#allreligionswelcome

[b-havior]

🙏🏼 #AllReligionsWelcome https://www.instagram.com/p/CAeIOzIl-ba/?igshid=eo5hmm118mzt

[journalfortheloveof-blog]

To A Facebook Friend

You shared a photo on Facebook with text expressing outright disdain and impatience for offense taken at the words, “merry Christmas,” stating it is one’s freedom to say them, and those who have a problem with it can “leave.” 

“I’ll help you pack,” it said.

I have a couple of questions in response to this. My only request is that you answer them to yourself honestly. Question one: is taking offense not also a freedom like your offense at offense is? 

Question two: if a freedom infringes on the inclusion, recognition, comfort, which are all to say freedoms, of other human beings, is it worth expressing? As a child, I recall hearing the adage that goes something like, “just because you can do something, does not mean that you should.”

Question three: when was the last time someone said “happy Hanukkah,” “happy Diwali,” or “Ramadan Mubarak” to you? I dare to guess that none of these have been said to you, ever. As a fellow Christian-raised white person, I know they have not been said to me. If they were, though, what would our reactions be? 

My last question in the format of a statement: think about the origins of this deep-rooted belief that your religion, your comfort, your freedom, is supreme above that of others. 

To see the faces of just a few religions outside of Christianity, watch:

(8:58) five millennial Muslims talk about being Muslim in America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhatHjVbrGw

(15:35) a speech from Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu American member of Congress (4:00 onward): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHkiV6o5ySo

(6:17) Jewish people of color share their experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPILYQ3Z0Mo