Traditions

I can’t help thinking about the traditions that bind us during this time in our country that is so divided.  I have been taught to not be prejudice and because of that I do not understand people who are.  Every culture celebrates different holidays, makes different food, reads different books to their children, celebrates different holidays and has different traditions.  When schools have diverse populations, children get to experience each other’s ways and hopefully embrace them openly.

I am not sure what grade this happened but I believe it was around 3rd grade, our kids were supposed to bring in a dish that was from their families tradition.  It was great hearing each of them go through that time and try to decide which was just the right dish that represents their family.  It could be the kugel at Yom Kippur, it could be the stuffing we make every single year or the cranberry chutney, it could be the brisket, it could be the charoses from Passover.  Some of these dishes began with my Grandmother.

People marry and create new cultures for their families particularly when two people from different places unite.  An Iranian with an Irish person, a Jew with an Italian, a Korean with a German, etc.  Our country is not that old and many of us still consider our roots be from our countries or our religions.   This is what makes America so great.  The myriad of people who live in a very large place.

The desire for some (and of course our President) to close our borders or to discriminate against others through hatred (vandalizing a Jewish cemetery or bomb scares and more) is so beyond my understanding.  I do understand how we got here.  We got here through greed.  I am just beyond comprehension on the anger and dismissal of ones who don’t look like themselves.  What is really unfortunate is that the people who voted towards hatred and prejudice are the ones that are going to be hurt the worst.

Comments (Archived):

  1. pointsnfigures

    Sadly, most of the hate has been from sickos. An Israeli-American teen called in the bomb threats to the Jewish Community Centers. It was the weather and neglect which hurt the Jewish cemetery in NYC. http://legalinsurrection.co… ; http://www.israelnationalne

    1. Gotham Gal

      sadly is right.

    2. awaldstein

      All hate crimes are perpetrated by sickos by definition.There is no well balanced bigot. Or racist. On and on….

      1. Gotham Gal

        I believe you are right.

      2. pointsnfigures

        Agree. That’s why I deliberately characterized them that way-and not as a “right wing” or “left wing” person. As soon as both sides agree that it’s sickos and stop pointing fingers the quicker we can get to the root of the problem. Most of it is education and learning that these are real humans, and not statistics. The more we understand, the less fearful we are and the more tolerant we become.

        1. awaldstein

          Agree as well. I never use left or right wing as terms.I have tolerance for dissent. For most everything except hate crimes honestly.What i am unsure of is whether hate is actually curable. i struggle with this fair bit.Rewatched American History X the other night. This imo does a great job of addressing this very issue.

          1. pointsnfigures

            Hah! I was going to type that exact same thing-is hate curable? Wish I knew the answer to that.

          2. awaldstein

            You may never. If you don’t know that flic, you might give it a watch. Digs deep into this with both abruptness and nuance.

          3. LE

            I think very difficult but possible. What has been brainwashed or experienced in can, in theory, be brainwashed, experienced or manipulated out.Problem is since people are in groups and are surrounded by those who share the same beliefs it would be extremely difficult … you’d have to isolate them.

          4. JLM

            ,The practical issue is not the existence of hatred or prejudice, it is the willingness to act upon it.Society doesn’t know what we think, but it does know how we act.I can tolerate being hated as long as you don’t come to my house and shoot me.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

          5. LE

            We can call that ‘don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t act’.For any particular individual you are right. But for society as a whole I think the issue goes to my point re: ‘surrounded by’ or ‘in groups of’.In that case the thing that we don’t hear or know about could still have a negative impact by influencing less intelligent or more easily manipulated members of society. Or children.To make my point clearer here is an example. Let’s say someone doesn’t like jews. They don’t tell them and they don’t ‘come to their house’ or do anything obvious they don’t act. But their group knows this and feeds off it or perhaps their family as well. Because they get together and reinforce each other.

          6. JLM

            .Being liked is the greatest vanity man visits upon himself. It is a narcotic, sometimes. The ultimate luxury in life is to not care what anyone thinks about anyone.To take your example. The chap doesn’t like Jews, but never acts upon it. No harm. No foul.What is the cost to society?First, we have to remove the reaction to the poison and then we can deal with the poison and its sources.Being allowed to live in peace doesn’t require acceptance, approval, celebration. It just requires a splash of indifference.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

          7. Gotham Gal

            fantastic film.

          8. awaldstein

            truly. last year kept drawing me back to it a number of times.

          9. Gotham Gal

            i watched “do the right thing”.

          10. awaldstein

            good one–i’m going to cue that up.

  2. JLM

    .Borders define the sovereignty of a nation’s physical plant. No different than your putting a lock on your front door and locking it at night. I doubt your front door lock is an expression of exclusion or hate. It is a desire to control access to your home.If one lived in Texas, with its long border with Mexico, one might have a different view of things. In the People’s Republic of Austin, we have a Sheriff, Sally Hernandez, who refuses to cooperate with another branch of the government.ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) sends “detainer” requests to local law enforcement when they charge, detain, or convict a criminal, when that criminal is in the country illegally.She refuses to honor detainers for anyone except murderers, aggravated assailants, and human traffickers. It is not clear to me why she agrees to detain those folks but not others.She releases:Kidnappers,Rapists (should fall under the classification of “aggravated assaults”),Drug dealers,Financial fraudsters,Sexual assailants who take carnal knowledge of minors,Sexual deviants who expose themselves to minors,Sexual predators against children (fondlers),Robbers,Burglars (forced or unforced entry),Aggravated assailants — with or without weapons (which seems to be against her own stated policy),Drug possessors of all kinds (marijuana, cocaine, heroin),Hit & runners,Felons fleeing to avoid prosecution,Criminals resisting arrest,Domestic violence perpetrators, and,DUIs.If we had a secure southern border with Mexico many of these multiple offenders (both multiple illegal crossings of the border after deportation and multiple criminal acts) would not be in my community, our jail, and then released back into the community.http://themusingsofthebigre…Sheriff Hernandez has recklessly endangered me, my family, and our citizens. That is why we need serviceable borders. We are the only country in the world which does not secure itself at the border.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

  3. Guest

    The JCC/Jewish cemetery vandals were leftists. Almost all politically-motivated violence comes from the left. Look what happens when a right-leaning speaker visits a college campus. Let’s say you oppose his world views — great, but still no reason to incite violence and prevent the speaker from even being able to speak. Look at how the Antifa idiots trashed DC during inauguration.

  4. AMT Editorial Staff

    Traditions shared bond. No doubt. Books read about other cultures can also help open eyes and personalize a culture. This has been very true for our book club with respect to India and Iran. I was in Canada (Vancouver) for grades 4-7. What an impact that had on my view of people that are unlike me. So diverse….Never gave it a thought. It was just the way it was. And it was a blessing. My book club has chosen to take a respite from our “list” and read “The Little Book of Hygge”. We all agreed we need some coziness given the state of our world.

    1. Gotham Gal

      The Little Book of Hygge…I love this word. It totally makes sense when you are in Denmark.