By Angie Vogt, political commentary

It appears as though I spoke too soon on the simple majority issue (EHJR 4204) last week, as it seems to be passing at the time of this writing.

It’s time to move from the contentious (and depressing) world of politics and elections to the more reflective, spiritual calling of the coming holidays.

Oh, but wait a minute, those have become political too. An easy prediction: In the next six weeks, we will awake to the daily headlines lamenting about someone who was offended by a greeting, song, card, book, T-shirt, symbol, an article or something intended as a harmless cultural or religious expression.

After a series of rapid fire media reports, talk radio will be engulfed by debate. Retailers will no doubt enter the fray with some obligatory response. Will their employees be allowed to say the “C” word or will they need to avoid any reference whatsoever to any “season” at all?

Before that post solstice day comes (the one that we celebrate with gift giving and an ornamental tree, unless of course you are of the semitic race and use one of those candle things), we have the seasonal guilt fest of Thanksgiving to contend with. Oye ve.

Can we at least agree that while Puritans and early American settlers certainly did a great deal of evil to Native Americans, that there were also plenty of historically recorded barbaric and unprovoked attacks from certain native peoples as well? The Iroquois in particular were known for their brutality and were the initiators of the bloodiest battle ever fought in North America (including the Civil War). Their aggression was against the Algonquian-speaking tribes of the Great Lakes region in an attempt to dominate the fur trade. It appears they didn’t embrace diversity either, not of other native peoples nor the imperialist white ones.

I propose that during these not-particularly-special months of a not-so-special season, that we just try to show a little extra kindness and stop looking for reasons to get our feelings hurt. It would be nice not to demonize one race while romanticizing the other or claiming that we were traumatized by an unsolicited public prayer. Maybe we can actually look for the good that each religious and/or ethnic tradition offers.

Just because followers of these traditions in the past did evil things is no reason to reject the tradition itself, which most likely forbids the bad things its followers did, anyway.

With reference to race relations, it’s safe to assume that being of a fallen nature (oops, my faith bias is showing), there is simply no human race that has cornered the market on either purity or evil. Evil dictators come in as many colors and religions as do saints. Consider the racial diversity of Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, Attila the Hun, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot and Idi Amin. Again, consider the diversity of some great saints: Mother Teresa, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Dalai Lama, Kateri Tekawitha, Gandhi, Bishop Desmond Tutu and Saint Nick (the original Saint Nick was a bishop in what is now Turkey).

Maybe next week during that non-specific harvest day that Americans usually celebrate, we can reflect on what every human heart most deeply desires. That is, to love and be loved. Maybe we can lift our cynicism and defenses for just a little while and let someone see our vulnerable side.

Above all, perhaps we can be grateful that we’re free to worship (or not) according to the dictates of our free and unencumbered consciences.

With gratitude we can remember the ones in heaven who, during their time on Earth, never knew such liberty.

Federal Way resident Angie Vogt can be reached at vogt.e@comcast.net.