Horror on the YBR. Has civilization unraveled?

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Putting the “sec” in secular on the YBR.

Back in the early ’80s religious extremists demanded that Proctor and Gamble remove their Satanic logo off all of its products. The religious righteous proclaimed that all the elements that went into the logo were deliberately chosen to promote devil worship.

It took years to put out the firestorm created by a bunch of whack-a-doodles, but even then P&G had to change the logo and eventually replace it with the simple letter logo we see today.

And now we’ve run a-muck again because a coffee company has thrown the snowman into the fire for a red cup that I can see college students using to play beer pong.

When are we going to admit it that Christmas is for many
(a) religious observation (b) a secular time for good cheer to all men (c) both

If someone’s religious beliefs are threatened by secularism they have a right to voice their opinion. But, when we sanctify things like snowmen, snow flakes, stockings, candy canes, Christmas/Holiday/Evergreen trees, etc. we have crossed over to la-la-looney land.

Unless I’m wrong, none of the Gospel writers wrote that a snowman appeared in Bethlehem and offered Mary and Joseph a cup of Joe in a red cup. (Hmmm, maybe there’s something to this…Joseph? Joe?

In short, whether you honor this season by attending religious services or not, why not be inspired to be more loving, more giving, more caring, more peaceful…and then vow to keep that spirit alive ALL year long.

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Color is a pigment of your imagination on the YBR.

To say that in my lifetime that we’ve come a long way regarding race, gender, religious beliefs and age does not really add up to much when you consider the news today. Having had an “a ha” moment when some of my neighbors looked askance at me when as a seventh grader I brought an African-American friend home after school, I was made aware of prejudice and racism.

We, I believe, have made baby steps when it comes to becoming a human race where it’s not “the color of your skin that matters but the content of your character.”  And it’s not just skin color, it’s our penchant for believing “our” God is the true God and “our” religion is the only true religion. It’s also our steadfast belief that gender has rules that can’t be broken. And that aging is a weakness.

I’m sure that there was signs of discord between the different people who called the land of Oz home, but it’s here on the third planet from the sun that we have to deal with our inability to put race, religion, etc. behind.

But…as I’ve aged, I’ve come to realize that we’re going backwards. And while we would like to point a finger of blame on a very narrow demographic, we’re never going to make any progress unless we all do some intensive soul-searching and take a long, hard look in the mirror.

The problem, as I see it, is level-headed people can’t join the discussion because “we,” and I’m going out on a limb and calling myself level-headed…because we are afraid to speak up. Why? Because as much as we hate the ignorance that fuels racism, we also fear anger fed by entitlement.

Ignorance that erupts as racism can never be tolerated, and the feeling of entitlement that erupts in violence should never be condoned.

That one group of people in our society has a long list of legitimate concerns that need to be addressed should be obvious. But, it appears that those who are leaders in the struggle for justice are being sabotaged by those “few” who seize the moment to run wild, especially since many of those who are running wild are as ignorant as the people who keep them down.

I believe its time for us to have a time out.  Real leaders of both races… whose only agenda should be to reach a peaceful resolution to racism… need to emerge. Real leaders need to speak openly and honestly to “their” people. They have to put their foot down…hard…and say “no more.”  No more mis-use of the rights we all cherish. No more getting a pass for bad behavior because bad behavior is bad behavior, black or white. And bad behavior needs to be addressed.

Once we work on our bad behavior, we can begin to challenge the wrongs that befall us and use the proper power to demand our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

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