(no subject)
It seems to me that American's on a whole are deathly ignorant to the true values that our great country was founded on. Let me tell you a story I heard from my friend. Her best friend is a true southern american. And when I say southern I mean southern baptist pie cooking wanting 2.5 children kind of lady. While their is nothing wrong with this in general, what concerns me is what comes out of her mouth. Evidently the topic of politics came up and she made the very ignorant statement that she would not vote for Barack Obama because he was an "AyRab". I later found out that this assumption was based on the candidate's name and skin color. Now anyone who is even the slightest bit politically inclined would know that Barack is a Presbyterian which is a denomination of Christianity. Also, Barack's heritage is very clearly claimed as being half black and half white. Evidently this opinion was passed down through the family as her mother concurred with her.
Now the problem I see with this is that people are so stuck into their own beliefs that they can't get past those beliefs. Tolerance is an ugly word when it comes to religion evidently. Can people not get past these indoctrinated ideas and look at what the politicians stand for? Their are several resources on the internet which are accessible to a large portion of the population if not in their own homes, in the public libraries. What's even more scary than the ignorance is how that ignorance is passed along. Ideas are indoctrinated in a community and are passed along through what we teach our children and what we say in casual conversation. They are receptive and the family is the primary socializer a good portion of a child's life. Pardon me if this is a biased opinion, but through my observations Christians tend to think non-Christians do not hold the same values as they do. This is another assumption steeped in ignorance.
Perhaps this is not fair and I'm not giving enough credit to how indoctrinated these beliefs are in society. Though I would contend that we are rational and critical beings who are capable of finding answers and exploring our own biases when desired. The problem is that no one is willing to explore them because of their own preconceived notions. I hope one day that we are able to get past these ideas steeped in ignorance and can look at a person for their true salt.
Now the problem I see with this is that people are so stuck into their own beliefs that they can't get past those beliefs. Tolerance is an ugly word when it comes to religion evidently. Can people not get past these indoctrinated ideas and look at what the politicians stand for? Their are several resources on the internet which are accessible to a large portion of the population if not in their own homes, in the public libraries. What's even more scary than the ignorance is how that ignorance is passed along. Ideas are indoctrinated in a community and are passed along through what we teach our children and what we say in casual conversation. They are receptive and the family is the primary socializer a good portion of a child's life. Pardon me if this is a biased opinion, but through my observations Christians tend to think non-Christians do not hold the same values as they do. This is another assumption steeped in ignorance.
Perhaps this is not fair and I'm not giving enough credit to how indoctrinated these beliefs are in society. Though I would contend that we are rational and critical beings who are capable of finding answers and exploring our own biases when desired. The problem is that no one is willing to explore them because of their own preconceived notions. I hope one day that we are able to get past these ideas steeped in ignorance and can look at a person for their true salt.