and may turn black like the other one did, making it invisible until you run your cursor over it. At any rate, it mentioned (of course) the well-beaten dead horse that is "Don't ask don't tell". I think it was interesting that perhaps this will result in a more unified opposition to it. In my own opinion, I continue to regard it as a non-issue. There are gay people in the military, more or less openly so, (and really, how open do you need to be about sexuality when you're at work? Last time I checked it's a place where work gets done, not Plato's Retreat, guys.) So some people do indeed have a problem with gay people in the military, many of which have not served in the military. There are those people who wish to serve yet still identify as gay. This is odd, I always thought- does being gay mean you can't shoot? Believe me, there are plenty of straight people who fire a weapon anything but straight, pun intended.
But I digress. I've noticed a lot of Christians expect to be persecuted, or put on the spot for their religious beliefs. This (for once) is not a dig on Christianity, as people of this faith do great things for each other and for their communities, and are generally some of the nicest folks you could hope to meet. I don't agree with a lot of their politics, but that's no reason why we shouldn't all get along. There are a lot of anti-Christian sentiments in parts of the world, which is unfortunate, that people are not free to pursue what makes them happy. Likewise, there are anti-Muslim parts of the world too. I'm finding that a true Muslim tends to get a bad rap- Muslims tend to be very religious people, again, not that this is a criticism. I've known people who would excuse themselves during the day to remove to a back room or quiet corner to perform prayers. It was a rather amazing and inspiring sight, I found. Muslims generally are peaceful, as peace is a tenet of their faith- though to be honest, it's a religion I understand little of, so can't speak on it with any real authority, just relate my own experiences. The more extreme sects, I would guess, are more motivated by politics and somewhat more mundane concerns than those of serving the Prophet.
So again, I'm reminded that it seems that when one religion claims to be the one true religion, and by extension all others false, we get into trouble. A person assured of his divinely appointed truth tends to look on other people as "them" rather than "us". It's actually a pretty regular human trait, to look and find differences among 'different' people. And of course, though I don't want to dig on religions too much, there's the ego factor. Wouldn't one person whom God has chosen to reveal the truth of the universe to feel pretty darn important? The human ego is a fragile thing, and a hungry one. Yet to really boil it down, it reminds me of a quote from my all-time favorite Shakespeare character, Friar Lawrence from Romeo and Juliet-
'Two such opposed kings encamp them still
In man as well as herbs, grace and rude will
And where the worser is predominant,
Full soon the canker death eats up that plant".
Ironic, I always thought, that here what should bring out the best in humanity so often brings out the worst. Well, such is life, I think. Yet does any other being in the universe have such potential? It seems to me that there is no bottom to the depths of human existence- nor is there any limit to the heights we can attain.
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