Seriously?

There are so many things of late that have me amazed and confused and never in a good way! They leave me almost speechless, which for me is shocking in itself, and I find myself in a confused wonderment thinking "Seriously?". Am I the only one that sees these things or has a problem with them?
One of men's favorite excuses for why they are not loving and passionate in their relationships is that they are just not expressive of their emotions. Women are, they are not, so we should just suffer quietly and happily believing that you are completely and totally loved just because they pay the bills and tell you in passing that they love you (and this is often in response to you or someone else saying it first!). They are so good at making us feel like nagging selfish needy people if we beg for a cuddle or kiss on occasion that is genuine and we feel awful and degraded for having to beg or prod for something so basic and needed that we begin to believe that we are less and worthless. But I went to a quiet eatery one day. In there were two men I had seen before. Both are quiet and reserved business men who I am sure make the above claims all the time. On the televisions all around the World Cup Soccer Tournament was on. The men sat in opposite corners glued to the game. I fear if we had been attacked in that moment they both would have died! Anyway, these men were so zoned into the game they became totally oblivious to anything else around them. They clenched their fist, groaned, made crazed faces, waved their arms like the insane, and jumped up and down yelling like they were on fire. They did not care who saw them or what they missed. They did not care what other game may have been on or if the phone rang. They became enamoured and fixated on this one thing and gave this thing more attention and passion then I imagine those closest to them ever receive and publicly which I am willing to bet they are ashamed and "unable" to do for their life partner. But we are supposed to believe they are incapable of passion and expressing themselves.....!?!?!? SERIOUSLY?
Christianity. Sadly second only to men, this group have me saying all kinds of amazed and tortured words and phrases on a regular basis. However there are two things of late that .... well let me just explain. You see the Bible is something I know a lot about. It teaches to love everyone, to do unto others only that which you would want them to do to you, and to hate the sin but love the sinner. The two greatest commandments that all those who claim to believe in the bible are supposed to follow no matter what are, love the Lord with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. But the worst (and best) people I have ever known are Christian. Lately, a group claiming Christianity has been picketing and protesting against homosexuals and those in the military. They use all kinds of words from the bible in twisted and out of context ways to help them promote their poison and hate. They even go to the memorial services and funerals of those who gave their lives in the war to spew their ugliness for all to suffer and see. Ironically these same people died protecting what gives them the ability to spew. They totally forget the many many parts of the bible that show no one is perfect, all have sinned, and that we are to love everyone, and we should hate the sin but love the sinner. But somehow they are above the very man they claim to follow, Jesus. And whatever He did or taught does not apply to them, only in a weird and misconstrued way to others. And these people are going to Heaven a place of peace, joy, love, beauty, and splendor and we should want to go with them, to live, eternally, ....SERIOUSLY?!?!
The second is those against homosexuals having the legal rights of marriage. Now I am not homosexual, I do not believe it is they way things are intended. If someone were to ask me if I think it is "right" I would reply "according to whom?". You see I was raised a Christian. So I was taught it is not the way God intended. However, there are a ton of things in the world that are not as God intended! Fortunately since I am not a homosexual I do not need to figure out what is wrong or right about it because it is a personal issue much the same as what religion or life path one chooses. I do not have to live with the choices or inner desires so how can I judge? So now the ones who think they are dyed and true Christians will throw up their hands. But why? If I want to follow my beliefs and convictions, as long as they are not physically harming others, shouldn't I give the same courtesy to others? Who gets to decide which god is real and right? who gets to decided if there is one at all? Who should be able to pick what religious book to follow or if we should even follow one? And I think the thing that bothers me the most.... Jesus, the son of the God many claim to believe in, came and died to do one thing and one thing only. To give everyone choice. Some say he came to save us. no not true. Just because he died does not mean we are all going to heaven, it is not an automatic, a given. Others say he came to teach us. Well he did teach us. But if that had been the sole reason he could have just returned to heaven without all the torture and agony of being crucified. Others say it was to pay our debt, well yes, but why? ... Ah! There it is again! He died to give us a choice! I know I know, now others are saying that is was to give us a good choice only, a choice to go to heaven. Wrong again, for if that were the case it would not be a choice it would be an automatic, we would just all go. He, the son of God, wanted so badly to preserve our ability to choose ( for those bible people out there remember the tree in the garden was a choice too) for good or bad that he died for it. .... let that just sink in to your heart and mind for a moment. It was so important to Him that he died to ensure we would always have a choice, regardless of what the choice would be, He wanted that for us. And then we who claim to love and follow him want to take away or ensure others do not have a choice because we as mere mortals are so wise and all knowing that we know it is a choice they should not have?!?!?!? SERIOUSLY?
And why do some people use things that happen to their group or race as an excuse for their current miserable existence? Granted terrible things have happened that should never ever happen within the human race! But using them for an excuse later on is a sad testament to what a person is made of and how they have let the horrible act win control over their life. I have never seen Christians use the fact that they were thrown to lions, burned at the stake, and slaughtered by the thousands as a reason for living in a way they shouldn't today. I have never heard Jews claiming the Holocaust as a reason they do not succeed or why they may not have a good life now. I do not remember Japanese Americans becoming fall down drunks because they were rounded up and placed in camps, most of whom lost most of what they had worked hard to build and create. Australians running about like hoodlums because they were all prisoners and banished from their home is not what I saw when I went there a few years back. And Koreans after being raped, enslaved, mistreated, and their country name changed by those evil people who to this day claim they "helped" them, do not wander about aimlessly involved in drugs, prostitution, and riots because of what happened to them. Yet there are other groups who were enslaved and horribly mistreated and years later so many of them live in a way that is not an honor to the good possibilities of human kind nor a good reflection on their own group but it is because of the atrocities brought against their ancestors, or so they say. I have seen an incredible group of people. They were amazing! I admire so much of who they were and the skills and lives they had. SO much was taken from them and so many were killed that it will forever leave an ugly mark on history. But they could return back to so much of what they were. Instead they sit in pity and marinate in losses until they only want to drink their sorrows away and instead of being beautiful and strong they are bitter and drunk. Then so many of my own people run around in gangs and deal in drugs. Living in filthy neighborhoods and becoming violent evil people all of which is blamed on no one helping them and getting them out of poverty. I look in horror at what some choose to become and what wonderful things others became after similar or worse circumstances and it leaves me frustrated, angry, sad, amazed, and asking..... Seriously??
I saw a commercial on military television the other day that showed a woman walking to her home alone instead of with her assigned "buddy" who is a man, she gets attacked, then saved by two men who ask her why she is not with a buddy. When she says she did not think she needed one she is chastised and asked what was she thinking. Then the announcer (a man) says you can prevent sexual assault and you must do your part. Never mind the attacker could have been her buddy in the first place since he is a man, or the fact that a woman walking alone is NOT the cause for sexual assault. When I saw this commercial making the woman out to be dumb and the cause for a sexual assault I felt as if I had been thrown into a time warp and sent back in time. I mean .... SERIOUSLY?
Perhaps all these things should just be added to the "whatever" column in life. After all there are always going to be things that happen which challenge our patience and sense of ethics not to mention our integrity and intellect. But sometimes things just take you so off guard and for a moment, if not longer, I find myself at a loss for words. In those situations I just can not seem to help saying.... Seriously?