Hello World!

When I think of all that's going on today and what I can do to make things better, I remember my grandmother teaching me to be respectful of other people, no matter what their background, religion or other ways they may be different than me.  Seems easy, right? But...

There's an increase in hate-speech worldwide. We're all responsible. We may not think what we say causes harm, but our words are powerful. Hate speech today, on the part of one person or group, all too often inspires hate filled actions tomorrow.

Why have hate speech and hate filled actions become more common? Maybe because we choose our "news" like we pick a song we want to hear. We quickly, and very easily, confirm our stand by going on our phone or watching our favorite "news" source. We have a false sense of "being right" about our position when we connect so easily and often with others who share our same beliefs. It's called "Confirmation Bias." It doesn't make our beliefs more "true," it just makes us feel more "right."

Truly, I think we all need to remember that we can live in our own thought lives and allow others to do the same. One of the most American things we can do is treat each other with respect again! 

Let's MAKE HATE SHAMEFUL AGAIN!