Follow Arnie on social media
ArnieBermudez.com
  • Store/ Commissions
  • Sarape's Grill
  • El Blogo
  • Animations
  • Political cartoons
    • The Tucson Sentinel
    • Tucson Citizen Newspaper Illustrations >
      • Coyote Wash
    • Caricatures
    • Sequentials >
      • El Loco
  • About/Contact
    • Contact Arnie

The Tree of Life

11/2/2018

Comments

 
Picture
I've never understood anti-Semitism. As a Mexican-American man with little exposure to Jewish people up until college, that hate always seemed like one group of white people discriminating another group of white people for no good reason. I never understood why if our country went to war against the Nazis in World War II to save Jewish folks from genocide, we would have Americans that would act like the enemy. We are supposed to be the heroes not the villains. So, it never made sense why ANY American would hate or promote hatred or fear towards the same group of people our soldiers died to save. It seems to me like a betrayal of our values and what our ancestors fought for. Why save a group only to hate them and persecute them later? It seems to me at that point we become our enemy. 

In the wake of The Tree of Life Synagogue shooting  the words "I'm sorry", "that's horrible" and "what a tragedy" don't seem enough. No words seem adequate to express the terrible feelings around this unfortunate event. Presently, I have many close friends and loved ones that are Jewish. Any of them could have been in attendance. Although I am not religious myself, I personally have accompanied many of them to their place of worship for festivities or ceremonies. It could have been me. Any one of us.
 
Then to add insult to injury, President Trump shows up in an attempt to, let's say pay his respects or console people. Both of which he failed to do as his response to this atrocity was that all they needed was an armed guard inside the place of worship to stop the gunman. The degree of disconnect in our Commander in Chief is astronomical.  I later learned through a friend that the dinner on Air Force One on the return from the visit to the Tree of Life synagogue for Jewish staffers onboard was pork ribs. One would assume that for a man who's son-in-law is Jewish as well as his daughter (whom converted) and grandkids, he would have a greater sensitivity towards the Jewish faith and culture.  However, it's not surprising. His track record shows the opposite. His failure to decry racism, sexism, anti-Semitism and his penchant for promoting fringe ideologies as well as violence towards those that disagree with him have led us here.  In the span of a week two Trump supporters attempted to carry out their own schemes with the intent to kill people that Trump has in the past blamed or demonized. Words do indeed matter. Especially when they come from a man that is supposed to be a leader and a role model. Words can influence and inspire as can silence. In this case what Trump is saying is just as important as what he is not. By not taking action and not denouncing these vile behaviors he is basically silently condoning them.  
"Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. " -Elie Wiesel
Comments

Orlando...

6/12/2016

Comments

 
Picture
pride-large.jpg
File Size: 1410 kb
File Type: jpg
Download File

This is what happens. When as a society we allow ignorance to be protected under the guise of politics or religion. When we defend other people's insecurities in an attempt to conserve and protect values that may be traditional to some but oppressive to others. 

This is what happens when we don't promote respect and acceptance of diversity through knowledge and understanding. We encourage ignorance which promotes fear and hatred of people different from us. This is inexcusable. My heart goes out to the LGBTQ community and the victims of today's massacre in Orlando.

​Calling this an act of terrorism or a gun tragedy or anything other than a hate crime is taking away from the LGBTQ community and almost making an excuse by blaming it on something else, distracting from the real issue. The fact of the matter is that as a society we have been doing this for generations.  LGBTQ people have been murdered, beaten and raped (yes raped) just because they simply consensually love another person that a heteronormative culture does not approve of. Not to mention the countless amounts of discrimination they faced and continue to face on a daily basis. From marriage rights to lack of employment protection to getting something as inoffensive as a cake baked for their wedding.  This is a hate crime and we have all been complicit in it.

As a nation we still treat our LGBTQ brothers and sisters as less than or something other than. Even with the Marriage Equality act they are still second class citizens.  Then there is the astronomically high suicide rate among teens that are LGBTQ. As I write this, sexually active gay people are being denied the ability to donate blood to the victims in Orlando, but not sexually active straight people. The odds are stacked against anyone that is not "straight and normal" in our world and the systemic support is pretty much non-existent.

​Can we make this a terrorism issue? Yes, of course. After all, the guy did claim allegiance to ISIS. Can we make this a gun issue? Absolutely. It was a gunman. He used guns. Can we make this a religious issue? Very much so. Much like the Westborough Baptist Church, ISIS is a fundamentalist extremist sect of a very popular world religion.  Can we make this a political issue? Certainly. All the presidential hopefuls have all chimed in. But in the end, we are all avoiding the deeper issue; excused, acceptable, and defendable ignorance, hate and intolerance. 

How many times have we called someone the "f" word. The one that ends with "g"?  Or said "that's so gay"? Or heard someone else do it and not say anything? Furthermore, we don't stop to consider if the person saying it is with ISIS or what political party or religion they belong to.  More often than not its excused, because its "just a joke".

​You want to fight religious extremism? Fight ignorance first. Religious extremists need ignorance in order to brainwash people into following them and their warped beliefs.  You want to put an end to gun violence? Fight ignorance first. We need responsible gun owners and not ignorant ones. Don't use the 2nd amendment right (which is how this gunman was able to acquire this weapon LEGALLY) to threaten others or as an excuse to constantly live in fear that someone may attack you. Banning guns won't make a difference, ignorance always finds a way.  You want to fight homophobia? Fight ignorance first. Being afraid of people that are different from the majority is how we got the public lynchings during the first half of the 20th century.

​We make excuses to defend our ignorance. We shield it under religious beliefs, politics, superstition, tradition, pseudoscience or morality. Its time to drop our defenses and open up and accept. Its the only way to learn and gain knowledge over our fear of the unknown, and its the only way to fight ignorance.


Comments
    Help support your local cartoonist! Let's keep the cartooning going!

    Archives

    May 2022
    September 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    November 2019
    November 2018
    February 2017
    January 2017
    July 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    May 2014
    May 2013
    March 2013

    Categories

    All
    2016 Presidential Primary
    2020 Election
    Abortion
    Aisle-Marne Cemetery
    America
    Animation
    Anti-Semitism
    App
    Arizona
    Arnie Bermudez
    Art
    Art For Bitcoin
    Barack Obama
    BDSM
    Bernie Sanders
    Biden
    Bigotry
    Bisexual
    Bitcoin
    Bitcoin Payment
    Bitcoin Wallet
    Black Lives Matter
    BLM
    Bloodshed
    BMAC
    Brown People
    Buy Me A Coffee
    Buymeacoffee
    Cara Christ
    Caricature
    Cartoon
    Cartoon For Sale
    Caucus
    Civil Liberties
    Clinton
    Comic
    Comic Art
    Comission
    Commission
    Conservatives
    Constitution
    Content Creators
    Coronavirus
    Counts
    Covid
    Covid 19
    Covid-19
    Creative
    Cryptocurrency
    Democrats
    Design
    Deviant Art
    Digitalart
    Digital Painting
    Discrimination
    Diversity
    DNC
    Donald Trump
    Donald Trump Cartoon
    Donald Trump Drawing
    Donations
    Donkey
    Drawing
    Drawing Of Trump
    Drawing Program
    Dump Trump
    Election 2016
    Election Hack
    Elephant
    Enrique Pena Nieto
    Equality
    Establishment
    Extreme Vetting
    Face Mask
    Fallen Troops
    Feel The Bern
    Foreigner
    Free
    Free Digital Download
    Freelance
    Free PDF
    FuckTrump
    Gay
    Gay Marriage
    George Floyd
    Georgia
    Go Fund Me
    Golden Showers
    GOP
    Grab Them By The Pussy
    Guadalupe Rayos
    Guns
    Gun Violence
    Hate Crime
    Heaven
    Hillary Clinton
    Hispanic
    Homophobia
    Homosexuals
    Ignorance
    Illegal Immigration
    Illustration
    Illustrator
    Immigration
    Inauguration
    Internet
    Jewish
    Jews
    Joe Biden
    Latina
    Latino
    LGBTQ
    Lgbtqia
    Love
    MAGA
    Mark Stegeman
    Massacre
    Mass Shooting
    Mexicans
    Mexico
    Michigan
    Miek Pence
    Minorities
    Muslim
    Muslim Ban
    Nancy Pelosi
    Nevada
    Never Hillary
    Never Trump
    News
    No Trump
    Oil
    Old Pueblo
    Orlando Shooting
    Paintstorm Studio
    Pandemic
    Patreon
    Pennsylvania
    Phoenix
    Political Cartoon
    Politics
    Poster For Sale
    Prayer
    President
    President Elect
    Pride
    Pro-choice
    Progressive
    Pro-life
    Protest
    Pulse Nightclub
    Putin
    Queer
    Questioning
    Rachael Sedgwick
    Racism
    Regina Romero
    Religion
    Republican
    Republicans
    Resist
    Rhetoric
    Richard Elias
    Right-wing
    Roe Vs Wade
    Sale
    Science
    SCOTUS
    Sequential Art
    S&M
    Social Media
    Software
    Sore Loser
    SP4
    Spike
    Support
    Surface Pro 4
    Task Force
    Temple
    Terrorism
    Time-lapse Video
    Tip
    Transgender
    Travel Ban
    Tree Of Life Synagogue
    Trump
    Tucson
    Tulsa Rally
    TUSD
    Two Party System
    U.S.A.
    USA
    Vice President
    Virus
    Vote
    Voting
    Women's Rights
    Xenophobia
    Yuma

    RSS Feed