Colors of the Rainbow

I believed that the Confederate flag was improper on the lawn of the Capital.  I also supported the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday to legalize gay marriage.  That being said, I believe that the White House made a mistake hosing down the White House in rainbow lights. 

There are two reasons why I believed what I believed in all 3 situations and they have nothing to do with my religious beliefs and they are important for us all to remember:

1.     Separation of Church and State

2.     Freedom of Speech

OHHHH, that flag......

The Confederate flag is offensive to many, many people.  I don’t understand why someone would want that flag in their yard, but I also think it’s a slippery slope to go around banning things too.  Now, companies were the ones banning the flag on their products this past week and not the government, so it’s fine….but it’s also stupid when you don’t do it with common sense.  Gone With the Wind is ABOUT the Civil War.  Come on.  Be smart.  There is a difference between that movie and future belt buckles made in 2015.  You lose credibility when you're stupid.  Anyway, the reason that we can go back and forth about the meaning of the flag is the same reason I am allowed to write about this and it’s because the 1^st Amendment gives us that right. I don’t have to like that flag, but the reason I have to be willing to allow someone to fly that flag on their personal property is the same reason that I have to allow someone to burn an American flag, and the reason I have to as a citizen allow both of those things to happen is so that I can have an opinion opposing them.  The government operates under ONE flag, and that is the AMERICAN flag, and that’s why South Carolina had no business flying the Confederate flag over their Capital.  Also, states have rights.  The South got what they wanted in a way.  Get over it.   In my opinion, the state has no right to offend its people with an offensive flag because they are supposed to be neutral and FOR the people.  Fly the one that is supposed to unite us, not one that clearly divides us.  

Civil rights aren't up for debate....

Now the reason I supported the Supreme Court decision on Friday is also very simple.  It has nothing to do with my religious beliefs or as some would say "lack thereof," but because when passing laws, you are supposed to keep in mind that “GOD” might not mean MY God.  The debate that Christians use is “God intended marriage to be between a woman and a man.”  Fine.  But the STATE, the GOVERNMENT is passing out marriage certificates and offering certain benefits to married people.  Now unless the government isn’t going to be in the marriage business at all, then MARRIAGE is not defined.  Why?  Because “In God We Trust” means any god that we want to believe in.  My God and your God might not look the same, in which case, it is not the government’s job to define marriage.  This was a civil rights issue, period.  In my mind, it logically doesn’t make any sense at all to create a country that says its people have the freedom to exercise the religion of their choice and then tell those same people that your God doesn’t support his or her rights.  How can you possibly be the authority on that?  Why haven't Christians gone after atheists too?  If you as a Christian believe that your God created marriage because that's what your bible says, then why should you allow an atheist to get married?  For that matter, what about divorce?  What about couples who cannot conceive, if the reason for marriage is to procreate?  You simply cannot have it both ways.  You cannot live in a country that supports all religions and yet oppresses others.  Now, if the state DID get out of the marriage business altogether and marriage was a church thing, then what are Christians going to say when someone opens churches that support gay marriage?  They can have an opinion, but they aren’t allowed to do anything about it.  Either way, you lose that argument in this country.  We all have to live together and we don’t all have the same beliefs.  Bottom line, get over it.  Mind your business.  Move along.  Exercise that opinion without oppressing others. You are free to believe what you believe.  

Colors of the Rainbow.....

I think it’s very clear where I am going with the White House rainbow lights, right?  Sure, the Confederate Flag might mean something evil to most and the rainbow lights were a symbol for love, but I think the reason the court was successful in getting the law passed was keeping it simply about civil liberties and being fair.  I think it was in poor taste, and frankly stupid, for the White House to not just shut up.  We are trying to unite, and it isn't going to happen over night.  Pass the right laws and shut up.  

We all need to be sensitive, people.  We need not gloat when something goes our way, we need not behave in a hateful way when we are upset, and we need to tell the government to do their damn job and represent the law the best way they can and keep our hodgepodge of religious beliefs out of what should be an issue of fairness and equality for all citizens of all backgrounds.

We have to start waking up about the country we live in.  Phrases like “Take back our country,” for example, are not helpful.  Take it back from whom?  Calling people “Unamerican” is not helpful either.  We have to start realizing what country we live in and STICK to that and I never say this, but if YOU DON’T believe in EQUAL OPPORTUNITY or EQUAL RIGHTS or FREEDOM OF SPEECH OR EXPRESSION or FREEDOM OF RELIGION, and SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE, then YES!  Leave!  Because that is what our country believes!!!  You don’t like people coming to our country from other countries?  LEAVE then!  That is totally within your freedom!  The rest of us will carry on and govern ourselves.  The only way that we can properly govern ourselves by the concepts that our forefathers put in place is by having intelligent, sensitive conversations backed factually by the laws that protect us from someone trumping us.  But you have to respect everyone to get respect.  You can’t have it your way all the time.  We have to mind our own business, we have to move it along, and we have to stop being so nasty to each other. 

I am tired of the following words being dirty words: Liberal.  Feminist.  Conservative.  Intellectual.  Liberal means open.  Feminist is someone who believes women are equal to men.  Intellectual is someone who values education and exploration.  Conservative is someone who finds value in tradition.  These are not bad things, but people are ruining the concepts by being assholes. 

If America doesn't grow up, we are not going to exist forever.  If we can't have conversations with each other, how can we elect properly?  They are playing us like a slide guitar. I just wish people would wake up and realize that.