normally i don't let this blog get political; the farthest i've gone, i think, is talking about my gayness, which, while unproblematic to me, seems to garner some kind of ultra-liberal, hippie-dippie weight with its very existence.
but.
recent events in Congress have gotten me thinking.
i won't pretend to be savvy in political matters. the extent of my knowledge and the reasoning behind my views really only go so far as, "Well, I don't like the idea of other people in pain, period, so I'll support [or refute, as the case may be] these issues."
to me, some things are just that simple.
but whenever i hear the other side of certain issues, i wonder if i'm ignorant or too simplistic in my thoughts.
i mean, who in their right mind would purposely go about causing harm to others without good reason?
i've decided to try to break it down for myself, or at least to try to imagine the trains of thought of those who confuse me:
1. Guns don't kill people; people kill people. Just like how foul men don't rape women; lustful, amoral women who willingly get themselves into sticky situations give their violators the opportunity.
2. We need to keep The Debauchatron at bay.
3. [While reading the public-option for healthcare] "'The poor will be provided equal access to healthcare...will have the option...valuable resources for increasing the welfare of general society...TAXES?!' This is EEEEVILLLL. Why should I have to spend part of my hard-earned salary to help improve the standard of living of those who haven't EARNED IT? It's not my fault if they grew up in a poorly budgeted area and system. They should've been born and raised elsewhere. I need that money for the yacht I've had my eye on."
4. Sex education'll start giving kids the wrong idea. Telling kids about it, making all that crap available, they'll wanna start doing it.
...But not like the gun thing. Just because guns are easily accessible and constantly shown on TV and in the movies doesn't mean they're gonna start, you know, buying or using guns at school or anything. Pshaw. Totally different. They're not dumb enough for THAT. Especially if we, you know, hide them in our nightstands.
Like abstinence for guns.
5. God gave you that cancer that might make childbirth fatal. Don't disrupt His plan. He just loves that fetus more than He loves you.
6. What's "STI?" Sounds like some kind of alien code or something. If it's that bad, don't have sex with aliens. Or at all. We don't need anymore alien babies in this country.
7. Illegal immigrants don't pay the taxes [we don't want to pay, either].
8. Abortion is murder and the death penalty is...just desserts.
9. Gay marriage means they'll wanna start marrying, you know, their dogs.
Love is a good thing, as long as the parts fit and it's not for people who like "choice," gun control, and non-elitist education systems.
--
okay, so maybe i failed in understanding the other side.
but if you're on the other side, let me explain my reasoning to you.
i believe in God. i don't think my pro-choice, pro-gay, pro-welfare views contradict that fact in the slightest.
actually, for the longest time, while i was grappling with my sexuality, part of me was so empty because of how i truly felt that He renounced the very life He gave me and i tried to return the favor.
when i was at the end of my rope, plotting ways to end it all, i finally decided to read the Bible - in hopes of hearing, once and for all, from God's own assumed disembodied voice, that my life was a mistake.
but while those maybe 4 or so lines mentioned the wrongness of sodomy, they said nothing about Love.
Love of self.
Love of others.
Love of life, in general.
when Love occupied just about every other word in the rest of the book.
finally, i found the strength to be myself and Come Out and find happiness and wish the same for everyone i know and everyone i've yet to meet.
even you, People Bent on Stealing My Voice and Rights to Live.
i could never support anything that promised to make uneducated assumptions about the lives of the people i love - and i love everyone.
abortion is one of the most difficult decisions a woman can make, according to my mother who, one pregnancy prior to giving birth to my eldest sister, faced that very same decision when she and my dad just could not financially or emotionally support a baby.
when i see the pain in her eyes in recalling that choice, and hear her explain that it was what was right for them at the time, i know that this decision isn't one that's made lightly, as those men in Congress seem to believe.
more than this, i could never allow a broken system to force women into these situations in the first place.
i advocate proper education, preparedness, awareness, and protection.
like most people, i wish we lived in a world devoid of tough decisions, conflict, poverty, education gaps, and discrimination.
but we don't.
the best we can do is prepare ourselves. give ourselves a chance. respect one another. Love each other.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for writing this post.
ReplyDelete...love--above absolutely, positively ANYTHING else-- is all we need.