I managed to replace the left rear shock on my car but noticed after I dropped it back on the ground that the ride height issue still isn't resolved. I checked out the right front and couldn't find anything out of the ordinary so it looks like I have to take the car back to Sears to have them fix whatever they fucked up. I'm not looking forward to that because I know they're going to do everything in their power to find some way to get me to shell out more money and I am not in the mood for that kind of bullshit.
Speaking of bullshit my mom posted an article about how Christians are the most persecuted religious group on the planet and it just about set my blood boiling. I tried to let it go but naturally, my mouth took over and I started yet another fight. You'd think I'd learn my lesson by now but obviously not. At any rate here's the article in case you are curious. Its disgusting, its infuriating and I can't help but feel that it is the height of disrespect towards those that suffer persecution everyday. For those not already in the know I count myself as a secular humanist. This is because I see all of humanity as equal under one label. Religion and politics are all fine and good. They have their individual places and when they work, they work. When they don't then we need to look at who (not what) fucked it up. The problem I see in this world world is that people (like the author of that article) put the what before the who. It ignores the fact that at the very heart of every humanitarian crisis is a human. A human who has taken it upon themselves to try and fuck things up for everybody. When you put the who before the what questions like "Are they Christian?" or "Are they citizens?" become irrelevant. That's why that article pissed me off so much.
Persecution is a terrible thing but in today's world throw a rock and you'll hit someone claiming they are being persecuted against. Those making the claims are just as often persecuting as they are being persecuted. It makes things confusing at best and nearly impossible to help those that are truly in need. Add on top of that this sudden contest to prove that one group gets it worse than the rest (and again, throw a rock and you'll hit some group making that claim) and the world becomes one massive reality television program. Its infuriating to say the least.
This isn't a religious problem either. Nor is it a political one. Its a human problem. Persecution does not happen without two things: One, a human being making the decisions that put other groups down and Two, one group having a ruling majority over another. Just take a look at the areas of the world where one group is persecuting another and you'll see that the ruling class is almost always the offending party. Here in the United States and also in Russia the Christian religion enjoys dominance in both population and governance. However, in the Middle East where Islam holds the ruling majority those tables are turned. In Africa it's even worse. Move over to East Asia and you'll discover the same pattern only this time Hindus and Buddhists are the unfortunate targets, particularly in China and Pakistan. When you ignore the labels those groups assign themselves you find a shocking and very difficult truth that we all must contend with. When one group of humans is given majority control over others that group almost invariably exercises oppression and persecution.
You may have heard about the Third Wave back in your high school. This was a very controversial experiment where a school teacher showed students how oppression can become law when one group is granted even minor privileges over another. The experiment quickly went out of a control and resulted in a near gang war among the students involved. The experiment showed that even among students who were aware of history and educated about the dangers of abuse of power those students could still do so when given power over a minority group. Its a hard fact to swallow but as long as we waste each other's time trying to claim that our group is more persecuted than theirs then we are ignoring this one, very crucial fact.
It sucks to know but we can never forget that we will persecute others if given the chance unless we exercise the self control needed to overcome that tendency. All of us from time to time need to make important gut checks about what we are doing to advance our cause and why. Most importantly of all when we see something that supports our group we must always ask one very important question: "How will this affect others not in my group?" We must be willing to examine what we are doing objectively and give up any advantage if it places an unfair burden on other groups ESPECIALLY minorities. Don't ever deny that your group is capable of persecution of others because your group is made up of human beings. ANY group made up of human beings is capable of oppression.