Tag: gay

Tree of Life

My daughter Abigail wrote this today.

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I root myself to the ground. I will not give in to fear.

Tree of Life Synagogue [UPI Photo]

Last night my thirteen-year-old attended his first confirmation class, during which they discussed the murders in Pittsburgh.

“There are people who really, really hate Jews, Mom. It pretty much sucks.” I asked him if he wanted to talk about it more, but he said he needed a break from it.

When I started to discuss it yesterday with my nine-year-olds (unplanned, unfortunately), my daughter about lost her mind. “Why do people hate Jews so much?” she sobbed. “Why do they want to kill us? Are they going to come to OUR temple and try to kill US?” I had to pull her down from her perch of hysteria. Her twin brother sat silent, and sad.

I root myself to the ground for my children. I cannot allow them to live in fear.

Today, with my daughter in a calmer state, I continued the conversation. Continue reading “Tree of Life”

Guns: Be Like Australia

(I posted this in 2016. In the hideous aftermath of the Las Vegas shooting, it demands reposting today.)

The following article, reposted in its entirety from the Sydney Morning Herald (June 16, 2016), was written by Aubrey Perry, a Melbourne-based writer and artist who is originally from the United States. 

Her words are heartfelt. I could not say it better…

 

Thank you, Australia. Thank you for making me feel safe when I walk out my front door.

Thank you for not making me wonder if some enraged lunatic is going to shoot up the post office while I wait in line to mail a package back home to the States.

Thank you for not making me worry that my daughter will be slaughtered in a bloody shooting-spree at school, or that my husband might be shot in a restaurant while he has lunch, or that my gay and lesbian friends will be mowed down by a madman with a machine gun at a nightclub.

About 700,000 guns were handed in to Australia's buyback nearly 20 years ago. Photo: Dean Sewell
About 700,000 guns were handed in to Australia’s buyback nearly 20 years ago. Photo: Dean Sewell

Thank you for honouring and protecting the good of the whole and not the selfishness of Continue reading “Guns: Be Like Australia”