I'm re-posting this comment that I put on Facebook this morning...
Every once in a while a movement starts by people saying "No more!" or "Never again!" But usually these are minority and disenfranchised groups who don't have much power or influence. This includes, among others, the LGBTQ Movement of which I am a part (which, as in the post-Weimar Republic days in Germany, could still be stifled due to "religious exemption" laws and the like), the Black Lives Matter Movement, as well as the Occupy Wall Street Movement. The one that is not tenuous is the movement growing up among teenagers, which is an entire generation.
One thing that this movement has that my generation didn't have is tenacity. When they're told to wait, they march; told to be quiet, they speak out, and it looks as if those who can will vote, both in the primaries and in November. Hopefully they'll bring liberally minded older-generation folks with them in their wake. Their legitimation comes from 17 dead and the witness of the survivors. It is so appropriate that this is happening as Christians enter Holy Week and Jews prepare for Passover--the celebration of liberation, moving from narrow straits of imposed limitations on Reality to broader ones.
And there are enough people of influence that are their allies that they are gaining influence rather than being ostracized. As a Movement, they're striving to be inclusive. They seem to be learning from their mistakes. I believe they are a force to be reckoned with.
As a member of the LGBTQ 'Tribe' I'm pleased they're moving forward. And unlike my Tribe, they don't have to worry about the religious ideologues saying that they are evil or immoral, though the same may not be said of their right-wing political detractors. (The right wing tried at the beginning, but it hasn't particularly worked.) A Movement is being born which, I hope, will shake the very foundations of our democracy by pushing more and more of us all to actually exercise our Democracy.
For generations 'talking-heads' have said that kids take things for granted so won't work for change. And unfortunately both well meaning liberal and conservative adults have become so cynical as to believe that the only way to make change is by blowing the whole thing up! (That's one of the reasons we have in Trump and the Republicans.) However, as an aphorism states, "For every complex problem, there is an answer that Is clear, simple, and wrong." Life is not easy.
Welcome to the Movement, Kids! Some of us have been waiting for you!! I just wish that it could have begun without such a terrible tragedy as a catalyst. But then, few movements begin without a substantial catalyst.
Every once in a while a movement starts by people saying "No more!" or "Never again!" But usually these are minority and disenfranchised groups who don't have much power or influence. This includes, among others, the LGBTQ Movement of which I am a part (which, as in the post-Weimar Republic days in Germany, could still be stifled due to "religious exemption" laws and the like), the Black Lives Matter Movement, as well as the Occupy Wall Street Movement. The one that is not tenuous is the movement growing up among teenagers, which is an entire generation.
One thing that this movement has that my generation didn't have is tenacity. When they're told to wait, they march; told to be quiet, they speak out, and it looks as if those who can will vote, both in the primaries and in November. Hopefully they'll bring liberally minded older-generation folks with them in their wake. Their legitimation comes from 17 dead and the witness of the survivors. It is so appropriate that this is happening as Christians enter Holy Week and Jews prepare for Passover--the celebration of liberation, moving from narrow straits of imposed limitations on Reality to broader ones.
And there are enough people of influence that are their allies that they are gaining influence rather than being ostracized. As a Movement, they're striving to be inclusive. They seem to be learning from their mistakes. I believe they are a force to be reckoned with.
As a member of the LGBTQ 'Tribe' I'm pleased they're moving forward. And unlike my Tribe, they don't have to worry about the religious ideologues saying that they are evil or immoral, though the same may not be said of their right-wing political detractors. (The right wing tried at the beginning, but it hasn't particularly worked.) A Movement is being born which, I hope, will shake the very foundations of our democracy by pushing more and more of us all to actually exercise our Democracy.
For generations 'talking-heads' have said that kids take things for granted so won't work for change. And unfortunately both well meaning liberal and conservative adults have become so cynical as to believe that the only way to make change is by blowing the whole thing up! (That's one of the reasons we have in Trump and the Republicans.) However, as an aphorism states, "For every complex problem, there is an answer that Is clear, simple, and wrong." Life is not easy.
Welcome to the Movement, Kids! Some of us have been waiting for you!! I just wish that it could have begun without such a terrible tragedy as a catalyst. But then, few movements begin without a substantial catalyst.