Dare to be DIFFERENT!

Published on December 6, 2004 By iamheather In Politics

*A special thanks to Little_whip's article How the left stole Christmas for the inspiration for this blog*

Our culture is rife with double messages.

We promote individuality, diversity, and "bucking the system". Rebels are held in the highest esteem as artists, philosophers, and leaders.

Yet, we have to be careful not to offend those that are diverse, individuals, and outside of the mainstream. We adjust the "system" and culture to cater to the feelings of those diverse peoples as if they are weak, ignorant, and fragile in their beliefs. Soon the very "norm" becomes what was different, diverse and unique.

Being unusual should be a badge of honor, not a scarlet letter to be worn in shame.

One of my friends on JU of a different belief has commented on another article with these reasonings and excuses:

"...public school. this means that everyone's children have to go to school, and it means that if you make kids feel bad about who they are, then you have a problem"

"...hearing song after song about a religious figure who in some ways represents a justification for many of abominations jews have lived through over the centuries."

This is truly sad. All children will be different in one way or another. Some wear glasses; others are of different religions. Some are poor. Children have different interests in music, clothing, and hobbies. This is a fact of life. Parents should encourage children to take pride in their differences. Being different is what makes life exciting and leads to self awareness. Character is built from being different. Creativity blossoms when people are allowed to freely take pride in who they are.

Why would our society try to make everyone look and act the same? Christians are blamed for trying to convert others. So be it. It is as their religion commands, but no one is forced to convert. In fact, Christianity will soon be the "different" and "individuality" of the future if things continue to swing in the current direction.

On a personal note, I grew up in a "cult." We were Christians, but did not acknowledge traditionally Christian holy days. In fact, for all intents and purposes of everyday life, I lived as a practicing Jew. We accepted Christ as the Messiah, but lived under Old Testament laws and traditions given to the Jews. No Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Sunday worship...Instead, I celebrated The Feast of Tabernacles, the Day of Atonement, Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the traditional Jewish Sabbath, and laws of clean and unclean meat.

Let me tell you about "feeling different." The Christian children in my public school didn't understand me and the Jewish kids didn't accept me either. I had literally no onewith which to identify. I left the room when Christmas carols were sung, Easter pictures colored, or Valentine's exchanged. Several times a year, I missed school, sometimes for a week at a time, in order to observe my religious holy days. I often could not eat what was served in the school lunch line or as a treat in our classroom.

Did I cry? Did I whine? Did I turn into an ashamed shrinking violet?

Hardly. I took pride in my differences. I was special. When people asked me about my faith, I proclaimed it enthusiastically. Most children were fascinated and very interested. Oh, I guess a few might have looked at me crosswise, but I never really noticed. In fact, when I became an adolescent, most peer pressure did not affect me. I did not drink in high school when everyone else did. I did not engage in sex when everyone else did. I never did drugs when everyone else did. Yeah, I was considered different, and I liked that. I developed my own individuality, thinking, and character.

So, in the spirit of tolerance, allow diversity, both the minority and the majority. Encourage individualism. Cultivate differences.

Comments (Page 2)

mismos

on Dec 07, 2004

I appreciate anything that promotes tolerance and compassion among people of the world, but this seems to be some kind of idealistic waxing that doesn't make much sense except to make people feel nice.

What if the thing that makes you different stirs violence and conflict among the people who are around you? Is that the problem of the people around you or you? And if Christianity desires to change people to become the same as them, then don't these people go against this doctrine?

iamheather

on Dec 07, 2004

What if the thing that makes you different stirs violence and conflict among the people who are around you? Is that the problem of the people around you or you? And if Christianity desires to change people to become the same as them, then don't these people go against this doctrine?

Maybe you misunderstood the intent of the article. If you will notice in the opening credit, I referenced a specific article by little_whip in regard to Christianity, Christmas, and secularism in public schools.

ParaTed2k

on Dec 07, 2004

I grew up in a "cult."

You weren't a... a ... PURPLE-ist were you???

iamheather

on Dec 07, 2004

You weren't a... a ... PURPLE-ist were you???

lol...no! Similar to David Koresh's Branch Davidians or Seventh Day Adventists. World Wide Church of God headed by Herbert Armstrong was actually the organization. We even sold all our stuff a couple of times because the end of the world was coming. Imagine explaining to your friends why you weren't at school yesterday and live in your car now......

ParaTed2k

on Dec 07, 2004

Hey, I had a couple of friends who were in the WWC of G when I was in high school.

Never knew any of that stuff about them, but then again I never ate at their home either. You may know them too, they were at all the meetings. lol

iamheather

on Dec 07, 2004

ROFL

Para, depending on how old you are, their WWC of G may have been incredibly different than mine. After Herbert Armstrong died and Joe Tcatch took over....everything changed and became more mainstream...sunday worship...holidays....the end of a tyrant.

ParaTed2k

on Dec 07, 2004

This would have been in the late 70's early 80's (when everything became more mainstream).

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!