Pic and caption

[pinkeggs]

This is going around my FB a little. The photo is kind of amazing. The caption is not mine, but what's going with it. (Apologies if this was posted, I didn't see it.)


 _

I've been seeing a lot of Donald Trump, which I *really* don't understand, but whatever. I can skip right over that xenophobic racist misogynist without even a second thought.

I've also been seeing a lot of anti-abortion commentary on my Newsfeed. Not sure why that's suddenly seeing such a big uptick, and that's a little harder for me to skip right over, but I do because I can accept that what I believe is not what everybody believes.

And? Lots of commentary about "illegals" and immigrants and "we should get rid of 'anchor baby' legislation,' which is even harder for me to skip over because people are people to me, no matter where they come from, and the idea that I should hate somebody merely because they were born somewhere other than where I was born is bizarro world to me.

I aim for peace in my Facebook world, so I hide the stuff I find especially questionable and move on with my day. But, you know, this morning while drinking my coffee and perusing my favorite news sites - typically the sites with slightly less troll behavior in the comments - I came across this picture.

It quite literally stopped my breath.

So here's what I have to say right now.

Don't talk to me about the sanctity of life if in the next breath you can start foaming at the mouth about "illegals" and the horrors they bring with them. Don't talk to me about what's "right" if in the next breath you can tell me what's "wrong" with so much hatred in your voice it chills me to my very core. Do not EVEN with your religion and values and morality speeches if you believe the people greeting this man and his children on the shore should push them back to sea.

We do not know this kind of desperation. We do not know this kind of fear. We do not understand what it is to live in a country so torn by war and devastation that we are willing to take our children and the clothes on our backs into a boat, risking our very lives, in the hope of finding safety. In the hopes of finding a place where our children can go to school without fear of a bomb crashing through the roof and play outside without being killed where they stand. WE DO NOT KNOW.

These are people, just like us, and how dare we - how freaking DARE we - deem them Less Than because they are not "ours." We are all people. We are all important. We all belong to this world. We all belong to each other.

So, don't. Just don't. And if you have a problem with me saying any of this, it's okay. We're allowed to disagree. But if it's THAT much of a problem then unfriend me. Do it now. Because if you could look this man in the eye and push him back to sea? I'm not sure I even want to know you anyway.

(photo credit Daniel Etter)