Words usually associated with the Bible Belt . . .

Right now, I'm doing a re-reading of Ray Blackston's Flabbergasted, a hilarious, wonderful Christian novel about a stockbroker who went to church to meet women and wound up meeting Jesus instead.   (Read it!)

In one scene, the stockbroker is trying to calm down an angry client.  The client's response is written as:  "Words not usually associated with the Bible Belt rattled in my headset."

I found that a funny, appropriate way of describing the client's response without resorting to the actual words.

Yesterday, I got to use that phrase in responding to a thread containing atrocious, offensive, racist responses to someone's blog.

Bobby Valentine, a Church of Christ preacher, writes a blog about church history and his theological journey.  Yesterday, he posted a link to this blog entry on a Facebook group.  He wrote about why we need Black History Month.  Bobby is white but has a heart and desire to learn about people of color and to understand their history and culture, as much as it's possible for a someone who's not a person of color.

He received this response:  "Why do we spend an entire month celebrating the history of a group of people who make 15% of the American population, and literally contribute nothing but violence and crime, and then completely ignore the European Americans?"

That, alone, makes me want to use a long list of words "not usually associated with the Bible Belt".  Does he not remember the names of Ron McNair, Oprah Winfrey, Barack and Michelle Obama, Mae Jemison, Nichelle Nichols, Stevie Wonder, and others?

And does he also not realize that "European Americans" are hardly ignored?  See George Washington, our Founding Fathers, Abraham Lincoln, et. al.

I truly hope this poster was a troll, or a bot, because he went on to state:  (and the following contains words that will be considered offensive, so please exercise appropriate self-care.)
"If you're white and don't understand or care why your own race, and your own people who founded this country, and created the greatest civilizations aren't celebrated, you're blind."

"I'm asking why there's no celebration, not even one day, for the achievements and influence of European people in America, who founded and created this country, and wanting that makes me a white supremacist?"

He ended with "you're just completely cucked by the (((media)))".

When someone asked what (((media))) meant, I was stunned by the answer (this Wikipedia article gives a more thorough explanation):  The triple parenthesis is right-wing hate speech for "Jewish."  "Cucked" is right-wing hate speech meaning "people who are fools and believe "lamestream" media.  "Cucked" is short for "cuckold," a reference to a man whose wife has been unfaithful to him.  The word is often used as a term of derision.

In other words, Bobby was being stupidly deceived by the Jewish-owned media.

No, those are not words usually associated with the Bible Belt, but I deliberately used them to show to show the evil that is out there and that, unfortunately, some Christians believe.

I can point to a long list of people of color, starting in my own church, who do not contribute "nothing but violence and crime".  In fact, people of color have too often been the victims of that "violence and crime".

I can point to Columbus Day, Presidents' Day, and Fourth of July as days when the achievements of "European Americans" have been celebrated.

And I wonder if by "European Americans" this poster means, "White, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant", because Italians, Irish, Slavics, and Catholics have routinely been targets of scorn and prejudice.  (Look up the acronym Nina.  And who remembers Polish jokes?)

Are these the words that we want to have "usually associated with the Bible Belt"?  Words that denigrate people of color and people who are not Christian?  Words that hate and attack?

I worry about being racist, because I'm white, and I don't understand what people of color have and do face in this country.  While I can say I'm not a blatant racist (I am not a Klan member and I abhor our history of slavery and Jim Crow) I worry about being a subtle, unknowing racist.  

This is not what I want associated with the Bible Belt.

But apparently, according to some, the Bible Belt stands for exactly that.

I fear for our country.  I fear that the polarization has become so extreme that there is no way to bridge it.  

Are these words words that we want associated with the Bible Belt?

Think about it.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.