Values Must Be Carefully Taught
The Christmas season is in full swing here in the U.S. Merchandise and decorations and ads bombard you from every side. And there are those who insist we should keep Christ in Christmas.
No matter what your religion or lack of it, you should agree with this. Why? Because He preached against hate and for love. Something too many of us have forgotten.
Hate and fear must be carefully taught. We are working overtime at it.
Tolerance and consideration must also be carefully taught. Maybe we should practice the beliefs so many of us say we hold.
Three books I have been exposed to recently can open the door to an honest assessment of who we are and what we believe. And these are probably not ones you are thinking of.
First came “Lies My Teacher Told Me” by Loewen. I didn’t hear all of the audio so it’s not on my Read shelf. I heard enough to want to dig deeper into U.S. history. And that’s not using a textbook.
Second came “Sundown Towns” also by Loewen. I had known some of what he included in the first book. This one shook me. Again I didn’t hear all of it so it isn’t on my Read shelf.
What is a sundown town? A place blacks were told to be out of by sundown. Not just blacks were targeted. Orientals and Catholics and Jews were sometimes included.
What surprised me was finding out I grew up in a sundown neighborhood. I had never thought about the place being all white. It’s the way it was. This was not achieved by accident, I’m sure. Sundown places included neighborhoods, towns, even counties.
Fair warning on this book: If Loewen heard an anecdote about a place or event, it’s in the book. Many of these are interesting. The sheer number of them becomes overwhelming at times.
The third book is “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas. It can be hard to read emotionally. It can hit close to home. Fergusson, MO, is a little over a hundred miles away from me. Closer to home was a friend, now living elsewhere, from the Philippines who endured threats and more living in this Christian community. Her dark complexion evidently made many consider her to be black.
This is a great book.
The full quote is by the rapper Tupac: “The Hate U Give Little Infants F….s Everyone.”
May everyone find they want to keep Christ’s teachings of love in their holiday season and the years to come.
No matter what your religion or lack of it, you should agree with this. Why? Because He preached against hate and for love. Something too many of us have forgotten.
Hate and fear must be carefully taught. We are working overtime at it.
Tolerance and consideration must also be carefully taught. Maybe we should practice the beliefs so many of us say we hold.
Three books I have been exposed to recently can open the door to an honest assessment of who we are and what we believe. And these are probably not ones you are thinking of.
First came “Lies My Teacher Told Me” by Loewen. I didn’t hear all of the audio so it’s not on my Read shelf. I heard enough to want to dig deeper into U.S. history. And that’s not using a textbook.
Second came “Sundown Towns” also by Loewen. I had known some of what he included in the first book. This one shook me. Again I didn’t hear all of it so it isn’t on my Read shelf.
What is a sundown town? A place blacks were told to be out of by sundown. Not just blacks were targeted. Orientals and Catholics and Jews were sometimes included.
What surprised me was finding out I grew up in a sundown neighborhood. I had never thought about the place being all white. It’s the way it was. This was not achieved by accident, I’m sure. Sundown places included neighborhoods, towns, even counties.
Fair warning on this book: If Loewen heard an anecdote about a place or event, it’s in the book. Many of these are interesting. The sheer number of them becomes overwhelming at times.
The third book is “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas. It can be hard to read emotionally. It can hit close to home. Fergusson, MO, is a little over a hundred miles away from me. Closer to home was a friend, now living elsewhere, from the Philippines who endured threats and more living in this Christian community. Her dark complexion evidently made many consider her to be black.
This is a great book.
The full quote is by the rapper Tupac: “The Hate U Give Little Infants F….s Everyone.”
May everyone find they want to keep Christ’s teachings of love in their holiday season and the years to come.
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