I’m an old, straight, white male. And I’m a conservative who also happens to be a Christian (born-again). Bashing and hating on men like me is fashionable today.
As a child, my belief system was strongly influenced by my parents’ ultra-conservative, Judeo-Christian morality. Dancing, smoking, alcohol, swearing, non-Christians, Democrats, and anyone who didn’t go to my church, were judged harshly and avoided. Many of those influences stuck with me as I grew up, got married and had a family.
Is being white a sufficient reason for those who don’t share my values to hate me? I am branded as:
- Judgemental
- Unfeeling
- Self-Righteous
- Unforgiving
- Defensive
- Intolerant
- Hateful
- Racist
- Inflexible
- Small minded
- Dumb
- One who aggressively forces my beliefs on everyone else.
Let me get back to my belief system and the core values that stuck with me now that I’m old. Here are a few more items to add to the “reasons people hate me list.”
I believe:
- The Bible is the inerrant word of God. You don’t get to choose the bits you like and obey only them. It’s all or nothing.
- Marriage is sacred and intended for a man and a woman.
- Each of us is created by an amazing designer. God. He made you the way you were born. Your gender is assigned when you are conceived. Don’t mess with it.
- Being gay is not a sin. Practicing gay sex is.
- God loves you, and he wants you to spend all eternity with him.
- There is a heaven, and there is a hell. Each of us, depending on our relationship with God and the decisions we make or don’t make about his son Jesus, will end up in one of those two places after we die.
- Where you end up after you die is based solely on your choice. It has nothing to do with me, your parents, spouse, kids, partner, political party, church, or whiteness. You don’t get to blame anyone but yourself if you wake up somewhere you’d rather not be.
- Being a white male is not a sin. The problems with the world are not the result of white guys. Stop blaming them for everything.
- My decisions and beliefs have nothing to do with the Republican Party or Donald Trump, even though he is an old white guy. Joe Biden is an old white guy too.
Being a white man has given me privileges I would not have received if I were a woman or someone of a different race. I can’t do anything about that. But the color of my white skin does not make me evil or a morally questionable person. Sorry. It makes no sense to hold it against me.
If you are now nodding your head and saying, “Yes, this is why I hate you,” I would argue that you are no different from how you see me. You are narrow-minded, opinionated, and convinced that you are the only one who is right. The difference is, I don’t hate you.
Stop hating us old, white guys.
The Chronicles of Egydyus Flombosi 
Being “hated” is hard to take. We want everyone to like us and to get along with us. What really matters is what God thinks of us. His judgment has eternal consequences. Lining up our views of world issues with the Word of God is essential. “And you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved!” Mat. 10:22 (NET)
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Can’t say I agree totally with everything you say here but I do NOT hate you for your beliefs. And if you had been a “person of color” or a woman I do not think you would have turned out any different if your upbringing (ultra-conservative, Judeo-Christian morality) had been the same. That mindset plays into everything. Personally, I have not seen any scientific evidence that someone is “born gay” but their upbringing can push them in a certain direction. BUT you are right in one thing – don’t hate the person just the act. I am so tired of the minority WOKE crowd getting so much media/press crap that I watch very little so-called “news” these days. I have given up on finding at news source that want to give me “just the facts” without all the BS analysis that seems to be with it. And, one of my last career changes, I was a photojournalist and sports writer for a small weekly newspaper for 10 years. I know that my values (moral, spiritual, logical) were part of what got me to push the shutter button at a specific instance in time to capture what I thought would be worth viewing.
As far as being hated, anyone can hate me all they want. I have had to deal with the naysayers most of my life but that is their cross to bear not mine.
Sorry about the “soapbox”……
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Rich, I appreciate you taking the time to read my posts and then provide comments. That’s the main reason I post my thoughts…to get people to think about what I say. I don’t care much if folks agree or not. I just want them to think about what “they think.” You have shown yourself to be very insightful and I definitely appreciate that. Thanks Richie….
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