Defining Woke

 Recently a right wing author was asked on live television to define "woke" as she was railing against it, promoting her book which has an entire chapter dedicated to the word woke.  Bethany Mandel had ever excuse in the world why she was suddenly flustered by it,  "The host said something rude during the break"  "I was unprepared for the question"   As my mother would have said ( when she wasn't buying it) "a poor excuse is better than none"  She could not answer the question.

Here is a helpful definition  " A word the ultra right use to scare their base into thinking that they are somehow under attack by the very notion that people other than Christian White Males might have a seat at the table and have been "endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights"

I want someone to explain to me how letting others in to the room makes it worse for them.  I imagine this:

Imagine if you will, a world where homosexuality is the norm and a hetero lifestyle is abhorrent.  Can you change who you are attracted to?  Or do you live a life that you do not love just to exists in a society that thinks you need to be jailed or killed.  

Imagine a world where your skin color defines your opportunity, that due to YOUR skin color, you are denied jobs or education,  You cannot change your skin.  How do you improve your situation.  Do you try to work with others in the system or do you try to burn the system down?

I recently read somewhere- and I will have to do a lot more research on the veracity of the statement- that freed slaves were less likely to attack or kill former slaveholders. Slaveholders were afraid of it because that is what THEY would do.

People are afraid of a "woke agenda" because they think it means that their privilege will be taken from them and THAT scares the pants off of them.  They seem to enjoy the unrealistic feeling that by an accident of birth, they are somehow better than their neighbor.

I was talking to a woman yesterday who was concerned that her church was not attracting new members.  we talked a bit about outreach, but since I didn't know her, I did not share my thoughts on the matter.  People, young people are not drawn to religion. My husband says it is probably because we used to go as a family unit and it was part of a scheduled day.  Now, we need to work or rest from the long hours we work.  Sunday used to be a "day of rest" but we were expected to go and hear a sermon .  When I was a kid, the Southern Baptist Minister would try to SCARE you into compliance.  I see that the God of the Christian Nationalists bears a striking resemblance to this vengeful Overlord of my childhood.  People have changed and religion is stuck in the 14th Century.  I know not ALL churches and religions are like that but I think people who profess to be Christian  need to read what Jesus said, not Paul ( who was a Johnny-Come-lately to the party and a misogynistic git to boot.) 

Still a small minority of closed minded frightened people are out there making laws for the rest of us.  Did you vote in the last election?  I did and will be out there again, this time I may need to get loud.  It's what the "anti woke" crowd are doing, making it seem like they are what the people want.  Let's get our Woke tails out there and stop the madness.