I knew when we voted in Obama, that there would be a small but significant group of Americans who would not stand quietly while we celebrated our significant step forward towards eradicating bigotry. But I am still surprised by this election, which has very bigoted candidates vying for positions in our government.
It disturbs me that people's fear of gay people is so huge that they cannot tolerate these people having equal rights in our country. I understand having a morality that disagrees with other people choice of lifestyle. What I don't understand is the drive to prevent people from living a particular lifestyle because you disagree with it.
It's not reasonable to say I am ok with gay people, I just don't want them to be able to get married, have families, teach our children, or be seen as normal. That's like saying I am ok with black people riding the bus, but they just have to sit in the back.
It is not reasonable to say that Muslims may not build a mosque on property that any other religious group could build on because it offends us. To equate all muslims to the small group of extreme terrorists, that happen to be Muslim, is moronic. It's an injustice that is as horrific as when we imprisoned all Japanese-Americans in encampments, just because Japan declared war on us. It was not right then and it is not right now. Diligence taken to protect ourselves is completely different than attacking Muslims or the Muslim faith as a whole.
I would like to think we can learn from our mistakes and become better, but it doesn't seem so. Or maybe it does but it hard to notice.
I was inspired by Obama on the Daily Show. The man is a visionary. He understands how change happens. When the 14th Amendment was past, we change the course of America irrevocably. It didn't matter that every the next day or even the decade. But within my lifetime, we have a black president. And he is one of our all time great presidents. It is one thing to give a great speech and another thing to take unpopular stances that will cause what you stand for to come into being, not today, not tomorrow, maybe not even in your lifetime, but surely in your children's lifetime.
Obama has a selfless uncompromising dedication to our country's founding ideals that all men are created equal and have the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
I never understood the pursuit of happiness before. I used to think it was sappy and superficial. It's not. It is the reason gay people should have same right to marry as I do and why a mosque should be able to be built anywhere in America that a church can be built. It is why the Amish can create a community and live according to their beliefs. As long as living according to your morality and beliefs do not impinge on the freedom of others to do likewise, then in America you are free to live that way. That is the pursuit of happiness. That is how so many different people from so many different cultures can live side by side in America.
I was frustrated when I read a comment from a wisconsin resident, claiming both candidates were bad choices. And I responded that there was a difference between shooting yourself in the foot and shooting yourself in the head.
And when my daughter groaned her protest regarding BBC Earth getting their shark fact wrong in her blog Et Tu BBC? I was moved to action and tweeted them.
Not satisfied yet, on my Facebook page I posted this:
VOTE! There is a difference between shooting yourself in the foot and shooting yourself in the head! So if you think there are no good choices so why vote, think again. Especially if your choices are between bad and horrific!Still not satisfied, I wrote, and learned something about the pursuit of happiness just by thinking about it. Not satisfied yet. I would be disappointed in me if I was.
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