The Tragedy In Colorado Springs

 

I’m sure everyone has heard about the Colorado Springs shooting by now, although you may know it as the Planned Parenthood shooting.

 

 

The narrative of a far-right, pro-life, white Christian terrorist who’s Republican was created while the shooting and subsequent standoff was still in progress. Amazingly, Twitter users were able to use their psychic abilities to profile the shooter before police and bystanders even got a clear view of him.

I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this. However, I would like to make a personal note about what I’ve experienced when revealing the truth that came later about the shooter.

 

Being Christian Has Nothing To Do With Hate

All my life I’ve been harassed and put down because of my Christian faith. I’ve been called the most hideous names even from a young age. Ever since my appearance on social media years ago, I’ve been told numerous times that I should kill myself because I’m a murderous tyrannical bigot. Most recently I was told to slit my wrists because I called Islam “evil.”

I didn’t call for anyone’s murder, arrest or indictment. I simply expressed my opinion, something everyone has a right to as long as it doesn’t infringe upon anyone else’s rights.

I can confidently say that I have NEVER called for someone to be harmed or to harm themselves because they believed differently than me. I’ve never physically or verbally abused anyone, though I did bully someone in writing when I was in high school (it was one instance on one single day; I have regretted it ever since and admitted I was wrong).

 

Abuse And Threats Are Never Okay

My mental illness is due in part to the verbal, emotional and sometimes physical abuse I received up until a year ago. It wasn’t all from one person; there were many, some of whom I once called friends, that said some of the nastiest things I’ve ever heard.

So it pains me to receive the abuse thrown my way when some jerk on Twitter decides that a shooter who has yet to be identified in any way (up until recently) is immediately pegged as a Christian terrorist who took the GOP’s anti-abortion rhetoric and got “Go kill people at Planned Parenthood!” out of that.

 

Christianity Is Not A Violent Religion

Anyone who knows the first thing about the Bible and the religion of Christianity knows that nowhere in the Bible does it call for violence against non-believers or those who disagree with you. Anyone who makes a comparison between Christianity and Islam and states that Christianity is the violent religion clearly hasn’t read either the Bible or the Quran/Koran.

I’m not even going to cite Bible or Koran verses because to heck with it: if you want to claim you’re knowledgeable on the subject, you fricking look those things up yourself. Do your own research. You know what I tell people when they ask me to do research? I tell them it’s an extra $10. Pay up or shut up.

 

I’ve Had Enough

I’m done being quaint and content. I’m done with letting my religion be smeared by people who don’t have a clue what they’re talking about. I’m going to stand up for what’s right because it’s what I need to do. I need to do this for my mental health because I’m tired of taking an emotional and verbal beating and being told I’m a racist, privileged, stupid bigot when I stand up for myself.

What happened outside of the Planned Parenthood clinic was an act of terrorism, no doubt about it. The family and friends of those who lost their lives are heartbroken and in pain. I’m praying for them and will continue to do so. Just because I contend that the shooting was not about Planned Parenthood doesn’t mean I don’t feel for those people or that I support what the shooter did. If you think that, you have your head way too far up your backside.

 

Watch Your Words

People don’t realize how their words can hurt others when they say the things they do. Actually, no… they do realize. They realize and they say those things because they want to hurt people, specifically people who stand in the way of their political goals. Or anyone who disagrees with them.

No one should be told to hurt themselves or feel threatened because they’re different. The goal of this blog is to help others with mental health issues they might be facing by chronicling my experiences here. Things like this count too.

I hope to post a new article next week about how to overcome and/or manage political stress like what I’m experiencing. It’s been on my mind for awhile, and I think it could speak to others who have to deal with abuse because of their viewpoints.

 

I look forward to writing the post and will see you all this coming week. 🙂 Cheers.