Friday, January 9, 2015

Pas Peur

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I pondered whether I wanted to address the massacre at Charlie Hebdo.  Yes.  Yes I do.  It's time to not be afraid and it's time to stop trying to say that Muslims are practicing a peaceful religion.  What really did it for me though was the hostage situation that unfolded in Paris at the Kosher grocery store.  On a Friday.  This was deliberate and as evil as it gets.  For those who haven't connected the dots on this one Fridays are always the busiest at Kosher grocery stores.  The people are there to buy the foods they need for Shabbat. 

Yes I take this personally.  As I've mentioned before although I was raised Catholic my mother is Jewish and to many peoples way of thinking I am Jewish as is my daughter.  It absolutely breaks my heart that my daughter at my mothers insistence doesn't know my mom is Jewish.  She figures that Princess Bear (PB) has enough issues to deal with because of her physical and mental disabilities she doesn't want to "add another to her plate."  How fucking wrong is that?  Not only does PB not know her grandmother is Jewish but somehow in the effort to not share this part of her heritage with PB my parents have taken so far that PB began to think there was something wrong with Judaism.  PB and I were looking at holiday manicures on Pinterest.  She was giving everything a thumbs up or thumbs down rating.  We ran across a Hanukkah manicure and PB reacted very negatively.  I instantly about blew a gasket but caught myself.  I asked her why she thought that.  She replied that her Boaby thought Hanukkah was bad.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  She also doesn't know how much her grandmothers faith touches her life without her having any real knowledge of it.  Even the name she calls her grandmother is what Jewish children call their grandmothers (although most spell it Bubbe).  We did have a talk with PB and let her know that Judaism is a wonderful religion and Hanukkah is a fun holiday.  On the one hand I hate that my mom wants to hide this from PB but on the other hand I can understand why she feels that way.  Growing up I always wore 2 necklaces.  One had 2 pendants on it.  An S and a Celtic Cross.  The other had a chai which is the Hebrew symbol for life.  From the time I started wearing the chai my mom started schooling me on how to handle it.  Ever on an airplane in a hostage situation.  Rip it off and hide it in the seat.  When we were on our way to Huntsville for a summer job I had we were near Memphis around 1am.  I looked over at the truck next to me.  There were 3 people in KKK robes.  Without a word my mom held out her hand.  I knew what she wanted.  She took my chai and gave it back to me when I came home at the end of the summer.  Can I tell you how crazy it is that we're living in a world were this is a concern?  Where my daughter can't safely be told all about her heritage?  There is something wrong with all of this.

Now if the folks at Charlie Hebdo were just drawing anti Muslim cartoons there might (might) be some room to say that they were doing something wrong.  That wasn't the case.  The fact that the gunmen were yelling "We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad" and "God is Great" in Arabic ("Allahu Akbar") is just more reason to question why if Islam is such a religion of peace that Muslims all over the world are not decrying these situations.

2 night ago I read about Richard Dawkins response to the terror attack.  Now just so you know right off the bat I pretty much think that Richard Dawkins is a complete asshat and a waste of valuable oxygen.  Before you start questioning why I think this I'll just answer it for you.  It doesn't make a damn bit of difference to me that he's an atheist.  That's his concern or problem.  However you want to look at it.  I firmly believe that everyone needs to have faith in something higher than themselves.  There will come a time that you need to have faith in something and if you don't have that light at the end of the tunnel I feel sorry for you but I won't dislike you for it.  Now what he has said about Down Syndrome children and the fact that he things that every woman carrying a Down Syndrome child should have an abortion pretty much makes him a despicable human being in my book.  SO, it really grates on me when someone that I pretty much so have zero respect comes out with such great responses that I can agree with.  The following were taking from a Blaze article you can find HERE.    Here's the short version:

Richard Dawkins         @RichardDawkins
They shouted “We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30710883  Some useful idiot will claim it had nothing to do with religion.
Richard Dawkins         @RichardDawkins
No, all religions are NOT equally violent. Some have never been violent, some gave it up centuries ago. One religion conspicuously didn’t.

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