So there's this guy I work with...cliche, I know but, he's a pretty interesting guy. My cube neighbor is a conservative republican type, and having recently come to realize that I have more liberal democrat leanings, I enjoy hearing his alternate point of view.
The thing I've noticed is that, even if I don't contest his idea, he is kind of confrontational about his explanation.
Do I give off an anti-Republican aura?
Do I have some kind of sign that's on my back that only Republicans can see?
Is there some special Republican power that can sniff out a middle-left type person such as myself?
Actually, I think its more of a fundamentalist power...or maybe just an assumption gone wrong. I generally ask questions because I don't understand a topic or opinion and not because I seek to find holes in an argument.
Now I won't lie, there are times when holes make themselves evident and those holes help to form my questions. But isn't that how holes get filled?
Sadly, when I find these holes and ask these questions they are frequently filled with bullshit remarks like "I don't think that's what our forefathers intended."
These are the same people that will piss and moan about the ten commandments being removed from a court house, when one of the major reasons our country was formed was to escape religious persecution.
And then inevitably there's the argument that the forefathers themselves were Christians. When in reality you can now purchase a copy of Thomas Jefferson's EDITED Bible.
I don't know about you guys but, I don't know a single professing Christian today that would consider it acceptable to edit their Bible. After all it is the ordained Word of God...or so some old guys have told us.
If this is acceptable than I'm cutting out that stupid covet part...not coveting your neighbors goods is just bad for the economy (thanks for the material George) and with the idiots we have running that show we don't need any extra "help" from God on this one.
Oh and lets not forget Benjamin Franklin's, shall we say...love of ladies of the evening during the years he served as our ambassador to France?
Not all Republicans are fundamentalists nut jobs though...a good friend of mine (http://www.joegamer.net/) and I have had several political discussions and while we tend to disagree on a lot of topics and we do get heated from time to time, we manage to remain friends in the end.
There are a few things that I tend to agree with when it comes to the conservatives though...for one gun control.
I do believe that the right to bear arms was created just in case the government loses it's damn mind, more then it has already, and tries to turn into a dictatorship. However, I'm not really sure that they could have fathomed that we'd have weapons like AK-47 or any other automatic weapon for that matter.
Ok...I said "a few things" but, that's all I can think of right now. I'm sure they've got some other good ideas though. But you can read my complaints about the nature of the news media these days in my previous posts.
I guess what I'm trying to say is...why do we have to be so polarized in our political views? Why can't we set the example that our legislators are so obviously lacking and learn to compromise? Lets not buy into the idea that there is only one right way.
I kind of feel like a dirty hippie talking like this...thanks Luke.
Oh...I almost forgot. WTF Fundamentalists?!
2 comments:
Our country was founded to escape religious persecution yes, but it was not established to run blindly from religion. 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.
People have bastardized this into separation of church and state, which is now a slippery slope and borders on infringing on other's first amendment right. That's why people piss and moan about it. For information on this tactic, research latitudes of acceptance and stalking horse persuasion techniques.
I don't see how not having the ten commandment displayed in a government building is an infringement upon anyone's rights.
I personally believe in a complete separation of church and state. I don't feel like the government should openly support any one religion to the exclusion of any others.
Unfortunately, no matter how right you and I think the Bible is, there are those that aren't of the same mind and their opinions/beliefs should be respected as well.
This really wasn't the point I was trying to make in the post but, thanks for the comments. Hopefully I didn't scare you off with my angry rants.
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