Mainstream

This was a Facebook status I made last August that still resonates with me now as the way that I was treated back then is not so different than the way that I'm being treated NOW. Any political references have to do with the LAST administration; and any references to college are only because I graduated way back in 2008; I wasn't run off campus on a spit for being a Bush supporter or something...

"You're too CONSERVATIVE to belong here with US!" (Former college classmates).

Simultaneously...

"You're too LIBERAL to have anything to say to US at the family table!" (Family)

"Your worldview is a MISTAKE!" (Generic, impersonal email the day after a local election on a certain Proposal; and the first impression that a certain campus official shared with anyone who had done their part and gone out and voted; without getting in line to check with [vaunted campus official's] personal leanings first).

"You're too WHITE to understand ANYTHING!" (Young pastor-in-training and semi-trusted-acquaintance when I confessed to him to feeling rightly offended by the impersonal attack email the morning after a local election).

You know; that point was really interesting; let's reflect on this some. Great; NOW, let's sub in (minority status) for "whiteness" and equate literally anything ELSE with "lack of intelligence/understanding." You know what; let's not, because as soon as you say THAT, we both know how disgusting it is.

"The church is too politically divisive/...and conservatives don't belong in the CHURCH!" (Same speaker; with maybe forty-five seconds of filler in between statements. Said in front of [Campus Church Group] that offered me the most acceptance of any one on campus. Query: "If MY KIND *doesn't belong* some place as important as a CHURCH, what does that say for my place in [Campus Church Group Social Gathering] where I THOUGHT to find the most acceptance of anywhere?")

White.

Catholic.

Heterosexual.

Cisgendered.

Male.

Life-long Michigan Resident.

(Some of you: "YAWWWWWN!" Ease off; I'm going somewhere with this...)

Ram, then (at-the-time) Indian (I think LMC's something the Readhawks or something now), then Laker. (With plenty of support reserved for the Wolverines, Broncos, and Red Wings).

Conservative-then-Libertarian-this-year-??? (Some "woke" types are known to begin attempting to "educate" me [from their position of such grandiose authority] as soon as I type an opinion once in a blue moon to follow up THEIR 5+ opinion statuses PER DAY. That's fine; if a person is so superior to me that their place in life is to have the authority to EDUCATE me, I suggest that they do their homework first. I was ready to vote for a Carson/Fiorina[/...Cruz/...Rubio] ticket in 2016; I would have very likely stood behind that decision today).

Guess what; I mocked and lampooned liberal celebrities and the "nevertrumpers" from the standpoint of having voted THIRD party in 2016. (For those who are so superiorly self important that your place was to EDUCATE me, THOSE are the facts to back up your homework assignment on I, the "uneducated" little lemming who dared to share the world and the country with you. You may admit that you had mischaracterized me just before abusing me as you see fit...)

I am not a monolithic entity based solely on place of origin, language, color of skin, gender, age, certainly not religious or political leanings; neither are you. THESE and other statuses are what come together to help make me UNIQUE (yes, the "straight white guy" is STILL allowed to claim a sense of uniqueness). And the simple fault of BEING any of these should not be enough to elicit scorn from ANYONE.

Guess what? To replace ANY of these with "Black"( or "Muslim;" or "LGBTQ;" or "Female;" or "Foreign Born;") those identifiers as well should be EMBRACED and CELEBRATED as what is ONE SMALL PORTION of what makes someone else unique. And if "minority" status is mocked/derided/treated-to-unfair-prejudice, it is and OUGHT TO BE reprimanded. Just don't treat a person any differently because they look like "the majority" until they have DONE (or at least SAID) something that deserves to be addressed.

We all long to belong sometimes. For some of us, we never outgrow that desire. But at what point does a desire to "belong" turn into a survival mechanism to BLEND IN? How long do we "stay silent" on our own Facebook pages if only to say the "right" thing and be accepted (or not nearly as despised for holding a worldview without the permission of those residing in their OWN little echo chambers)?

People are allowed to "grow;" they are allowed to "change" (something as simple as a difference of opinion on the "smaller" subjects). Don't sell principles for just anyone; they make YOU or I no less "unique" than (skin color/place of origin/religion/sexual orientation/gender).

We're ALL unique; we're not autonomous. Embrace your own uniqueness; then invite others to do the same (Warning: "Not everyone may be onboard here. You have a choice to weigh the negative reactions against the POSITIVES accordingly.") Let's APPRECIATE/CELEBRATE one another for what makes each of us special; because I can still fake "TOLERANCE" for what I actually despise.

I've changed some since my time on campus; I invite a very few of you who sought to dismiss my company back then to relearn to know me in your own time. ("If we shared THE Grand Valley State University together, we are ALL Lakers!" There's a place to start!)

There was once something that we each liked about one another if only to become "Friends" (even for some "acquaintances" in reality) today. Let's strive to get back to what we liked about one another as individuals; because only a very insidious action (or hateful clump of words) is worth taking one thing about a person and cutting off a friend.