New York, 7:43 PM
Thu Nov 12
73 posts in the last 24 hours
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A Thin Line Between Love And Hate. And God, Apparently. |
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Jezebel 
10/16/09
10/17/09
Lighten up. That was waaay too harsh.
P.S. If you had bothered to actually read the piece, you would see that the boy didn't attend as part of some school function. He came with his mother. So no, there was no teacher or school administrator to "vet" his question. #barackobama
10/16/09
It's the backbone of the Republican party, of course! #barackobama
10/16/09
That said, there's an element of literalness there that always does make me uncomfortable, maybe especially when it's kids. While the concept of loving thy neighbor is nice, what does that actually mean to most people? Or to this particular child? It seems to mean he thinks people should love the president, which many clearly don't, and there's a lot of anger and vitriol out there. Which can't really be explained or reconciled with religious doctrine.
And, as an atheist, I can't say as I've ever liked the notion of "God is love". Love is love. Compassion and ethics and being kind and generous to your fellow human beings is not a religious concept, nor something only a belief in "god" can promote.
I realize this child is 9, and that a lot of this is about nuances and degrees and interpretation that he'll (hopefully) discover as he gets older. But I don't think there's anything wrong with looking at that comment and considering the implications. #barackobama
10/17/09
I think that kid was trying to say something to that effect. It isn't that everyone ought to love the president, just that they ought not hate him. #barackobama
10/16/09
10/16/09
10/16/09
10/16/09
I think what the kid is focusing on is that people constantly spew a cesspool full of personally hateful words out of their mouth for their President, thus showing their hate and contempt for him as a man. Disagreeing with his policies are one thing (and a lot of people also disrespect his position of authority while disagreeing with him - which I think is unnecessary many times) but I think we all know that some people have taken it to the corner of Crazy and Hate and say all kinds of nasty things about him. Loving everyone is not an easy thing to do, especially when you don't like a person.
Do I think you overreacted? Yeah - a little. I think lil man was trying to be kinda deep (or maybe that's really what he felt in his heart). But you're right, he's trying to make sense of what he learned in church, the nightly news, and what he's learning in school.
As a person who grew up in the church with parents as ordained ministers but who is also a liberal who questions a whole lot of stuff that I'm now apparently being damned for, I can say I see both sides of the coin. I was this kid once. #barackobama
10/16/09
10/16/09
I prefer to look at it like, ok - I believe in Jesus and his position as the son of God. But instead of harping on "this is sin", "this'll get you sent to hell", fire, brimstone, and eternal lakes of fire, I feel like I can do better by saying, "How can I help someone? How can I be a blessing to someone?" That sounds really "We are the World"-ish and shit but I find it takes much less energy to be a blessing than to harp on sin and be hateful.
*finishes tallboy of Bud Light*
Edit: Also - I don't think that my way of thinking makes me better than anybody (I don't play that holier-than-thou shit). You do you - if you don't believe the things I do, that's cool too. Some people call me a hypocrite for it (Bible-thumpers, mostly) but whatever. They're not gonna be the bouncer at Club Pearly Gates when it's all said and done.
10/16/09
10/16/09
Christians are supposed to love Obama, and Obama himself puts God and politics together.
I think this kid is a pretty smart Christian actually. In my non-practicing Christian/agnostic half the time opinion he's talking about 1st John, which is about identifying speakers of false doctrine.
1 John 4:8 "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."
1 John 4:20 "If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen." #barackobama
10/16/09
For real, Latoya, I'm with you on this. I think this question is born of the scary thinking that to question the president/war/issue is to be unpatriotic, a notion exploited by McCain and entrenched in certain parts of America by Palin. And maybe a significant amount of time in Bible School. Both horrifying prospects to this liberal atheist. #barackobama
10/16/09
10/16/09
10/16/09
God made all of us in his image. God is love. Therefore we all are worthy of God's love and should nurture love within our hearts for all of God's other creatures.
or
Love Thy Neighbor as Thou Love Thyself
or (as my teacher put it)
You don't have to like everyone, but you do have to love them.
Obama has been subject of some absolutely batshit behavior and accusations. These aren't people questioning his policies, these are people who legitimately hate him for no reason. I'm living in one of the most liberal areas of Alabama, and I hear it all the time. I'm sure this kid hears it as well. So, a 9 year-old trying to reconcile the ideals he's being taught with the hateful reality of the world at large? I'm not going to fault him for that. I'm not going to get mad at a child for having some form of religion and trying to use it as a lens through which to view the world, and I'm not going to get mad at his family/school for teaching him that; especially if they're giving him the parts that actually stand a chance at making the world a better place. #barackobama
10/16/09
10/16/09
10/16/09
10/16/09
He's struggling with the difference between disliking someone for their beliefs and disliking someone for their harmful actions. It must be pretty unsettling for a kid, who's been taught that hate is a bad and rare thing, to see so many people talking about the President in a hateful way. Not because everyone should love the President, but because -- seriously, Obama, what have you done that makes people hate you? Should I be worried about something you've done that I just don't know about? #barackobama
10/16/09
10/16/09
What do we see? People proclaiming to love God spewing hate.
What are you taught in church? That we are all God's children and we're supposed to treat each other as such.
What do you learn in elementary school? That the POTUS is the leader of this country and you're supposed to respect him. And, as a minority in NOLA, I'm sure he was taught that you ARE supposed to love Obama, the same way I grew up thinking that all Republicans were AWESOME.
He's 9 years old. He can ask the president whatever the hell he wants to.
More importantly is the answer Obama gave, which I thought was a solid answer that wasn't controversial. #barackobama
10/16/09
10/16/09
10/16/09