Friend one and Friend two, Friend two and Friend one or No, sorry you are not being oppressed.

That's what he said...

 I have a friend. He isn't the sharpest pea in the haystack, but he is my friend. He loves to argue against equal rights and treatment under the law because “You cannot legislate morality.” He argues that men should be allowed to find equality and balance without the pesky intervention of laws and legislation. Now anyone with even the smallest understanding of humanity and history will know this isn't true and probably question said friend's sanity. God knows I often do. However, in a sense he is correct.

Wait wait, before you start hitting me with rocks, let me expand further. I have another friend who is actually extremely intelligent and wise that I disagree on with one or two issues. He feels also feels that people would just be better off if people were allowed to do their own things without interference from the Government. What these two friends have in common is that their views are pretty much a Utopian ideal. (Admittedly the second friend's idea of Utopia is a bit different from most, but that is one of the reasons I love him.)

In an overly simplified sense, both are right. In a Utopian world where everyone could be trusted to play nice and work towards the common good of everyone, their ideas might work. If man was not a greedy, selfish animal interested only in his personal well being, things might work out okay. (Funny side note here, Friend #1 keeps arguing we don't need laws because we are no longer the greedy selfish “robber barons” of a hundred years ago while blissfully ignoring the facts.) Unfortunately for the world, man is just as bad as he has ever been. How many 1000s of acres of Rain Forest will be destroyed this year? How much poison will be pumped into our air and water? People are still hell bent on destroying the world simply for their own advancement.

(Funny aside the second, Friend #1 argues that this is okay and that these people aren't being destructive robber barons because they “obey the law” while ignoring the fact that the laws are being written by the rich and powerful to further the interests of the rich and powerful while leaving everyone else to choke in poisons.)

Anyhoo, I have actually wandered away from the main subject of this rant. The idea of legislating morality. See in that mythical perfect world, no one would have to legislate morality because it would be inherent. But since the people in power want to stay in power and certainly don't want to share that power with anyone else, especially “them,” (The them being spoke of varies but the idea is constant.) they find or invent ways around sharing.

“We hold these truths to be self evident, that ALL men are created equal. That they are endowed by their creator with certain rights.” Okay slightly edited but you get the idea and the full text appears at the start. See that is a very simple statement. It should be all anyone needs to understand. ALL (Everyone regardless of race, color or religion) MEN (Well in this case mankind not just possessors of the Y Chromosome (Total aside here, WTF do I always try to spell Chromosome with an N instead of an M on the end?) are created equal and they all have the exact same rights. See nice and simple. No ambiguity, no confusion. Right?

See unfortunately, that is not the case. People of power interpreted that to mean all WHITE CHRISTIAN MEN (in this case the people with that Y Chromosome) had certain rights. Not Women, not Blacks, not Native Americans but WCMs and as a side note, not all groups of Christianity were included in that. For an easy reference, look at all the uproar when Roman Catholic JFK was elected POTUS.

My Friend (1 not 2) argues that special interest groups will always try to pass laws and legislation that give them special rights and privileges. In a sense he is right. What he ignores is that he is a member of the #1 Most Powerful special interest group in the country being that he is a White Male. He ignores the fact that his group has been making laws that benefit it for the entire life of the US and still is. He gets peeved off because now, other special interest groups are enacting laws that provide them equal treatment under the laws.

Throughout history, the moment the ruling force is challenged in any government, those in power and those with all the protections, start screaming that they are being oppressed and predicting that their freedoms will be destroyed in the near future. See, what they fail to understand is that just because other people are now being given the same rights and protections as the majority does in no way shape or form reduce the rights the majority has. It just means the majority isn't more special than everyone else. Sucks for the, but is great for everyone else. So suck it up, Buttercups because in a way, you are right. As far as you are concerned, it is only just going to get worse.

End of Rant