Fundamentally, Include Me Out.

I must admit that I've been a bit troubled lately by all the political hoopla over health care reform. Not that I don't think each side has a valid point or two or that healthy discussion should be outlawed, but I'm more than a little concerned about the righteous tone many are taking.
When an elected representative sees nothing offensive in a large sign depicting victims at Dachau's concentration camp in World War II and links that to what might be a certain fate if one or the other version of this bill is passed, I get a little nervous.
When a person interviewed on NPR claims that she knows a certain politician will "burn in hell" for not standing behind an outright ban on all abortions, I start to squirm.
Then, I read about the foreign fundamentalists in somalia who chop off hands for being suspected of burglary...as happened recently to Mohamed Omar Ismail recently. He, of course, claimed to be innocent of stealing "10 pairs of pants, 10 shirts and 8 other items with a total value of $90."
Even more haunting was the stoning to death of a 134-year-old mentally disabled girl charged with adultery: according to Amnesty International, she had been raped.
Along the same lines, it took 7 minutes to stone Abas Hussein Abdirahman to death recently for admitting to the crime of adultery. His pregnant girlfriend will get the same punishment as soon as she delivers the baby. She will be the fifth person to suffer that fate this year.
Somalia IS, after all, a long way from "civilized." I mean, that country hasn't even had a government for 18 years, for crying out loud. But, I think I'm beginning to see some parallels.
Demonizing others who do not think or feel or act like we do is only human. That's how we get folks geared up to fight: every Muslim is a terrorist or "sand jockey" or "rag head." In the past, we've had" Japs" and "krauts" and, well, you get the picture.
I've met people from all over the world, and I've not met anybody yet that I could work up a dislike for, let alone call names and hate. Yet, that's what's happening in our political system.
And I'm afraid it's not about helping our people and our country grow stronger.
I'm afraid it's about ratings and getting elected or re-elected.
It's about having power and denying others the same right, in my opinion.
If the fundamentalists on either end win out, we all lose.