Sing-a-long Sunday, Throw Down Your Heart

This week will be a bit different than the past few Sunday posts. "Throw Down Your Heart" is a film that Bela Fleck made when he decided to seek the origin of the Banjo. We went to a show at the Sheldon which I wrote the first paragraph of this post about. Well he also made a movie about the trip, which we watched this week. This is a preview of the movie. Check it out and rent or buy the movie. You will not be disappointed. I don't know what's up with the embedded links from youtube, but they aren't working, so you'll have to head over there to see it. I learned in the film that the title, Throw Down Your Heart, has a deep meaning. One of the men in the movie explained that a beach on the coast of Africa has this as it's name. When the white men came and took the slaves, as they boarded the boat they were told by each other and by those left behind to throw down their hearts there on the beach, because they all knew they would never return. Just think about what that means. To have foreigners come to your home, steal you, and take you away from your family. How is it that human beings can do this to other human beings? Why do some people get to decide that other humans are not as worthy as others? Why were the people in Africa believed to be less of humans because of the color of their skin? I often compare the way humans treated people who are black to the way humans treat people who are gay. My friend Toni who wrote this blog had me thinking a lot lately about equality, human rights and the rights of people who are gay to get married. The absurdity of the marriage laws in the United States (in my opinion) can be compared to the absurdity people of this age think about slavery. Even people who may think they would have supported slavery when it was active in this country know that it is fundamentally wrong. I really believe that this will be the case for gay marriage in the future. I think it becoming legal is inevitable. I think that if BBZ's children are born gay they will not be made to feel that they are less than human. That is my hope anyway. Deep thoughts for a Sunday evening! I had a much longer blog written in my head about this topic, but it will be saved for another day. Have a good week!