Do you remember Three Dog Night's song "Easy To Be Hard?" - I thought about it recently.
The words from Three Dog Night's song "Easy To Be Hard" immediately came to mind a couple of days ago when I read the following from Thursday's ajc:
"In a North Georgia community [Cleveland, birthplace of the Cabbage Patch dolls] that values politeness next to godliness, what would incite students at the lone high school to jeer a 16-year-old classmate as she walked down the auditorium aisle, rose in hand, during the annual Valentine's Day assembly?"
The words from the song Easy To Be Hard that came to mind:
How can people be so heartless
How can people be so cruel
Easy to be hard, easy to be cold
How can people have no feelings
How can they ignore their friends
Easy to be proud, easy to say no
Especially people who care about strangers
Who care about evil and social injustice
_______________
In catching up with my reading last night upon returning home, I read that on Thursday night the chairwoman of the White County Board of Education's warned a raucous standing-room only crowd in the community's high school gymnasium that "This is not a time for name-calling." (2-25-05, ajc.)
I have been to Cleveland before. It is a northeast Georgia town about an hour and a half's drive from Atlanta. It has two traffic lights and several dozen churches.
Here's to hoping those "raucous" members are in the pews of one of this community's many churches Sunday morning, and that the ministers of these churches will suggest to those who profess to be Christians that they should pause to remember and consider the words of the Master and Greatest Teacher of all time who taught us in Matthew 7:1 to "Judge not, that ye not be judged."
"In a North Georgia community [Cleveland, birthplace of the Cabbage Patch dolls] that values politeness next to godliness, what would incite students at the lone high school to jeer a 16-year-old classmate as she walked down the auditorium aisle, rose in hand, during the annual Valentine's Day assembly?"
The words from the song Easy To Be Hard that came to mind:
How can people be so heartless
How can people be so cruel
Easy to be hard, easy to be cold
How can people have no feelings
How can they ignore their friends
Easy to be proud, easy to say no
Especially people who care about strangers
Who care about evil and social injustice
_______________
In catching up with my reading last night upon returning home, I read that on Thursday night the chairwoman of the White County Board of Education's warned a raucous standing-room only crowd in the community's high school gymnasium that "This is not a time for name-calling." (2-25-05, ajc.)
I have been to Cleveland before. It is a northeast Georgia town about an hour and a half's drive from Atlanta. It has two traffic lights and several dozen churches.
Here's to hoping those "raucous" members are in the pews of one of this community's many churches Sunday morning, and that the ministers of these churches will suggest to those who profess to be Christians that they should pause to remember and consider the words of the Master and Greatest Teacher of all time who taught us in Matthew 7:1 to "Judge not, that ye not be judged."
posted by Sid Cottingham | 1:06 PM
6 Comments:
Nice job. Somehow i have a tough time seeing Jesus in the gym all red in the face and angry at a little girl and her 4 friends...
I appriciate your concern, however, I think it would be great if you took your posting one step further and email the Principal of white county school and tell him what you think. This is the email I sent:
Principal Dorsey,
I have been following the news about your school, and its formation of PRIDE, which I fully support. I think there is no better place to teach tolerance and acceptance to students than in schools, and as educators, you have an obligation to lead by example. You must realize, what was once a town squabble has now become national news. At this time the nation is watching to see which actions you take, and what you are doing will reflect on Georgia, the south, and the United States. I can only hope that you take a responsible action, and allow Kerry Pacer to form her club.
Sincerely,
Eric Carlson
I encourage all of you to get involved as well, and email Principal Dorsey at bdorsey@white.k12.ga.us and tell him what you think. (Please feel free to copy my email if you cannot think of one on your own)
Thanks,
-eric: Revolutionary
"Here's to hoping those "raucous" members are in the pews of one of this community's many churches Sunday morning, and that the ministers of these churches will suggest to those who profess to be Christians that they should pause to remember and consider the words of the Master and Greatest Teacher of all time who taught us in Matthew 7:1 to 'Judge not, that ye not be judged.'"
I also seem to remember a Bible verse regarding the casting of stones which also seems rather appropriate here.
Didn't want to take up too much space here in your comments section, Sid, so I went off on a diatribe here.
My space is your space. What's a few bytes anyway. Post the full thing here if you would like.
Ahh, when those gays & straights try to get some tolerance in North Georgia.
Here's the story:
In Cleveland, GA -- 30/45 minutes from where I grew up -- some students are trying to form a coalition of gay & straight students called PRIDE (Peers Rising in Diversity Education).
A Junior and some of her friends started the coalition and initiated the process of becoming an official club.
And boy has that stirred up a storm up in the mountains.
I originally heard about this at a family gathering a few weeks ago, where some members of my family were discussing the issue. By "discussing the issue," I basically mean "gay-bashing."
The discussion went something like this:
"Can you believe what's happening in Cleveland?"
"Naw, that's something isn't it?"
"Yep, trying to make that gay club in school and all."
"I know. And it ain't the home folk up there who's doing it, it's them people who's moved in from the outside."
And on and on and on.
Their problem wasn't so much with the gay-straight alliance club thingy, it was with the outside people who were trying to force their gay agenda on the people up there.
I promptly left.
Yes, I am serious.
If I had it all to do over again, I think I would've simply said this:
"So you're saying that gay people are okay, but the people who aren't native to Cleveland and who are trying to force tolerance on the people is the problem?"
"Yes."
"Well, I guess we had all better pack our bags and get the hell back to our homelands - wherever they are - because we're essentially a bunch of outsiders who came over here and enforced our laws on the people who were living here. And we were much less kind than some gay tolerance people.
"I'm not done yet. Moreover, your problem is with the gay-straight alliance that they're trying to make into a school club. Don't lie to me. God hates queers, right? Therefore , they should stay out of everything so that straight people don't get tainted by the mere presence of a homosexual. That's the real issue, now isn't it?
"I'm still not done. You know what? I seem to remember the Bible saying "Judge not, lest ye be judged." It also says somewhere in there to "Love thy neighbor as thyself." If I remember correctly, that's the so-called Golden Rule. And then there's that pesky little verse that says, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
Leave it to me -- someone who doesn't even believe in your religious organizations -- to remind you that Jesus was a peace-loving, tolerant hippie.
Think about that as you're driving home."
And then I would've hugged my grandmother's neck and then my mama's before turning around and walking out.
Stuff you might want to refer to:
Cracker Squire -- for inspiring this diatribe.
Here's to hoping those "raucous" members are in the pews of one of this community's many churches Sunday morning, and that the ministers of these churches will suggest to those who profess to be Christians that they should pause to remember and consider the words of the Master and Greatest Teacher of all time who taught us in Matthew 7:1 to "Judge not, that ye not be judged."
New Revolution -- who's been following this thing for the last couple of days and encourages us all to write a letter to the principal there.
Brief comment: The problem up there isn't the principal, believe me. I'm unsure how effective it will be to bombard him with letters, because the real issue is the intolerant religious community surrounding the area. If there were someway to make them see the truth...oh, wait...they already chose to ignore the truth by reelecting Bush.
As sad as it honestly is, it may just be hopeless...
(Wow, that's depressing. Sorry.)
I told y'all it was lengthy!!!
(link)
Post a Comment
<< Home