I try to get my news from many sources so I don't get stuck in a bubble. And I'm not in the habit of believing everything I read.
I'm well aware that if I try to defend myself, I'll come off as being kinda desperate, killing my believability further.
I'll just say this; a few years back I heard of this made-up war on Christmas. It seemed to come from Fox, or at least was widely disseminated by them. Not long after, my aunt (in the Bible belt) on FB would post about what she heard from a friend, that at [store] the employees were being told to say HH, those Christ-hating words. Her responses were of shocked people saying that they'll never shop there again, some saying that they'll confront the employees.
As I do, I tried to put myself in the shoes of a hapless retail clerk getting a barrage of intolerance for attempted inclusion (it wasn't hard, I had worked 6.5 years in retail, and I never had to deal with that particular problem). How would I react? What if someone said that to me now away from the constraints of a job? I didn't expect it the first time. I knew the old man at the end of the hall in my building seemed to hate life. He always frowned at me with apparent rage. My new boyfriend was visiting a lot (search AT for 'Eljon' if you want details,
or this - in the album's description), so I think he knew I was gay, and I drove a foreign minivan, he had a Chrysler, and I'm a bit gaunt (another searchable word in AT). His hate I imagined was what was directed at Jews, gays, and non-white races in the thirties, forties, and fifties (I'm not trying to sound like a martyr).
So back to the war on Jesus, I tried to think of things I could say if I was ever confronted by that hate toward perceived intolerance toward Christians (it wouldn't happen though, my area is mostly Navy blue). I knew from history that MLK had shined a light on the absurdity of hate with empathy and humility. I'm not that humble, but I thought about what HH meant, its inclusion of all religions. What if I said HH not knowing someone's religion? How could that be considered Christ-hating?
So I said to myself I'll just excuse my poor behavior (the way they see HH) with a sorry and by saying that I wasn't sure of their religion. It was honest. And I didn't have to accuse them of being Jewish, Christ's religion, so I did. What could they say? I'm pretty sure he didn't repeat his hate again, of course I may be wrong. His loss of holiday spirit wasn't going to affect mine. I tend to not fight bullies back, and remaining silent isn't the only option.
The second time it was a lady in the elevator of the same building. She had less animosity toward me after I said HH. Her response was, "
Christ blesses you." I foolishly said I wasn't Christian, and on it went from there. I don't mind being disbelieved.
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