Our Inheritance: Bigotry
No religious faith and no self-professed high moral standards relieve us from the obligation to be decent to others. We are all accountable – not for our thoughts – but for our actions.
If you’re religious, good for you! A good religion is like a second home, a community. All religions provide a moral code, rituals and prayer. All promote good mental health of their followers.
Most people are spiritual and have the need to belong. Being a part of a religious community can be life-enriching. But, there is a but.
I’m not an expert on religions, there are however numerous parallels between different religions as well as among their followers. Speaking of Christianity which I know best, it largely absolves Christians from responsibility for their actions and their lives. As long as you believe in Christ, you’ll be ultimately forgiven, your misdeeds notwithstanding.
It likely explains Christian complacency when it comes to adherence to the ten commandments. Few Christians take them seriously. There is no true incentive to strive to meet moral standards, if a Christian gets forgiven for everything, short of murder.
If you are not religious, you also have values that hold dear. Most people do. Here is the but of the non-religious folks: it’s great to have values, but what’s even more important is acting on them.
The religious and non-religious alike spend more time complaining than pursuing change.
“Talk is cheap.” It’s easy to profess high values. Living by them less so. United States is a predominantly Christian country and yet, the country doesn’t come to a sudden stop when our moral values are openly violated. (One would think that some developments that have taken place since 2017 – most notably perhaps, family separations – would have caused such a public outcry that the practice would have been discontinued within days. It hasn’t and it wasn’t.)
I don’t have children and can’t relate to the family separations like a parent would. I used to be a kid however and on one occasion, I’ve gotten lost in a department store. Not for long mind you, perhaps 15 – 30 minutes. Many years later, I still remember how scared I was… My experience had the duration of 30 minutes max. I feel for the children separated from their parents. They are too young to understand “politics”. They bear no fault for their situation, but are punished by separation from their parents, nevertheless.
It’s easy to say: “I am this or that.” (It could be a Christian, a Muslim, etc.); it could be “I have high moral standards.” But saying things doesn’t make them true.
No matter who you are, what religion you follow or if you don’t follow any; no matter your age, gender, race, you name it, if you believe that you’re a GOOD human being, talking alone doesn’t cut it. Walk the walk! Speak up, act, do!
If you take issue with climate change, social injustice, political situation, and so on, complaining about it won’t bring about positive changes. You have the right, power and moral obligation to express your opinion; to contact your local government representative; to use your consumer dollars like a weapon; to pitch in and yes, to vote.
Bigotry is the discrepancy between the talk and the walk. Click To Tweet
The “silent majority” has an infamous history. (To name only one example, Germany in the Hitler’s era. Not all Germans were fascists, far from it. Most of them however stayed silent while Hitler and his crew plundered and murdered.)
Silence implies acceptance and approval. Even though the “silent majority” are not the wrong-doers, by staying silent they are perceived as complicit. Sometimes speaking up is dangerous. It is always inconvenient. But if not YOU than who? If not now than when? Most importantly perhaps: would you rather be an idealist or carry the shame of being a coward?
For generations, many were exempted from accountability for their actions if they made a generous deathbed donation to the church. Officially at least, all Christians were allowed to relinquish personal responsibility.
The rich – religious or not – were never seriously expected to talk the talk and walk the talk. To assuage their conscience, the wealthy in their later years were always known to grow more charitable….. Neither the belief in god nor the pursuit of riches are redeemable qualities or valid excuses. Bigotry is bigotry, regardless of our motifs. Nothing relieves us from the obligation to be decent to others.
We are all accountable – no, not for our thoughts or wishes – but for our actions. You are being judged as we speak. The future will hold you accountable, too.
*
Reading a piece like the above makes one wonder. What can we as individuals, communities and people do to change things? Check the MAKE IT BETTER section of Alternative Human Community magazine for answers! Yes, there are answers.
