Sharing a little bit of my art journal from last week:

tol·er·ance [tol-er-uhns]  noun 1. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.2. a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own.

Here’s my journaling: “Okay – here’s the deal. I will still enjoy the Muppets while eating my Chick Fil A. To me, that’s what tolerance is all about – being able to accept our different opinions & beliefs without condemning each other. I believe the Bible is the true, infallible Word of God. And I also believe God loves all of us regardless of what we our beliefs might be. He gave us freedom to choose the way we live & it’d be a pretty boring place if we all chose the same, wouldn’t it? Some may ‘unfriend’ me or verbally accuse me of being intolerant & to me, that’s the opposite of tolerance. I have many friends who have opinions different from mine & I wish them nothing but THE BEST in life – we get along great – agree to disagree - And, to me that’s what tolerance is – knowing your opinions & beliefs without demanding that everyone else feel the same. That’s the point [to me] – Chick Fil A is not discriminating against anyone – they aren’t saying you must believe a certain way to walk through their doors. Yet, they are standing for what they believe. Something we all should do – Because, afterall, you’ve got to stand something, or you’ll fall for anything…”

 big·ot·ry [big-uh-tree]  noun 1. stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own.2. the actions, beliefs, prejudices, etc., of a bigot.

Love this that I saw on FB this week – It’s just the truth for me - 

 And to be clear about how I feel– I know we all have sin in our lives [me included!] and believe God does not differentiate between big ones or small ones – that's something humans do - so while I believe that the marriage should be between a man and a woman [according to the Bible I believe in -] I also believe that homosexuals who have joined in partnership are entitled to have a binding agreement where they can legally be afforded the same things that are recognized by a marriage license. This is not a new belief for me – I pulled out a paper I wrote in graduate school [way back in ‘96] advocating for this very thing. It’s heart-breaking to see someone losing a partner they’ve shared their lives with for years and years only to have other [legal] family members come in and take all decision-making away. I’d like to say that wouldn’t happen in today’s society – but I know all-too-well that it can... And for those of you who say I can't ‘have it both ways’ – I say, why not? I eat my snickers bar while drinking a diet pepsi – doesn’t that seem a bit contradictory too?

[FYI - I printed a 'coloring book' image of the cookie monster and painted him once he was adhered to my page - printed a CFL logo and cut it out before putting it on a dotted red background [pattern cut from the same logo.] Journaled with some new [super] fine sharpie pens [LOVE THEM.] I may go back and chalk over the definitions to help them blend into the page a bit more -- Oh and that peace art above? Something similar is DEFINITELY going on one of my lazy susans from ikea.]