#PrayForTheWorld

The post that originally inspired this blog post.

I generally avoid anything political in any way, just because I don't like forcing my opinion on politics on anyone.  But, I want to address everything that's been going on in the world over the last week.

For more than a week, all we heard about was the Starbucks cups.  Starbucks (my coffee of choice) is now anti-Christmas, and therefore anti-Christian, if you believe the hype.  So much so, that apparently, a Photoshop color picker will bring up the red color as #4666, therefore, the cups are a representation of the devil.  And, if you turn the cup just right, in the right lighting, the shadow, along with the logo, make the symbol of a 6.  So, this has been a battle in the media, and social media for a week, or so now.  A little ridiculous, right.

Now, this was covered, ad nauseum, everywhere.  And, over the last few years, a lot of people I follow on Social Media, have professed conspiracy theories, that whenever something stupid like this takes over the news, it's because there's a lot of big stuff going on, that they're not reporting on.  And, for the longest time, I thought that they were just crazy, when they said that kind of thing.  Why wouldn't the media cover ALL the stories that need to be told, and then throw in stupid little stories about cups as filler on slow news days?  That's what I would do.

Last night, though, I was kind of rocked by just how controlled information is.  At about 5pm, last night, my Facebook and Instagram feeds were starting to fill up with the hashtag #prayforparis. I hadn't seen anything about the attacks yet, so, I did what I always do, and started researching what was going on.  By the time the nightly news at 6:30PM came on, I was already up to date, and knew as much, if not more than what the news anchors did.

In my research though, I found a number of other hashtags that I knew nothing about. #prayforjapan #prayforbeirut #prayforbaghdad.  Apparently, at the same time that the shootings were going on, Japan had just had a 7.0 or 7.1 undersea earthquake, with the threat of a tsunami.  Prior to both, Beirut was bombed, two days earlier, and a bomb went off inside a FUNERAL in Baghdad.  And, I knew nothing about any of it.  Because it wasn't covered.  However, a big deal was made of the assassination of Jihad Johnny, all day prior to the shootings in Paris.

So, what does any of this have to do with drag related stuff?  Well, not a whole lot.  The post was actually brought on by a couple of other posts I had seen, berating people for only caring about Paris, only caring about "White people", and feeling the need to say to people that "It's all well and good to pray for them, but it really doesn't do them any good."  And, I figured that this was as good a time as any, to step up on my soapbox, and say my piece.  Agree or disagree with me, that's your decision, and I'll gladly discuss it with you.

My heart really, and truly does go out to anyone, anywhere who has been affected by violence of any sort.  Yes, I may be middle class, white, gay, privileged, male, American, but, I live paycheck to three days before the next paycheck, and can't always donate my money to actually help out, because, well, bills have to be paid, and food needs to be bought, and I need gas to get back and forth to work.  So, while it may not be doing any physical good for someone to know that I'm sending love and healing their way, it may help mentally.

But, the post that I got so offended by (and yes, I did get offended by it, before fully reading through it,) got me thinking.  When I posted to instagram, with a #PrayersforParis, picture, I knew nothing about the other hashtags, that I could and should have used.  So, I'm not wrong in what I posted.  Nor, am I wrong, in changing my Facebook profile picture, by giving it a French flag overlay.  But, people are going to say that I am, and I'm a follower.

The truth of the matter, is that someone needs to bring attention to these senseless acts of violence.  Whether it's a bombing or a shooting, or even a case of domestic violence, NONE of it has a place in this world.

I'm sure there are others that I have missed,
so, #prayforeveryone

It makes me sad to see statistics outside of the terrorist attacks, like this, that a trans person is killed every 29 hours.  And, what's worse, is when someone starts to stand up for the rights of the community, they are told they're a disgrace, and know nothing about what they're bringing attention to.  (Yes, I'm referring to Caitlyn Jenner, here.) For a person, who for 65 years, was what would be considered a privileged, white, rich, Republican, male, to more or less admit on national television that he was female, and then, to admit again, that she was going to have to rethink her old ways of thinking, with all the new information that she was gathering, I think that's brave as hell.  And, when people fighting for the same cause you are, tell you you're doing it wrong, it makes you wonder, what's the point?

The point, is, there is too much violence, and not enough planning, to cut down on it.  And, when the discussion comes up about how to fix it, there's always someone getting offended.  I'm not saying that we need to get rid of guns.  I'm not saying that you don't have a right to disagree with anything that anyone says.  But, until we get a handle on how to get along, we're going to continue to have these hashtags of #PrayForWhatever, and the people who say you're being unfair, because you forgot this, that and the other thing.

That, being said, maybe I am a Sheeple.  Maybe, by playing my middle class, American male privilege, I'm just being another dumb American who really is doing nothing but writing about how to make himself feel better about his life, when in reality other people have lost theirs.  But, maybe, I can start a conversation, which will make people think about what's really important in life.  Because the sooner, we start thinking about the important things, and can move away from the things that people kill over, that's when we as a human race are going to make some progress.