Response to yesterday's post:
When I read this, my heart started beating out of my chest. I realize that it was meant in jest to a degree, but this status was preceded and followed by other serious and strongly worded updates concerned with how terrible and immoral he feels the healthcare reform business is.
I am troubled by this for many, many reasons.
First, the obviously hypocritical nature of the statement.
Second, the fact that so many people liked it. This includes one of my very good friends. As soon as she responded to the post, i texted her some of my thoughts on the issue. she apologized and said it that i was right and that it made her think, but she has yet to retract her comment. it is possible that she doesn't know how). This bothers me because it indicates that this was not just an idiotic statement made from one person, but an idiotic statement that many people of like mind agree with and applaud.
Third, although he may have been joking, this sort of entitlement to judge based on religious conviction is DANGEROUS- even in joking. It implies that some people are better off dead because they do not share the same convictions... it implies that were Obama to suffer from a terminal illness or be killed, that the poster would celebrate his death... have no consideration for the fact that A MAN died, or that a family is grieving, but only care for the fact that a figurehead who he disagreed with no longer held position. While these types of posts may only be flippantly expressed sentiments, they are the beginnings of the type of indoctrination and passionate convictions that lead others to believe in holy war and other atrocities. the fact that so many got a good chuckle and decided to like this "prayer" terrifies me.
People joke about all kinds of sensitive issues all the time. I probably partake myself unknowingly, and I do not ask to be excused.
I do not wish for us all to become oversensitived crybabies who can't take a joke once in a while,
but I would ask that the people who proclaim to value the sanctity of human life reflect such conviction in all areas of their life, not just at March for Life rallies or when it comes to the lives under their own church roofs.
I would ask that people
think
about implications... about empathy... about who they proclaim their god to be.
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