A new kind of bully?

Bullying has always been around. Every kid of every generation remembers either being a bully, being bullied, or being a bystander. But bullying doesn't end in grade school. When we were children, the bully just wanted to hurt your feelings; make him/herself feel better. In high school, the bully wanted to ruin your reputation; make him/herself feel better. As adults, the bully wants to ruin your life. But has the adult really never grown beyond the need to put other's down in order to make him/herself feel better? Has it grown into something else altogether?

People in general are not comfortable with themselves, don't understand themselves, and don't like anything else that they don't understand. They especially don't like people that do understand themselves. But those who do accept that there are those who are different, find themselves to be happier. And those who don't, don't like that either.

Every generation seems to have it's target group. African Americans during the...well forever...but lets go with the 70's. Then it was the geeks of the 80's, the obese of the 90's, and today it's gays and lesbians.

The problem with the sudden outrage against the bullying that gays and lesbians are having to endure in school and beyond, is that while we say we are mad, we continue to accept laws and policies that foster the hateful feelings some people have towards homosexuals. We have laws, that if taken back 30 years ago and applied to a different race, would have been readily acknowledged as crimes against the Civil Rights Act. It would be prudent to remember there was a time, not so long ago, when black people were not allowed to marry white people.

Not allowing gays and lesbians to marry, not allowing true power of attorney over immediate family members, not allowing them to serve openly in the military...as long as we set this precedent, we are basically saying we are ok with what some children, and those adults who remain ignorant, are doing to other people.

As long as our country as a whole continues to promote such policies, how are we to expect our children to be accepting of those who are different from them? As parents, it is our duty to not only teach our children compassion, acceptance, and to not judge lest ye be judged, it is also our duty to act as role models and lead by example.

There are plenty of things about people I don't like or agree with. It is natural to disagree with one another, and to have differing ideologies on how we should lead our lives. But bullying to the point of suicide is worse than manslaughter. What could possibly fuel such a fire?

Hate.

There is no need for such hate. If you don't like something I do, then don't like it. As long as I'm not hurting myself, or anyone else in the process, then it is my business and mine alone. A person's sexuality should not be cause for such hatred. There are plenty of evils in the world without our energies being wasted in that.

The fact that gays and lesbians want to get married and want to have children should not lead those who are religious to believe that this will corrupt the institutions of marriage and family. In this world of corruption, where love is often the last reason people marry one another, we should be grateful that here is a group who at least really want to marry and have families out of love. Is it not love that is meant to be the foundation of religion? It certainly isn't supposed to be hate.

It is not succumbing to devilish ways to allow people to live their lives so they may be as happy as absolutely possible. This only makes for a better world. This is called progress. And over the centuries there have always been those who wish to thwart progress, but though it has taken time, as most things do, progress has always won.

We have relieved people from religious persecution, from racial persecution, and now we must free them from sexual persecution. Not only must we succeed in this, but we must also remember that the fight from religious and racial persecution is still a struggle we battle to this day, and none are won easily.

It is not only our jobs to teach our children things like compassion and understanding, but also to teach them to have the gumption and courage to stand up for one another. There are too many bystanders. We must be proud of those who choose to take a stand, even if they must suffer consequences in doing so. It is these people, not just the victims, that will make the biggest difference in changing the course of history, and cause change in the way we view the world.

It was not just the groups of African Americans marching the streets in the 60's that caught the attention of the American public, and of the world. It was also the white, Asian, Latino, and other general populous that stood beside them. We had to stand together, not because we all represented the same cause, but because we believed in it.