Prejudices

It is “D-day.” It is the closing of another fiscal season tonight at mid-night. Remember the long lines at IRS and then the post office? Of course that was before internet interface. Wow, we have come a long way baby?

Tonight’s discussion in my Constitutional Class came with dinner. It was absolutely wonderful. We discussed political alignment, strength of the presidency, and amendments to the constitution. Of course each time I walk into the class, I learn something new that I didn’t know.  At the closing of class, I commented that “I am anti-establishment.” Of course, I do enjoy this professor and have great respect for him. He commented, “Julia, you are anti-anti-establishment.” Well, I am and there is no denying it. He also thinks I pick on him to a certain degree. Well, I do. I want to pick his brain and learn everything. He knows I have read, studied political science, and love history. But, with each professor, I will pick their brain to learn. I just like picking brains in a comical manner.

Interesting though, this evening we discussed amendments to the constitution that went off into the sunset. One of them was Equal Rights Amendment. Congress did make it a USC directive even though it is not in the constitution. Yet it is really valid. It is not as valid as we would like to think. (Yes that is a contradictory statement.)

 Is there discrimination in the USA? Of course there is. How many see those poster signs posted in an obvious place from the (DOL) Department of Labor (something like): We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, sex, religion, or political affiliation. What a joke.

Get real. IRS is discriminatory as to who is the head of the house hold on joint returns. SSA is discriminatory toward “spouses.” DOL just recently started noting homemakers as non-paid wage earners. A male patient would rather have a male doctor look at his “Yoohoos.” I know some older women who would rather have men look at the “Beegaagaa” because they fear women doctors might get sexually turned on. Women still do not get equal pay for equal positions. I knew of this happening in some teaching positions a few years back. This is age old stereotypical hype. I mean hype.

A few years back, women would go to college to seek husbands. There are some people who still believe this like Phyllis Schlafly, who said in a statement today printed in the Huffington Post: “…providing women with equal pay for work would deter their chances of finding a ‘suitable mate’…Since a woman prefers to marry a man who makes more money than she does…decreasing the gender pay gap would leave women unable to secure a husband.” This article further contends that “…women typically chose a mate (husband or boyfriend) who earns more money than she does.” Schlafly is affiliated with strong Christian Pro-family groups.

Well she is 84 years old and according to many biological anthropologists, females are not important to the gene pool or the habitat when their reproductive years have expired. For that matter neither am I. We have to have something to do in our golden years, so we tell people where to go and when to get off. Well Mrs. Schlafly, this is not the end of the great depression, the time of Rosie the Riveter, or the time that Nancy Reagan posed for JennAir Appliances for the happy “little woman” homemaker. This is 2014 and there are many female and male homemakers who deserve to be equal in this day and time if they choose to enter the work place and perform equal jobs.       

So to define this: I would assume that all women want equality so they can marry for money…talk about female “Gold Diggers!” According to what Mrs. Schlafly indicated, they are.     

To combat this, former President Jimmy Carter, conveyed the other day, that women have received negative connotations because of the misinterpretation of some biblical content. He is correct. Think about it. The former President might not have been a good politician but he is an absolutely good statesman. This is not the first learned person I have heard state this. “Beware of Biblical Commentaries.”

I have now given you two respective view points from two very active Christians in society.

The point I am making, there is prejudice and discrimination as well as profiling and it will never end. It matters not what the government issues, decrees, proclamations, directives, or executive orders; it matters not who sits in the White House or what political party is in the powerful positions in Congress. People will always have likes and dislikes. There will always be crime; there will always be injustices; there will always be those whose treatment is less than humanitarian as they profess their faith; we will always have a complaint; we will always label; and we will always look up or down at our noses at every little detail we come in contact with.

Why? Free will is the answer to the question. I must start with me. I may not always get everything or anything right but I encourage people to learn, to try, to advance for you and for no one else.

To me this week denotes the most important times in biblical history: Passover and then the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Just as man is destine to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Hebrew 9: 27-28.

Keep in prayer for each other. God bless you all and keep you safely in His arms.