Sorry to break it to you, that is.
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| A cartoon of a thumbs-down emerging from a blue sleeve |
I have news; you are not the be-all and end-all, your opinion is not fact, and other people/skin tones/genders/sexualities/belief systems/opinions have a right to exist.
Shocking, I know, and I'm probably screaming into the void, but here we are.
Again.
So I'm putting on my mommy-lecture hat here, because I know that many of you in the US were brought up similarly to me. But some of you seem to have forgotten the lessons from Sesame Street and Star Trek and Mr Rogers, and that's not even including the houses of worship and their lessons. When did "Love thy Neighbor" become "shame the needy?" That's rhetorical. I know when; it's when money outweighed everything else in our so-called society. God forbid we have a civilization where people are kind to one another.
Do you not remember the oh-so-subtle Let That Be Your Last Battlefield when you decry how "woke" and "obvious" Star Trek has become? Or that Doctor Who is actually about change and transformation when you complain that we have (heaven forbid) a Black Doctor who cries when he's enraged and despairing, or when he kisses other characters? I know there were a few people who objected to "hanky-panky on the TARDIS" but it was nothing like this violent dislike. And again, these dislikes are opinions, so please state them as such; they are not facts.
But I digress.
For some of you, it seems to be sour grapes. If you don't enjoy something, whether it be children's books with families different from yours or Black Time Lords who show emotions other than rage or the mere thought of people getting something you didn't get when you were a kid, then no one should enjoy these things, and you will do your damndest to make sure no one does.
Even if it means supporting people who go against everything you say you believe in. Even if it means just being chill or even defensive about folks you did not - could not - vote for being in unregulated positions of power. Even if it means considering people who have lived here their whole lives but were not born here as "the enemy." Even if it means being awful to children. Even if it means people are hurt by it, as long as they're not your people.
They're not hurting you. It's not about you. They're just trying to survive.
Example 1: Someone writes a children's book where one of the many families has two parents of the same gender. You don't want your kid to see that and that's fine. I think it's a little misguided of you, but they're your kid; it's your call. But trying to get that book banned, even from the school library? Not your call. Not about you, and you don't get to decide what other people's kids can see.
Example 2: A dear family friend died last week. Of course I want to know the details; I loved them too, and they were there for me and mine when my own husband died eight and a half years ago. But their immediate family is not ready to talk to the world yet, so it's not my business or my call, and I'm not going to nag them about it.
I said above that we were brought up in similar ways. I thought that was true. But a lot of you don't seem to care about basic decency to others anymore; you're hung up on money (in an "I've got mine, so fuck 'em" sense) and sex or disability or gender (in an, "ew, that makes me uncomfy so it must be eeeevil" sense). I'm sure there are other categories, but those seem to be the main two. Unless you count a complete lack of critical thinking.
In addition to the horrors some are turning a blind eye to, that just makes me sad. Sad for my people, my country, my generation. Just sad.
This is the first time ever that writing it out in my blog hasn't helped, even a little bit.
