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Permalink Reply by AgeOfAtheists14 on June 15, 2011 at 9:15pm

microphone check:

sick of it all; lyrics to just look around:

The question they keep asking me
How can one so young be so bitter and angry
Well, the answer is plain to see
Maybe if they wern't so blind they'd see what i see
I see the homeless livin' out on the street
On every corner they're asking for money
I try to help them whenever i can
But sometimes i can't afford to help myself
I see diseases and modern plagues of our times
The greed of our leaders has made them blind
To our problems
They spend millions overseas,
People right here are fightin' wars everyday

I see the whites that hate the blacks
Blacks against the jews, race against religion
And the're all too blind to see
When we fight each other it puts all of them at ease
It keeps us so busy, so they can do what they please
Election time comes and they're out for votes
That's when you see and hear from them the most
This is what they're calling a democracy
That's just another word for hypocrisy
We keep fallin' for the bait
When we realize, it's always too late

I see the whites that hate the blacks
Blacks that hate the jews, brother against brother
And they're all to blind to see

As the rich get richer, the poor goin' hungry
I've seen the toll it takes on the workingman's family
Education system that's obsolete
Can't hold a kid's interest or keep 'em off the street
See a father's fear, hear a mother's cry
What kind of a nation lets their children die
Government's corrupt and full of red tape
Then you're gonna ask me why i hate

Why don't you open up your eyes so you can see
Open up your ears so you can hear
Take a look around and you will find
Take a look around and you will find out why

~
Greydon n' SOIA on tour; that'd be something to reckon.

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Wachenheim on June 16, 2011 at 7:47am

My observation is that religion and racism overlap and support one another, but not all religious people are racist and not all racist people are religious. 

 

Trying to understand biblical items that seem to support racism, the bible is strongly pro-slavery, but slavery in the bible related to people who were the same race as the slave owners.  They may have been different nationality or different clan, but that is not always specified.  Unlike American slavery, biblical slavery was not necessarily racist, just anti-human.   The also supports Jews as being the chosen race of god, and therefore regards nonJews as OK to invade, kidnap, kill, enslave, and rape (old testament).  It regards christians as the chosen people of god, and that god will torture and kill nonchristians (new testament - while the Jewish nation was subjugated by Rome).

 

Racists have often used the bible to support their racism, while ignoring other rules and regulations in the bible.  I was taught anti-black racism in my baptist church, using the story of Noah who was drunk and naked and one of his sons laughed at him.  That son was punished by being made black and therefore black people were considered fair game for discrimination.  This is not an accurate depiction of the bible story but was taught in my bible baptist church.

 

In my own early history I was taught racism and taught religion by mostly the same people, and often in church.  There are anti-racist churches, I just didnt know that at the time.  It's hard for me to separate the two.  As an adult, my most rewarding relationships have been outside my own background and race, and mostly nonreligous people, although not all.  We benefit tremendously by crossing the invisible lines that small minded people draw for us.

 

"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

1 Corinthians 11

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Permalink Reply by Richard K. Emms on June 17, 2011 at 7:04am

Oh my!

   It's interesting how both parents and even clergy stumble around innocent chilren's questions. 

   Growing up, and having catholic dogma shoved down my throat, made me ask too.  My parents could not answer, and nuns would actually strike us for asking.  At about age 14, I stopped looking for something to happen to make me believe it all. 

   Welcome to the real world, and keep asking questions!

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Permalink Reply by Brian Wood on June 18, 2011 at 4:58am

As I grew up in northern New England in the 40's, 50's and 60's, I never saw a person of color until I was 16 years old.  My mom and dad (although I later found out they had mild prejudices) were great enough to teach me never to judge a person by something he cannot change.  It's worked well for me.

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Permalink Reply by Ted on June 18, 2011 at 5:39am

Perhaps implying that color is something that some one should change if they could, was an indicator of some of those mild prejudices? :)

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Permalink Reply by Brian Wood on June 18, 2011 at 11:22am

My mom didn't like the Irish, I found out when I was 18.  But then I found out she just didn't like Catholics of any stripe.

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Permalink Reply by FreeThinker on June 26, 2011 at 10:53am

What kind of church was it?  Did your father believe that only those that belonged to that sect were "saved"?  If he thought all Christians were saved, then he is grossly mis-informed about the religious demographic of African Americans, as they have a higher adherence to religion than the general population.

 

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1099/religious-portrait-of-african-amer...

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