conservatives taught me to be woke

45-plus years ago, we learned the following song in my highly conservative (both politically and theologically) Christian elementary school:

Jesus and Others and You
What a wonderful way to spell “JOY”
Jesus and Others and You
In the life of each girl and each boy
J is for “Jesus”, for He has first place
O is for “Others” we meet face to face
Y is for “You” in whatever you do
Put yourself third and spell “JOY”

A very helpful distillation of priorities and relationships for a young Christian mind, no?

For those of us who won the privilege lottery by being straight, white, cisgender males, 98% of being “woke” is simply (and constantly) being mindful of the views and needs of those not in our demographic, and putting them ahead of our own views and needs. In brief, living out the words of that song.

And yet, the people who taught me that song and/or concepts that parallel it, are largely the same people who now use the word “woke” more derisively about me than a racist uses the n-word about my friends of darker pigmentation.

Sorry, folks. It doesn’t work like that. If you didn’t actually want me to care about others, you shouldn’t have taught me to do exactly that when I was young and my mind and heart were easily formed.

You don’t get to teach me to be woke, then get mad at me decades later because I listened to you.