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Listening to: From the Choirgirl Hotel. Not for long, though... it's not really matching my mood quite like I was expecting it too.

Currently Reading: Just barely started Jonathan Lethem's Gun, With Occasional Music. Kind of saving it for the train, as well as a stack of others (both fiction and non). Also, I recently read Laurie Notaro's I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies): True Tales of a Loudmouth Girl (again) in like two days, and peed myself laughing. Highly recommended. I also devoured The Broke Diaries by Angela Nissel in, like, a mere few days. Laughed until I peed. Also highly recommended.

Wishing: income. Lots of it. Other than that, life's pretty good.

I couldn't be more The current mood of ronkc@diaryland.com at www.imood.com right now.

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09 November 2002 | 11:42 AM

Shabbat Shalom.

Okay.

Why haven't I written in so long? There's actually a good reason. The subject means so much to me these days. The subject is peace. I've decided that I can't express everything I want to in one entry. So I'll do several.

Today's entry has to do with religious tolerance.

I recently saw a bumper sticker that said something like, "God Is Too Big To Fit In One Religion." How true this is. I think we could all agree on this, can't we? Why, then, are things so difficult in our world?

Lately, I like to go to Shabbat services on Friday night at Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Seattle. I also sing in the choir at The Chapel Of Saint Ignatius here on campus. When I go to the Catholic Mass, I see people come into the chapel freely, usually in groups, talking quietly about their week, or about the week to come, or whatever. And it's fine. Ordinarily, I'm not terribly moved by it.

At the Temple, there's a sign just inside the door saying that due to heightened security measures, all bags were subject to search. Nobody searches bags at Chapel. This makes me somewhat disappointed in the human race... maybe even a little more than I usually am. I went to Shabbat one night, and I noticed a police vehicle parked near the Temple, off to the side a little. I hoped that everyone and everything was alright in the surrounding neighborhood. Walking into the building, I noticed that the police officer was standing near the door. Nothing was wrong, it was just for security.

This disturbed me greatly. People in the United States of America, quite possibly the "freest" nation on this planet of ours need police officers outside their worship spaces for services. Children see this police officer every Friday night. I kept thinking about this, and I thought about the Holocaust, and Witch Trials, and the Inquisition, and every horrible thing that's ever happened to a marginalised group ever. I shed a tear or two. Why can't we do our own thing and let others do theirs? People seem to want to punish others for not worshiping the "right" God. I wonder why these people don't let other people do their thing, and let God sort it out, if it's that big of a deal to God. Don't these people trust God enough to carry out [His/Her] own plan? God is only supposed to be the most powerful entity in the universe... The mistrust we invest in our fellow humans and in our own Gods makes me wonder what kind of people they are.

I encourage you all to visit a worship service of a religious affiliation that you haven't been exposed to before. You might feel more comfortable calling the office of the (Temple/Chapel/Church/Other Meeting Space) and explaining your situtation and ask if there's anything you need to know before going. You will find that almost all of these will be very accepting and welcoming. I encourage you all to experience something through a new point of view, so we, as people, might learn to understand one another, to accept and support one another, to trust one another with our religious choices. Encourage your friends to do the same, and encourage them to encourage their friends and so on. Maybe, just maybe, if we take these little steps to understand and appreciate each other, we may not need security guards outside worship spaces one day.

Shabbat Shalom.

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