Intolerance and Fear

I had a tiny, minuscule disagreement with a young woman today....on Facebook...yes, not the best place to air a contrary opinion....and usually I back away from contrariness.....I'm too old for the hassle.
So, why did I speak up this time.....well, I'll tell you why....Fear and Intolerance.

The whole thing was based on a comment that she made about George W Bush...'dancing' at a funeral...just happened to be the memorial service for the five slain police officers in Dallas, Texas.

Now, I watched part of the video....the little part that showed him moving to a stirring rendition of The Battle Hymn of the Republic.....he did seem like he was enjoying it...it did seem that his wife was not....it did seem like Mrs Obama who was on the other side of him....wasn't liking it also....I'm not too sure if her husband on the other side of her realized just what was going on....but after a bit, after Mr Bush said something to Mrs Obama, she too smiled and so did her husband and they also 'moved to the music a bit'.

So, my friend...this young woman, whom I've known since she was 2 or 3...well, she took exception to Mr Bush moving and enjoying the music...in fact she became quite nasty.
I also looked it up on the Internet and apparently the whole situation caused quite a stir.
Now, I don't know why George W. decided at that moment that he should put on his happy face when everyone around him was so very emotional and sad....I have no idea, what he said to Michelle Obama that made her smile....

I did express to this young woman that I wasn't starting an argument but I had to disagree with her....for a few reasons.....

One- the Battle Hymn of the Republic is indeed a stirring piece of music...very majestic, very patriotic sounding.....and the last lines that got old George going were...'Glory, glory Hallelujah...glory , glory, hallelujah....his truth is marching on'.....I pointed out to this young lady that those words were a celebration because even though all the horrible killings that have taken place in the past few weeks ....the two black men, in particular and the Orlando shootings....and of course these last five slain officers....that Gods truth....that he loves each and every one of us....is still there....is still marching on....
Two- I do know that , in the south....and Texas IS in the south...that it is considered quite the common thing to conclude a funeral service, or going to the cemetery , for the mourners to show great rejoicing in music, laughter and dance! So, this very well could be a custom that good old George was quite used to....

She still didn't agree with me....said he should have been left home with a baby sitter....and perhaps she was correct....but...I have no idea why George W. did what he did....but I know that the one thing we haven't seen in the last few weeks has been tolerance....but we've seen a lot of fear....

We saw intolerance for people that chose to be at a homosexual club by the man that shot them, we saw intolerance and judgement of the poor parents that had their child killed by the alligator, we saw fear and intolerance when the man was held down by two police officers and killed, we saw fear when the man was pulled over for a busted tail light and was killed while he still sat there with his seat belt on, while his girlfriend and her child watched.
You could hear the fear in the officers voice after he shot...repeating himself, over and over....
Intolerance and fear....it fills the Internet ....I read some comments from people who criticized a woman for praying for a missing five year old child....there was intolerance for this woman daring to pray for the safe return of the child, and intolerance for a God they said, allowed it to happen.

People are so quick to judge a God that they obviously do not have a personal relationship with.....if they did, then they would understand...they would understand that God is weeping for this child, and for the depravity of man that harms an innocent child...because in the beginning, God gave man a choice...to live His way or their own way....God is not a puppeteer pulling the strings of man...man has a choice....man has a choice of whether to kill a child's mother and take the child, to kill a bunch of people having fun in a club, to take the lives of innocent people.

Intolerance and fear...is the reason that I did not argue further with this young woman, because you see....this young woman is black....and I also have two daughters who are black.....I get it....there is fear....where there is fear there is intolerance......





~ Marie