How 'bout this man?
Or this gentleman?
Of course you knew Sarah Palin. The next man is Congressman Steve King of Iowa. The third image is of Bob Vander Plaats. Mr. Vander Plaats ran (again) to be Iowa governor and lost (again).
All three of them are extremely conservative politicians and, in my opinion, are the epitome of intolerance. To be overly generalistic, they are self righteous people who believe they have the right to tell others how to live. They are each very critical of people who do not share their rigid beliefs. Each of them will loudly and boldly proclaim that progressive liberals are destroying the United States.
The Tea Party movement - which each of the above supports - recently put up this billboard in Iowa.
Bob Vander Plaats is spending the next few months trying to get some of our Iowa Supreme Court justices voted off the bench. He and his followers are upset that the court ruled gays have a legal right to be married. When he was running for governor, his primary message was that he would issue an Executive Order outlawing same sex marriage.
Here's an image of extreme intolerance.
These idiots are from the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. They protest military funerals since they believe the United States is endorsing gay rights by allowing gays to be in the military.
Of course, Sarah Palin, Steve King and Bob Vander Plaats do NOT support these crazy people. But these extremists illustrate the ignorance of excessive intolerance. Yet it is the court system that protects the right of these people to engage in such hate speech.
We live in a world that is getting closer every day because of the internet and other advances in communication and technology. It is time we think of ourselves as a world community and get away from parochialism. And as a world community, we must embrace diversity. It is through diversity we get stronger and can enrich our lives.
I respect the right of radical conservatives to say what they want. But I hope they remember it is because of progressive liberals and intelligent judges that all of us have the rights we have today.
Thanks for stopping by.
13 comments:
I am thankful that we live in a land where we have many freedoms and I don't want them to be taken away by some crazies who want to do the thinking for us. OH no!
Intolerance is NOT a good thing. MB
Oh BTW: I have never been able to get any shots of lightening---I am always too late--but someone said they use a video and then pull out the pic they want. Now I need to know how to 'pull out' the right pic. MB
I hope people remember that, indeed. As a woman with the right to vote (which I exercise at least once every single year), I am keenly aware of the people and forces it took to create that societal change.
I often think that the study of history should be the practice of remember what we thought about an issue at a time in the past, and comparing that to our thoughts about that topic today. The wisdom comes in realizing what prompted us to shift our opinions.
Omigoodness, is that billboard for real..??? It's shocking...! In Canada, that would immediately be removed as "hate literature".
It's sort of a dichotomy that the slogon on that billboard is "Live free or die!", and yet the Tea Party would take away many of the freedoms that other people enjoy. I imagine they are so narrow-minded, they can't see the irony in that. The really scary thing is, there are so many people who agree with them.
No one has the right to tell anyone else how to live.
I love this post. I agree with you and you said it so much better than I could.
It takes strong words and pictures to have people pay attention.
It doesn't mean what is said is what will be done.
I am a middle of the road person constantly balancing. Right now the world is out of balance,
Both the left and the right so to balance, strong words are required.
Being too tolerant is just as deadly as being to intolerant.
Intolerance means too many laws and tolerance means lack of thereof.
So .....take it as you wish.
Very nice a post...love it...
Rigid conservatists are going to run themselves right out of business. IF they were running a business in Iowa with those kind of billboards I would suspect no one would spend their money there. Iowans are much too smart for that sort of hate in politics... waaaay too smart.
Di
As the world becomes smaller due to technology, it's imperative that we come to embrace diversity and respect each others' belief systems. If only more politicians would hold up that UU symbol and work together against injustice instead of perpetuating it! (Born and bred in Iowa, it saddens me to see the state overtaken by the Tea Party.)
Excellent post, Russell. We have had several similar billboards in Alabama.
Regarding your comment about barns take a look at the hay door on this barn on Ciel's blog.
http://hte-randomphotos.blogspot.com/
MB
God help us and everyone else if these Tea Party people succeed in their causes. They scare me. I hope the people of Iowa totally reject their message. I can never understand what it is about homosexuality that incites them so much.
Those Westboro Baptists are very scary folks. I also wonder how the good people of New Hampshire would feel about seeing their state's slogan, "Live free or die" on a billboard representing such radically hateful views.
Post a Comment