http://www.agracemartin.com/apps/blog/show/42656413-mrs-martin-s-rant-against-discrimination-and-hate-mail
My Rant Against Discrimination and Hate-mail
One would think that in the age of technology, in which multitudes of information is at our fingertips, that ignorance would be a choice. Unfortunately disinformation is also a reality of our so-called advanced society.
I follow a scientific page on Facebook that is entitled "I [swearword] love science." The creator of this page received the following hate mail message: "You have the audacity to call yourself a Christian yet you believe in dinosaurs coexisting with humans when we were monkeys. This is America. This is not your communist country of England. Please don't bring your arguments for gay marriage to destroy the American dream."
There are so many things wrong with this that I do not know where to begin. How about first, if you find such a page offensive, try to not "like" it? Next, I was under the impression that true Christians would love thy neighbour as thyself and not pass judgements. How can you preach Christianity while sending hate-mail? Do not expect others to respect your freedom of speech if you do not respect theirs. And if you do wish to respond to a topic that you disagree with, do your research first and give an informed argument.
The writer of the above hate-mail is clearly misinformed about science. Scientists like Galileo Galilei were once called heretics for claiming that the world was not flat, and that the night-time heavens were not perfect bodies, but stars and planets. Nietzsche said that we had killed God for removing His place in the universe. Yet we still believe in God to this day. Why do people get offended by the fact that geology tells us the earth is billions of years old? Does that somehow lessen God's creation? Why is the existence of dinosaurs preceding modern man a heretical myth?
"When we were monkeys"? Let me clarify a common misconception about biological evolution. Humans did not evolve from apes. We are apes. The phylogenic classification of Homo sapiens shows that we are most closely related to some common ancestor that speciated into the line of humans, and separately to the line of chimpanzees and bonobos. Don't believe in evolution? Fine. God decided to make chimps more like people than like bananas. In case you did not know, we share about 30% of the same DNA with bananas, and 99% with chimps. No need to call me a heretic for sharing that information.
Communist country of England? Someone needs to brush up on their high school social studies class. I have heard this same argument by some capitalists, labelling socialist countries as evil communists instead of acknowledging their extensive social programs and safety nets (not that I am trying to overshadow the financial drawbacks and abuses to such systems, I am simply trying to highlight the blatant misuse of ideological terminology).
Gay marriage destroying the American dream? I acknowledge that the bible describes marriage as between a man and woman. However the bible also describes terrible wars and slavery. We have abolished slavery. Black people won civil rights. Women won the right to vote. Gays and lesbians now fight for the right to be legally partnered to the person that they love. Racism, sexism, and discriminations of any kind are less than accepting. Need I refer back to the non-judgemental concept of “love thy neighbour?”
In an age of technology we can make informed decisions. Research your opponent’s views before you start bashing them. “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” –Albert Einstein.
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