Goodbye, the next word to be forbidden in schools?

originally posted by: Unity_99
What I don't understand is why you guys are going through this and we're not.

We're not either. The OP is sensationalism and nothing more. This is NOT happening in the US. ONE teacher told her students not to say it (along with a list of other words/phrases) in her classroom.

This is ridiculous! It's NOT happening.

I don't mean to get all personal or anything...but I was and am a Pagan...and I was in the military. It got out (not that it mattered) and nobody treated me poorly about it. Anyway to the point. My commander, a quite friendly and empowering Major set up the Staff Sergeant promotion ceremony. Well anyone who has ever been in the military knows that with the exception of a funeral or wedding for someone who might be Jewish, or Muslim or Atheist and so on, that ceremonies often begin with a prayer. This Major, bless his soul, knew I would be on stage being promoted alongside twelve others in my career field. He asked me two days before and very genuinely, "SSgt ______, would like us to not do the starting prayer? It is Christian in nature."

First, let me say I was so happy to hear someone consider me...but then it hit me

"Heck no!" I said. "No go ahead and do the prayer."

I felt this because frankly, while I DO feel minority statuses MUST be protected an offered equal access, I think that to stop a prayer when 12 E-5's and 200 guests are likely to be a majority Christian would be more offensive than one guy, who is very confident in his own spirituality, simply going into his own mind while the prayer takes place. And that is what I did. When the prayer started, I talked to my Goddess. Period...why shut down potentially 200+ people because I am one guy? I am perfectly capable of being myself and taking care of myself. And I gotta say...it didn't ruin the ceremony...at all...and it didn't ruin anyone else's time...at all

Like I said, it was so kind to hear the offer, but not needed. Yes I do think that we need to watch what we say sometimes. I think it is highly inappropriate and offensive for radio personalities or just people in general to be spouting the N-word, or making rape jokes to a rape survivor, or to marginalize an entire section of people just because they are a minority. And yes I believe we should all be granted equal access and oppurtunity

But here's the thing...

I do not say Merry Christmas...with my Pagan and Wiccan friends it is Merry Yule or Happy Yule...with everyone else it is Happy Holidays and to be honest, I have yet to run into a Christian who kicked my butt over it. But I also offered the same respect...when someone says Merry Christmas to me I don't run and blog about how it's the crime of the century. When my mom says God Bless You, then cringes because she knows I am a Pagan, I don't divorce my family because all told, there are two very noble truths to take into account here

1. Get over it...I mean seriously...get over it...someone said God bless you to you, it isn't the end of the world. It's a far cry from laughing at a rape survivor or yelling racial slurs.

but more importantly, and I think people REALLY forget this

2. Consider what that meant to the speaker of the words. Though I am not Christian, and though in my own circles I do prefer Happy Yule, how cool is it that some nice person took the time to say something respectful to me in their own tongue? I like you or anyone saying God bless you to me, or Merry Christmas, or I'll pray for your recovery as a sign of deep respect. That is that Christian saying, I like you or at the very least respect you, so here are some kind words to show that respect

Peace y'all

and may the Goddess Bless Everyone...God too :-)

a reply to: KyoZero

I am a Christian, but my best pal flirted with paganism for a few years, before winding up in a fairly atheistic position. Anyway, during that period of her life which contained her foray into all things pagan, at Christmas we would meet up, I would say Happy Christmas, she would say Happy Yule, and we would exchange gifts, all smiles. Now, we thought nothing of this, because we had been best buds for a while already, and even when we mocked one another's stereotypes, we did so tongue in cheek and always came out laughing. But we exchanged gifts in a bar once, and the two seasonal greetings juxtaposed caused several people to turn in their seats, away from their beers and friends, toward our table, with heads tilted to one side, faces screwed up in confusion.

Perhaps growing up in Britain, with its long history comprised of many different strata of belief systems, held in differing majority over time, and my own awareness of that history, has lead me to see faith differently than some folk, but I have never once felt threatened in my faith by the cultures and ritual phrases of other faiths, and I would hope that those who know me would feel the same way, no matter what their beliefs are. We all spin together on this hurtling ball of rock and water, under the same sun, the same moon, and the same stars. We all have star stuff in our bodies, and therefore, no matter the faith held by an individual, we have to learn to get along together.

If we can respect one another's free will choices enough that we are not threatened by the choices others make, in terms of faith, or language used in passing, then we have a better chance of getting past this period in our history as a species with all our limbs where they belong, and I am all for that.

I have heard atheists, pagans, agnostics, and who knows how many other people, from however many faiths, say bless you when hearing someone sneeze, and EVERY bugger I have ever met says goodbye when we part company. In essence, however the phrases discussed in this thread came about, they are common parlance to people from all over the religious spectrum, and I think that the banning of any phrase or word from a class room, a place of teaching, is a bloody disgrace, and a travesty.

KyoZero, you have the right idea on all of this I think. You have your faith, you are happy in it, and unworried by the aspects of casual common communication which might give rise to conflict in some folk. I find it refreshing to hear that common sense prevails elsewhere too! Good for you!

a reply to: TrueBrit

and that is the friggin point! You are already smarter than a good portion of the population..not because of some arbitrary number like IQ, but because you see the balance that is needed. We have GOT to relax and not be so keyed up looking for a fight. Forget conspiracy, forget the plot to divide us, it truly is society that is at fault not the Republicans or the Democrats or any other polarizing group. We are so wrapped up in our need to be unique that we forgot that we CAN be unique and yet still have every ounce of respect for each other

To further my point, I truly and honestly believe that the problem is a shaky lack of self confidence and I apologize if that offends anyone here but I really believe it. As I am prone to do, I will pick on myself

When I first started to enter the Pagan world, I was shaky and nervous. And you can sure as hell bet that when someone would 'insult' my beliefs with some truly benign comment I would be all up in arms about how I have the right to exist and be recognized! The truth is I needed to grow up, mature and be comfortable with who I am.

Heck, go forth if you are bored and look at old posts of mine. I took so much as a personal insult on this forum because I lacked self confidence. The point is, that if I met you Brit and you said Merry Christmas to me, chances are I would be thankful for the respect you showed a fellow human being.

Again, I am not saying we need to completely eliminate political correctness. There are indeed some people and some words and some phrases we should be trying not to throw around because they have the power to damage. But beyond that, is it REALLY gonna hurt me if you say God bless you after I sneeze?

and if it does hurt me...whose fault is it?

You for being respectful and wishing me well in your tongue or me who was looking for a fight and decided to assign blame on a clearly harmless phrase?

I think you know how that answer plays out.

Thanks so much for the response...I enjoyed reading it...twice