Tea bagged, ugh.

Today I made nicey-nicey to an unpleasant woman at work. I've worked alongside her on occasion since January and she has never been very friendly. But you know me... always willing to try again. This morning I told her my daughter was having a baby in March and that I was really looking forward to it. Instead of saying congratulations, or asking if we knew the gender, she asked if she was married. Four years, I told her. She then went on a rant about "family values" and morality, that marriage is between one man and one woman and she even had a bumper sticker that said that. I asked if she opposed civil unions and she got real nasty about what people did in the sight of God. I tried to tell her I have a bumper sticker, too. She did not want to hear what I had to say and stormed off in a huff. I wrote her a note that said my bumper sticker reads: God Bless The Whole World, No Exceptions.

Blech, I felt icky. I wanted to brush my teeth and went to the ladies room to calm down. When I got back to my kiosk there was my note, returned in a pamphlet. It was a copy of the United States Constitution. The sticker on the back showed it was from the Tea Party.

Lots of things went through my mind. Freedom of speech, mine as well as hers. Freedom of and from religion. Separation of church and state. And hubris, bloody, bloody hubris. I am even willing to grant that she has a right to believe God wrote out what she should do and I am even willing to believe it is true... for her. But her rights stop at her life. She can espouse what she believes God thinks of the way she is living, but can't begin to tell me what God thinks of the way anyone else is living.

There are so many people in this world living moral lives. Some follow a religion and religious leader, some muddle through on their own interpretation of the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. There is a quotation about the Devil citing scripture.  To me it means anyone can take anything out of context and make it suit their arguments. I am not a Biblical, Talmudic, or any other scripture scholar. But I know what feels right to me and it isn't exclusion.

In the Old Testament we are taught to be stewards of the land and treat workers with dignity. We are taught laws for living a moral life. In the New Testament we are taught that God is love, Jesus reminds us that we are meant to take care of each other, to go into our closet to pray, and many things are done in his name that he does not acknowledge. We are told to take the log out of our own eye before pointing out the mote in someone else. Paul of Tarsus reminds us that it doesn't matter what we say if there is no charity and love behind it.

I don't pretend I know the answers for everyone. I know that I must allow others their own opinion even if it is noxious and unfathomable to me. I know I have to make the effort to understand and accept people in any stage of their evolution.   I don't say what God sees or thinks because my mind is finite and the Creator is infinite. I can only lead by example and that takes me to task. Am I judging the morality and outrage of the Tea Baggers by the same standards I want to be judged? The answer is yes. I want to be judged as kind and helpful and doing what I can to improve the space around me.

God Bless the Whole World, No Exceptions. (Even unpleasant people? Yes!)