“Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus teaches us the way to love God is to love one another. It doesn’t matter who we love, what religion we adhere to, what color our skin is, where we are on the economic scale. What matters the most is that we treat each other with respect, fairness, and kindness. The song “You Need To Calm Down” is an anthem that urges people to take a step back, and reflect on how they treat those who are different from themselves. “We all got crowns”, the song says. Everyone deserves respect and no one should ever be hurt for being who they are. We owe it to ourselves and our neighbors to be there for each other. In doing this, we create a safe community for all.
Lyrics: I ain’t tryna mess with your self-expression / But I’ve learned a lesson that stressin’ and obsessin’ ’bout somebody else is no fun / So oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh / You need to calm down, you’re being too loud / And I’m just like oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh (oh) / You need to just stop / Like can you just not step on my gown? / You need to calm down
Questions: What types of disrespect do you see in your school, community, country? What do you think can be done to challenge people who like to exclude others? When have you showed mercy to someone who wronged you? When has someone shown you mercy?