So, I just now had a pipe dream. Perhaps I can take my future education in sociology and turn it into some sort of shot at stand-up comedy.
I know, I know. It's probably never going to go anywhere, but it's not like it isn't worth the shot. Live by the possibility, not by the probability.
This can be applied to various other aspects of life, and not just doing something that might help you make it big some day. Take your habits, and your hesitance to do things that might be out of your norm, for example.
Just a thought. Nothing really else to go on.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Observations of an Empty Holiday
As of this writing, it is officially Christmas day. The idea of this day being so beloved, to me, is a foreign concept entirely. There are so many traditions for it among the many cultures in the world that embrace it as a holy Christian holiday all have different ways of going about its celebration.
My father remarried a woman of Philipino persuasion. I'm not entirely sure if I spelled that right, but it doesn't matter. When he married her, he did so knowing about her four kids - all of whom I have personally accepted as family - before hand, and still did it.
Sidetrack: Say what you will about that situation, I know from experience what it is to go into that situation, and therefore know what it takes to do it.
This year, I decided to "celebrate," more than anything, finally not having anything to do after having to work long hours for the holiday season, with this extended and accepted family.
Now, I want to make this vehemently clear: I hate the holidays, and the entire holiday season. I have my own views - which I will discuss in a minute - with the very idea of Christmas, and what it has become.
Coming from outside of the usual norm of society in general, and not dealing well with people that, as a general rule, make me very nervous. This is a feeling that can only be achieved by being around family members.
Every Christmas, a huge meal is prepared. When I say huge, we're not exactly talking feast levels, but most certainly huge. There is fellowship, talking, laughing, and true bonding. And eating. Oh, dear God, is there ever eating. Overall, it's a very pleasant experience, and there is photographic evidence of me actually smiling in this situation.
And I'm not even talking one of those faked, forced smiles that you see all too often on Facebook, or in the face of a retail employee as they try and maintain friendly professionalism when either you or another is being a total pain in the ass. You've all seen the look at one point or another. I'm talking about a real, genuine smile.
Despite my anti-social tendencies, I tend to enjoy time around people that I love.
Then - and it always seems entirely too soon - the time comes to open the presents.
Now, I'm not entirely sure what it is, but when this time comes, these family members turn into ravenous dogs, and behave as such. The presents in their eyes must appear as delicious, delicious ham with the way that they begin behaving.
Rather than going into details, I'll leave it to your imagination to run with that analogy.
If nothing else, it's a perfect reminder of what Christmas is really about anymore, and that's the act of receiving more than that of giving. You give better to get better. It's a vicious cycle that does nothing more that I can see than to generate more money out of nowhere for some evil genius of a bastard that I somehow see in a three-piece suit, sitting behind a desk, fingers steeple-formed in front of an old face with a bald head. I'm sure it sounds stupid when you read it, but in my head, it's both terrifying and comical.
This holiday has been a sham since its inception, and while the concept of proper behavior before this holiday to receive reward but also to recognize it and give it in return is awesome as all hell, it hasn't been close to that in I don't even know how long. At least as long as Charlie Brown has been around, so at least as long as 50 years.
Most people don't know that the holiday of Christmas was built around a Pagan holiday, and that it was manipulated into the birthday of Christ so it was easier for the early Vatican to assimilate Pagans into Christianity; in the case of the fundamentalist right-wing cranks, they just simply refuse to accept it.
Seeing as how the biggest premise of this holiday is supposed to be the sense of companionship, family, friends, giving, and so on. Yet, every year, we hear of people going insane and harming others in their rush to get Black Friday deals. I'd like to say that at least no deaths have occurred over such behavior.
No, really. I would love to be able to say that not only without lying, but with a straight face. I can at least change the latter, and am working vigilantly to do so.
This isn't anything like it's supposed to be. It's become about greed. How many people do you know that were worried about Christmas presents for their kids? How many people do you know that complained of worries about their kids "not having enough" for Christmas? I'm sure it's quite a few.
At best, it's become a secular holiday that is rarely celebrated in its true spirit, and even those who do it are doing it under all the wrong reasons because of false belief.
At worst (read: right fucking now) it has become a part of a bigger machine run by conglomerates that have too much power, as far as I'm concerned. Some would say that it's a way for certain industries to quite literally make money, as in make it come from nothing.
No matter which way you looked at it, it makes celebrating this idea for anything other than what it is - a festival to human greed and the American love of over-ingesting anything to the point of excess - then you are doing nothing more than perpetuating the problem and not addressing the real issue, but rather feeding it: why you are such a consumer whore.
I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade by saying any of this. I'm just kind of sitting here, on the outside of normal society as ever, and writing down what I see. And what I see is that Christmas has fallen a long way from what it used to be, and it's depressing.
As much as I would love to continue this, I find myself falling asleep at this little laptop thingie.
Enjoy your Pagan holiday.
My father remarried a woman of Philipino persuasion. I'm not entirely sure if I spelled that right, but it doesn't matter. When he married her, he did so knowing about her four kids - all of whom I have personally accepted as family - before hand, and still did it.
Sidetrack: Say what you will about that situation, I know from experience what it is to go into that situation, and therefore know what it takes to do it.
This year, I decided to "celebrate," more than anything, finally not having anything to do after having to work long hours for the holiday season, with this extended and accepted family.
Now, I want to make this vehemently clear: I hate the holidays, and the entire holiday season. I have my own views - which I will discuss in a minute - with the very idea of Christmas, and what it has become.
Coming from outside of the usual norm of society in general, and not dealing well with people that, as a general rule, make me very nervous. This is a feeling that can only be achieved by being around family members.
Every Christmas, a huge meal is prepared. When I say huge, we're not exactly talking feast levels, but most certainly huge. There is fellowship, talking, laughing, and true bonding. And eating. Oh, dear God, is there ever eating. Overall, it's a very pleasant experience, and there is photographic evidence of me actually smiling in this situation.
And I'm not even talking one of those faked, forced smiles that you see all too often on Facebook, or in the face of a retail employee as they try and maintain friendly professionalism when either you or another is being a total pain in the ass. You've all seen the look at one point or another. I'm talking about a real, genuine smile.
Despite my anti-social tendencies, I tend to enjoy time around people that I love.
Then - and it always seems entirely too soon - the time comes to open the presents.
Now, I'm not entirely sure what it is, but when this time comes, these family members turn into ravenous dogs, and behave as such. The presents in their eyes must appear as delicious, delicious ham with the way that they begin behaving.
Rather than going into details, I'll leave it to your imagination to run with that analogy.
If nothing else, it's a perfect reminder of what Christmas is really about anymore, and that's the act of receiving more than that of giving. You give better to get better. It's a vicious cycle that does nothing more that I can see than to generate more money out of nowhere for some evil genius of a bastard that I somehow see in a three-piece suit, sitting behind a desk, fingers steeple-formed in front of an old face with a bald head. I'm sure it sounds stupid when you read it, but in my head, it's both terrifying and comical.
This holiday has been a sham since its inception, and while the concept of proper behavior before this holiday to receive reward but also to recognize it and give it in return is awesome as all hell, it hasn't been close to that in I don't even know how long. At least as long as Charlie Brown has been around, so at least as long as 50 years.
Most people don't know that the holiday of Christmas was built around a Pagan holiday, and that it was manipulated into the birthday of Christ so it was easier for the early Vatican to assimilate Pagans into Christianity; in the case of the fundamentalist right-wing cranks, they just simply refuse to accept it.
Seeing as how the biggest premise of this holiday is supposed to be the sense of companionship, family, friends, giving, and so on. Yet, every year, we hear of people going insane and harming others in their rush to get Black Friday deals. I'd like to say that at least no deaths have occurred over such behavior.
No, really. I would love to be able to say that not only without lying, but with a straight face. I can at least change the latter, and am working vigilantly to do so.
This isn't anything like it's supposed to be. It's become about greed. How many people do you know that were worried about Christmas presents for their kids? How many people do you know that complained of worries about their kids "not having enough" for Christmas? I'm sure it's quite a few.
At best, it's become a secular holiday that is rarely celebrated in its true spirit, and even those who do it are doing it under all the wrong reasons because of false belief.
At worst (read: right fucking now) it has become a part of a bigger machine run by conglomerates that have too much power, as far as I'm concerned. Some would say that it's a way for certain industries to quite literally make money, as in make it come from nothing.
No matter which way you looked at it, it makes celebrating this idea for anything other than what it is - a festival to human greed and the American love of over-ingesting anything to the point of excess - then you are doing nothing more than perpetuating the problem and not addressing the real issue, but rather feeding it: why you are such a consumer whore.
I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade by saying any of this. I'm just kind of sitting here, on the outside of normal society as ever, and writing down what I see. And what I see is that Christmas has fallen a long way from what it used to be, and it's depressing.
As much as I would love to continue this, I find myself falling asleep at this little laptop thingie.
Enjoy your Pagan holiday.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Ventilation and Hubris
Okay, I am seriously feeling the need to explain something to the general public, and I'm fairly certain that you're not going to like it.
I work for a local hobby retailer, and while I love my job, I have to say that there is one phrase that I am getting sick to death of hearing. It's a phrase that every time it's said by some blank-faced, wide-eyed parent that couldn't tell their ass from applesauce, I smile ruefully and proceed to tell them as polite as possible that they are in the wrong store.
"What do you have in here for a 3 year old? They are really advanced."
I cringe even writing it. I can hear it in a multitude of voices within my head, and honestly, it's maddening. I really, really wish people would stop and use some common sense before entering my store. I know we look like a toy store at a glance, but I promise you, we aren't a goddamn toy store. That's another 3 shopping centers south on the Pike.
When one enters my shop, they will find remote control cars going ridiculous speeds out of the box, they will find remote control helicopters and airplanes that are fun and yet difficult to fly. I have model kits of all kinds. And for those, we have all the glues and paints that you use to put them together. We even have trains of all different kinds. Hell, we even have model rockets that go over 1000 feet in the air.
Does any of this strike you as merchandise that was built with a toddler in mind? My store is NOT for your children unless they are ten or above. I carry absolutely nothing age appropriate for children of that age.
Further, I'd love to know what makes you think your child is "advanced." The fact that they can put together Lego kits? That doesn't mean anything, really, other than the fact that they can follow simple directions. That doesn't mean they can fly a $500 helicopter, okay? Your child is probably just as dumb as you are.
I work for a local hobby retailer, and while I love my job, I have to say that there is one phrase that I am getting sick to death of hearing. It's a phrase that every time it's said by some blank-faced, wide-eyed parent that couldn't tell their ass from applesauce, I smile ruefully and proceed to tell them as polite as possible that they are in the wrong store.
"What do you have in here for a 3 year old? They are really advanced."
I cringe even writing it. I can hear it in a multitude of voices within my head, and honestly, it's maddening. I really, really wish people would stop and use some common sense before entering my store. I know we look like a toy store at a glance, but I promise you, we aren't a goddamn toy store. That's another 3 shopping centers south on the Pike.
When one enters my shop, they will find remote control cars going ridiculous speeds out of the box, they will find remote control helicopters and airplanes that are fun and yet difficult to fly. I have model kits of all kinds. And for those, we have all the glues and paints that you use to put them together. We even have trains of all different kinds. Hell, we even have model rockets that go over 1000 feet in the air.
Does any of this strike you as merchandise that was built with a toddler in mind? My store is NOT for your children unless they are ten or above. I carry absolutely nothing age appropriate for children of that age.
Further, I'd love to know what makes you think your child is "advanced." The fact that they can put together Lego kits? That doesn't mean anything, really, other than the fact that they can follow simple directions. That doesn't mean they can fly a $500 helicopter, okay? Your child is probably just as dumb as you are.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
The Basis
Okay. It's time to stop screwing around. I've talked about a lot in this blog, but I really want to start getting down to what really matters. To me, at least.
For the past year or so, I've been stewing on this idea; an idea that I believe can help others. This is why I vowed to start getting more personal, but shortly thereafter realized that I jumped the gun.
I just wasn't ready. I didn't have enough thought really put behind what I want to say, and, more importantly, how I want to say it.
What I really want to start talking about more in-depth is how I see things in this crazy yet wonderful world in which we live. I know it isn't perfect, but I've come to see just how great a place this really is, and I want to share it with you all. The only way I know how to do that is through this blog, really.
I want to begin with a basic concept of I view society, and start breaking it down from there. When I had originally written this out in a rough draft form, it was entirely too long for one post. We're talking about seven times pressing the Page Down button on a WordPad file with 10 point font size.
Talk about your classic case of TL;DR (that's "too long; didn't read" for those that don't know acronyms).
The basic visualization of it all comes down to a series of circles. It starts with concentric circles, a small one in the middle and slowly spreading out, not much unlike ripples in a pond.
The circles represent the different tiers of us as a people, and also places us where we stand consciously. As I continue on with my explanation of my point of view of society, life, love, consciousness, faith, and so on, I'm hoping to help anybody else reading this to figure out where they really stand. You may just find that after looking at things from this perspective, you don't really stand where you think you do.
The center circle represents the people who fit in with other categories in society. We'll talk more about those sub-categories later, but for right now, let's keep things simple by keeping this in the context of broad generalization.
The people in this circle have large groups that they can feel comfortable around, and those people share certain - or even many - points of view with the individual. These people are the ones that, for want of a better term and my own lack of creativity when it comes to nomenclature, I call "Normals."
The next circle out, we have the types of people that I refer to as "Half-Normals," as they aren't quite good enough to be with the other Normals, but they don't share the qualities of the third circle. They are the people that aren't exactly with the Outcasts, either. They are somewhere in-between, and are typically comprised of the youthful.
The next edge of the circle is where I call the "Fringe." This is where people go when they have become Outcasts from the other two circles. These people aren't necessarily bad, though. They just have nowhere else to go.
The next circle out is No Man's Land, because you have to be in a really bad spot to be here. You have basically decided to Hell with anybody and everybody else, you're only going to do your own thing. We have all either been here, or felt like we were there at some point in our lives. The people who are in this Circle either don't care, or don't want to be there to begin with.
Again, that's something else we'll talk more about in a little while.
Beyond No Man's Land is Void. There is literally nothing there, because existence as we know it ceases to be in that area. It is absolute zero, if you will. There is no conscious thought, response to stimuli, no awareness.... nothing. I do not believe it possible to be here without being dead, or having come into existence.
As I said earlier, these are all very, very broad generalizations. I'm not going to go further into it now, as I really want you all to just start getting the basis of the concept down. Start thinking about where you believe you stand with the Circles as I have explained them so far. What kind of self-image do you have, and believe that you portray?
Have you ever even thought about it?
Chances are, you have at one time or another, but I'm willing to bet that it was only fleeting. My thought is that one of the biggest hurdles that we face in society and living better lives all-around is that nobody is really sure of who they are, or what they stand for. They have gut feelings, sure, but in the end, we're all kind of running around, all crazy-like, without a clue as to who we really are, or what we're even doing in life.
I've gotten it figured it out for myself, and I want to help anybody else that I can do the same.
For the past year or so, I've been stewing on this idea; an idea that I believe can help others. This is why I vowed to start getting more personal, but shortly thereafter realized that I jumped the gun.
I just wasn't ready. I didn't have enough thought really put behind what I want to say, and, more importantly, how I want to say it.
What I really want to start talking about more in-depth is how I see things in this crazy yet wonderful world in which we live. I know it isn't perfect, but I've come to see just how great a place this really is, and I want to share it with you all. The only way I know how to do that is through this blog, really.
I want to begin with a basic concept of I view society, and start breaking it down from there. When I had originally written this out in a rough draft form, it was entirely too long for one post. We're talking about seven times pressing the Page Down button on a WordPad file with 10 point font size.
Talk about your classic case of TL;DR (that's "too long; didn't read" for those that don't know acronyms).
The basic visualization of it all comes down to a series of circles. It starts with concentric circles, a small one in the middle and slowly spreading out, not much unlike ripples in a pond.
The circles represent the different tiers of us as a people, and also places us where we stand consciously. As I continue on with my explanation of my point of view of society, life, love, consciousness, faith, and so on, I'm hoping to help anybody else reading this to figure out where they really stand. You may just find that after looking at things from this perspective, you don't really stand where you think you do.
The center circle represents the people who fit in with other categories in society. We'll talk more about those sub-categories later, but for right now, let's keep things simple by keeping this in the context of broad generalization.
The people in this circle have large groups that they can feel comfortable around, and those people share certain - or even many - points of view with the individual. These people are the ones that, for want of a better term and my own lack of creativity when it comes to nomenclature, I call "Normals."
The next circle out, we have the types of people that I refer to as "Half-Normals," as they aren't quite good enough to be with the other Normals, but they don't share the qualities of the third circle. They are the people that aren't exactly with the Outcasts, either. They are somewhere in-between, and are typically comprised of the youthful.
The next edge of the circle is where I call the "Fringe." This is where people go when they have become Outcasts from the other two circles. These people aren't necessarily bad, though. They just have nowhere else to go.
The next circle out is No Man's Land, because you have to be in a really bad spot to be here. You have basically decided to Hell with anybody and everybody else, you're only going to do your own thing. We have all either been here, or felt like we were there at some point in our lives. The people who are in this Circle either don't care, or don't want to be there to begin with.
Again, that's something else we'll talk more about in a little while.
Beyond No Man's Land is Void. There is literally nothing there, because existence as we know it ceases to be in that area. It is absolute zero, if you will. There is no conscious thought, response to stimuli, no awareness.... nothing. I do not believe it possible to be here without being dead, or having come into existence.
As I said earlier, these are all very, very broad generalizations. I'm not going to go further into it now, as I really want you all to just start getting the basis of the concept down. Start thinking about where you believe you stand with the Circles as I have explained them so far. What kind of self-image do you have, and believe that you portray?
Have you ever even thought about it?
Chances are, you have at one time or another, but I'm willing to bet that it was only fleeting. My thought is that one of the biggest hurdles that we face in society and living better lives all-around is that nobody is really sure of who they are, or what they stand for. They have gut feelings, sure, but in the end, we're all kind of running around, all crazy-like, without a clue as to who we really are, or what we're even doing in life.
I've gotten it figured it out for myself, and I want to help anybody else that I can do the same.
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Help Wanted
As I write this, a friend and I have just stumbled across this video. I... am honestly not entirely sure what to make of it.
Nothing long or extensive to say about it yet. Wanted to get some thoughts from any of you.
Nothing long or extensive to say about it yet. Wanted to get some thoughts from any of you.
Saturday, December 03, 2011
(Im)moral Majority
I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. While this isn't exactly unusual, I haven't really been able to write for a while (as I'm sure you've noticed). I guess the last post I made where I let my brain goop fall onto the blog helped out a lot, because I finally have something worth while to talk about.
One of the main things that's been on my mind for the past few weeks is just how many people out there confuse their moral and political stances. Most of the opposition to things like the legalization of marijuana, gay marriage, stem cell research, etc. is always based on a moral ground versus a political one.
This confuses me.
We'll use abortion as an example for the sake of discussion. Personally, I am against abortion. I don't think it's a good option to do, unless we're talking about the most extreme of cases. To me, the product of rape is not a good reason to abort a baby. Now, if the giving of birth would put the mother at risk of death - and we're talking a high risk here - then I'm alright with it. If it's going to be a stillborn, go for it. Anything else? Give it up for adoption. Someone out there is bound to want the baby, even if you don't.
Politically, however, my stance is quite different. I am all for having abortion be legal when it comes to my political stances. I am a huge proponent of individual freedom, and a big part of that is the freedom of choice. Just because I think that the act is morally reprehensible, that doesn't mean that I think our government should be able to infringe on the rights of others to choose. Everybody should have the right to make their own choices, even if we don't necessarily agree with them.
A lot of people talk about America being the land of the free, and wax philosophical about how many rights and liberties we have as a people. More and more, I'm finding that this simply isn't the case. I understand the moral dilemmas that people must be facing when it comes time to vote on what should and should not be illegal, but at the end of the day, is someone else getting an abortion really affecting you personally in any way, shape, or form? No, it isn't, so why should your right to disagree with the decision supersede the right of another to make a choice on their own?
This argument can go deeper than just with abortions or stem cell research, by the way. It can be applied to just about any law out there that is wholly irrational. Case in point, here in the state of Maryland, it is technically illegal to perform or receive oral sex. This is the truth. Don't believe me? Click here for more information on that law, as well as several others that don't make any sense.
Now, I'm not saying that I am for people going around and giving/receiving oral sex all willy-nilly, but at the same time, why is this even on our law books? What catastrophic event could have possibly happened that caused the law makers to sit down and say "Hey, we should outlaw blowjobs!"
All too often, the laws that prohibit us from choosing are coming from the religious Right. While I have my beliefs - many of which I have gone into detail about on this very blog - I don't use those as a basis for my political stances. I am not one to sit there and try to lobby Congress or whatever to pass a law based entirely on what I believe is right and wrong. Instead, I try and remember the very rights that were laid down by the Constitution of the United States.
A lot of people - particularly those heavily involved in the Church - are quick to say that this country was founded on Christian beliefs and values. Alas, this isn't really the case. The country was founded on an idea; the idea that every person is equal in the eyes of God, and that every person should have the freedom to basically do whatever they wanted to do. If that meant worshiping God in their own way, or believing firmly that the Universe was belched out by demon lizards from dimension Z, or even choosing not to believe in a higher power altogether, then so be it. This country was formed with the ideal that we all have the freedom to choose our own path without anybody telling us different.
Where did we go wrong?
I'd love to go more into this, but as I write this entry, I find myself pressed for time. Maybe later, but probably not, as I will have moved past this topic and onto something else that I want to talk about, so I'm going to use what time I have available to continue pressing my point.
I don't think that I can stress enough that just because you feel something is morally wrong, that doesn't mean it should be made illegal. I'm sure that each and every last one of you perform activities that others feel are morally incorrect, be it enjoying a few beers on the weekend, or smoking cigarettes, or lighting off firecrackers in the dead of night, or teaching your children about guns, and so on. If you participate in the listed activities - or even ones that other people have told you about before that they find are not right or they are not comfortable with - then you, too, are at risk of having someone else tell you how to live and what is good for you.
I know the things that are good for me, but not necessarily for other people. There are things out there that I feel are good for others, and strongly feel that they should indulge in more often. Reading, for example. But does that mean that my feelings on the topic are correct? Absolutely not. They are, at the end of the day, simply opinions, and I'm sure we've all heard the comparisons of opinions to a certain part of the anatomy.
Listen: We live in a country where freedom is supposed to be our top priority, and honestly? That sometimes means allowing people to say and do things that we may not agree with. After all, it's their choice to say and do these things, and ours to not participate. That doesn't mean that we need to tell these people what is and isn't right. Let them figure it out!
In the spirit of knowing that no matter what you say, someone somewhere along the line before you said it better, allow me to close with my absolute favorite quote from Voltaire:
"I may not agree with what you say, but I'll fight to the death for your right to say it."
One of the main things that's been on my mind for the past few weeks is just how many people out there confuse their moral and political stances. Most of the opposition to things like the legalization of marijuana, gay marriage, stem cell research, etc. is always based on a moral ground versus a political one.
This confuses me.
We'll use abortion as an example for the sake of discussion. Personally, I am against abortion. I don't think it's a good option to do, unless we're talking about the most extreme of cases. To me, the product of rape is not a good reason to abort a baby. Now, if the giving of birth would put the mother at risk of death - and we're talking a high risk here - then I'm alright with it. If it's going to be a stillborn, go for it. Anything else? Give it up for adoption. Someone out there is bound to want the baby, even if you don't.
Politically, however, my stance is quite different. I am all for having abortion be legal when it comes to my political stances. I am a huge proponent of individual freedom, and a big part of that is the freedom of choice. Just because I think that the act is morally reprehensible, that doesn't mean that I think our government should be able to infringe on the rights of others to choose. Everybody should have the right to make their own choices, even if we don't necessarily agree with them.
A lot of people talk about America being the land of the free, and wax philosophical about how many rights and liberties we have as a people. More and more, I'm finding that this simply isn't the case. I understand the moral dilemmas that people must be facing when it comes time to vote on what should and should not be illegal, but at the end of the day, is someone else getting an abortion really affecting you personally in any way, shape, or form? No, it isn't, so why should your right to disagree with the decision supersede the right of another to make a choice on their own?
This argument can go deeper than just with abortions or stem cell research, by the way. It can be applied to just about any law out there that is wholly irrational. Case in point, here in the state of Maryland, it is technically illegal to perform or receive oral sex. This is the truth. Don't believe me? Click here for more information on that law, as well as several others that don't make any sense.
Now, I'm not saying that I am for people going around and giving/receiving oral sex all willy-nilly, but at the same time, why is this even on our law books? What catastrophic event could have possibly happened that caused the law makers to sit down and say "Hey, we should outlaw blowjobs!"
All too often, the laws that prohibit us from choosing are coming from the religious Right. While I have my beliefs - many of which I have gone into detail about on this very blog - I don't use those as a basis for my political stances. I am not one to sit there and try to lobby Congress or whatever to pass a law based entirely on what I believe is right and wrong. Instead, I try and remember the very rights that were laid down by the Constitution of the United States.
A lot of people - particularly those heavily involved in the Church - are quick to say that this country was founded on Christian beliefs and values. Alas, this isn't really the case. The country was founded on an idea; the idea that every person is equal in the eyes of God, and that every person should have the freedom to basically do whatever they wanted to do. If that meant worshiping God in their own way, or believing firmly that the Universe was belched out by demon lizards from dimension Z, or even choosing not to believe in a higher power altogether, then so be it. This country was formed with the ideal that we all have the freedom to choose our own path without anybody telling us different.
Where did we go wrong?
I'd love to go more into this, but as I write this entry, I find myself pressed for time. Maybe later, but probably not, as I will have moved past this topic and onto something else that I want to talk about, so I'm going to use what time I have available to continue pressing my point.
I don't think that I can stress enough that just because you feel something is morally wrong, that doesn't mean it should be made illegal. I'm sure that each and every last one of you perform activities that others feel are morally incorrect, be it enjoying a few beers on the weekend, or smoking cigarettes, or lighting off firecrackers in the dead of night, or teaching your children about guns, and so on. If you participate in the listed activities - or even ones that other people have told you about before that they find are not right or they are not comfortable with - then you, too, are at risk of having someone else tell you how to live and what is good for you.
I know the things that are good for me, but not necessarily for other people. There are things out there that I feel are good for others, and strongly feel that they should indulge in more often. Reading, for example. But does that mean that my feelings on the topic are correct? Absolutely not. They are, at the end of the day, simply opinions, and I'm sure we've all heard the comparisons of opinions to a certain part of the anatomy.
Listen: We live in a country where freedom is supposed to be our top priority, and honestly? That sometimes means allowing people to say and do things that we may not agree with. After all, it's their choice to say and do these things, and ours to not participate. That doesn't mean that we need to tell these people what is and isn't right. Let them figure it out!
In the spirit of knowing that no matter what you say, someone somewhere along the line before you said it better, allow me to close with my absolute favorite quote from Voltaire:
"I may not agree with what you say, but I'll fight to the death for your right to say it."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)