Appalled by bigotry, ignorance
I’m appalled and embarrassed by how many Americans are still spewing bigotry and displaying arrogance.
A recent social media post showing Ben Carson exclaiming that Americans have the right to decide whether or not to be a Judeo-Christian nation left me stunned. This country was founded on principles of freedom, including the freedom to practice one’s faith without fear of persecution. It was also founded on the premise that all are created equal.
Some in our country want America to be made up of only those who practice Judaism or Christianity. Let’s just toss everyone out who is not Jewish or Christian. But wait – which Jewish people should we keep and which should we exile? Orthodox Jews? Reform Jews? Hassidic Jews?
And then there are the Christians – Evangelicals? Catholics? Protestants? The list goes on and on.
Where does it end? How do we decide? And what gives one group the right to decide?
What if the same logic had been applied to European immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries? Most of us wouldn’t be here because many of our ancestors at one time or another were not welcomed and were discriminated against.
And don’t get me started on American Indians who were here before any of us. They didn’t have the right to decide what kind of nation they wanted their land to be.
Arrogant, bigoted and hateful. Is this who we as a nation want to be? I’m ashamed. I’m afraid for our future. And I’m afraid for what my children will have to deal with because, instead of moving forward, there are people in this country determined to force us backward.
Lisa D’Amico Speer
Canonsburg