Thursday, November 4, 2004

   In reply...
In reply to Miss Haze's rather long comment, here is a clarification on my political postition. Of course, if any of you don't agree with me, feel free to argue your points, as this is going to be very civil. And if any of you get so upset with what I have to say, tough luck. Take it as it is because it's my own personal opinion to which I'm entitled, as you are to yours.

I disagree with Bush being the best candidate for the presidency not just because of the war issue, but also because of the issues with the economy, women's rights and gay rights.

No, I don't believe Kerry could just take the troops and leave Iraq, because quite frankly it's a mess over there, and most of it is in part because of the US occupation. However, because Kerry does have more experience in the Navy and has done his duty in the Vietnam War and even has gotten a medal for his efforts, I'm more likely to trust his military instincts than Bush's. The moment Bush decided to send troops to Iraq, it didn't seem he knew what the hell he was doing. The fact remains that there was absolutely no connection between Al Qaeda and Hussein, and weapons of mass destruction did not and do not exist at all. We were sending troops into danger on a goose hunt looking for things that Iraq had no possession of, and yet Bush claimed that he did this all in the best interest of the protection of our country. But Iraq was not and is no threat to us. Why Bush allowed the Bin Laden family to flee the US right after 9/11 and gave Bin Laden a two-month head start to hide, I'll never know. I cannot trust the "president" to fix up this war he's made because his decisions seem to have no basis behind them other than the fact that he wants the oil in Iraq. They're building a long pipe in the Middle East right through Iraq where Texan oil companies are scouting the area. Companies are consorting amongst one another about how to send American business over there to fuel the economy. This war wasn't for protection. It was for money. How can anyone trust someone who uses this whole terrorist scare to gloss over the fact that he's in it for financial reasons? (If you would like my references, I could point you to a few books that you should check out. For visual people, I'd point you to Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, but since it's so biased against Bush, I do suggest you take it with a grain of salt).

As for the whole gay marriage issue. Anyone who calls themselves Christian and yet believes two people in love can't be together is a hypocrite. They're using their religion as an excuse to persecute human beings and take away their rights. I'm a Catholic myself, but I've met tons of other Catholics who feel as strongly as I do that anyone in love should have the right to marry. The one thing that Jesus was most fervent about was "Love thy neighbor as I have loved you." If one looks at Jesus' teachings, one would see that He discriminated against no one. In fact, the ones He spent most of His time with were sinners. The way I see things, Jesus was telling us to love everyone and to treat everyone as we would want to be treated. So, if these so-called Christians really do follow the teachings of Christ, then what gives them the right to discriminate against another human being for being in love with someone and wanting to make that love official? The only one who can say what's right or wrong in marriage is God. So who are we to tell others what they can or cannot do? We're supposed to all love one another. That's the ultimate teaching of Christ, and if the religious institutions aren't teaching that, there's something completely wrong with the institution. Yep, I said it. The institutions are then hypocritical. I have faith in God, and I go to church every single Sunday with my family. I've done everything up to now with all that I've learned in faith on my mind. Sure, I haven't been perfect, but who has? What I'm saying is that religion is no excuse for banning others from commiting themselves to one another in love.

Think about it. If we followed everything that the Bible tells us without taking our historical moment into context, women would have to obey everything their husbands tell them to do without argument. Psh. How many women you know would take that from a man now without screaming about sexism?

Quote:
"I think the whole problem with the gay marriage thing is that people simply go by what their religion tells them about it, seeing as America's population is for the most part some type of Protestant or Catholic faith."

Ah, I agree. There is a thing in the constitution that says a little something about separation of Church and State, and I think people need to pay a little more attention to that. The only reason people are attacking same-sex marriage is because they say it goes against the sanctity of marriage. ::rolls eyes:: Yeah. 1 in 3 married couples get divorced. Where's the sanctity in that? Should we just ban marriage altogether because straight people can't even keep their shit together?

That reasoning is ridiculous, and no one on this Earth has the right to deny anyone marriage. No one. Americans aren't conservative. They're scared of what's different. I should know. I got yelled at a couple weeks back when I was driving home, "GO BACK TO YOUR OWN COUNTRY!!" Uhm, hello? I was born here. Just because of the shape of my eyes, the color of my skin, I'm feared. I've lived in liberal California all my life, and I still can't escape bigot idiots. It isn't being conservative. It's being scared of the unknown. The unknown challenges established beliefs and this whole ban on same-sex marriage is the result of that. I mean, take a look at our history as a nation. It used to be against the law in many states to marry outside of your own race. Look at us now. Our generation scoffs at the fact that previous generations were so squirmish about mixing races. Future generations will look at us now and shake their heads at how idiotic laws like the banning of same-sex marriages are.

So, I'm not going to be passive about that. I'm actually going to get off my butt and do something about it. I'm not going to accept bigotry because I don't want people to go through what I've had to go through just for my race, and I don't want to see anyone discriminated agains because they're in love. Fuck that shit. Fight the system man.

And if we bring abortion into this, once again, I feel the government has no right to tell a woman what she can and cannot do in regards to her body. People scream that abortion is murder. And what is dropping bombs over Bagdad? Kickball? The "president" is the biggest murderer right now, if you think about it. Fighting for "freedom" is still fighting nonetheless, and that type of fighting is affecting the world. Abortion is something that would probably affect the woman the most. She's the one who's going to have to live with her decision for the rest of her life. I feel that having the thought of killing your child without giving it the chance to live is punishment enough for a woman. I'm personally against abortion for me personally because I'd rather face consequences of my sexual actions (haha! that's a laugh. I can't even get a boyfriend, let alone get laid, but anyway) than abort a growing child. However I believe that a woman should at least have that choice, especially if having a child is a threat to her own life. But if she does it just because she doesn't want to have a child, it's going to grate on her brain. Believe me. I've known a few people who've gone through it, and not once do they talk about it with me without feeling remorse. The harshest critic is one's own conscience.

Quote:
"And in regards to your last statement.... What country isn't arrogant?"

Yemen. Sigh. Everyone always forgets about Yemem -_-' LOLLL j/p. In all honesty, I never said we were the only arrogant country. As arrogant as other countries may be, there are less arrogant countries than the United States. I never said we were the ONLY one, but I personally believe we are the MOST arrogant country in the world. For one thing, what right have we as a nation to go over to Iraq and try to take down a regime and establish a democracy when there are parts of our nation that need fixing? I don't know about many of you, but I spent a good deal of my youth in the 'ghetto.' I know what it's like to not have a home. I know what it's like be too scared to walk down a street because I'm afraid of the drug dealers down at the corner or the gangs that patrol the streets. I know what it's like, and it's fucking killing me that we're trying so hard to tell other countries what to do with their government and how to run a country when this country is in desperate need of help.

When I visited the Philippines, about 5 or 6 years ago (I was about 16 at the time), do you know how I got treated at times? People talked behind my back in Tagalog as if I didn't understand, saying how Americans are always trying to take over and how spoiled I was because I was American. I understand their sentiments completely, not because I'm spoiled (I think I'm far from it because of my not-exactly-well-off childhood), but in comparison to them, I did have a ton of things that I now take for granted. And the Philippines were also occuppied by the United States not too long ago. I still remember the tales my grandparents would tell me about World War II, how they were able to get rid of the Japanese only to get taken over by the Americans.

And now, Americans are still taking over...not military-wise, but corporation wise. Starbucks, McDonalds, MTV...you can make an argument that there are other European corporations out there as well, but the most prominent are those from the United States. American films are all over the place, and it's not because we're the most productive country when it comes to films (because that title goes to India and Bollywood cinema). It's because we push our products in everyone's faces. If it isn't through military force, it's through pop media culture. It's slightly changing since Japanese media is starting to be the new 'hip' thing, especially amoungst the youth culture, but all in all, American media is still the most dominant. If you went around the world and asked people if they knew who Britney Spears was, you'd probably get a whole lot more people who'd know the answer, than if you asked people if they knew about, oh I don't know, Eriko Imai (blegh not a great example, it's the only thing I can think of right now). America's media and corporations have infiltrated everywhere.

You can't say that about Yemen.

If any of you disagree with me, that's perfectly fine. I'm not out there to try to convert you all to my ideals and beliefs. This is just my stand on things as they are right now, and I doubt I'll change my mind soon unless anything dramatic happens.

That is all. I'm now off to write a 10 page paper.

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