4 posts tagged “opinions”

John Michael Stitt,

I do believe that your asking for clarification on these topics is some kind of veiled attempt to engage in political debate with the intentions of swaying an opinion that has already been resoundingly shared across the US.  The Democratic party swept the US, dominating in both the popular and the electoral college vote.  Where I think the system needs work, it is our system, and it has spoken.  On to the topics that you asked for clarification….

1.    Q: When someone claims to be a Christian, but many of the views we do know about directly contradict the bible, as in not being against gay rights or abortion, I do not undertand this. Explain it to me. Explain why we would choose someone like this.

    A: You forget that we have a long running policy in American government of ‘separation of church and state’.  Just because the more classicalist, un-accepting, narrow-minded views of more ‘orthodox’ Christian denominations find these particular ideals appalling and unacceptable, they are not the American way.  The 1st Amendment secures our right to freedom of religion, press, expression, and speech.  No where in the Constitution is there a caveat for ‘oh, unless your gay.  If you’re gay, you’re hosed’.

2.    Q: When someone is for such strong gun control, or even supports outright gun bans, as Mr. Obama has, even though all this does is make it so that law-abiding citizens can't protect themselves, this doesn't make sense to me. Explain it to me.

    A: I’m not aware of any instance where President Elect Obama voted for a complete ban on weapons.  I believe that gun control is needed, but I, personally, do not support a total ban.  I do believe that there is no reason that a civilian should be allowed to own an assault rifle.  Please find the article from South Carolina where a little trick-or-treater was shot in the head through a front door by a nut-job with an AK-47 who unloaded his entire 30 round magazine through the door.  Once you read that, then tell me that its every American’s right to own weapons unrestrictedly.

3.    Q: When almost all the people who seem to have influenced a person's life are radical, extremist, America-hating, terrorists, etc., or any combination of the above, but the person claims to have not known about any of this, it doesn't make sense to me. Explain it to me.

    A: I respond to your demand with my own.  Please explain to me where you have evidence that “almost all the people who seem to have influenced” President Elect Obama are American hating extremists.  Yes, there have been interactions with those who would be considered ‘extremist’, but I don’t see how 1 or 2 constitutes as “almost everyone”.  So, please explain that to me.

4.    Q: When people talk about a "black president" even though he isn't even fully black, it doesn't make sense to me. We could just as easily call him a white president, it just wouldn't sell as well. (Also, why does race even have to be an issue? Back to the real issues, people) Explain it to me.

    A: If you really think that race isn’t an issue, then why do you mention it?  On top of that, are you blind???  Barack Obama is black.  I really don’t think you could just as easily call him a “white candidate” with the amount of melanin in his skin.  At this point, I’m not even sure why I dignified this ‘point’ with a response.

5.    Q: When people complain about one candidate not having any experience (Sarah Palin), but then complain that "24 Years is enough" (Mitch McConnell) it doesn't make sense to me. Explain it.

    A: You don’t seen the difference between the to situations?  Sarah Palin has no experience in federal government.  Alaska pretty much hates her.  She ran the state into the ground while was governor.  She has no idea how to handle foreign policy, or what to do with our military.  The “24 years is enough” is people saying that they are tired of the same ideas representing them.  To have the same person in that seat for 24 years means that no new ideas are coming to the table.  In short, you’re comparing apples to oranges, making this point invalid.

6.    Q: I understand that people want a tax break. The fact that people believe others should have to pay more of the taxes than them, and call this fair doesn't make sense to me. Explain it.

    A: I can see this as a legitimate bone of contention.  A lot of people see this as a Robin Hood tactic.  A ‘rob from the rich and give to the poor’ style of politics.  I understand that, but what you fail to mention is that the increase in taxes will only be to the rate they were at under President Clinton.  Please recall that under President Clinton, our budget was balanced, and we actually had a cash reserve (read: surplus).  Us ‘working class’ people need the tax break.  We are the ones that have been hit hardest by the crash in the economy and the rise in price of basic needs.  Those that want for nothing and don’t bat an eye at filling up their Hummers and other gas guzzlers, they can afford to pay the taxes they paid 8 years ago.  I’m convinced that Bush cutting taxes for that wealthy 1% of the US is a huge contributor to our national deficit cascading farther and farther into the red.  I don’t know how much a representative or senator makes in a year on average, but I’d imagine that some of them will be apart of that bracket.  If they pass it, they obviously feel that it is their patriotic duty to contribute to the wealth of the country so we can better ourselves in unity.

7.     Q: When someone is for abortion, but not for killing adults, it doesn't make sense to me. Explain it.

    A: Hmm… is this an ‘all or nothing’ statement?  Kill’em all or kill no one?  I tell you what.  When you develop a uterus and can carry a child, I’ll entertain your views on abortion.  I, however, will abstain from such conversations because I’m a male, so a woman’s body is not something I should be making a decision on.  As far as capitol punishment, I say leave that that to the states.  Mine comes in second on the 

8.    Q: Even more so, when someone "Would never do abortion themselves" but is "pro-choice" it doesn't make sense to me. Explain it.

A: Okay, I’ll sound of on this one.  Just because President Elect Obama would never choose to commit to an abortion in his family, that doesn’t mean he can’t support the idea of there being a choice.  Once again, having the ability to choose is the American way.

9.    Q: When people think that genocide is wrong, but don't think we should try and stop it when it is within our power, I don't understand it. Explain it to me.

    A: Where the hell did this come from?  When making political points, remember to make them clear and understandable, especially when you want someone to explain it to you.

10.    Q: When people say we need alternative energy, but are opposed to nuclear energy, I don't understand it. Explain it to me.

    A: Where nuclear power doesn’t have a direct impact on the environment while producing energy, it has serious dangers involved.  Before jumping head first into thinking it’s our saving grace, please go back and re-read history in regards to 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl.  Compound that with storing of the spent fuel rods inside of a mountain in the Sierra-Nevada range and transportation to get it there, you have a possibility for an ecological crisis the likes of which are only seen in video games.

11.    Q: When you talk about running out of oil, but we have many, many years worth ON OUR OWN SOIL that you won't let us drill, I don't understand it. Explain it to me.

    A: President Elect Obama never said he was opposed to drilling in the US.  If you were to actually read his plan, you would see that he does want to drill, but the impact on the environment dictates where we will and will not drill.  Would you say that it’s okay to drill in an area that depends on salmon fishing when it’s a decent likely hood that building a rig there would have adverse effects on that eco-system and possibly irrevocably influence the ability to fish?  On top of that, it would take over 10 years for the country to see any kind of positive benefit from drilling locally.  We need a stop-gap solution now just to get us out of the fuel crisis we’re in, but we need a long term so that we can wean ourselves off of oil, not just foreign oil, completely.

Regardless of how many times you’ve been told ‘how smart’ you are, if you don’t do the research and come up with open-minded, educated, informed decisions on your own, you will never grasp the concepts on which both party’s platforms where built.  A friend of mine was a McCain supporter until he got under the hood and actually looked at the plans and did the research.  He then discovered that Obama’s plan had a much higher likely hood of getting us out of our economic flat-spin, and restoring the wealth and reputation of the country.  McCain’s plan was almost certain to just continue the downward spiral, and we’d be even more hosed than we are now.

Where I do believe in God, I don’t think trying to intermingle strict religious beliefs with political topics works.  The best thing one can do is to take the base of all religion, which is a reasonable code of ethics, and apply them to making decisions.  We all have an idea of what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.  The world is not binary; it’s an infinite number of shades of grey.  

On a final religious note, there are only two rules in Christianity that we need to remember.  Rule one is the same as first commandment.  The second rule takes the other 9 commandments and sums it up as the Golden Rule – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  So, I know of no place in those two statements that has issues with gays, or whatever other sociological groups you think should not have rights equal to the rest of us red-blooded Americans.

You let, what I perceive to be, narrow-minded, church influenced, arcane, draconian ideas influence you beyond that of objective reasoning.  The whole idea of America was to be a place that people of all races, beliefs, ideals, orientations, etc. could come and act as one unified group.  Anyone that tries to segregate the union (the reference to northern Virginia not being ‘real’ Virginia just to name one) has lost the concept of unity.  You can’t divide the country and then say, “Now, play nice,” afterwards.  Unity is something that is worked on from the beginning.

If it takes you thinking that everything unfolded according to God’s divine plan to be a part of the union as whole, I’m all for it.  The fact that you can say that you can respect President Elect Obama and Vice President Elect Biden for unifying the country and winning the election says a lot about your character.  What you can do now to continue to make your voice heard is to speak to your senators and representatives as bills come to be voted on.  Just because the presidential race is over doesn’t mean that we, as the people of the United States, are now silenced.  I only ask that you approach the topics objectively and make sure that you have assimilated all the information possible in regards to the topic.  An ill-informed vote is worse, in my opinion, than no vote at all.