I preface everything I am about to write with this: None of it is surprising. Heartbreaking, disappointing, infuriating, unforgiveable? Absolutely. But in no way surprising.
We are currently helmed by a Supreme Court that is corrupt, slanted, bought out, political, and populated by character deficits, Christofascists, and treasonist appointed lackeys.
Yesterday's attack on affirmative action was expected. It is reprehensible, it ignores the inequities against minorities - especially Black people - since the founding of this country. It is unjust, and does not even the playing field for all. It simply gives in to the whining of white people.
The whining of white people.
That goes to the heart of so much that is wrong in this country. I am white. I type with full awareness of my privilege. A privilege bestowed upon me for one reason - I am the product of two other white people who fucked without protection.
That's it. That's all. My highly prized lack of melanin makes my life easier in myriad ways. My name that does not sound anything but vanilla on a resume keeps me in the stack of potential employees instead of round filed for "sounding" a certain way.
I birthed three children. Products of sex without protection with a white man. Lucky kids, look at all that pale skin and opportunity. I promise you though, those three kids know they are privileged. They know they did nothing to earn that privilege. Not the skin color that makes it possible to walk through their lives easier, to look at traffic stops as mere inconvenience instead of a life threatening encounter; and not the financial comfort in which they were raised. I have always made sure they understood they were simply lucky. Not blessed - like some divine power chose them as more worthy. Not inherently better than their peers just because we could afford new clothes on a whim and Disney cruises every vacation. And certainly not chosen because we could support them in their expensive pursuits - club soccer, travel, theater trips, college. Yes, they buckled down and got the grades, were good students, busted their asses in their sports - but it was made possible largely on the back of their father who has busted his ass for his family.
I do not understand raising a child to believe their skin color makes them better. Look around. Those Proud Boys, Nazis, MAGAts, Confederate flag waving, bigoted assholes - who are largely WHITE - are some of the worst specimens to ever seep out of the gene pool.
But I digress...
Yesterday was bad. Today we have woken up to even worse. Welcome to 1940. Get ready for the reappearance of signs like this:
This morning, based on a hypothetical case, mind you - not something that had actually transpired - this SCOTUS ruled that businesses may openly discriminate against protected classes of people based on the religious bigotry of the owners.
Yes, bigotry. Do not hide behind your chosen god's robes and whine about religious freedom. Don't blame Him, Her, or It for your bastardization of scripture, warped and recreated in YOUR image, YOUR biases, YOUR bullshit. If Jesus is your guy, you aren't paying attention. Most liberal, open hearted, accepting of others dude to walk the planet. If He showed up on your doorstep now, you would shoot him through the closed door.
The case - that of this piece of work, Lorie Smith of Colorado - was not based on any encounter she had, any fight with a gay couple wanting to hire her wedding website development services. No, it was based on her irrational fear of being asked to do so by an icky gay couple. Hiding behind her religious convictions bigotry, she whined her way to the Supreme Court. And the Supreme Court, being majority peopled by Bible thumping bigots, ruled today that no business owner must be subjected to the oogies.
They ruled that it is lawful to discriminate as long as you hide behind the word "religion."
Fine. That's how they want to play, FINE. They want to openly allow discrimination against my son? They are happy to drag us back to signs that will now be displayed in storefront windows and on website landing pages announcing who they will not do business with?
Watch as this whiny, victimy cadre of bigots see their "victory" turned against them. Buy some earplugs now because the cry and hew is going to be loud and long.
MY religion does not allow me to so much as breathe the same air as MAGAts. That includes not hiring you, even to clean up my cat's wet shit. No, I don't care that you need a job and have three kids to feed. You are gross, according to my religion.
MY religion does not allow me to sully my restaurant's chi with red hats, criss cross flag t-shirts, anyone with a suspiciously Karen haircut.
MY religion restricts my interaction with stupid people.
MY religious convictions allow me to deny entry to white people. (Yes, I am one, but it's my religion, so it doesn't have to make any sense.)
MY religion allows me to deny service to anyone who makes me uncomfortable. Completely arbitrary, mind you, and may change given my mood, the day, which way the wind is blowing.
MY religion forbids the wearing of flip flops. Stay out with your chewed up toenails on your feet that look like hairy sub sandwiches. My god doesn't approve.
MY religion is foursquare against me affiliating in any way with those who smoke, are fat, are skinny, have zits, wear white shoes after Labor Day, wear pants that show their asscrack when they bend over, eat meat, don't eat meat, belch out loud, need a haircut, have bad breath, drink, don't drink, wears a mask, doesn't wear a mask, chews with their mouth open, has Parkinson's, cancer, a mouth sore, a fake leg, foot fungus, body odor, a crooked smile, smiles too much, doesn't smile enough, loves Trump, hates Trump, voted for Jill Stein, didn't vote, drinks kombucha, has kids out of wedlock, goes to church, doesn't go to church, can't sing all the lyrics to Hamilton, loves to sing all the lyrics to Hamilton (my god is capricious and sometimes not in the mood for show tunes), drinks Bud Light, doesn't drink Bud Light, enjoys country music, hates Taylor Swift, doesn't know who Jungkook is, shits regularly, doesn't shit regularly ...
I can go on and on. MY religion is whatever I want it to be. Hell, I'm already an ordained minister, I can have one started by lunchtime. It's easy and then I can discriminate at will. All I have to do:
- Decide on the basics.
- Write the bylaws.
- Get an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Open a bank account for my church.
- Get ready to fundraise.
- Obtain a certificate of formation or articles of incorporation.
- Apply for official 501(c)(3) status
BOOM, done. That easy.
And then watch the predictable fallout when these holier-than-thou idiots realize "Wait! We didn't mean this could be used against US!"
They never learn. Insist on cramming your religion into public schools? Having accommodations for prayer, prayer clubs, etc? What's that? You have a problem with there now being a Satan Club on school property? The display of the Quran next to the Bible at the front entrance? The tenets of Buddhism hanging prominently next to the Ten Commandments?
Pound sand. This is what you whined for, this is what it actually means.
There are roughly 6,000 actively practiced religions in this world. 6,001 if I type fast and decide to incorporate the Church of DGMS. And therein lies their problem. They only want laws that give their Christian dogma wide berth to do whatever, wherever to whoever. Different people with different beliefs, lives, loves make them uncomfortable, ergo must be legislated against to keep them from chafing in their panties.
My son is transgender. They don't actually know what that means any more than they could define CRT, but it gives them the oogies so they believe any garbage politicians tell them about transgender people, healthcare, gender affirming therapies/surgeries. It also means their god immediately hates them, too. They don't operate in a world of facts; they operate in a world of constantly evolving, elaborately created fiction. No transgender child is being allowed to have surgeries. Just as there is no abortion post birth - what a complete crock of shit. That is called murder, dolts - no 5 year old is having their genitals altered. But it sure does get your Bible thumping, doesn't it?
Suddenly you believe it is god directed for you to insert yourself in the most private and personal of parenting and/or medical decision making. The cold reality is you don't know these people. So why do you want to hurt these people?
Lightbulb moment. You want to hurt these people because you don't know these people. You don't know their stories, their lives, their traumas, their pregnancy complications, their years raising a child who comes out as gay, bi, ace, trans. That makes it simple for you to weaponize your ignorance, your hate, your "religious convictions". You don't see the people you hurt, you don't know the people you hurt, you don't experience the fallout of your hate, of your bigotry, of your religion.
But back to Lorie. The reality is no self respecting LGBTQIA couple would ever darken your doorstep or website for your services. Just as no one in that beautiful spectrum actually wants to buy a cake with bigotry baked into the recipe. So put up your signs. Add a banner to your website. Declare loud and proud who you discriminate against.
And enjoy the fallout. The reality is there are more people who despise your actions and beliefs than support them. Just as there are more open minded, left leaning people in this country than backwards, willfully ignorant MAGAts. You mistakenly believe that because you shit your pants in public the loudest that you are the majority, that SO MANY people are the way you are. That's just not true. Every poll, every survey, every vote tally shows that you are wrong and your numbers are dwindling.
Sadly, you have small numbers where it currently counts - the Supreme Court. You have 6 bought out whores who care nothing for the Constitution. Rather they care only about the greater glory of themselves, their owners, their overlords, their religious convictions. It won't always be that way.
It might be 1940 again today, but time marches on. And as it does, your religions, your convictions, your base, your hate will die away. Every tick of the clock brings you closer to irrelevance.
Now, excuse me, I have a church to create, and you're not invited.
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