Hope and Non-Believers

I was able to watch most of the inauguration of Barack Obama yesterday. Four thoughts pervaded my consciousness as I watched.

First, I know he is just a guy. However, I do have some semblance of hope that he can be a mere catalyst to change our country's recent reliance on hate profiteering to motivate people into political action. Hate profiteers and bitter people with cult-like followers like Rusty Limbaugh and Louis Farrakhan, begone. It has been childish, the angry bickering of late. Angry negative people are tiresome. Very tiresome, even if they have a point. So there is hope that climate will change.

I was moved, several times, as I thought about what this day means symbolically for our nation. Indeed, he is just one man, and that man happens to be black. It means a lot to me that our country has come along enough, at least places outside of rural Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi that we freely elected such a man.

I do hope the spirit of unity prevails. While racism is still around, I hope he shines as an example to those not wanting him alive let alone as president, that there can and are not just a few black men who do not extort all the very negative stereotypes that prevail. There are reasons stereotypes exist, and many are actually valid; yet the over-application of those stereotypes when added with anger become racism, pure and simple. He seems capable of smoothing our cultural prejudices over, at least to some degree.

Also, I know that it means even more to my wife's family. Ruthie hails from Gary, is black, and her parents actually were forced to sit at the back of the bus, etc., etc. While this is not the 'snap, all is good now' moment, I have to believe it means more to them than I can understand, as I never directly experienced that kind of direct ignorance, obviously, as I am white.

[I did have to laugh though, as I heard one comic on TV refer to yesterday as Redneck Suicide Watch Day.]

I liked the fact that during Barack's speech, he mentioned people of varying faiths, Christion, Muslim,Jewish,....and non-believers. In a non-angry and satisfied tone, thank you for not taking the usual egocentric road toward assuming Americans are all Christians, and if they are not, they are of some other emotions-based religion. It's about time somebody recognizes the non-believers crowd is growing.