Really?!?!

I’m telling you up front this is a political / religious opinion post. You can read it or not read it. You can decide I’m not the person for you to follow if you want. But I need to say it.

I was taking my kids to school and saw a bumper sticker that said “Just Another Republican, Working Hard, So You Don’t Have To”. I thought “wow, how much of a self righteous nose thumber can a person be?”. It has become perfectly acceptable for those who consider themselves staunchly Conservative Republican Christians to frame the rest of the world around them as ill informed, lowly heathens. I’m frankly tired of hearing it.

Lately those of us here in Granbury have been told that if we do not adhere to a very narrow worldview, there is something wrong with us. Personally, I like a big wide world. I find that it enriches my life experience. If this bumper sticker (or the other condescending bumper stickers like it) represents your set of beliefs, well frankly I feel sorry for you. If you honestly think that Republicans are the only hard working people in this nation, I feel sorry for you. If you honestly think preaching that public schools are going to snatch the wholesomeness out of your child’s soul and that public school teachers aren’t Christlike, I feel sorry for you. If you think that a book being on a library shelf is summoning the end of days, a book that informs about someone’s life different from your own, I feel sorry for you. If you think that two consenting adults wanting to spend their lives together somehow ruins your marriage, I feel sorry for you.

Here is what I know for sure. I know good, honest, hardworking Democrats, Republicans and Independents. No political party has the market cornered on being righteous and having all the answers to solving the world’s problems. If you honestly think your chosen party does, I think you need to read more history books. If you think Republicans are the only ones who have ever experienced sweat on their brow while building this nation, I feel sorry for you. That means you never knew my great-grandmother Gertrude. She was a school teacher in a one-room school house, a wife, a mother, a dairy farmer, helped run the local post office, taught Sunday school, poured out more love to her community than any human I have ever known, taught her family the importance inclusiveness, had an open door policy for those in need, did all of that simultaneously and was a DEMOCRAT. She was the absolute epitome of what it means to be American. She made us all proud and I’m sad for you that you didn’t know her or someone like her that voted a different ticket than you.

I know for sure that public schools are some of the most enriching and life enhancing locales a person could ever step into. Many people across the globe would quite literally die for their children to have an opportunity in public schools. The most wonderful thing about a public school is that you will, with absolute certainty, find educators who show up each day because their heart and soul is in it 150%. They are there there for the child who comes from the best family and the one from the worst family. They want to teach the child who makes terrific grades and the one who struggles mightily. They show love toward the child with the best behavior and the one who has the worst, the one who will wrestle with keeping their emotions in check each day. They show up for ALL kids from ALL kinds of backgrounds. I heard a lady talking about taking her child out of public schools because her kids being around public school children wasn’t good and “their family just liked their bubble”. That honestly is their choice and it isn’t for me to decide for them, but the world isn’t a bubble. While I am completely supportive of a family choosing a private school, if the motive for doing so is to build a wall, I think that is sad. There are all kind of people with all kinds of backgrounds and experiences. I for one work hard to encourage my children to be friends with and to love ALL of their neighbors, not just the ones that fit a narrow world view.

I know for sure that a book being on a library shelf is NOT going to irrevocably alter and ruin your life…or your child’s life. For as long as humans have participated in written communication, people have written things that other people don’t agree with. Every single book written does in fact represent someone or it would not have been written in the first place. Censorship is ridiculous and the “give me liberty” people should frankly take a piece of their own advice and exercise their liberty to keep walking past the book they don’t want to read. It’s painfully simple.

I know for sure that two consenting adults being in love is something I should be happy about, no matter who they are. We all know people who are divorced, have cheated or hate the person they are married to. People are people and make mistakes. They do the very best they can do given where they are at that moment in their life. The heterosexual community certainly doesn’t have the market cornered on the “perfect marriage”. I don’t make what other people do in their private life, with their significant other, my business. I know for sure that is a pretty good rule of thumb. It is important to celebrate people who are making it work and be there for those who have stumbled. If someone says they want to share their love and life with another human being, I’m all for it! The world needs more love and less hate and judgment. Granbury Texas does for sure!

I don’t recall that being Democrat, an Independent or even a moderate Republican is called out as being a sin in the bible. However, I am positive that the bible warns its readers against arrogance and hubris. Jesus told us to love. I can say for sure that I would break bread with a humble sinner over a self righteous Saint any day of the week. If you fall into one of the above mentioned political categories, I encourage you to speak up in this community. There are far more of us here than many people realize and it is perfectly acceptable for us to let our voices be heard. I am tired of being told that our outlook doesn’t count.

So there you go. You can slap a hateful, condescending bumper sticker on the back of your car, your social media page or carry the sentiment in your heart. But, please be advised that you are very likely making your world more ugly and small than any enhancement you hope to achieve from doing so. Pay attention to how much time you spend looking down your nose at other people and how narrow you make your lane of acceptance. There is a saying: “keep looking down your nose at people and eventually you will fall flat on your face with no one to help you up”. That’s a piece of wisdom we can all take to the bank.