I was semi-thrilled to hear that congress finally trashed DADT. It should have been done a very long time ago, but I suppose a dream differed, once realized, is still a dream realized...it just feels a little deflated somehow.
In part, it was difficult to be as excited about it because on the same day that they trashed that archaic standard, they reinforced another crushing the dreams of many other people by crushing the DREAM act. So, it would seem that for congress it is finally OK to openly be gay in the military, but it is not OK to dream - at least not if you weren't born in the US.
I'm not really sure how we arrived here as a nation. We are a nation comprised not only of immigrants who came here seeking a better life, but also of people forced to come here. How odd is it that children who had no choice in coming here, children of parents seeking a better life, have just been told, "It was good enough for us, but not for you"?
I'll admit to being a bit more disgusted with this outcome because it is Christmas time. Have we learned nothing from that child, born in a manger? In the birth of Jesus, God announced to the world that human expectations were of little to no importance to God; that human boundaries were merely walls that come tumbling down in the presence of the Divine; that God officially favors the marginalized over kings.
Have we learned nothing? Jesus brought to the marginalized, to the stranger from another land, to those who were down and out, a message of hope, a reason to dream dreams. The congress of the US brings with them the opposite. They crush dreams. In their defeat of the DREAM act, they have allowed a message of marginalization to burst in on the hopeful dreams of many. Children brought to this land through the actions of others, children who really know no other life than the one of opportunity in the U.S., are being told by our elected leaders that this nation not only does not want them, but we don't care about them. Have we learned nothing from that child, born in a manger?
To all of those who will suffer from this choice, I'd like say, "I am deeply and profoundly sorry." I'd like to say that like you and like Martin Luther King, Jr., "I still have a dream that one day in this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of it's creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [sic] are created equal.'" I recognize that I dream that dream from a place of privilege, but I pledge to use that privilege not for the sake of dominance, but rather for the sake of equality.
It is sad to say that this Christmas Congress has stolen away with the dreams of so many, like the Grinch taking the last Christmas bauble in Whoville. For far too many this year, Christmas will be a time of easy identification with the baby born in a manger. For you see, we have told them there is no room at the Inn of the US. We have pushed them, yet again, to the margins of society and our government has taken on the roll of old King Herod eager to crush the hopes of a people, insuring that their children do not dream dreams.
All the while, the baby cries in a manger. He cries out for the least of these, the underserved, the marginalized. He cries out for their oppressors. He cries out for you, for me, for our nation and for it's future.
In part, it was difficult to be as excited about it because on the same day that they trashed that archaic standard, they reinforced another crushing the dreams of many other people by crushing the DREAM act. So, it would seem that for congress it is finally OK to openly be gay in the military, but it is not OK to dream - at least not if you weren't born in the US.
I'm not really sure how we arrived here as a nation. We are a nation comprised not only of immigrants who came here seeking a better life, but also of people forced to come here. How odd is it that children who had no choice in coming here, children of parents seeking a better life, have just been told, "It was good enough for us, but not for you"?
I'll admit to being a bit more disgusted with this outcome because it is Christmas time. Have we learned nothing from that child, born in a manger? In the birth of Jesus, God announced to the world that human expectations were of little to no importance to God; that human boundaries were merely walls that come tumbling down in the presence of the Divine; that God officially favors the marginalized over kings.
Have we learned nothing? Jesus brought to the marginalized, to the stranger from another land, to those who were down and out, a message of hope, a reason to dream dreams. The congress of the US brings with them the opposite. They crush dreams. In their defeat of the DREAM act, they have allowed a message of marginalization to burst in on the hopeful dreams of many. Children brought to this land through the actions of others, children who really know no other life than the one of opportunity in the U.S., are being told by our elected leaders that this nation not only does not want them, but we don't care about them. Have we learned nothing from that child, born in a manger?
To all of those who will suffer from this choice, I'd like say, "I am deeply and profoundly sorry." I'd like to say that like you and like Martin Luther King, Jr., "I still have a dream that one day in this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of it's creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [sic] are created equal.'" I recognize that I dream that dream from a place of privilege, but I pledge to use that privilege not for the sake of dominance, but rather for the sake of equality.
It is sad to say that this Christmas Congress has stolen away with the dreams of so many, like the Grinch taking the last Christmas bauble in Whoville. For far too many this year, Christmas will be a time of easy identification with the baby born in a manger. For you see, we have told them there is no room at the Inn of the US. We have pushed them, yet again, to the margins of society and our government has taken on the roll of old King Herod eager to crush the hopes of a people, insuring that their children do not dream dreams.
All the while, the baby cries in a manger. He cries out for the least of these, the underserved, the marginalized. He cries out for their oppressors. He cries out for you, for me, for our nation and for it's future.
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