It was 1095 A.D. Christians and Muslims had issues. Hmmm. A veritable holy Hatfields and McCoys furiously played out in Europe and what is now the Middle East. Good old Pope Urban II leveraged his papal celeb to drive a campaign to retake the Holy Land. He made a convincing argument and even offered speech that inspired folks to action. Here is an excerpt:

“The West must march to the defense of the East. All should go, rich and poor alike. The Franks must stop their internal wars and squabbles. Let them go instead against the infidel and fight a righteous war.” Familiar sounding words? Yep, these were words from a Christian icon of God’s will.

I saw a couple of posts the other night on facebook…one with a photo, apparently of a group of Muslim radicals hoisting a banner downing democracy and cheering Islam. The facebook author wrote: “For any Obama supporters, this is what we are facing here in America. This is NOT the middle east, it is right here on our soil. Please vote for Mitt.” The caption to the photo read: “It won’t happen here, you say? Welcome to Dearbornistan, Michigan.”

The second was a post with two questions. The poster (or poser) was asking if readers were (1) going to church on Sunday, and (2) planning to vote for Mitt Romney. It went on to read: “The fact is if you answered YES to my 1st question & NO to my 2nd then you need to either CHANGE your Church or just stay home & do some hard praying before you vote.”

Now, I love our democracy and our freedoms. That doesn’t change the fact that I wanted to puke after reading this disgusting plea for racism and nationalism through the lens of misguided piety. I’m not sure if this amateur pundit is just a pissed off extremist in his own right or a 21st century Pharisee.

What I do know is that what threatens this great country the most is not a band of radicals in a great city that embraces diversity. The threat to our democracy and our values is by the facebook Crusaders and them like ‘em who use whatever medium they can to generate hate and cloak it in their own made up value set and Constitutional bending. Return to our “core values” you say?. Reality is, our core values are now, more than ever, in play. That is Constitutional Irony if there ever was.

I finally had enough and wrote an Op-Ed to the newspaper in northwest Florida asking that they consider what appears to be a seeming high share of racism and religious intolerance in the local community. I asked how local Muslims might feel about citizens in their midst who are calling for their demise…or, their “conversion.” I have to call these bigots out and ask for a public declaration of their plan. What is it? An all out ethnic cleansing? I am so surprised…I haven’t heard from them (sarcasm thick as sorghum).

You speak of a sinking value system and couch the current President as a champion of everything you perceive to run counter to your quasi-Arian ideals. I love my country. I will stack my love of capitalism AND my social conscience up against any conservative talking head or proverbial tree-hugger. Asking questions, having a conscience, considering greater good or a planet in peril does not make one a good or bad person. But, when you spit hate, mostly out of ignorance (as this facebook crusader often does in the form of “facts”), then you are, in fact, a tragic human being. And please, don’t confuse this rant as a hypocritical perspective and counter-hate. I don’t hate this brother and his cronies. I am frustrated, yes, angry at the kind of crap and cultural intolerance that flow from this fiction writer.

My hope is that our democracy be protected from the likes of them; those that feel being an American is somehow defined by their own twisted Constitutional Apartheid. Your suggestion that God is somehow on the side of a candidate and that my faith is somehow in question based on my Presidential choice (either way) is so revealing of just how uninformed you are as a citizen and as a person of faith in your own right.

This country is great because of its diversity. My blog post, today, is less of a call for dialogue and more an admonition. Uncharacteristically, I care nothing about a conversation about this. I am saddened and disgusted by the facebook crusaders…those few who post hate and and bullshit and add a graphic in the hopes that “like” buttons will be followed by a sheep herd path to the polls.

This applies to both Red and Blue! Careful what you “Like,” unless you share in the hate and the probable B.S. behind it. The barbarism of the crusades is just as likely today by the select few who chose to exercise their extremism through harm to others. Weapons of mass destruction are not limited to those of nuclear or biological variety; they also come in the form of rhetoric. I doubt God was on the side of the crusaders of 1095 and He surely detests the contemporary crusaders who use these pages to wage their own selfish wars.

Just sayin’

In the timeless words of Ricky Bobby, “That just happened!”

I went to my neighborhood grocery store this afternoon for some fish, vegetables, fruit, wine, and beer (not in that order). I opened my trunk to fetch grocery bags. This guy and his wife walked nearby. He looked my way and said, “You’ve got a lotta stuff in that trunk, huh?” I laughed and said, “Yep, I’ve been moving over a few weeks and just used this for small storage.”

As I gathered my Harris Teeter grocery bags  he turned and said, “You must be a Democrat.”

A reply raced from my brain, out of my mouth and through the space between us, “Actually I just give a shit.”

He looked a little offended and said, “I just don’t see how you save a planet with a bag.”

I walked alongside and continued, “I actually use plastic all of the time; I use it to clean up after my dog during our morning walks. See, they are good for something.”

It is a mystery to me that as a conservationist and bit of an environmentalist I am stereotyped as liberal. If that is the tag given me for those values, then I gladly wear it. Why should my desire to “conserve” resources of a planet be less a virtue than conservation of wealth (the primary conservative value of this era). Oh, I forgot, Global Warming is a myth. I’m beginning to understand the paradox.

It was one of the last remnants of a previous life. It just didn’t “fit” anymore. I’ve found that I am more contemporary than rustic; aesthetics beyond comfort. This old couch and chair and ottoman were physical reminders of a good, but misplaced life.

I took pics and dropped them on Craig’s List. Within an hour people from all over were calling saying the set was “perfect,” or “just what we are looking for.” Two hours after posting and agreeing to price sight unseen, this unassuming, friendly guy drove up with trailer in tow.

He asked if I minded hearing his story about the furniture. “Of course not,” I said. Jim went on to tell me that he is a man of faith. Recently separated and moved into a place near a pond where he could fish and enjoy the woods.

“I decided I wanted to find a brown leather sofa and chair…it matches my personality.” He went on to tell me that he had had no luck in his search and was getting a little frustrated since he had a new place and hardly any furniture.  He had narrowed his search to a dozen or so possibilities and wasn’t thrilled about any of them.

“I shut down my computer and prayed about getting furniture. Really, I prayed for furniture. I booted up and there was your post, FIVE MINUTES LATER,” he exclaimed. We exchanged stories of our lives. He offered some cash and we loaded the set onto his trailer. We shook hands and said something about maybe fishing one day. I felt like a weight (literally and figuratively) was lifted. Some element of psychological capacity opening even more. A little sad as a vestige of many good days was moving to a new home. Glad to have more of “me” filling the spaces left.

The next day Jim texted: “It is exactly what I wanted. It’s me!”

Funny how our things come and go. Some things end up in the trash or in a garage sale or with Goodwill or on a list. Some things are moved as a part of letting go. Here, those same things became a part of starting over for another. A proverbial Circle of Life, or leather, if you will.