Can't we all just get along???

This week we talked a bit about the goings on at the Supreme Court. We watched a video of an eleven year old girl that testified in another court about the importance of marriage staying between man and woman, and discussed our views on the topic. One comment was made that those who are gay and the gay rights activists complain that we are not tolerant (not sure if that's the right word to use but I can't think of another) of the way other people choose to live, but at the same time they are not tolerant of the way we live either. Tolerance was one of the things this country was founded on, and yet somehow we always seem to have some battle going on for someone's rights, whether that is civil rights, women's rights, equal rights...will it ever end?
This weekend I noticed another act of intolerance, some of my friends were talking about the protesters that stand outside the conference center during the Latter-Day Saint General Conference and harass those choosing to attend. Religious intolerance or discrimination is once again rearing its ugly head; and not just at the Mormons. I attended the Festival of Colors, which has become a popular celebration and a lot of fun, on our way out there were people talking about how wrong it was for all of us to be there. They were protesting something, I didn't stay to find out what, and once again I realized how close minded some people are. We all have our own opinions and they should not be shoved down the throat of anyone who has a differing opinion.
I think the hippies had it right..."One Love Man". :)
 

Reading between the lines...

If that isn't hard enough to do with your own family, it must be next to impossible when you first get married. This week one of our topics was communications in a relationship. You grow up with an unspoken language or as they are often called unspoken rules; you know like looks that are passed between people that send a very distinct message or body posture that tells you mom or dad is upset and the best thing to do at that particular moment is to run for the hills. There are the things that are expected of you and you don't need to be told to do them, you just do because that's the way the family operates and functions. You know the rules in your family from experience and the older you get the more natural it all becomes.
Now suddenly you are joining another person's family and have to learn all of their unspoken rules. This can be done one of two ways; either you ask questions to clarify events and make sure you aren't reading too much or too little into what happens...or you assume you know exactly what's going on and end up fighting fairly often because you see no reason why they didn't understand what you meant by an action or a comment. Personally I would prefer to go the with the first option. You just have to remember that your partner grew up differently than you did and needs a little bit of help understanding your crazy tendencies. No worries they still love you. They married you didn't they. If you're as crazy as I am that's an accomplishment in and of itself.