Persecution and Discrimination

It was on my mind today.

I was actually reading the Work and the Glory, a book about Joseph Smith and the restoration of the Mormon Church (to which I am proud to belong), and when it got to the part about the mobs attacking the Mormons and the government not helping, and especially when it got to the part where Joseph Smith and his older brother, Hyrum, were killed in Carthage Jail when the governor PROMISED to protect them, my blood just boiled! How DARE they!

Ahem. Suffice it to say, I was infuriated. (Still am, in case you hadn't noticed.) It got me to thinking; why DID the people hate us so much?

Quite honestly, I have no idea. Maybe it's because we're so different. We dress differently, talk differently, and we have higher standards than a lot of people (especially back then, when drinking and smoking were fairly commonplace, and no one really knew for a fact that it was bad. We stopped first!)

Just a moment please, before you skip this post because of religious content. I'd like to say some things.

1. I am not trying to convert you. I'm just saying how it is. (Though I would be very happy if you'd pick up a Book of Mormon.)

2. I'm not just going to talk about the discrimination against Mormonism in the early days of the Church. (But that will be the basis of a lot of what I have to say)

3. ... I'm still deciding on this one

Then, before that (and I mean WAAAAAAY before that) there were blacks. And afterwards, too. And there were the Japanese-Americans, and the Hispanics.

Why do people discriminate? There is a simple psychological solution to this; because most people don't like what they don't understand. And if one doesn't like something, one gets rid of it, right?

WRONG!! That is the instinct of the NATURAL man! The natural man is what we are trying to avoid! That's why we became civilized, set up governments, leaderships, and RULES!!

And there is, of course, fear of the consequences that keeps us in line. Fear of punishment is part of why most non-religious people don't break the law.

Okay, I'm going to divide the reasons into three groups of people.

The religious; They fear God, and want to come before him when their time comes as pure as possible.

The fearful; These people are too scared of the consequences of their actions to break the law.

And the pacifists; They don't like conflict, so they avoid it at all costs, and in doing so, they often avoid breaking the law.

But I digress...

Like I was saying, there are some people out there who don't care, and they are as close to the natural man as they could possibly be while living in today's society. (of course, if they're politicians...) These are the ones who do something about their discrimination. Their dislike slowly turns to hatred, and their hate drives them to do awful things.

However, they choose to dislike people that are different. They don't have to hate. They choose to. It's all a matter of choice.

In any event, I'd like to list certain things caused by discrimination.

Slaves, who were only slaves because their skin was dark.

The Pioneers of the Mormon Church, who were driven from their homes because they refused to give up what they believed in.

The Trail of Tears. The Native Americans were only on the Trail because the settlers wanted to mine for gold on their lands, and the president, Andrew Jackson, simply went along with it!

All of those times before women got their rights! We were discriminated against simply for being women! They thought that girls couldn't protect themselves... Ha! (Ahem, sorry, I feel strongly about that; discrimination about gender, that is...) It really ticks me off!

David: Everything ticks you off, sis!

Me: Not everything! ... Okay, alright, everything.

Maybe you don't realize it, but there are different kinds of discrimination; ladies first, for instance. I have two wondrous responses for that.

1; "Then what are you waiting for?" and

2; "Ladies? What ladies? I know you're not talking about me, because ladies can't do karate!"

2 often varies, depending upon who I'm speaking to.

Anyway, I should probably wrap this up. It's getting WAY long.

That's all folks!

Seriously.

Oh, what was that? I forgot something?

Ah! You're right! I did forget!

THE DEDICATION!!!

This post dedicated to
my cousin, Rachel
who always knows how to cheer me up!
and to my best friend, Emi-chan
for her steadfast faith in my creative streak
however misdirected
And to Kid Flash, and his mentor, THE Flash
simply for being so fast!
Keep up the good work guys!
And to Kara, Alex, and Carlie Lyman, my latest characters
May Kara lighten up
May Alex grow up
and may Carlie remain as she is, cute and cuddly
and, of course, to my parents
without whom, I could not exist!
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--the Lioness