Is inclusiveness always a good thing?

I should be up front about one thing....my "celebration" of Patrick's Day consisted of paying no attention to whether I was wearing green or orange and, when someone noticed I had no green on and threatened to pinch me, asking them if they liked having all their teeth, suggesting if they did, leave the juvenile behavior alone.
It is no secret I am very anti-catholic. I have long believed they have done more damage to the human race and to people getting along than anyone save perhaps the Muslims. Remove the Catholics and Muslims from the equation and the stupidity of wars over belief systems stops, never occurs...we never have things like the Inquisition. We never get bizarre teachings such as preventing marriage for the priesthood in direct violation to the book they claim to follow or declaring holy wars in which all kafirs (non-believers) are to convert or die.
It also is no secret that I am no fan of deliberately divisive attitudes that separate people based on color or country of origin.
Hence, a celebration of Irish Catholicism is very far down my list of things to do. Clocking in one slot above it is wearing orange to symbolize being protestant and yet still celebrating the warfare, anger and hatred over religion. So no, I did not bother to check what colors I was wearing nor participate in any of it.
Nor did I set out in search of a reason to get drunk using an alternative color of beer, I did not seek out an Irish restaraunt or anything of that nature. I neither marched in nor watched parades. I did, however, read an article about a parade.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11880012/
And it gets me a little perturbed. First off, why are officials marching in an exclusionary parade? If you are not Irish or part of an Irish organization then you should not be marching. Two reasons...first, the Irish nature of it sort of demands that, eh? 2nd, if you are not Irish, by celebrating one aspect of culture at the expense of others, whether Scottish of Congoian or Brazilian of whatever...you are encouraging the belief that one portion of our combined heritage is more worthy of celebration and participation than others.
With that said, so long as that march is not publicly funded, I fully stand behind their right to choose who they do and who they don't allow to march. I have every right to choose who to associate with...if I don't like hanging out with the members of the militia movement, I should be able to organize events where i don't have to. If I don't happen to think the way the Ku Klux Klan thinks, I should be able to organize events where I don't have to. If I put together a run and send out the invitations and don't like people who wear Hawaian shirts on the fourth Saturday of the 3rd month of every 5th decade, I should not have to invite or include them.
Somewhere we turned left and decided that not wanting everyone in our parade was bad...unless the ku klux klan shows up. Or the militia or Jerry Falwell or the followers of Hugh Hefner or....well, you get the point.
If public money was used I have little doubt this will end up in court. And if it does I have even less doubt they will be allowed to march (somewhere they are clearly not wanted) next year. All well and good. Just for my own perverse movement, I hope, if that happens, that there IS a strong contingent of Ku Klux Klan and militia groups and Hare Krishnas and Black Panthers and every other group out there marching. Personally, I would find that hilarious. But then again, I am sick and twisted and had Kansas going to the Final Four, so take that for what it is worth.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

“The comments bring to the forefront a longstanding bigotry,” said graduate student Emmaia Gelman, 31, who hoisted a sign that read, “Troops Out, Queers in”

If you can't see what a moron this person is from the combination of statements here, go back and take first grade English again.

Riot Kitty said...

Hey, Fuller, I bet you wouldn't feel the same way if you weren't allowed to march because you were Christian, or male, or in some other category.

Drew: I agree that officials should not march in an exclusionary parade. As for public funding - keep in mind, it is arguably at least partly publicly funded because of the cops on duty to block off the streets and manage traffic. It's also a very public event - I lived there and the protest about not including gays has been a big issue very year because it is known as the city's St Pat's parade. It's not like they're holding it in someone's back yard.