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Cube Inmate · 01-31-2017, 12:10 AM

The combination of Trump's insanity and the Quebec City shooting is pushing me over the edge. I'm just not ready to have my kids grow up in a world where this kind of #### is "normal," but I'm feeling pretty helpless to change anything. And part of the problem is that... I'm part of the problem!

After every Islamic terror attack, the "white" world asks
"Why don't you do something to address the extremists in your community?"
"Where are all the moderate Muslims?"

So now I'M part of the problem (and I really always have been). People like me (but not me) voted for an incompetent demagogue who's now going beyond any semblance of civilized behaviour. A person like me (still, not me) got into a few too many echo chambers and got so mad he murdered innocent people on Sunday. Those are far from the only problems...we have so many despicable (or is it deplorable?) people among us that these recent events are only the tip of the iceberg. Homosexuals burning in lakes of fire! Women getting the back of their husbands' hands (in Russia). Etc.....

And the scary thing is, I've had the kind of "us vs. them" thoughts that are leading to all of this. There, but for the grace of ... luck ... go I. I mean, I think all religion is stupid, but...you know...Islam is *more* stupid because those people waste time praying five times a day and refuse to eat yummy bacon. I think sexism is offensive! Those bikini models are obviously relishing women's liberation but those women in hijabs are being oppressed. I'm pretty certain that sexuality and gender is biologically determined...but do you have to be so over-the-top with that lisp?? Of course immigration is necessary...but can't you figure out that we don't yell at each other over here in everyday conversation (get away from my cube!)?

So look...

I've got biases and ingrained prejudice like a lot of us do. I try to get over those things though, and be open-minded. But that's not enough. I'm the "moderate westerner" who never hurts anybody but also never does anything to stop the creeping extremism within my own kind. So what can I do? What can we all do? How can we take this ridiculous confluence of events (mostly Trump) and turn it into something positive that actually starts to rip apart some of that bigotry? This question has been eating at me all day and I don't see anyone talking about solutions; only problems.

01-31-2017, 12:10 AM	#1
Cube Inmate First Line Centre Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Boxed-in Exp:	So I'm a bigot...how can I help? The combination of Trump's insanity and the Quebec City shooting is pushing me over the edge. I'm just not ready to have my kids grow up in a world where this kind of #### is "normal," but I'm feeling pretty helpless to change anything. And part of the problem is that... I'm part of the problem! After every Islamic terror attack, the "white" world asks "Why don't you do something to address the extremists in your community?" "Where are all the moderate Muslims?" So now I'M part of the problem (and I really always have been). People like me (but not me) voted for an incompetent demagogue who's now going beyond any semblance of civilized behaviour. A person like me (still, not me) got into a few too many echo chambers and got so mad he murdered innocent people on Sunday. Those are far from the only problems...we have so many despicable (or is it deplorable?) people among us that these recent events are only the tip of the iceberg. Homosexuals burning in lakes of fire! Women getting the back of their husbands' hands (in Russia). Etc..... And the scary thing is, I've had the kind of "us vs. them" thoughts that are leading to all of this. There, but for the grace of ... luck ... go I. I mean, I think all religion is stupid, but...you know...Islam is more stupid because those people waste time praying five times a day and refuse to eat yummy bacon. I think sexism is offensive! Those bikini models are obviously relishing women's liberation but those women in hijabs are being oppressed. I'm pretty certain that sexuality and gender is biologically determined...but do you have to be so over-the-top with that lisp?? Of course immigration is necessary...but can't you figure out that we don't yell at each other over here in everyday conversation (get away from my cube!)? So look... I've got biases and ingrained prejudice like a lot of us do. I try to get over those things though, and be open-minded. But that's not enough. I'm the "moderate westerner" who never hurts anybody but also never does anything to stop the creeping extremism within my own kind. So what can I do? What can we all do? How can we take this ridiculous confluence of events (mostly Trump) and turn it into something positive that actually starts to rip apart some of that bigotry? This question has been eating at me all day and I don't see anyone talking about solutions; only problems.