DEIA means hope for a better world

White Washing Words

You're scrubbing words because...why? What's the rationale? Are you afraid the truth will finally be told, that you're afraid of the competition? Underlying your motives are deep seated prejudices, against the disabled, people of color, women, gender identity. Your willingness to tear America apart in the hopes of gaining more power.

Rights advocates say measures Trump is trying to dismantle aimed to uplift marginalized groups and addressed the continued effects of historical and generational inequity.

Trump and his allies defend his actions by saying his orders aim to remove what they call discrimination against other Americans, including white people and men. -reuters

Reuters and NPR both report that among the executive orders issued by Trump is banning rules against discrimination in government contracts. This means the Jim Crow laws eliminated by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would return.

DEIA does not exclude you. It includes you. Discrimination against any person or group is illegal, not just against white men. Open your eyes. End the bigotry. You can make the world more like God intended. DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives, while often promoted in secular contexts, can also be seen as aligning with Christian values, emphasizing the inherent worth and dignity of all people, and calling for justice and reconciliation.
-a variety of online sources

Diversity

"There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard. There are not more than five primary colors, yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever been seen. There are not more than five cardinal tastes, yet combinations of them yield more flavors than can ever be tasted." — Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"

Equity

We all need to work together, because there are no jobs on a dead planet; there is no equity without rights to decent work and social protection, no social justice without a shift in governance and ambition, and, ultimately, no peace for the peoples of the world without the guarantees of sustainability.
Sharan Burrow

Inclusion

It's when we care for each other - choosing inclusion and love over division and hatred - that this great country is at its greatest.
Tulsi Gabbard

Accessibility

If you’re more offended by language than systemic ableism, it’s time to rethink your priorities.

Sheri Byrne-Haber

Two warnings about the politics of division, hate, and fascism.

The schools would fail through their silence, the Church through its forgiveness, and the home through the denial and silence of the parents. The new generation has to hear what the older generation refuses to tell it.
(Quoted in the introduction to The Sunflower)

“Rule #1: Believe the autocrat. He means what he says. Whenever you find yourself thinking, or hear others claiming, that he is exaggerating, that is our innate tendency to reach for a rationalization. This will happen often: Humans seem to have evolved to practice denial when confronted publicly with the unacceptable.”—Masha Gessen (New York Times Review of Books, Nov 26, 2016)

Is It Something I Said?

Certain words will get your life's work banned

Researchers, scientist, sociologist, universities, medical research centers, government agencies, and non-profits are all getting their funding pulled because they are running afoul of the administration's  anti-woke, anti-DEI campaign. Certain words and phrases raise flags, alarms among the elites that run Trump World.

Get Rhythm 

I like this song. It didn't happen right away. The accordion was kind off putting but it grew on me. When I finally saw the video it all fell into place, and I liked it even more. With each view of the video, more and more was revealed. I like the diversity, equality and inclusion it represents. There's also a sense of belonging and the discovery of common ground. And today, mentioning this might get any of us into trouble. I'm not even sure it's okay to share the video.

There are certain thoughts and ideas that will get you flagged and threatened in America today.

Banned Words

Yes, it is absurd, but it's also dangerous. This is what authoritarian governments do. They narrow ideology to a specific way of thinking while demonizing freedom of thought and freedom of expression. Anybody who is determined not to be part of their norm is isolated and made irrelevant, even forced into extinction.

Our country is founded on God given rights. What does that mean? The Supreme Court says, The Founders believed that God-given rights precede human law, and they designed their government to secure those rights. The Bible teaches that man has freedom of speech because God did not give the civil government jurisdiction over the mind of man. The Declaration of Independence emphasizes life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is based on the idea that these are rights given by God. The Constitution's First Amendment grants your rights to freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

What we are getting instead is Fascism

The characteristics in common among fascists include extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the rule of elites, and the desire to create a Volksgemeinschaft (German: “people’s community”), in which individual interests would be subordinated to the good of the nation. (Britannica)