Since it's early, and I haven't had a lot of sleep, and I've had a rough week, I feel like bitching.
I never used to like politics. I had liberal leanings, and I called myself a Democrat because that's what my family was. But I was also raised in Marshall, a small, rural community of primarily Republican (or just plain conservative) folk. I spent a whole lot of my life hating Marshall for that fact. I hated that I felt my values and beliefs were constantly being questioned and attacked. I hated that teachers made me feel stupid for feeling differently than them. I hated that a teacher who said, and I quote, "I just think they should line up all the gays and shoot 'em," remained employed. Mrs. Hasten was one of my favorite teachers because, although we shared different politics, she respected me and my opinions. She was open-minded and kind about it. If I could find a way to share that with her, I would. I may just write her a letter or something, because I've been thinking about that lately.
I didn't care about about politics because if I really educated myself on politics, then I would feel more obligated to defend myself, which I didn't want to do. I'm of a non-confrontational personality, unlike many of my peers. Little did I know, most of them didn't really know what they were talking about either--they just talked anyway because they knew no one would argue with them. I will not generalize, though. There were plenty of students with me that could speak intelligently about politics. I only mean to say, that in a small community of primarily Republican people, it's easy to talk on things you don't know about as long as it leans right. I would not have been afforded the same luxury.
Now that I'm in college, though, it's easier to respect Marshall for what it is. We need places like Marshall. We need people like that. Everyone plays a role. I really believe that. And that's why I think it's so important to respect the maintenance staff and your waiter. It's important to respect farmers. They serve a very important role in our country. I respect that little rural community. But I also don't think it's for me. It's funny, though. I do love the outdoors and the small-town vibe. I like that people wave at you on the way to the grocery store. But I like big-city thinkers. So back to that.
Now that I've come to college, I've also taken more time to really research what I claim to believe in, because I feel a little safer doing it here, somehow. And I've found that, approaching the information as unbiased as my environment could allow, I'm still pretty much a Democrat.
1) If you don't like gay marriage, then don't get one. Forril y'all. I respect different interpretations of The Holy Bible, because quite frankly, a document which is as conflicting as it is, is going to develop plenty of interpretations. I understand and accept that. No one should be ostracized for any one interpretation. (Although, I'll get to a little less-diplomatic thought on that in a moment.) Which is exactly why gay marriage should be legalized. There is no legitimate claim against it besides an interpretation of the Bible. Separation of Church and State. If you're going to obsess over your right to bear arms, then you should respect the separation of church and state. That is no less important. America is advertised and prized as the "melting pot." That comes with different religions (including no religion), and the right to practice one's own religious beliefs. Gay marriage is a topic attacked only with religious argument--which makes it invalid as far as the government is concerned.
2) If you don't like abortions, then don't get one. I realize the implications of this. I know that this depends on your belief of when life begins. If you believe life begins at conception, then abortion must be a seriously moral dilemma for you. I accept that. But if you do not believe life begins at conception, then this is a different struggle. I even respect the right to protest against abortion--against a person's decision to do it--not the government's role in the argument. Because it's not proven--other than by the Bible--that life begins at conception. My belief is that life begins when a child has a fully developed brain. You are not human until you are capable of love. That's an opinion. I accept that it may not be correct. But I will argue for that as strongly as another may argue that a person should not get an abortion. I'm also pulled by the social effects of making abortion illegal. Women will try to perform them on themselves. Babies in dumpsters. More children in the system. Unwanted children. I genuinely believe it's better to not have a child than to fuck one up when you do have it. If you're not ready to be a mother, then you should not be one. Another argument I hear: You should deal with the consequences. It's your mistake. Well, okay. You just called that child--something you consider to already be a
living person a
mistake. You have deemed that child a punishment for one unfortunate act. Rape. Incest. Stupidity. Ignorance. Prostitution (forced or voluntary). Drunken acts. Those are all mistakes. But a child should never be a mistake or a punishment. But again: my opinion. But my opinion should be respected as should those who do not believe in abortion. But the government should not make that decision for me. A woman can make her own choice. If that woman believes life begins at conception (an unproved opinion), then she may not have one. But if a woman does not believe that--or simply is not ready for a child--she should be granted the right to have an abortion.
3) Conservatives are nearly obsessed with protecting the rich. I have two things to say on the matter. A. I understand that we want to protect our standing in the international market. I understand that our big corporations help us to maintain that standing. However. This isn't a standing we really have, or have ever had because of unaccounted-for, printed money. And we can try to keep that image all we want, but we are falling apart on the inside. We are protecting 1% and hoping that it'll get to us normal-folk someday. Trickle-down effect, right? But when has that worked? And what do we do while we wait? Do we let people starve? Do we let people die unnecessarily from treatable conditions? Because those people can't really wait for that money to get to them. It doesn't work.
B. America is the Land of Opportunity. Cool. But Republicans tend to have this delusion that everyone has the same opportunities. This deludes them into thinking its okay to judge the homeless, impoverished, and uneducated of our country. I constantly hear Republicans calling homeless "lazy." "Get up and fill out applications," they say. First of all. Shut the hell up. Don't pretend you know someone's story. Don't pretend that you can even
comprehend the pain they've felt or the world they come from. It makes you seem ignorant and unkind. Second of all. If you have been living in poverty, unable to take a shower, with no nice clothes, how likely do you think it is that someone's going to hire them? Educated people, people with suits and running water, cannot find jobs. Do you seriously believe they have the same opportunities as anyone else? They're just lazy? No. They're just smart enough to know that they won't ever have the same opportunity. That seriously bothers me, that a person thinks they can judge another's position without having spoken to them to hear their story. True Christians, following in Christ's way, take care of the sick and feed the hungry. You cannot judge a man sleeping on the street and still call yourself a Christian. No one is given the same opportunities. I am blessed. I'm getting an education, I come from a middle-class upbringing, and I have a family who is very aware of mental health. I'm bipolar, but I was clearly born in the right family to help me through it. I have the most understanding and amazing parents I can imagine any one young adult may have. And my family is full of love. They have raised me to believe I can accomplish anything (realistically of course). If I had been raised in the foster care system, moving from one house to another, missing school and moving schools constantly, facing the reality that I was a
mistake, living primarily among unhealthy people who have abused me in ways I could not begin to blog about as though I'd experienced... if that were me, do you think I would be in college? Do you think I'd have the grades to receive my Presidential Scholarship? Do you think I would have developed the social skills to have rocked that interview? Do you think anyone would have taken the time to help me know the importance of learning to write well to totally kill that impromptu essay? No. I wouldn't. And how
dare any one person assume that a person in a different position than they would have just as easy of a time.
4) Obama has created jobs. Seriously. If you actually do the research, it has improved so much since Bush. So please stop talking on things you don't know about. That's not even a reasonable argument because it's incorrect. End of story.
5) The race issue. I won't tie this to Republicans, because it's not necessarily a Republican value and I think that's horribly unfair. But I will tie it to far right belief systems. Ghetto? How about White Trash? No effing difference. Still people who come from different places than you, who have seen things in their
childhood that would make you throw up as an adult. Neither are trash. They are both the lowest rung of society. We're more likely, although still reluctant, to help a homeless man than an inner city citizen who uses poor grammar and dresses in a way we judge to be inappropriate and trashy. I love how we think it's okay to judge prostitutes. But they are taking on the job they can find--the same job we blame the homeless for not finding. Anyway. Black doesn't make someone ghetto anyway. They may like different foods, they may speak differently (using they colloquially, of course)... but that doesn't make them bad. We don't even
have standard English. It's dialect. And if we don't like their having a separate culture, then we have no one to blame but our ancestors who have so long segregated them--forced them out of white society--that they have come together and formed a culture among themselves altogether separate from ours. Embrace that now! We have a different culture living among us? Well okay. Deal with it. Learn about them. And if they don't want to get to know you, then that's their issue, but at least you can say you tried. Have you never met a white person that thought they were too cool for you?
6) This is another non-political issue. It's just a Christian issue that I'll keep within that realm. Again. I don't think it's fair to call all Republicans Christian, let alone fundamentalist Christians. I believe everyone has the right to practice their beliefs, no matter how extreme they may seem to me. I've had friends with whom I don't agree with when it comes to religion. I don't have to, really. And I don't appreciate when people think I do. And I would expect them to feel offended if I tried to convert them to my way of thinking. That isn't fair. Because by doing so, I would be saying "I'm right, you're wrong," which makes for a pretty uncomfortable relationship. But in my opinion, many "Christians" are not practicing as they ought. I may pick and choose bits of the Bible to believe. I'll admit that. But it's a conflicted book. I believe the Bible was written by Man and is not the whole Truth. I think the Truth is found in many different beliefs, and you have to explore it everywhere to find it. I believe the Truth lies in my heart--in my conscience. And I will preach that. With that belief, it's acceptable to choose the parts of the Bible I agree with. Because I don't agknowlege the Bible as a perfect document. But for those who do? I think you're hypocrites. If you truly believe that, then you think that God is the ultimate judge, and our business is to take care of ourselves and our families. You don't believe in shaving, cursing, gossip, football on Saturdays, eating lobster, eating pork, cotton and polyester blends, or association with women on their periods. I can give you the verses for those if you don't believe me. You can look it up yourself.
That's all I have for now, but I have plenty more to say. But this was a rant, and I actually feel better. And here's the thing: I really don't care WHAT you believe. I may disagree with you, but I agknowlege that I may be wrong. I just think that religious beliefs do not have a place in politics. I have no tolerance for racism, and I believe (arguably of course), in using the government to care for the needy. But I respect other opinions. I have a great deal of respect for women like Mrs. Hasten, who although at times I disagree with, I can agree to disagree. Which is a brilliant idea, really. It's been around for ages, but sometimes we forget about it.
