Land of the Free- a personal viewpoint

Land of the Free

Think about it for just a moment. I mean it, just really think about it. Are we free? Sure we have democracy, abolished slavery, freedom of speech, and so on and so on. Some could say that we are not free totally because we do live within the bounds of the law, which has been amended and amended to give us as much freedom as possible. You know, to the point where we basically just shouldn’t harm others or misuse our rights.

So what am I getting at then…hmmm. Think about it again. Are we free? Are we a country that does the right thing when the right things needs to be done, or at least, with the best of intention?

Let’s just start with a few legal rights then we can get into society as a whole. Legally you can have an abortion. Legally all people are the same regardless of nationality, creed, sex, etc.

Some general thoughts to think about now;

A mother who gets an abortion is a monster.

A woman should have control over her body.

We are all equal, but since 911 when some board a plane they may be more nervous if there is an Arabic on board as well.

We separate church and state….that’s why two people in love, though the same gender can’t get married? Because it’s icky? Or just because we are insecure?

And so on and so on.

Let’s start with abortion. The ones who are pro-choice usually weigh in the facts of rape, incest, pressure, finances, and health when it comes to thinking about abortion. Those pro-life think about the little child that didn’t get a chance. Both sides have good points.

Since this is more of an opinion hub, I suppose I will give mine, though I don’t judge those who have their own feelings or who disagree with mine. Rape, incest, pressure, and health are big factors to me. Personally I wouldn’t think of ever getting an abortion, however, save some pity for the girl who’s walking into the clinic scarred and alone after being raped. Those picket signs you may carry hurt deep when you don’t even know her story. Think of the young girl just out of high school, pressured by her loved ones to do it. She is impressionable and confused. Yet she is a monster?

We must learn to see that every situation is different. And right now there are stipulations put in place to regulate abortions. So instead of making a scarred young girl feel like a murderer, stand down your boycott and offer help instead of criticism.

Yet we are the land of the free….and home of judgment.

Equality. We are all equal right. Yet we stare at some like they have a disease. We not only judge our neighbors and stereotype our colleagues but we do the same to other countries. We look down on them like we are the superior ones, cast judgment when we have our own baggage. For example, look at the Holocaust, a genocide, the unfair treatment. It was the unthinkable, and “oh how could he?” But didn’t we do similar things, just not to that extent? We had slaves, treated them as dogs. We had concentration camps in WWII for people of Japanese ancestry only two years before Hitler was stopped. Though, again, our concentration camps never met the extent of the Hitler’s camps, it still shows that we do have cultural differences and when we are in fear we will react.

But are they any different? Because they are not from here? Well I hate to break the news to those who are a little culturally biased…we aren’t from here either. We are all immigrants from somewhere. This country is a melting pot of all kinds of people, religions, cultures, and traditions. Even if you want to break it down even smaller, no Christian church is exactly the same as the next. Each town has its own traditions; each household has its own traditions.

So land of the free…home of staring rudely.

And this brings me to my next topic. Religion. Some say we are founded on a Christian nation and we should keep it in schools, we should continue to say “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, and so on. Are we really only a Christian nation? I beg to differ. As I said before we are a melting pot of cultures. We separated church and state to bring us closer together. No I don’t agree that religion should be forced upon students, however, I do agree that if biology is taught in school than so should religion. However, as school lessons and not enforcements of belief.

Most of the religions practiced now have one God; however, if you think of it before them the religions practiced had many Gods and Goddesses. So who’s right and wrong? First of all no one because it’s not our place to judge. So what happened? Why is only one God usually believed in today? Well it probably has something to do with the complications and the times. Greek and Roman mythology has complicated and interweaving myths. Christianity, though complicated, kept track of one God. Also the Christianity idea was written down and throughout the years stuck, Greek and Roman mythology just wasn’t as widely spread and put in stone. Though generally Greek mythology is thought to come first.

So in the end, do we really have a leg to stand on when we judge other’s by their religious practices when most of Christians doing the judging probably haven’t even read the entire Bible, (which by the way is a completely other topic).

My belief is that religion in general is important. Faith in something whether it’s one or many Gods and/or Goddesses is important. I’m a confirmed Catholic, however, as I see it, no denomination needs to be put in front of Faith. Just have Faith. And if a Christian is a true believer in what they say they are then they’ll know that judging is to be saved for the Man above and not for us.

Land of the free…..home of staying on your high horse.

Finally I come to same sex marriages. Do you prefer redheads to brunettes? Nerds to Jocks? Well friends that is what they call a preference. You are not sick because you like the tall dark and handsome man on T.V., you can’t control that he makes your heart melt, and you certainly won’t be mocked for it. So why judge the preference of being with someone of the same sex. Isn’t it really just a preference after all? They can’t help it, they aren’t sick. They are just people with a preference. I like nerds, she likes blonde headed boys, and he likes guys.

Okay, so why can’t they get married? Because of religious issues? Okay fine, understandable. Then leave it up to the individual church to decide if they are to marry or not, if the happy couple even wants a church wedding after all.

Okay, next; because they can’t raise a family. Why? Is there a fear of the children being gay? Hmmm, because that worked out well for the straight parents with a lesbian daughter. Afraid the children won’t be raised properly? Let me add in a little personal information. I grew up with neighbors that were lesbians. They have three children, none of which that I know are homosexual as well, however if they were they would have the love and support of their parents rather than the negativity that some parents give when receiving this kind of news. Their children are the most well behaved teenagers and toddler that I know. The son is in sports, the daughter is in sports and talks about boys, the toddler is a regular healthy toddler. Normal children. Of course define normal for any family…

Okay, the real reason; because unfortunately it makes many people uncomfortable. Understandable. But a dad may not be comfortable with his daughter marrying that bad boy down the street but it sure isn’t illegal. Why are we afraid of things that make us uncomfortable? It’s not as if homosexuals just started coming around. Homosexual behavior dates way back before our time. So who cares! Again, I must stress who are we to judge?

Land of the Free…home of please be normal?

So are we free? Think about it again. Are our minds molded by our own society and media and personal family life to the point where we are to judge the tattooed doctor, the lesbian lawyer, the Arabic teacher, or the daycare provider who had an abortion when she was young? What if the doctor wore sleeves and you didn’t see the tattoos? What if the lawyer hid her girlfriend of ten years from the world? The Arabic teacher wasn’t a teacher, even though he helped your child through a rough year? The daycare provider wasn’t a daycare provider because she is after all a monster because of her past, even though she is the safest with the children? Would that make the insecure people feel better? Maybe we should all just work on acceptance and learning…

How can we say we are free when we are so chained by our own judgment of others? That is not free friends. Closing your mind off from everyone different than yourself is not living to the free extent of this land. Judging others and deciding their lives for them is not free to them either…so think about it.

Are we really free?

Keep in mind these are my personal views and I’m not discriminating against anyone. Rather I would hope only that people’s minds be open and less aggressively on the defense or constantly comparing and judging. I’d love to hear your opinions, especially if they do differ from mine. We all have something to say, nothing wrong with that in the slightest.