In light of the current political culture I think it’s worth noting that today is celebrated to remind of us our hard fought freedoms and rights.
At the top of that list, clearly highlighted in our first amendment and one of the primary reasons our ancestors sailed into the unknown was to be free of religious persecution.
We came here to be a free people. We drafted a Constitution that was designed to grant rights to our citizenry, not to remove them. We have NEVER been a theocracy – that’s exactly what we sailed away from! So when I hear people ranting about how granting rights to others some how infringes their own rights I am at a loss. How does giving others rights take away from the rights that you already have?? The answer, IT DOESN’T.
The bottom line is this… our FREE country and its Constitution that we fought so hard to win protect ALL the citizens. The rights we agreed upon as being duly granted to all people – like free speech, religion and the right to happiness are for ALL people not just some. Your personal religious convictions simply do not play into that. That same first amendment protects ALL religious beliefs, not just yours.
Just because Pagans, Gays, Women or other Minorities now have the same rights that you do does not mean your rights are lessened. It simply means that we are FINALLY coming around to this notion that we started with from the beginning — ALL people have equal rights under the law.
This doesn’t in any way change your beliefs or morals or how you personally run your home or live your life. Let’s be perfectly clear — if you don’t agree with homosexuality then don’t be with someone of the same sex. If you think embryos have a right to life then don’t use birth control or get an abortion. If you don’t believe in science fact then teach creationism to your children at home.
BUT what you do not get to do, what you NEVER get to do is tell me or anyone else how to live or what to believe, you do not get to tell anyone else who they can love or what they can do with their own bodies. You do not get to reduce every grade school science classroom into a mythology class.
You mind your business and I’ll mind mine – we both follow the rule of law and everything will be fine. Some people tend to forget that the ‘heathens’ came first; in the grand scheme of things Christianity and Islam, and yes I will single these out as they are the only ones spewing hate in my opinion, are relative newcomers to the world and they’ve brought more death and destruction than I could easily list. No one on the other side of this argument is telling you how to live your life – we don’t care! Extremism on either side will never (and should never) win out. We just want what’s fair for everyone, and that is also what the Constitution strives to protect. It’s exactly what we left England for 237 years ago.
You don’t have to agree with me but you also don’t get to claim offense or damage if I disagree with you.
Have a Happy and Safe Independence Day and in honor of this day treat everyone with respect and fairness today and everyday.