Monopolies.

I'm afraid I've been thinking again. Will someone please shoot me for that?

Christians and white people do not have a monopoly on racism or intolerance. The news media would like us to think that they do, but they don't. We all see the news reports from the Christian Right (I wish I didn't have to use those words together sometimes.) about how Christianity is being marginalized blah blah blah stores won't say Merry Christmas. Well, that's a whole other rant, but it's not what I'm talking about. I'll tell you Merry Christmas, you tell me you're going to go light a Yule log and we'll both be happy sipping eggnog by the fire. All is well.

Racism and white people. In the news media, if the racist in question is not suitably pale, they become a reverse racist. Why call it reverse? Why not call it what it is? Racism is racism. If someone thinks I'm a stupid white girl who doesn't understand any Spanish and starts talking crap about me to their friend at my desk because I'm white, that's racism. It isn't reverse anything. When a girl I ran around with in junior high was ugly to one of my friends and accused me of defending her because we were both white, that was racism. When her mother started screaming at me over the telephone and called me all manner of ugly names, it was racism. There's nothing reverse about it. When Jeremiah Wright starts ranting about white people, he's being a racist. When the President doesn't run for the hills when he starts doing this, I understand. I didn't disown the racists in my family either. (If I was running for office it might be a different story, but I have no such ambition.) I don't understand the media's psychological need to pretend that Caucasian people are the only ones who can be called racists without any sort of qualifier.

Intolerance is likewise a universal disease. I don't understand why I have to tell people of another religion that I don't hold such and such opinion just because I'm a Christian. I don't understand why they think I'll be offended if they hold a different view. Well, I'm telling everyone now: I am well aware that Jesus of Nazareth was a middle eastern Jew and looked more like Osama Bin Laden than a preppy blond boy with blue eyes. I am also well aware that there are still Jews around today who are well within their rights to have the theological opinion that Jesus of Nazareth was not the Messiah. That's okay. I am aware that not all Muslims are terrorists. I am aware that Wiccans don't worship the Devil or even believe he exists in most cases. Hindus, insofar as I have had contact with them, are inoffensive religiously. I have the same opinion of Buddhists. I'm going to show my ass a little here and admit that Voodoo scars the crap right out of me and makes me squirm a bit but I think that under the constitution, people should be allowed to do what they want as long as it doesn't break any laws. I'm pretty sure I've left someone out, but rest assured, I don't have a problem with someone automatically because they're an atheist, an agnostic, or a genuine pagan.

I am, however, intolerant of other Christians. I can be just rude as hell about another church. I guess that makes me intolerant. I don't think I even deserve a qualifier for this. Should we call it internal intolerance? Reverse rudeness? I am intolerant of intolerant Christians. I can't stand people who publicly demand that their religion be put on a pedestal and treated better. I can't stand people who think they know what God hates and get on TV when they're expressing their opinions all the time. I don't like people who think prayer should pay out gallons of money or that the Holy Spirit is a lap dog that should do tricks for their amusement. I can't stand people who think that just because they have chosen to ignore all music that doesn't have a dove or a giant cross on the record label, that the rest of us should too. If God doesn't trust your church with alcohol, I'm sorry. 2,000 years of table fellowship involving booze and carbs are not going to be outdone by your silliness. I am also sorry that you have chosen to exile your queer folk. It would be sad if I were you, but I'm not.

I guess this makes me intolerant. Woo hoo!