Donald Miller on Bullies

Photo Credit: Working Word

Author Donald Miller provides some good advice on how we should filter our relationships with others. Here he comments on bullies:

"The quickest way to identify a bully is to notice what a person laughs at. Bullies do not laugh at themselves, they laugh at others. If somebody makes fun of others but isn’t self deprecating, they’re a taker and not a giver. Ever heard a loud-mouth political talk-show host make a self-deprecating joke? Most likely not. Bullies make great radio-show hosts, for sure. I keep my distance from people who can’t laugh at themselves and have zero friends who aren’t objective about themselves and others. There’s an entire Pandora’s box that goes along with this personality and I’m not interested. If you have friends who are bullies, it may be because they “protect” you in some way. I’d keep my distance all the same. Bullies protect others on the condition that others submit. That’s an unhealthy relationship. Get some strength and learn to protect yourself. You don’t need them to do that for you."

To read more of Donald's thoughts on filtering relationships as it pertains to false victims and the overly religious please click here.

Why I Care About The Death of Trayvon Martin

Photo Credit: werthmedia

Trayvon Martin is dead and he should still be alive. He should be experiencing what other kids his age are going through now. Looking to finish high school. Getting prepared to go to college. Spending time with his friends and family.

But he doesn't get to do any of those things because a self-appointed protector of his community felt that Trayvon was "suspicious" and caused an encounter that led to the death of this 17-year-old young man.

I first wrote about this story two weeks ago, days before it became a national headline. My home is about a half-hour from where Trayvon's death took place and this tragedy has hit close to home for me, both literally and figuratively.

I'm a Christian who is a white evangelical and those like me have been accused of not caring about the death of Trayvon. But I do care. I haven't remained quiet about this and I won't remain silent about it until Trayvon's killer is brought to justice. If our "Stand Your Ground" law says that a man can ignore the instructions of the police, kill an unarmed young man that was doing nothing wrong and not be arrested, then that law needs to be changed.

I care about the death of Trayvon because I've invested most of my adult life in young men just like Trayvon and I'm sick and tired of black men being targeted as criminals for no other apparent reason than they have brown skin.

I care about the death of Trayvon because I've heard too many horror stories from African American friends of having store employees confront them about stealing merchandise or squad cards surrounding them or guns pulled on them because they "fit the description."

I care about the death of Trayvon because I'm appalled of how black life is devalued in our culture and how the benefit of the doubt is given to the criminal rather than the victim.

I care about the death of Trayvon because I'm weary of my Christian brothers and sisters saying they care about injustice in other parts of the world while ignoring the injustices within our own communities.

I care about the death of Trayvon because of the way our society often assumes that black men are "up to no good" in ways that those that look like me aren't.

I care about the death of Trayvon because "flour bombing" a Reality TV starlet leads to an immediate arrest but killing a kid does not.

I care about the death of Trayvon because I have sons that like Skittles and wear hoodies and a man that killed someone not much older than them is somewhere on the loose in the area in which I live.

I care about the death of Trayvon because although I identify in many ways with the black community, I realize that the color of my skin affords me privileges that I have not earned nor deserve and I am spared from certain realities that I will never have to experience.

I care about the death of Trayvon because I realize that this case is about more than one lost life, as tragic as that is. It represents countless numbers of African Americans who were denied "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" in a country that supposedly treats everyone as equals.

I care about the death of Trayvon because those that I love care about the death of Trayvon.

I care about the death of Trayvon because I'm a follower of Jesus and my God cares deeply about injustice -- no matter who is experiencing it.

I care about the death of Trayvon Martin. Will you care, too?

If you want to let your voice be heard, join me and over 1.5 million who have signed the petition asking for justice for Trayvon. You can sign the petition here.

Asians Are Fastest Growing Racial Group in U.S.

Photo Credit: centinel

From Yahoo News:

"Asians are the fastest growing race group in the United States, reflecting a surge in immigration from the entire region over a decade, the US Census Bureau said Tuesday. 

As part of an ongoing analysis of the data it reaped from its 2010 census, the federal agency said those who identified themselves as Asian alone, and not mixed race, grew by 43.3 percent from a decade earlier. 

That was more than four times faster than the rate of growth for the overall US population, which grew 9.7 percent in the same period to 308,745,538. Some 14.7 million people, or 4.8 percent of the total population, identified themselves as Asian alone. Another 2.6 million, or 0.9 percent, said they were Asian in combination with another race group, most commonly white. 

"Net international migration is the biggest component of the change in the Asian population," Elizabeth Hoeffel, a statistician in the Census Bureau's population division, told reporters in a conference call. 

For statistical purposes, the United States defines an Asian as someone "having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent."
Those who identified themselves as either Asian alone or Asian mixed with another race grew by at least 30 percent in all states except Hawaii, where they already made up a majority of the population."

Please click here to read the complete post.

(h/t to Holly Sheldon for the link.)