Religious Freedom is for Everyone

From Huffpost 11/27/2019

Judge’s Ruling Shows Religious Freedom Isn’t Just For The Christian Right

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5ddd4c9be4b00149f724ff89?

Scott Warren says his religious beliefs compelled him to provide water to migrants who are suffering in the desert along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Meditation No 1

If I am kind, it’s because I know how the world can be so cruel

If I am compassionate, it is because I am only a man, and nothing human is alien to me

If I am loving, it is because the greatest gift one can give another is their sincere love

If I cry, it’s because the sadness in the world overwhelms me at times

If I rage, it is because I can envision how this world could be Paradise if not for human stupidity

If I dream, then it is because we need more dreamers

Do not take these things as weakness. They are my greatest strengths

I Hate You

I hate you!

I hate you because you are not like me!
I hate you because of the color of your skin!
I hate you because you don’t speak the same language as me!
I hate you because you don’t dress like me!
I hate you because you are LGTBQ!
I hate you because your politics are different than mine.
I hate you because you don’t live in my country.
I hate you because I live in the greatest country that ever was on Earth.
I hate you because you believe you live in the greatest country that ever was on Earth.
I hate you because you are smarter than me.
I hate you because I am smarter than you.

I hate you because your religion is different
I hate you because your Holy Books are different than mine.
I hate you because you pray differently than me
I hate you because you call God by another name
I hate you because you don’t believe in God.
I hate you because my religion is the one true religion and it says I should hate you. It says you are a blasphemer. It says you are going to Hell. Only the few who believe exactly as I do will go to Heaven.
I hate you because your religion tells you it is the one true religion and it says you should hate me. It says I am a blasphemer. It says I am going to Hell. Only the few who believe exactly as you do will go to Heaven.
I hate you because my God is a god of Love.

I hate you because you scare me
I hate you because I might not be good enough, I might not be strong enough, I might be lying to myself.
I hate you because your existence reminds me everyday that I could be wrong about everything.
I hate you because you are the witness that there are alternatives to the world I have built around myself to keep me warm, protected, and secure; and if I were to accept that these alternatives are valid, my world would crack and crash down around me. And then, who am I?

I hate you for the things I hate in myself and am afraid to acknowledge
I hate you because I shouldn’t hate you
I hate you because you hate me
I hate you because I don’t understand why you hate me
I hate you because I’ve been taught you are the reason for all the suffering in the world
I hate you because you were taught that I am the reason for all the suffering in the world
I hate you because for all my life the powers that be have taught me that you are my enemy in order to divert me from realizing that my enemy is the powers that be.

I hate you because without that hate I am nothing!