Grab your torch and pitchfork

re:  (barely touching on only one small particular aspect of) the political fallout of the Paris attacks

What truly frightens me these days is how easily good people are led to ugly thoughts and behavior with hardly a hesitation or shred of guilty feeling; no, indeed, they are self-righteous and smug. That is terrifying.

Just because an asshole thumps a bible and waves a flag doesn’t make them right. And it certainly doesn’t make them any less of an asshole; in fact, it makes them MORE of an asshole. In one fell swoop, they manipulate and distort your religion, rewrite and whitewash the history of your nation, and undermine your own humanity, all to “prove” a point they made up out of vapors, all to serve their own purpose, which has nothing to do with your safety, prosperity, or well-being. An asshole is not in your corner, not on your side, and an asshole will turn their bullshit on you as soon as it suits them.*

Why is there so much support for the assholes and their self-serving fear-mongering bullshit, and so little for fellow human beings running for their lives? It’s absolutely terrifying.

Especially since I am rendered as “other” and counted as “one of them” (as opposed to “one of us”) more often than not, and my ability to pass (which I am extremely privileged to have at all) is, even on my best days, no sure thing.

*And yes that applies to ALL pundits, regardless of which political party they belong to, which school of thought they subscribe to, which religous doctrine they thump, or which flag they wave, everywhere in the world. It applies to the “other side” and it applies to your side, too.