Grassroots movements of Intolerance towards those who are Intolerant.
Posted in Commentary
Apr. 21, 2008 at 17:35
by BrendaBee
Why Americans are becoming intolerant of intoleranceA Letter to the Editor of our local newspaper today made me aware that I have been seeing a lot of letters and articles and blogs of late that appear to be the beginning of a grassroots movement against intolerance. This trend in people speaking up to those who thru their intolerance of the countries culture are going about destroying the values and customs in favor of their own imported culture, or their own intolerant ideas appears to have gone too far and has gotten the attention of the common people.
The trend towards all inclusive policies and the move towards advocating a multicultural society was first seen in the universities and adopted by the bureaucrats in the governments as the people’s wishes, and policies were changed and laws enacted to reflect this change. This movement was most prevalent in Europe, Canada, Australia and the United States.
In Europe the catalyst for change began soon after WWII when the full extend of the Nazi’s brutality against the Jews was finally understood. In an effort to see that nothing like the Holocaust ever happens again national governments enacted laws with stringent penalties for any individuals or groups who spoke against other recognized groups and promoted hate. The most prominent outcome was a list of banned words. Words that were considered politically incorrect and corrosive were banned from use in newspapers, magazine and books. The effect of course was to stifle the very first freedom that all free people demand and that is the freedom of speech. Some would even say the Nazi’s and Communist won after all because their most repressive measure against their own populations in Nazi Germany, Russia and China was to repress the freedom of speech and control the public media.
Whether it was guilt for having turned a blind eye towards the rumors coming out of Nazi Germany about the slaughter of the Jews or just a weariness with war and strife, the people went along with these measures. It is only now a full half century later that many are questioning the loss of what we Americans at least consider our greatest freedom. A grassroots movement among a new generation of people in the European countries is questioning these lists of banned words and demanding the right to express their ideas and beliefs openly without fear of persecution. And oddly enough it is the young people of Germany who appear to be on the front of this movement by discussing openly the Holocaust and their city’s participation in the harassment and eventual slaughter of the Jews and other “undesirables” in the crematoriums. This movement towards the opening up of dialog has not, and is not, easy as it has been the trend since the end of the war for German cities to deny any knowledge of what was happening. They do not deny the Holocaust happened in Germany but it seems all older generations want to believe it happened somewhere else in their country and they personally did not know or understand what was happening. This attitude persists even in cities that were directly connected with the concentration camps. So there is much resistance towards the young bringing this black time in their history alive again.
In the United States political correctness came about from another source of national disgrace: the enslavement and later the repression of a whole race of people based on nothing but color.
Before going further let me remind you of just what kind of people immigrated to America first from Europe and now from all over the world. The “meek and humble” did not come to our shores, but stayed home and continued to live under the tyranny that oppressed them. No, those who found America were from the very beginning the strongest. And it was this strong breed of people that populated this land who crafted a Constitution and Bill of Rights that reflected their memories of the repressive laws of their homeland which they would not tolerate in their new homeland. These people were followed each new generation by waves of the strongest individuals who had the same dreams of freedom, where an individual could make anything he was capable of making of himself with no class barriers or bigotry. Sad to admit but each new group was met with less than perfect human beings who indeed offered closed ranks and bigotry to the new comers. Each group however dug in, worked, educated themselves and their children in the language and law of the new land and eventually prospered to in turn show intolerance for the new wave of immigrants.
This had been the pattern and it had worked very well making the United States the strongest, wealthiest, most influential and most desired destination country in the world in a short 200 years of it‘s existence. Then this pattern began to come unraveled during the second half of the 20th century. It began with the Civil Rights movement of our own home grown repressed group of people demanding to share the rights and privileges promised to all Americans.
This Civil Rights movement by Blacks for inclusion in the mainstream of American life was right and good and long overdue. And it lead to new laws being passed to penalize bigotry and intolerance and discrimination wherever it made itself known. In schools, houses, restaurants stores, rest rooms, water fountains and buses Black Americans were not to be prohibited from participation in the broader society . In fact the laws became inclusive and protected all of any race, religion or sex from discriminatory practices. Once the laws were in place it was for the people themselves to push themselves forward using the tool the laws gave them to force their way where they had formerly been denied. The Civil Rights Movement brought about great changes for Black American, women and all religions. And again it was a grassroots movement beginning with brave Black Americans like Rosa Parks and the Greensboro, NC Four which lead to a Black leader, Martin Luther King. The women’s agenda was pushed forward by NOW, National Organization of Women but better known as the “Ban the Bra Girls”. I gave me pleasure then and pride now to admit that I was one of the early members of NOW. None of it was easy in the beginning but strides were made and are being made. Opportunities are there for all people of every race, religion and sex.
However the movement did not stop there with opportunities guaranteed as much as possible to every American. Some Americans and some new comers demanded our laws be changed to “liberate” all groups of people who have made America their home. And not just liberated to take full advantage of our laws and customs, but the demands were to incorporate their beliefs and customs into our laws. And if there was a conflict between their beliefs and the laws or customs of America then the demand was to change these laws and customs. The fact that new groups of people were assimilated as they learned the laws and customs of their new land was overlooked. These newer groups of immigrants were assured they need not become Americans or learn the language and the customs of this new country, but were free to keep and follow the laws and customs of the countries they had fled from in the first place. It was of course an absurdity because it was these very repressive laws that they fled.
Americans are a fair minded, generous and tolerant people so our governments made adjustments and allowances for these new people. We changed requirements to accommodate the people. Our schools were required to teach in both English and Spanish. Telephone any company or government office and you are asked which language you prefer English or Spanish. That we haven’t made these same language adjustments for the many other groups was not an oversight, but it finally was seen as an imp-possibility to accommodate every group. Sadly the fact that the accommodation in language was made for Hispanics turned out to be a seriously damaging act against this group. They had no urgent need to learn the language and therefore did not and now even second generation Hispanics often can not fit into the mainstream and get good jobs. Because of their poor command of English. Hispanics are still the new “laboring class” with few of them able to crawl up the ladder of success and grab the American dream. They have taken the place of Black Americans before the Civil Rights movement.
America is a country build on freedom and tolerance and allowing all people to do as they want, choose how they live, how they worship the God of their choice, say what they want without fear of retaliation and do more or less what they want as long as they remain within the laws. The Civil Rights Movement made this national standard all inclusive.
The United States is also a Christian country. We are a country built originally by and for people who believe in the Christian Bible. Our laws, our culture and our lives are based on the lessons taught in the Christian Bible. We are also a democracy where the majority decides what is to be done for the over all good of the population.
Somehow the Civil Rights Movement morphed into something it was not meant to be. Since Americans were seen as willing to accommodate others the flood gates opened and there are those who are going about pressing for all sorts of changes in our customs and even our laws. In the American way our effort to be tolerant and allow all the freedom we all cherish to be extended and guaranteed to all others we allowed those who disagree and are far less tolerant to take away what we, the majority, want. We allowed God to be taken out of our schools. We allowed smut and filth to fill our air ways in music and movies, and books and the media. It has gone so far as to be on being bizarre what some groups are demanding. It is this very absurdity that is causing many Americans to rethink the laws that these groups are trying to use to gain their objectives and is leading to what is being called the Grassroots Movement of Intolerance against Intolerance.
Since the Iraqi War many prisoners have been captured and are being held as prisoners of war. There are those of us who are now demanding that prisoners of war who are sworn enemies of our country be given the same legal rights as citizens of our country in our courts. In fact, the prisoners themselves are demanding the rights to be tried in our country rather than to be sent back and tried by the laws of their own countries! A bit of irony there wouldn't you say. These terrorist are our enemies and determined to destroy our country and yet when they are caught and being brought to justice they refuse to be sent back and tried by the courts and justice of their own countries but demand the right to be tried by our laws and tried as citizens of our country. This is a very serious breach of our rights as citizens to extend our laws to cover all those who happen to be physically in American territory. No other country in the world extends the rights and privileges of citizenship in their courts of law to enemies and prisoners of war. And sadly we have foolish Americans and American organizations such as the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) who feel the aliens should have this right!
The case is now gone so far as our Supreme Court to determine the status of these terrorist prisoners. Then if they are given the right to be tried in our courts under our laws and convicted they will have all the rights to appeal the verdict and again clear up to the Supreme Court of our land if necessary. Surely there is something very much amiss with this method of dealing with prisoners of war. And nowhere else on earth but in the United States would this state of affairs even be considered and never fought thru the courts as this case has been.
We are, in fact, bending over back wards to accommodate the haters and self absorbed who care nothing for the rights of all Americans and the culture that has been forged by a freedom loving and fair minded groups of citizens over the past 400 years since the first settlement of immigrants on our shores in Jamestown, Virginia. They care only about their own narrow ideas and because they are privileged to live in the United States they have the freedom to demand the rest of us comply with their views.
This twisting of our laws seems to have at last gotten the attention of the average American as I stated in the beginning of this article. More and more I am seeing and hearing protests against the demands being made by fringe groups and new comers to our country. For almost half a century now Americans have remained quiet and tried to be understanding of all peoples needs and wants. They looked at each case and said, “Well, what’s the harm? “So okay we don’t need to have a nativity in the public park.”. “So okay we don’t need to have prayers in schools or require children to recite the Pledge to our Flag.”. “We can do without (fill in the blank) it’s not really that important.”. Americans though are now apparently deciding that some things really are important; if not in and of themselves then in principle. Amnd they are taking action.
Two years ago in my city and I have read in may cities around the country stores turned to saying Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas phase. Do you remember that? Do you also remember the backlash with some stores actually being boycotted for their Happy Holiday pandering to the non-Christians in this a Christian country celebrating a Christian holiday? Well, Merry Christmas is back and being said loud and clear. No one is stopping anyone from saying what ever they wish on their particular holidays. In fact, Americans being the fun loving people they are gladly join in celebrations of others cultures and even religious holidays. Remember Christianity is an inclusive religion with belief in loving all God’s children.
There are also those among Christians who are trying to impose upon us all their beliefs in just how the universe was created. They want what they call "creationism" to be taught in our science classes along with what we have learned thru scientific discovery. A school board in Pennsylvania was thrown out of office and a new board elected when they went against the will of the majority of people and tried to rewrite the science text books. A Christian nation we may well be, but we are also an intelligent people who favor the acceptance of what is before our eyes over what many feel is mythology to illustrate God‘s creation of the world in a way understandable to the masses of ages past. At the very least we expect the Bible to be taught in the churches and science to be taught in the schools as is the law of the land. In this way the individual can choose freely what he/she wishes to believe.
We are finding more and more often Muslims who have been welcomed to America and whom most companies have respected and given their Muslim employees time off five times each day to pray as their religion requires. Their mosques and schools proliferate all over the country . And yet the schools use text books that teach hatred and death to all infidels while they are living in and infidel country. (reference: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/19/AR2006051901769.html This was reported on CNN as well as the article referenced above and in several other outlets. When asked why these text books were being used and why especially in America to American Muslims the answer was given that the changes in the text to reflect less bigoted messages could only be made slowly to change people’s beliefs. Reading these articles and what the Muslim children are being taught in the schools we Americans freely and with good will accomodate is truly upsetting and disheartening. I was able to procure several text from Muslim schools and know the articles are no exagerations.
Twice now our laws have been challenged by Muslim women who wish to cover their faces though it is not as they claim a religious requirement. One was a naturalized citizen and one was not.
In North Carolina a Muslim woman sued the state and demanded that she be allowed to cover the lower half of her face when getting her picture taken for her drivers license. This effort failed on the very good reasoning that drivers licenses were used for identification and a partially covered face would void that use. The irony is that in her homeland she would never have been allowed to drive let alone get a license to drive!
Another case of a Muslim woman suing Judge Paul Paruk who in a Detroit District 31 Small Claims Court dismissed her case because she insisted on testifying while wearing what she called a "veil", but which was in fact a full body covering called a niqub that covers the entire body but the eyes. A niqab is just one step away from the infamous burqa which obscures the eyes as well. Her suit claims that her religious rights were violated. While the Koran does not specifically require that women wear a covering over their face, many do as a sign of piety and modesty. This is fine and a respected mode of dress as far as I know. However it was not at all a violation of her religion as the Koran does not make this requirement . It is a show of modesty for Muslim women only. It is however a violation of our civil laws which demands that the defendant be able to confront his accuser. This would hardly be possible if only the eyes of the person claiming to be the accuser were visible.
These and other acts against our laws are finally making the American people rethinking their responsibility towards immigrants to our country. Our leaders are still caught up in the “tolerate all behavior” mode, but at the grassroots a movement is underway to simply say Stop! Stop the nonsense of trying to import other cultures into our country. If the immigrants want what they had then certainly they have the right to return to their homeland. If they want to be Americans then they will have to accept the ways of Americans and be tolerant of others behaviors if they are not breaking the laws of our land just as Americans are taught b y our religion and our laws to be tolerant of all others as long as they are no breaking the law of the land.
Most of all immigrants must accept and obey our laws. The protests may be over rather trivial things like Merry Christmas rather than Happy Holidays and other rather mundane issues at present, but the momentum is growing to become intolerant of intolerance, and this I believe can only be good in a freedom loving country. Freedom and intolerance are mutually exclusive ideas.
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