Right is right, but left is up.

     So some friends and I were talking (typing?) with one another on Vaguebook about the ongoing battle for equal rights and equal treatment under the laws of the land.  Amidst the usual banter about Gay Cakes and such, we managed to dance around to the subject of exactly what are Rights as opposed privileges.
     In reality it isn't necessarily an easy thing to judge.  Exactly what constitutes a Right and what is a Privilege that we have enjoyed for so long that we thing of it as a Right? 
     The very foundation of our nation describes some basics.  "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" are words every school age child knows.   The Bill of Rights adds a bunch of others.  Many Ammendments to the Constitution added many others. 
     So, all being said and done, what is a Right and what is Privilege?  One person listed Driving as a Right.  Another mentioned owning a business.   They went on and on about these and other rights.
     The problem is that these aren't Rights.  No where in any of our government is it enshrined that these are rights.  They are simply privileges and that is where the disconnect occurs in most people's minds.
     Equal treatment under the law is a Right.  Running a business is a privilege and serving everyone regardless of Race or Creed is a requirement under the Rights given to all men.
     Until we finally agree where Rights end and Privileges begin there can never be true parity.   Until people realize the Rights they feel are being stolen from them are nothing more than privileges we can never have justice.

They fought more than one day a year.

     My Father served in WWII. My Grandfather served in WWI.  My Brother has proudly served for longer than I can remember and went to Afghanistan when other men were set to retire.  I support our troops and the people that support them 100%.  So you may be shocked to hear that I think Memorial Day and Veteran's Day are a stupid idea.  Why you ask?  For the same reason Mother's Day, Father's Day, Second Cousin twice removed Day are stupid ideas. 
     The men and women who serve and protect our country deserve to be saluted and respected every single day.  If you need a special day to remind you how much we owe them, then you need to rethink your priorities.  I see people saying, "Thank you for your service" on Veteran's Day and solemnly nodding at the scenes from the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day who probably never give a thought to them on any other day.  Never ponder how many 1000s of American Vets are homeless.  Never think about how many 1000s more live at a near poverty level and must depend on Welfare to help feed them.  I can promise you that these people hardly even think of the brave people who gave some or even all except when they are publicly reminded to by a mark on a calendar.
     It is patently obvious that the Government who sends them to fight and die don't care.  Sure they put on the dog and pony shows on special days, but then they turn around and do nothing to help them.  Our VA system is an archaic, badly managed pile of steaming poop that does little to actually help the people that need it.  The GOP says "God Bless Our Troops" then plans to send them back into yet another war we cannot win.  The Democrats say, "We will remember their sacrifices" but make no real efforts to fix the VA or even truly help those who desperately need help.
     We should respect and honor our troops every single day of the year.  We should kneel down and kiss their muddy boots to thank them for putting their lives and minds on the line.  We should never need a "special day" to memorialize them or thank them.  Every single right and freedom we have today is because some man or woman decided to put on a uniform and pick up a weapon to protect them.
    United States Army, United States Marine Corp, United Stated Air Force, United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, the National Guards and Nation Reserves should be on our minds every day.If you can't respect and honor them every day then cheering them on one special day is nothing but hypocrisy. 

End of Rant

Short but not so sweet.

     So this afternoon, a friend I knew from HS posted a very poorly done video that purported to PROVE that a kid had been given detention for saying God Bless You to a schoolmate. Now all the video was is a guy (Presumably the kid's Dad) asking the kid what happened and then prompting the kid to tell how he had said GBU to a student and an evil teacher gave him detention as part of religious persecution. No evidence was given to back up the claims just the guy and his kid.
      Now folks, I see this sort of crap all the time. People claiming this or stating that and offering no proof of any kind to support it. IMNSHO (In My Not So Humble Opinion in case you forgot) people who post this sort of Shift are actually hurting the causes they claim to support. Saying "OH NOSE WE IS BEING PERSECUTED!" at the top of your lungs is like crying wolf when its actually a Beagle. People might listen to you in the beginning but eventually they stop because you are being an Ass.
      So when I very politely (Yes me politely) pointed this out, my friend became quite irate and insulting. She accused me of not being a Christian and that I was attacking her. When I attempted to explain to her that I was not attacking her or even disputing the video's claim, she got even more angry. When I pointed out that the man actually lied twice in the video, she came back with "I do not care that his fact may or maynot be wrong." (Her spelling not mine.)
      I know it comes as a shock to most of my college friends, but I am a Christian. (Heck it shocks me some days still.) I support Christians right to worship as they please. All other religions too. Pointing out when someone is wrong doesn't make me not a Christian. It does occasionally make me an Ass, but that is another point entirely.
      If the only way you can depend your position is to ignore the truth and insult other people, then you are not only an idiot, but not very Christian either. (Okay I admit calling her an idiot isn't very Christian either, but darn it she annoyed me.) If you refuse to support your position with actual facts, people are going to, at best, ignore you and at worst think that you are a nut case,
      If you want people to take you seriously, then you have to do more than make unfounded claims. If yo don't do that, you are right up there with the 9/11 Truthers, the Obama Birthers and the Sandy Hook/Boston Marathon Conspiracy nutters. Prove it or STHU,

Hoist the double standard, Day 2: God only knows

     Whelp, here we are on day the second of my little serial rant about the lovely double standards that Americans seem to cling to.  Don't get me wrong, this practice is not unique to Americans.  Pretty sure some version of it is practiced pretty much anywhere there are people, but Americans often times seem like they went back for a second helping when God created everything.
     And speaking of God (Nice slide into the subject huh?), today's talk is about Religion.  (Before I go any further let me state plainly that I am a Christian so this isn't some Atheist Basher speaking here.  Also a healthy chunk of Christians do not fit into this rant.  As usual, my words are aimed at the bad eggs that taint any good thing.)  Okay, onward and downward in a never ending spiral.

      

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

     The US was founded on the very basic principle of Religious Freedom.  Not "Freedom of Christianity" or "Freedom of the Religions that we personally like."  It was also founded on the most basic idea of a separation of Church and State.  We had already seen the fiasco caused in Europe when the Government made one particular religion the official religion and pretty much banned he practice of all others.  (Church of England anyone?)  We wisely realized that we couldn't have true freedom when we limited.  We even spelled it out in big letters in so that people would not get the wrong idea.

    Funny how people can ignore those big bold letters or interpret them in a way that is kind the exact opposite of what the word actually mean.  Over and over again, I hear Christians saying, "We should ban (Insert Religion here, but lets face facts, usually its Islam)."  Several states have actually passed laws that prevent Atheists from holding public office (Which once again, is pretty much the exact opposite of what the 1st actually says.) and several states have laws in the works that would prevent any Non-Christian from holding office.  Matter of fact, one of the big arguments against Obama is that he cannot possibly hold the office of President because he is actually a Muslim.  (He isn't by the way.)

     Radical Right Wing Christians want this to be a nation governed by Christian Laws and only Christian Laws.  They want only Christians to hold public office (Preferably White Male Christians at that.) and all the various cultures and beliefs in the Country to bow down before these Christian Laws.  The RRW Politicians scream against Sharia Law and Sharia Courts here in the US, but want Christian Laws to hold sway in courts.  When raging against Sharia Courts, they also blithely ignore that both the Catholic and Judaic belief systems have had similar courts and such for a long time. 

    We have a incredible amount of rights and freedoms in the US.  It is one of the things that has made us unique and powerful.  However there are forces in the US that want to take those freedoms and rights away.  They want to turn America into what amounts to a Theocracy where Christian Laws and Christian beliefs are the only ones allowed.  This goes against everything that makes us great and directly contravenes what the Founding Fathers believed.  It also insults every single man and woman who gave their lives to defend ALL of our rights.

     In closing, maybe you don't agree with the guy down the street who believes in X Religion.  Maybe you think that Pastafarism is ridiculous.  Maybe you think that anyone who believes that Scientology is more than a little off.   That is cool.  You have the right to believe what you want.  However, you do not have the right, legal or moral, to force Your beliefs on people.  You cannot say "If you life in the US you must follow X religion's laws."  That is not how this country works.  You cannot ever have freedom when you oppress other people's freedoms.

End of Rant

Hoist the double standard! Day one: Amma I right about your "rights?"

     Yesterday's post was the opening salvo on a week long rant about the double standards that a lot of Americans seem to have about...well just about everything.  From Legal Rights to Religious Rights, the good US of A seems to think that THEIR beliefs and rights far outweigh those of everyone else, especially the rights of people they don't like.
     Now, of course, what started this little rant series was the events that occurred at VSU where protestors performed the "unthinkable" act of stomping on the American Flag.  People all over the country rose up in righteous fury claiming that they didn't have the right to do that and they applauded the Military type person turned Porn model when she took the flag away.  They also cried out in indignation  when she was detained by the cops.  People claimed that the protestors had broken the law by desecrating the flag and that the nude model had just been doing the right thing when she had taken it.
     The only problems with this argument is that the protestors actually did have a right to do what they did and the Nude Model had actually broken the law when she stole their property from them.  I could go on and on about this but it has already been rehashed over and over again so I won't.  My Brother, Ben Baker did an excellent blog on the subject which I reposted here the other day. 
     I have to wonder where these righteous individuals were when US Military personnel were urinating on the Holy Books of detainees in Gitmo and various other Black Sites around the world.  I have to wonder where they were when a Baptist Preacher in Florida (Ever notice it is always Florida, Arizona or Texas?  Well almost always.  There was the recent Indiana Flap too.)  An even better question is where were all of these flag loving people when somebody decided it was cool to put the US Flag on bathing suits and underwear?  How is stomping on a flag any more disrespectful than having the flag jammed up your butt crack?  I'd think the latter is much more disrespectful.  Heck on that note, I have even seen toilet paper and tissue paper with the flag on it, so getting upset because someone stepped on it seems a little bit dumb.
     Anyways, I digress.  This rant series isn't about that one incident.  Over the next week, I will cover how strong and illogical the American Double Standard is.  How "our" rights are always important than the right of everyone else.  Be it religion, education or simply having enough to eat, America has a massive double standard that is almost as old as the country itself.  So buckle up and clench em tight, because it is going to be a bumpy ridge.

End of Rant\

Feed and Help Homeless US Veterans

Forget the Freaking Flag, save the people who defended it.

Help the Homeless US Vets

Forget the Flag, how about respect for the homeless defenders of it.

Trash Talk

     Pretty sure everyone has heard at least one version/side of the VSU flag debacle where a soldier turned Porn Model decided that Protestors didn't have the right to step on and destroy the US Flag.  I thought about writing a long diatribe about it, but someone more skilled than me did it for me. 

     The above blog is by my esteemed Brother Ben Baker and pretty much says everything I was thinking about saying and even a few things I wasn't thinking about saying in a very colorful and extremely cranky sort of way.  So read it and then buy the clue.

     For the record, I did a little research and visited 10 different websites that sold US Flags.  Of the ten websites, only two actually sold flags made in the US.  Of the other 8, 5 were made in China and 3 were made in Pakistan.   See as my Brother points out, people are getting peeved about the wrong thing.  Instead of getting annoyed that someone exercise their right of freedom of speech/expression, get peeved that we are EXPORTING the production of our national banner to other countries, one of which is a Communist Nation and the other one is a Terrorist Supporting state.  Better yet instead of sending 100s of thousands of dollars to a bakery that wants to discriminate against Homosexuals, send all that money to the programs that support the THOUSANDS of Homeless Veterans.  If you really want to show your support for the troops that you claim to respect, feed them and cloth them.  Help them find a home or a least a shelter from the storms.

     People in the US need to buy the clue and get mad about the important things.  In the end, a Flag is just a symbol and a piece of cloth.  If you don't respect and support the people who gave all to defend it, you really don't have the right to cry over someone else stepping on it.

End of Rant