The Other Foot

It's fun how things are different when the shoe is on the other foot.

There is an older lady I know in one of the places I grew up. She was my seminary teacher for my final year in the program, and she is still very good friends with my parents. I have a great deal of respect for her... One of my best memories of her was one day when she offered me a ride to school. I was dating a girl, and things weren't going so well. I had been a little distracted, and it wasn't helped by the fact that the prior week my mother had cornered me and asked if I had gotten her pregnant - you know all non-Mormon girls want is to get knocked up by a good little Mormon boy!

Anyway, but this kind lady gave me a ride to school and actually listened to my concerns. She shared some thoughts, but never pushed too hard, forced her opinions on me or anything like that.

I hadn't spoken to her for years, but we exchanged an email or two a few years back. Actually that was kind of sad... She's been told all about my life by my mother, but the story she's been told is a far cry from reality. It had enough details that I knew it was me, but it sounded far more socially acceptable/faith promoting, or whatever you want to call it, than reality.

Anyway, she sent me something yesterday...

It was an email that started off talking about a lady who helped rescue kids from Nazi Concentration camps during WWII. It then took a dig at both Barack Obama and Al Gore, because they got the Nobel Peace prize and this lady didn't.

And it continued to go south from there.

If finished off by talking about how the Muslims are saying the holocaust was a myth, and they just want to kill off all the Jews and Christians in the world, and Jews and Christians are all so persecuted and they've never hurt a fly, and the evil Muslims need to be stopped.

I don't think it's worth writing a reply, although I'm sure she's already been told what an evil apostate I've become.

The thing is... The whole holocaust is a myth thing... That's not actually what most Muslims say. The one guy who they claim said something like that, actually didn't say it was a myth, he simply said that it happened a long time ago, and he didn't agree with those who continued to use it as an excuse to persecute other people. I would actually agree with that.

And then Christians and Jews being the victims?!?

If you believe the bible is in fact a true history as most Christians and Jews do... Their god got them to go in and wipe out entire cities in the Old Testament. And let not forget the Crusades - kill a Muslim, secure your salvation garbage.

It's just funny how people only have a problem with something when it's being done to them.

Right wing christian zealots are all up in arms about a new mosque in New York, the same people who are bitching about attacks on their religious freedom by other groups.

And then you have the anti-religion propaganda. Lets look at Mormons for instance. Anti-Mormon literature is the worst thing a mormon can encounter - even though most of it isn't actually that bad. They'll whine about "Why can't people just ask us if they have questions, instead of turning to that garbage." Then thing is though, give a Mormon some anti-Catholic literature, and it'll be photocopied and handed out to everyone in the neighborhood in minutes, with much tee hee heeing, and aren't those Catholics just a bunch of stupid, child molesting morons on the side.

I remember back when I was a Mormon missionary... First of all, I was sent out with a book which contained a bunch of references on how to confound other religions with biblical verses. It was called The Missionary Pal, and had a whole section devoted to the Catholic Church and how it was the Church of the Devil. And then a couple of months after I got out into the mission field, another missionary got sent a list put together by an "ex-catholic priest", with all kinds of damning evidence against the catholic church (No sex scandals mind you...) The capstone on that letter was the statement by this priest (No doubt just a figment in the mind of some socially awkward Mormon hack in his parents basement in Provo) that the Pope and Satan where in league together, because... Get this... He had seen them together in meetings!

We're a funny breed us humans... It's all wrong when it attacks us, but when it attacks someone else, it's the greatest thing in the world.

The anti-Muslim stuff is the most interesting... Muslims want to kill all of us innocent Christians, and we wouldn't even hurt a little baby fly. Let's kill them all before they get the chance!