I see people posting on Facebook about things they find extremely offensive. These are typically things that don't have any effect on ANYTHING. They most likely will not change anyone's opinion. They probably won't change society or the world, although that is generally their purpose. But people still get caught up in taking one side or the other over these trivial issues.
I'm a Libertarian. That means I believe in personal liberties and personal freedoms. I believe in the Bill of Rights. I believe that, as long as I am not endangering the life of anyone else, I have the right to believe and behave however I want. If I want to marry a Ferris wheel, that is nobody else's business. Sure, I may be crazy as a loon, but I am not hurting anyone, or infringing on anyone else's rights. Certainly, people are going to talk about it, laugh about it, and roll their eyes in disbelief, but, as long as they are not infringing on my right to be married to a Ferris wheel, they are within their own rights to express their opinions.
The difference between the thinking of a Libertarian and other political thinking is this: Libertarians respect the rights of everyone to believe and do whatever they feel like believing and doing. All other political thinkers want everyone in the world to respect what they believe and do, and anyone who doesn't believe or act the same way should keep those beliefs and actions to themselves. Political activists go a step further and want everyone in the world to believe and act as they do, and they will do whatever they can to ruin the lives of anyone who expresses an opinion contrary to what they believe. Activists are out to change the world to fit their beliefs. They want to do away with what they believe are archaic cultures that don't fit with their agenda.
I use this blog to tell stories about my life and talk about things that puzzle me. I sometimes express my opinion, but I am more interested in understanding how others develop their own opinions. Like I said before, I am not really "against" anything, as long as it doesn't bring harm to others. Here are some examples, for anyone who is still struggling with this concept. If you want to drink yourself into a stupor, that is your business. If you drink yourself into a stupor, then drive down my street while I am out walking, it becomes my business, if you aren't paying attention and kill me. Drinking alcoholic beverages to excess is not against the law. Killing a person with your car IS against the law, whether or not you are intoxicated while driving. On the other hand, in many states, smoking marijuana or shooting heroin is against the law, even though consuming alcohol or smoking tobacco is just as harmful. So the law should be there to protect society from what you might do under the influence, not to protect you from yourself. If I decide to commit suicide, because I just don't want to live anymore, and I do so by purposely overdosing or shooting myself in the head, I may be damned for eternity, because suicide is the ultimate sin, but that is MY business. It is not the government's or society's place to tell me it is against the law for me to take my own life. Now, if by killing myself I kill someone else, either intentionally or unintentionally, I would be breaking the law.
Please feel free to comment, if you want to discuss these ideas further. I'm going to move on, now, and talk about some of the issues that are making the news, in an attempt to help you to understand that it is political activists who are bringing these things to your attention, and only political activists.
One of the ornaments that Hallmark created this year is a Christmas sweater that says, "Don we now our FUN apparel". Gay activists jumped on this, saying that changing the word "gay" to "fun" is offensive to the gay community, meaning every person who claims to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transsexual. As a result, the gay couple who live next door decide to boycott Hallmark, because Hallmark blatantly, personally offended them. George Takei also scolded Hallmark, as he was also personally offended by a Christmas ornament. Really? Really? Come on, really? Gay activists are on record as stating that they want to do away with traditional marriage. The gay next door neighbors just want to be allowed to get married, but they don't want to destroy the marriages of everyone else in the neighborhood. Do you see what is going on here? Gay people who just want to be treated equally feel an obligation to support the "gay community" created by political activists, to further their agenda, which has nothing to do with equality, but is all about "fundamentally transforming the United States of America." I believe Hallmark made a big mistake by issuing an apology, because there was no need to apologize for an ornament.
Several people and organizations have been scolded for expressing their belief that homosexuality is a sin. Most recently, Phil Robertson, of the Duck Dynasty reality TV show that airs on A&E, has been suspended by the cable channel, because he mentioned in an interview with GQ that he believes homosexuality is a sin. You will notice that the activists did not attack Phil Robertson, but attacked A&E, because they knew that A&E would be afraid of what might happen if it took the stand that a person's beliefs are simply a person's beliefs, not an offense to an entire community. Actually, two groups were offended by his comments: the gay community and the anti-Christian community. To help you put this into perspective, think about something you believe without doubt; then think about the opposite of that belief; and then consider whether the opposing belief personally offends you. Here's an example, from my belief system. I believe that I existed as a spirit before I was born and that my spirit entered my physical body, once my physical body was capable of existing on its own. Because I believe this, I also do not believe that a fetus is a human being, because it does not have a soul. Therefore, I do not believe that having an abortion is either a sin or a murder. This is what I believe. Practically everyone else I know believes that having an abortion is a sin and should be against the law. I am not offended, in any way, by anyone's belief that abortion is a sin. So why should those who believe I am wrong be offended by what I believe? I don't think they would be, except for the political activists who spend a lot of time and money to coerce those who are not Christians to believe that Christians are narrow-minded (or even closed-minded), intolerant, wanting the entire world to believe exactly as they do, and wanting to force their beliefs on anyone who has a differing opinion or no opinion at all on the matter. There are also political activists working on the other side, coercing Christians to believe the same things about non-Christians.
What I want you to understand from all this jabbering is that political activists don't care anything about what you believe or want. I think political activists don't really believe in the causes they stand behind and even change sides, depending on what agenda is currently being served. If you look at how President Obama voted in the Illinois Senate, he was against gay marriage. However, when asked in an interview how he felt about gay marriage, an interview that occurred after he was elected President, he declared that he was all for gay marriage. The most important thing to take away from this is that the President of the United States does not have any authority to make a law declaring that gay people can marry each other. That is a state issue. So, because he is not in a position to actually vote on the issue, he is free to say whatever he feels like saying about the issue, without it coming back to bite him in the butt. A lot of people seemed to think that his opinion was important. I don't understand why an opinion is so important. People who are against gay marriage really hate the President, and people who love the President already take a stance for gay marriage. I don't recall seeing or hearing anyone discussing how offensive the President's opinion is, regardless of what opinion he's expressing.
One last example: A family who fills their yard with Christian-oriented Christmas decorations received a typed letter from an anonymous neighbor, complaining about the decorations ... that they were Christian in nature, that they were tacky and ugly, and that they were offensive to people who weren't Christians. A photo of the letter has been circulating on the Internet. When I saw the letter and read about the family's reaction, it wreaked of political activism, to me. I think a political activist organization typed this letter and mailed it to the family. The family commented that they had only received positive comments from their neighbors. So, think about it. What would you do? Would you type up an anonymous letter to deliver to your neighbor, who has been using the same decorations for 37 years, to let them know that those decorations are offensive to everyone else in the neighborhood, not really mentioning that they are offensive to you, but making sure they understand that they are offending all people who don't believe in Christ, and that they should take that into consideration, when putting up their Christmas decorations? Does that make sense to you? If something doesn't offend you, but you decide to put a stop to it because it might be offending someone else, then I believe you're pushing an agenda and stirring up controversy to move your agenda, which most likely doesn't have anything to do with what is being brought to everyone's attention as offensive, but has everything to do with fundamentally transforming the United States of America. And that is infringing on my rights, as a citizen of the United States of America.
I'm sorry for the long rant, but I just had to get this out of my head, as it has been bothering me for quite some time. I think we would all be better off, if we just ignored the activists and embraced the freedoms we have to express our opinions, worship (or not) how we choose, and pursue what makes us happy, without worrying about what anyone else thinks about it.
You might disagree with me, AND THAT'S OKAY!!
Teah
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