By Samm Sharp Posted April 26, 2019
Far too many times I’ve seen people discriminating against others based on materialistic things: the color of their skin, the art inked onto their bodies, who they love, and who they identify as. From a non-religious standpoint, I may seem biased, but what other people do with their lives does not affect you (as a stranger) in any way, shape, or form.
It is not okay to discriminate against people based on their beliefs. Not everyone is religious, and that’s okay because it’s their lives; not yours. There’s no reason to force your views onto another person or belittle them because they differ from you. If you don’t understand something, that doesn’t make it okay for you to put somebody else down. Everyone deserves kindness and acceptance.
Being religious doesn’t automatically make you a good person; your actions are what indicate your decency as a human being. Adolf Hitler and Osama Bin Laden were both religious. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were of the same religions. Need I say more?
According to pewsocialtrends.org, the upcoming Gen Z (people born after 1996) is looking a lot similar to Millennials (people born from 1981-1995) from a political standpoint. Roughly six-in-ten people from said generations believe diversity is a good thing for our society; culturally and ethically. Gen X (people born from 1965 to 1980) agreed but about 10% less, Baby Boomers (born from 1946 to 1964) agreed 15% less and the Silent Generation (born from 1928 to 1845) agreed almost 20% less.
I will say that as a whole, the teenage generation in our community is mostly supportive of each other in their contrasting ways of life. On the other hand, you have the older generations, who typically don’t approve of their grandchildren being “greedy” or “selfish” by loving more than one gender. For further example, my great-grandmother believes that people should still be sent to “straight therapy”, if you will.
I have the privilege of knowing a lovely, middle-aged woman who gives me fantastic insights into her views on life every time I go to get my hair dyed. She believes in God, an afterlife, and Heaven and Hell; but above all, she believes in love. She tells me that love freed her from a dark place in her life. That everyone deserves love, and to find peace and happiness.
The most recent time I visited her, she told me she was hoping to get “a rainbow flag” to put outside the front of her shop and write ‘love welcome’ on it. She posted on Facebook recently that “Love sees all as loveable; valuable; equal. Without borders. Without labels.”
I feel it is better to be kind to everyone around you because most people deserve it; rather than yell at two boys across the street that are holding hands. New Testament, 1 Peter, verse 4:8 states, “Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
