news venues, rather than just one. And I love the very idea of love. So this blanket statement, intended to shock and dismay, actually hurt me.
Labels are so easy, but so hurtful to use. No one belongs in some cubby. Limiting anyone's thoughts, capabilities, and potential based on their political views, race, religion, or background is cruel and inappropriate.
Shouldn't we all just remember that we are ALL children of God? We are all going through this human experience together, and although there are times someone will say something we don't agree with, we can handle it in a kind, loving, charitable manner, rather than immediately going up in arms about it. We can choose not to get offended when someone states their beliefs. We can attempt to have well-worded discussions, even debates about issues, rather than attacking and calling names. We can try to look beyond stereotypes and love people as individuals--even if they don't believe what we personally believe or think the way we tend to think. We can truly be open-minded--and not only "open-minded, so long as it goes along with what I already believe or think."
Guess what? It's not hard to be kind. I'm not saying we have to change our standards or opinions or become spineless followers of whatever the biggest trend is--I'm just saying that we can stand up for what we believe in as kind and loving a manner as possible.
After all, we are supposed to be the United States of America--maybe it's time we started acting that way.
Comments
ANYHOW...thank you for your thought provoking post!
Love ya to bits! :)