Be Careful What We Socialize into the Culture

We need to be careful about what we socialize into the culture.

When I was young, racism was socialized into the culture. Hatred of others because they were different was tolerated.  Whites went N…er shooting and if they killed Blacks, it was tolerated and celebrated.  No laws were enforced with respect to blacks.  The property of blacks could be taken by whites and blacks had no recourse and no charges would ever be brought against a white for killing a black person.  When I was in college, a gay male was beaten to death because he was different. This behavior was tolerated because he was gay and different.  I had gay friends who were Black and I was terrified for them.

Sexual and physical abuse of children was tolerated. There were groups of people who allowed their relatives to “break their children in to sex.” It was believed that incest was  a “family secret” and when it was exposed or made public, it would stop.  The abuse was not punished if he were a family member and the abuser was allowed to remain in the home.  Priests were allowed to continue as priests if they obtained therapy.  Penance and prayer was sufficient.

We used to believe that marijuana was the same as a “cup of coffee.”  Marijuana and other drugs were used freely.  Professors passed joints around on saucers in class in the 60’s in “T-Groups”. We now know better yet because of profit we are advocating legalization of marijuana.  We know that 10 percent of the population is allergic to marijuana and if this 10 percent smokes, they can become instantly psychotic and the condition is irreversible to date.

Our memories are short.  We forget the 60’s and seventies.  We have been there before.  We have had eras of drug use before.  We have just forgotten the damage it wrought.

We had classes on Socialization into the role of the homosexual in the 60’s.  Now we want to pass laws to allow us to treat people differently based on religion.  This appears to be a way to discriminate legally again and base it on the Bible or religion. I do not have an opinion about homosexuality.  I do not need to have one nor is it relevant.  I do not know what God people are following but the God I follow says, “Love one another as thyself and as I have loved you.”

Someone once said, “A tyrant will always find an excuse for their tyranny.” That said, we need to be careful about what we socialize into the culture. My opinions are under construction in many of the areas discussed.  I plan to continue to hug people and whisper,  “God loves you and you are too precious to lose”.  If we love our neighbor as ourselves, a lot of conflicts would be resolved.