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my_lost_mind... and your ass will follow - the great funkmaster George Clinton
I've been thinking a bit lately about what seems to be an epidemic in this country of what are referred to as "haterz" or to be more specific, narrow minded, fear-ridden bigots.
I can't even call them "sheep" because sheep are generally laid back, gentle sort of creatures who just follow along with the flock. They don't "hate" - they just go about their happy little sheep lives.
Take this whole Chick-fil-a kerfluffle for example.
Most folks on the liberal or even libertarian side of the fence wouldn't give a rat's dirty ass about the opinions of one corporate bigwig. I respect Mr. ChickFilA guy's right to be a so-called Christian and say what he wants about his beliefs in public. That's what the first amendment is all about. People get to run their mouths in public and as long as what they say is their opinion (and doesn't venture into slander), it's protected speech.
However, where this man puts his money is the real problem in my very humble opinion.
Again, as a Libertarian type, I want to believe that this asshat is free to put his money wherever he wants. In reality, he is free to do so (and if I had a shit ton of money and could donate it to a cause of my choosing, I certainly wouldn't want anyone bitching at me about my choices).
It wouldn't be so bad if he was giving all his money to Oral Roberts University, or to some ministry helping to spread his religion of choice in some third world country (while handing out food, blankets, and Bibles). However, from the perspective of someone who has many GBLT friends, the so called charities where this man spends his hard earned cash are downright repulsive.
For me, this is a very thin tighrope.
I can't imagine being a certified Kinsey 6 and told that I am an abomination, should try to "change" who I am, and that worst of all, I can't marry the person I love, the person that I want to spend the rest of my life with. I'm a mostly straight gal who has been married twice, and have had far too many pointless romantic mishaps to count. I look at non-straight friends of mine who met their soul mates, and have been with them longer than both my marriages combined, and scratch my head as to why anyone would want to deny them the chance to marry that person.
Whatever one can say about marriage, it does provide some handy legal benefits as well as some nice tax breaks. Why should my gay and lesbian friends be told that they "can't have this"?
As a society we've become far too polarized and all seem to be backing firmly into our collective trenches, gearing up for some apocalyptic battle. We're spending an extraordinary amount of time fighting about social issues, issues of personal choice (reproductive rights, same-sex marriage, personal health choices such as food / drug / alcohol consumption, and what's being called "religious freedom"), rather than the larger problems that impact us all such as poverty and joblessness, limited access to affordable health care, and environmental issues.
I have never been able to understand why a woman's right to use birth control or have an abortion, what food we eat, whether we choose to smoke or drink, and who we choose to make our lives with is of such importance to those on the social conservative side of the fence. I was raised to believe that these types of issues were "nobody else's business" and as long as your behavior does not impact others in some harmful way (such as driving while impaired, smoking in an enclosed space, etc.) - it should remain "nobody else's business".
So why are the neocons so darn worked up over this? (I understand the birth control thing - the Affordable Care Act makes insurance companies pay for birth control with no copay - but I digress.. this topic belongs in a different blog post)
I was raised in a fairly conservative family. While my parents were not particularly religious, they did hold some fairly old fashioned beliefs (and my momster is a bit off the charts when it comes to her level of paranoia of the government, and societal changes in general). One good choice they made in raising me and my siblings was giving us the option to make up our own minds when it came to religion and personal beliefs.
As I went along in my life, met many different types of people, I came to believe that anyone can be an asshole, just as anyone can be a friend. Douchebaggery is an equal opportunity employer. "Haters" can live on either side of the fence. Gender, religion, occupation, political affiliation, or socioeconomic status doesn't matter. I found friends from many different demographics (I am a fierce social liberal, but have friends who are not - I can respect differences of opinion and still find good in others).
Back to my original point of this post...
The actions of mayors Menino and Emanuel in blocking the Chick-Fil-A franchises from setting up shop in their cities was dodgy at best. Now before you bark back at me about Mr. Cathy's public comments about his support of "traditional marriage" and where he spends his hard earned cash (see above), he just so happens to reside on a different side of the universe as far as my personal beliefs are concerned.
What would we, gentle liberals do, if conservative mayors blocked more liberal leaning businesses like Starbucks or Target from setting up shop in their cities?
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this was all a political move on the part of the Boston and Chicago mayors to use this whole thing as a political gimme. The only problem with this approach is that now we've made Mr. Cathy and his fast food chicken joint into a martyr for the far right. If "we" the social liberals had just let nature take it's course, plunking down this particular business in the middle of a very "Blue" city, the local liberal folks would have just turned up their nose at it and wandered off to some other better eating establishment in the city. Maybe the franchise location would make it a year or two, and then once the novelty wore off, the location would close its doors due to poor sales (anyone remember Krispy Kreme?).
Seriously, how much extra dough do you think Mr. Cathy raked in on "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day" - just because the riled up foaming-at-the-mouth Followers of F*x Newz wanted to eat some chicken and shake their fists at those heathen liberals for telling Mr. Cathy he doesn't have a right to grasp his Bible and "speak his mind".
So where do we draw the line here?
This whole thing makes me nauseous just thinking about it. If we choose the path of passive resistance, are we then in silent agreement with the opinions expressed by this corporation? If we choose to make this a corporation to fight against, then why not fight other corporations that donate to causes that we don't agree with? Why not kick all the conservative leaning corporations out of our liberal cities? Is this really the right way for us to go?
I certainly don't have an answer. I'm an idealist who hopes that one day the moderates from both sides of the battle will rise up and say "Let's just shut the fuck up and start talking about the issues that effect us ALL". We, as a nation, are never, ever going to agree 100% on issues that have some tentacles in a particular religions belief. No matter what the tea partiers and conservative Christian right want to believe, the earth is not going to open up a sinkhole and swallow the non-believers. Jesus is not going to come down and smite us all. I like my hippie Jesus served up with a side of compassion and tolerance, where he hangs out and smokes a hookah with Buddha, Moses, and Mohammed. They all sit around and dream of a world where humans are excellent to each other, the planet, and all living creatures.
Did I mention that I was an idealist?
We, the smart social liberals need to find a more creative solution for combating the bigots, the haters, the fear-ridden right who are armed with their Bibles, and metaphorical clubs and torches. We need something smart, epic, and effective but subtle.
I've been thinking a bit lately about what seems to be an epidemic in this country of what are referred to as "haterz" or to be more specific, narrow minded, fear-ridden bigots.
I can't even call them "sheep" because sheep are generally laid back, gentle sort of creatures who just follow along with the flock. They don't "hate" - they just go about their happy little sheep lives.
Take this whole Chick-fil-a kerfluffle for example.
Most folks on the liberal or even libertarian side of the fence wouldn't give a rat's dirty ass about the opinions of one corporate bigwig. I respect Mr. ChickFilA guy's right to be a so-called Christian and say what he wants about his beliefs in public. That's what the first amendment is all about. People get to run their mouths in public and as long as what they say is their opinion (and doesn't venture into slander), it's protected speech.
However, where this man puts his money is the real problem in my very humble opinion.
Again, as a Libertarian type, I want to believe that this asshat is free to put his money wherever he wants. In reality, he is free to do so (and if I had a shit ton of money and could donate it to a cause of my choosing, I certainly wouldn't want anyone bitching at me about my choices).
It wouldn't be so bad if he was giving all his money to Oral Roberts University, or to some ministry helping to spread his religion of choice in some third world country (while handing out food, blankets, and Bibles). However, from the perspective of someone who has many GBLT friends, the so called charities where this man spends his hard earned cash are downright repulsive.
For me, this is a very thin tighrope.
I can't imagine being a certified Kinsey 6 and told that I am an abomination, should try to "change" who I am, and that worst of all, I can't marry the person I love, the person that I want to spend the rest of my life with. I'm a mostly straight gal who has been married twice, and have had far too many pointless romantic mishaps to count. I look at non-straight friends of mine who met their soul mates, and have been with them longer than both my marriages combined, and scratch my head as to why anyone would want to deny them the chance to marry that person.
Whatever one can say about marriage, it does provide some handy legal benefits as well as some nice tax breaks. Why should my gay and lesbian friends be told that they "can't have this"?
As a society we've become far too polarized and all seem to be backing firmly into our collective trenches, gearing up for some apocalyptic battle. We're spending an extraordinary amount of time fighting about social issues, issues of personal choice (reproductive rights, same-sex marriage, personal health choices such as food / drug / alcohol consumption, and what's being called "religious freedom"), rather than the larger problems that impact us all such as poverty and joblessness, limited access to affordable health care, and environmental issues.
I have never been able to understand why a woman's right to use birth control or have an abortion, what food we eat, whether we choose to smoke or drink, and who we choose to make our lives with is of such importance to those on the social conservative side of the fence. I was raised to believe that these types of issues were "nobody else's business" and as long as your behavior does not impact others in some harmful way (such as driving while impaired, smoking in an enclosed space, etc.) - it should remain "nobody else's business".
So why are the neocons so darn worked up over this? (I understand the birth control thing - the Affordable Care Act makes insurance companies pay for birth control with no copay - but I digress.. this topic belongs in a different blog post)
I was raised in a fairly conservative family. While my parents were not particularly religious, they did hold some fairly old fashioned beliefs (and my momster is a bit off the charts when it comes to her level of paranoia of the government, and societal changes in general). One good choice they made in raising me and my siblings was giving us the option to make up our own minds when it came to religion and personal beliefs.
As I went along in my life, met many different types of people, I came to believe that anyone can be an asshole, just as anyone can be a friend. Douchebaggery is an equal opportunity employer. "Haters" can live on either side of the fence. Gender, religion, occupation, political affiliation, or socioeconomic status doesn't matter. I found friends from many different demographics (I am a fierce social liberal, but have friends who are not - I can respect differences of opinion and still find good in others).
Back to my original point of this post...
The actions of mayors Menino and Emanuel in blocking the Chick-Fil-A franchises from setting up shop in their cities was dodgy at best. Now before you bark back at me about Mr. Cathy's public comments about his support of "traditional marriage" and where he spends his hard earned cash (see above), he just so happens to reside on a different side of the universe as far as my personal beliefs are concerned.
What would we, gentle liberals do, if conservative mayors blocked more liberal leaning businesses like Starbucks or Target from setting up shop in their cities?
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this was all a political move on the part of the Boston and Chicago mayors to use this whole thing as a political gimme. The only problem with this approach is that now we've made Mr. Cathy and his fast food chicken joint into a martyr for the far right. If "we" the social liberals had just let nature take it's course, plunking down this particular business in the middle of a very "Blue" city, the local liberal folks would have just turned up their nose at it and wandered off to some other better eating establishment in the city. Maybe the franchise location would make it a year or two, and then once the novelty wore off, the location would close its doors due to poor sales (anyone remember Krispy Kreme?).
Seriously, how much extra dough do you think Mr. Cathy raked in on "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day" - just because the riled up foaming-at-the-mouth Followers of F*x Newz wanted to eat some chicken and shake their fists at those heathen liberals for telling Mr. Cathy he doesn't have a right to grasp his Bible and "speak his mind".
So where do we draw the line here?
This whole thing makes me nauseous just thinking about it. If we choose the path of passive resistance, are we then in silent agreement with the opinions expressed by this corporation? If we choose to make this a corporation to fight against, then why not fight other corporations that donate to causes that we don't agree with? Why not kick all the conservative leaning corporations out of our liberal cities? Is this really the right way for us to go?
I certainly don't have an answer. I'm an idealist who hopes that one day the moderates from both sides of the battle will rise up and say "Let's just shut the fuck up and start talking about the issues that effect us ALL". We, as a nation, are never, ever going to agree 100% on issues that have some tentacles in a particular religions belief. No matter what the tea partiers and conservative Christian right want to believe, the earth is not going to open up a sinkhole and swallow the non-believers. Jesus is not going to come down and smite us all. I like my hippie Jesus served up with a side of compassion and tolerance, where he hangs out and smokes a hookah with Buddha, Moses, and Mohammed. They all sit around and dream of a world where humans are excellent to each other, the planet, and all living creatures.
Did I mention that I was an idealist?
We, the smart social liberals need to find a more creative solution for combating the bigots, the haters, the fear-ridden right who are armed with their Bibles, and metaphorical clubs and torches. We need something smart, epic, and effective but subtle.
