I shall not live in fear

I don't live in fear.

Not that I don't have fears. Not that I don't take precautions to better ensure my safety. But I don't live in fear.

Yet, so many people in the USA live in terror - of people that aren't of European descent, of Muslims, of teenagers, even of the government. There's no basis for their level of terror. Over the last 20 years, crime, including violent crime, has plummeted. Even with the incidents of murder committed by extremists claiming to be Muslim, you are still far, far more likely to be killed by heart disease or a car wreck. Or your spouse. People in the USA have never been safer, yet so many don't believe it.

I don't fear Muslims any more than I fear Christians. Maybe it's because I was such an active pro-choice activists in the 1990s, when doctors were being shot and clinics were being bombed by extremist Christian terrorists. Maybe it's because I grew up in the American South, where I heard Christian pastors and their followers say that women should be forced to carry all pregnancies to term, that women who used birth control and had sex before marriage were whores, and that the Bible should be "the law of the land." In other words, I heard Christians around me saying the same things that Christians now say they fear Muslims will try to implement (substitute "sharia" for "Bible"). Or maybe it's because I've been to at least six countries with either majority Muslim populations or a very large percentage of their populations are Muslims, and I have experienced nothing but kindness from those Muslims, a level of kindness and helpfulness the American South prides itself on offering but doesn't always.

I've known people who survived war and genocides and are now working in humanitarian aid and development. They have seen family and friends dragged off by armed groups of their own countrymen. They have seen people killed and mutilated by their own countrymen. They have seen people raped by their own countrymen. Perhaps they themselves have been raped. And these people I've known, that I've worked with, have not lived in fear. They have delighted in their new circumstances and all that's good in their lives now. When something good happens - a marriage, a graduation, a new job, a birth, a reunion, or even more simple things, like dancing and dinner parties or a new tech toy - they revel in it. They savor it. They let themselves be consumed with delight of the moment. It's jaw-dropping and glorious to see and be a part of. They aren't saints, they aren't unbothered by dark memories, but they refuse to let what's bad in the world consume them and their daily lives. I strive to be like them.

Yes, I lock my doors, even when I'm home, and we have alarms on our doors and some of our windows. I look around a LOT before I walk to my car and unlock it. I'm super cautious when alone in a parking garage. I won't get on a subway or light rail car if it's empty or there are only a group of young men on it. I carry my purse over my neck and shoulder. I don't use ATM machines at night. I've taken karate and jujitsu classes. I imagine what I would do if attacked.

I also talk to strangers, and will even get into conversations with such. I make eye contact. I know all of my neighbors. I take mass transit. I walk around my neighborhood by myself. I go out at night. I wear whatever I want. I go to the movies or events by myself. I use social media. I smile and laugh in public. I travel. I travel to countries with millions and millions of Muslims. I think about and plan for the future, a future full of possibilities.

I live. I laugh. And I choose not to live in fear.

Orlando

In 2000, Ronald Gay entered a gay bar in Roanoke, Virginia and opened fire on the patrons, killing Danny Overstreet, 43 years old, and severely injuring six others. The shooter said he was angry over what his name now meant and was upset that three of his sons had changed their surname. He said God told him to find and kill lesbians and gay men, and described himself as a "Christian Soldier working for my Lord." Gay testified in court that "he wished he could have killed more fags," before several of the shooting victims as well as Danny Overstreet's family and friends.

In 2015, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man recently released from prison after serving 10 years for stabbing participants in the annual Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem in 2005 struck again at the same parade, stabbing six marchers. Here's a story from that time.

This year, someone who may have been a radical Muslim or may have been gay and unable to reconcile his homosexuality with his religion, killed 49 people at a gay club in Orlando.

People who use religion to justify murder are, in a word, terrifying. And it's profoundly sad that it was so easy to find examples of someone that is Christian, someone that is Jewish and someone that is Muslim killing gay people in the name of their God. It's even easier to find lots of examples of religious people saying that their religion says gay people are worthy of derision and death.

I am an atheist, but I'm also a humanist. I want to live a life that affirms the human ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity. I believe that ethics and compassion make our lives understandable and meaningful. That means I believe, among many things, that LGBTIQ people should have the same rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and the same access to safety, as any other human being, anywhere on Earth. It means that I am appalled at the idea of LGBTIQ people being harmed because of their sexual orientation, and will never tolerate such actions.

I also have a really pronounced sense of empathy, and I tend to cry when I see inhumanity. So, regarding Orlando, I've cried a lot. But I've also been heartened at the outpouring of love and support from so many different people.

But I am oh-so-unsettled by religious justifications for this hate of LGBTIQ people. It's disgusting. And seeing so many Christians condemn Islam because of this shooting - but not Christianity for its long history of violence, including violence aimed at health clinics and the workers at such - disgusts me just as much.

So, how will I respond to all this, other than writing this blog? By:

• Posting to my social meeting accounts and making sure all of my friends and colleagues know the facts of this shooting, countering hearsay and rumors, knowing where they can help with cash donations to those affected by the Orlando shooting, and knowing about local events to condemn this act of violence and the religious justifications for it.
• Connecting all of my local gay friends to a newly-formed online community for LGBTIQ in our small town and surrounding small towns.
• Responding to and countering connections on social media that espouse hate or religious justifications for marginalizing LGBTIQ people.
• Read the Second Edition of Psychological First Aid Field Operations Guide and look for some way to get my mental health first aid certification renewed, as well as getting my CPR and First Aid certification renewed.
• I will write my US Senators, my US Congressional representative and my state representatives and demand gun control - it's time to make getting and owning a gun the same as getting and owning a car, at the very least, and getting rid of any access to guns that can kill so many in 60 seconds.

If you have been affected by the Orlando shooting - or any traumatic event, no matter how far away - and it's affected your sleep, your ability to function, your ability to get up in the morning, your feeling of safety, anything, please call 1-800-985-5990 - it's the 24/7 @SAMHSAgov hotline, a federal program for anyone in the U.S./territories in distress from disasters. They also have a service via SMS (text TalkWithUs to 66746).

Peace be with you.

A secular humanist / atheist response to the Charleston shootings

I'm sure I'm not the only atheist/humanist crying this morning regarding the murders at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. in Charleston, South Carolina.

This is an assault on our entire human family. That's what terrorism is, at its heart.

I keep thinking about how the shooter was probably welcomed into the building, kindly invited to sit down to that latest meeting of a loving weekly community...

These murders are beyond what human language can describe. And the only response that truly counters terrorism is a call for our full humanity - our benevolence, our hope for all people, no matter their religion, or lack there of, and our support of each other, across social constructs of race, culture and religion.

I do not pray for Charleston, but I vow to stand with those working for peace, working for understanding, working for something far beyond tolerance - working for the embracing of the potential value and goodness of all human beings and all that we have in common.

#CharlestonShooting
#terrorism