Last week, I wrote an article about Muslim Americans and overall, it received positive reviews. However, one man in particular immediately wrote on my post that "Islam is cancer." I didn't really understand what his point was, so I started looking at his social media and saw that he was commenting to many people that Islam is bad and only "snowflakes" and "liberals" like Muslims.
I have a few questions for this man and many Americans that think this way.
What does supporting someone's rights have to do with politics?
Why has equal rights become a battle between political parties?
Why are people even against equal rights?
I don't care if you're a Democrat, a Republican, gay, straight, male, female, white, black, old, or young. Equal rights should never be something that is so complicated. Equal rights is not political. Equal rights should not be an issue.
Before I get into further detail, here are just a few of the many groups that are currently battling politics vs. equality.
Religious rights:
Repeat after me: Not all Muslims are terrorists. Muslim Americans do not follow Sharia Law. They follow the Constitution. Muslims Americans are Americans, too.
Based off of the actions of so few, this group of people is judged, ridiculed, and discriminated against. The recent travel ban, that was specifically towards Muslim immigrants coming into the country, was ruled unconstitutional. Before it was rule unconstitutional, President Trump stated he would prioritize Christian refugees coming into the country over Muslim refugees.
I am a Christian. If anyone was threatening to monitor my church, trying to ban other Christians from entering the country, and attacking Christians based on their religion, I would be terrified of my own country, and I would believe that my country was acting unconstitutional. The United States may be majority Christian, but please remember the Constitution. Everyone has the right to believe what they want. Respect that.
There are bad Muslims who are terrorists. There are also bad Christians who kill people everyday. The overwhelming majority of people, including Muslims and Christians, are good people. Religion does not define if you are a good or bad person; your actions do.
Women's rights:
Some feminists do scare me, but overall I consider myself one because as Merriam-Webster states, feminism is the belief that women and men should have equal rights and opportunities. Who would be against men and women having the same rights?
Let me be clear. I am a woman and I am extremely thankful for my rights and the opportunities I have now. Women's rights have come a long way in the past 100 years. That being said, there's still many issues that need to be addressed. The big one being the gender pay gap.
This issue hasn't affected me personally. Every job I have had, I have been paid pretty well. However, just because it hasn't affected me yet doesn't mean that it isn't affects thousands of other people. For every dollar the average man makes, the average woman is making 80 cents for the same job. The evidence is clearly there so why is this issue such a controversy? Let's accept there's an issue, address the issue, and move on.
LGBTQ+ rights:
Once again, repeat after me: gay rights do not have anything to do with your religion. I'm straight, and I'm engaged to a great guy. Allowing people to marry who they want does not affect my relationship or my life. However, anyone should have the same right to marry the person they love. If I couldn't marry my fiancé, I would do everything in my power to get that right.
Like I said before, I'm Christian and technically homosexuality is a sin. The bible also mentions getting a divorce, cutting your own hair, owning a mixed-breed dog, having pre-marital sex, and working on Sundays are horrible things. Why are we focusing on one aspect of the bible but not the rest?
Gay marriage has already been legalized, so why is there such a controversy to revoke that right? Even if you disagree with it, people have every right to marry who they want. Like I said before, we need to put the Constitution first before our own personal, religious views in order to keep this country and every person in it having equal and deserving rights.
Instead of spreading hate and dividing this nation, let's appreciate our differences, listen to each other, befriend one another, and be thankful.
