You see, I believe in "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Since fifth grade and Mr. Klopfenstein made us memorize the beginning of the Declaration of Independence, my mind and my beliefs have been ingrained with these thoughts.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. "
I don't fuss over the language. "Men" means all men and women the same. All men. Regardless of age, sex, sexual orientation, class, etc. None of it matters. All are equal.
It is truly that simple.
We, as those "men", have the *unalienable right* to believe as we want, to live the life that we want, to worship as we want, to be with the one we love as long ***as it harms no one else.***
And, yet, in the United States, many people believe that THEY have the right to choose what "men" can believe, what life men can live, how men can worship and whether men can be with the one they love.
If I choose to be a lesbian, Wiccan, living in the mountains with my lover and my cat, I should be allowed to. I am not hurting anyone else. (No, I'm not a lesbian or Wiccan, and Doug won't go with me to live in the mountains, so I am not doing that either, but I should have the right.)
What I want in a Presidential candidate is someone who won't tell me I can't have an abortion, that I can be with/have a civil union with my lover and that I can worship as I please. I want a Presidential candidate who won't take my money away to give to people who won't work and expect me to give them my money because I may or may not make more than they do. I want a Presidential candidate who, when he/she goes overseas, we, as citizens of the U.S., can be proud to stand behind him/her and say, "He/She is our President!'
I want a Presidential candidate who won't divide our country for political gain. I want a President who remember what this country was founded upon--The Bill of Rights.
http://www.ratical.org/co-globalize/BillOfRights.html
For me, the most important is, by far, the First Amendment. These, Speech, Press, Religion and Petition, have been slowly eroded...I'm scared they will be gone. People being arrested because they want to hear a candidate speak; articles not printed because they may offend someone, not being able to worship because someone, somewhere thinks the belief system it is evil or wrong because it isn't what society says is moral; making it illegal for people to demonstrate or petition the government.
A detailed discussion of my rant above. Ironically, I started this 1/15. This was posted in The Washington Post on 1/16.
I don't fuss over the language. "Men" means all men and women the same. All men. Regardless of age, sex, sexual orientation, class, etc. None of it matters. All are equal.
It is truly that simple.
We, as those "men", have the *unalienable right* to believe as we want, to live the life that we want, to worship as we want, to be with the one we love as long ***as it harms no one else.***
And, yet, in the United States, many people believe that THEY have the right to choose what "men" can believe, what life men can live, how men can worship and whether men can be with the one they love.
If I choose to be a lesbian, Wiccan, living in the mountains with my lover and my cat, I should be allowed to. I am not hurting anyone else. (No, I'm not a lesbian or Wiccan, and Doug won't go with me to live in the mountains, so I am not doing that either, but I should have the right.)
What I want in a Presidential candidate is someone who won't tell me I can't have an abortion, that I can be with/have a civil union with my lover and that I can worship as I please. I want a Presidential candidate who won't take my money away to give to people who won't work and expect me to give them my money because I may or may not make more than they do. I want a Presidential candidate who, when he/she goes overseas, we, as citizens of the U.S., can be proud to stand behind him/her and say, "He/She is our President!'
I want a Presidential candidate who won't divide our country for political gain. I want a President who remember what this country was founded upon--The Bill of Rights.
http://www.ratical.org/co-globalize/BillOfRights.html
For me, the most important is, by far, the First Amendment. These, Speech, Press, Religion and Petition, have been slowly eroded...I'm scared they will be gone. People being arrested because they want to hear a candidate speak; articles not printed because they may offend someone, not being able to worship because someone, somewhere thinks the belief system it is evil or wrong because it isn't what society says is moral; making it illegal for people to demonstrate or petition the government.
http://www.salon.com/2012/01/13/whos_afraid_of_the_tempest/
Take these away, and this is no longer the Land of the Free. It is the Land of the Oppressed, the downtrodden, not what the Revolutionary War was fought for. Not what our Founding Fathers wanted. They fought to be free from high, unfair taxes, to be free from ridicule and persecution for their beliefs. Many of the Founding Fathers were Unitarian and/or Universalists. They believe in the right to be free to worship the god or gods of their choice--not to be told by the monarch or the government who/what they could worship. They had suffered under the hands of despots and deranged monarchs for centuries--first Catholics and then Protestants, never knowing when their freedoms would be taken from them.
They came to this country to be Free. They called it the Land of the Free.
And now, in 2012, I want a Presidential candidate who will guarantee that we won't lose the freedoms we have fought so hard for. I don't care if he is a Democrat, a Republican. I don't care if he's Mormon, Catholic or a Pagan. I don't care his sexual orientation. None of those things matter to me. What matters to me is that he upholds the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
I want the Freedom to Choose, and my choices are limited. If only someone would stand up for our Freedoms, that is the person I would vote for. I am not ready to give up what the Declaration spoke of--"life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." And part of that pursuit is to have the freedoms our ancestors fought for.
Take these away, and this is no longer the Land of the Free. It is the Land of the Oppressed, the downtrodden, not what the Revolutionary War was fought for. Not what our Founding Fathers wanted. They fought to be free from high, unfair taxes, to be free from ridicule and persecution for their beliefs. Many of the Founding Fathers were Unitarian and/or Universalists. They believe in the right to be free to worship the god or gods of their choice--not to be told by the monarch or the government who/what they could worship. They had suffered under the hands of despots and deranged monarchs for centuries--first Catholics and then Protestants, never knowing when their freedoms would be taken from them.
They came to this country to be Free. They called it the Land of the Free.
And now, in 2012, I want a Presidential candidate who will guarantee that we won't lose the freedoms we have fought so hard for. I don't care if he is a Democrat, a Republican. I don't care if he's Mormon, Catholic or a Pagan. I don't care his sexual orientation. None of those things matter to me. What matters to me is that he upholds the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
I want the Freedom to Choose, and my choices are limited. If only someone would stand up for our Freedoms, that is the person I would vote for. I am not ready to give up what the Declaration spoke of--"life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." And part of that pursuit is to have the freedoms our ancestors fought for.
A detailed discussion of my rant above. Ironically, I started this 1/15. This was posted in The Washington Post on 1/16.
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