"Impoverished." Yeah. Right.
I am so sick of reading the words "the impoverished South" in books and stuff. Oh shut up! We are not impoverished! D:<
I'm not impoverished anyway! And I don't want any feel goody types showing up on my front lawn all like "Oh, you poor impoverished girl! I bet you're illiterate too right?" Uh, WRONG. Thanks so much for generalizing!
You might think this isn't a big deal, but to me it's like a little thorn in my paw that if I don't take it out, it gets infected, and the infection spreads, and I get more and more irate. So yes, it's a big deal to me. It all starts with little terms and labels! Because impoverished does not only entail that we are poor. It also entails that we NEED help from once again "The Almighty North."
Now this isn't about any sort of "Dixie-ism" or "Them Darn Yankee-ism." This is about being fair and honest with ourselves. And to be honest with ourselves is to realize that to say that the south is impoverished or that the north is impoverished is just fucking ludicrous!
I would argue any day that there are just as many poor people in New York or Chicago as there are in South Carolina or Mississippi. It's just that they shove these people all onto the same block and hide them away in projects and pretend that they don't exist, whereas in the south we have these people in plain view.
Oh and to my friends: sorry for these rants but I'm really, really getting sick of certain things I see in society. Like, come on! It's time to stop being in denial already!
They used to call us...oh what was it? It was another word. Something like "Dignified" or "mysterious." Now it's impoverished! What gets me the most is sometimes it's the same people who are trying to push the whole idea that the south is full of "ignorant" "illiterate" "bush-lovers" which obviously isn't true because there are a lot of liberals in the south as well as republicans. The same people who try to push the idea that Dems/Liberals are ALL intelligent, literate, thoughtful, open-minded people. (Which also isn't true, I've met some pretty close-minded, argumentative libs who tear you apart and rag on you because they can't handle the fact that someone disagrees with them) And then complain about generalizing and mass prejudice! D: Oh but they do it in a very sneaky way, this application of terms such as "impoverished!" They try to make it sound like they're being "sensitive" and thoughtprovoking when in fact they're just being patronizing and condescending! UGH!
And what gets me is I have CORNERED people in arguments, saying "Well you're generalizing by saying that MOST republicans are ignorant and stupid!" (a claim that they cannot possibly prove - a claim that is entirely subjective!) and they're like "Well, yeah, but that sort of generalizing is okay because it's true!"
WTF??? Excuse me, but NO FORM OF GENERALIZING IS EVER FUCKING TRUE! EVER! That's why it's called generalizing! You can't prove a claim like that and in any case, it doesn't prove anything, because it's entirely subjective! And if you study logical rules of debate, you'd know that generalizing is not making a valid point! D:
People always end up hating me because I am the creature that disproves all of your bullshit generalizations! I am literate, I am moderately intelligent, I live in the South, and I am very happy with my Southern Baptist Christian religion. Not a perfect Christian, no, and there are times when I'm disappointed in myself or my denomination or the people in it, but I'm quite happy with my beliefs. Yes, there are times when I say stupid things, but there are times when I say things that are very intelligent and thoughtprovoking too. I also disprove generalizations in that I am not a gay hater, a bigot, or a racist! I do not dislike people because of their skin color or what they do in the bedroom, I dislike people because they get on my nerves by trying to lump me into a group that I don't want to be lumped in!
It's nto that I'm ashamed of other Baptists. By all means no. They are my brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm not proud of everything they preach and do, but I'm proud of our mutual beliefs that tie us together. No, I don't like being lumped into a group because I'm an individualist. I don't believe that everyone in a group must be a dolt because one person proves to be a dolt. In any case the term dolt is subjective and if I tackled the world from my subjective point of view, I would be missing out on a lot. I would be missing out on Mexican food for example. Some mexican food tastes funny. But some of it tastes very good. I shouldn't ignore the note that some of it tastes good just because some of it tastes damn nasty.
The same should go for organizations. There are many good Christian organizations out there trying to help for example people in Africa who are poor or hungry, and there are many good secular organizations doing the same thing. In both kinds of organizations you find perverts and thieves and people who are exploiting the good the other people in the organizations are doing and unfortunately a lot of the time, an organization's chances of being accepted into these countries to do their good work are destroyed because of this sort of hypocrasy.
There are very smart republicans and there are very stupid republicans. The same applies for democrats.
Also I'm sick of hearing the idea that having conservative values necessarily makes you a republican. That is bullshit. I'm sorry, but it is. I have met Conservative Democrats and Liberal Republicans. Conservative and Liberal apply to your VALUES. Democrat and Republican meanwhile have to do with PARTIES and POLITICAL STANDING. Obviously Conservative values are more commonly found among Republicans, yes I know. But that doesn't mean I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO join a political party because my values are more common to that party.
I have what people in America consider very "Conservative" values. That doesn't mean that I back the Iraq war. And even if I did back the Iraq war that doesn't mean PEOPLE GET TO RAG ON ME AND NOT LET ME EXPLAIN WHY I WOULD BACK SUCH A THING. Everyone should be allowed to have their opinion and everyone has very different opinions from everyone else. Some people back the Iraq war but do not back President Bush, some people back President Bush but don't back the Iraq War, some people back both, some people back neither. To DEMAND that people be EITHER OR is ignorant and pushy and I'm getting sick of being hammered in conversations with people because of such ignorance. To INSIST that I have to choose Iraq AND Bush or NEITHER is irritating and makes you unpleasant to converse with.
I have a right to back what I think is right and popular opinion should not allow people to insult me and badger me just because I don't go along with it. Popular opinion in America for example is that we committed big doo doo by getting involved with Iraq. I am part of the large group that holds this opinion. However, I admire the people who said in the beginning we should do it, and now still say that we should stick with it. It's a hard opinion to hold. people give you a lot of bullshit for having that opinion.
Can we all just agree that it's very immature to rag on people for having an opinion we may not like??
I won't pretend that I've always upheld that or acted mature, but it's just that I'm so very tired of being in conversations where I have to feel like if I don't agree with everything the majority of people in the group are saying that I'm going to be ragged on and insulted.
I would like discussions among my friends to be a time where I can learn something new or a new way of thinking. I DON'T want to feel like I HAVE to learn and AGREE with what they say because they are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. Which is often how I end up feeling.
I shouldn't have to accept for example a certain sexual way of being. That doesn't mean I'm not TOLERANt to it. I would of course, accept that the people who are that way sexually have a RIGHT to go and do as they please and be left to do what they please. That's what tolerance is. Accepting a person's RIGHt to do as they please and not be bothered or harrassed for what they do as long as it isn't harming say other people, which, as far as I can tell, what I'm talking about isn't. However, I also have the RIGHT to say that I don't like it, that I wouldn't accept it in myself, and that I believe it's wrong. That is called freedom of speech. that doesn't mean I am going to go and insult people who are that way. (And THAT is called responsibility - using your freedom of speech wisely in a way that doesn't hurt other people) It just means that in my own space on my own time, I have the right to make an informed opinion about it. I have the right ot make an uninformed opinion about it too, though it would behoove me to be informed!
People have the RIGHT yes, to tell me I SHOULD accept it and agree with it, but NOBODY has the right to actually FORCE me to!
TOLERANCE, ladies and gents, is acceping your RIGHT to do as you please, not necessarily accepting what you DO.
EQUALITY is not everyone patting you on the back and agreeing ot LIKE you equally with everyone else, it is everyone shaking your hand and saying that they agree to TREAT you like everyone else. Not EVERYONE in life is going to LIKE you. YOU have to ACCEPT THAT or you're going to be a very miserable and unhappy person.
Some people are going to dislike me because I have a tiny drop of whatever kind of ethnicity in me that they don't like, but as long as they pay me what they pay everyone else who does the same amount of work for them, I DON't GIVE A SHIT IF THEY LIKE ME OR NOT because I DON'T NEED FOR EVERYONE TO LIKE ME THOUGH IT WOULD BE NICE.
Your American RIGHt is not for everyone to LIKE you and agree with what YOU ARE or what you DO, your American RIGHt is for everyone to TREAT you the same as they would anyone else.
I like to have sex with men. That doesn't mean I should be payed any more or any less than a woman who likes to have sex with women.
I'm part spanish. Doesn't mean I should get any more or less pay than a person who is entirely spanish or a person who is entirely "white."
I'm a christian. doesn't mean I should get payed any more or less than a Wiccan or a Buddhist or a person of any other belief system or of no belief system at all.
It's your RIGHt to believe in whatever you want. It's your RIGHt to believe in nothing at all if you like. But it is NOT your right to make anyone else like or accept what you believe. It is your RIGHt to worship however you like and on whatever day or days you want and it is other people's RIGht to be unhappy about it.
That's what tolerance is. It's about balancing yoru rights with the rights of other people around you, not doing whatever the fuck you want and forcing everyone else around you to put up with it. The right to swing my fist ends where your face begins. It's that simple. If people would just remember that, we wouldn't have all the problems we do.
People have the right to tell me that Jesus died and did not rise again. I also have the right ot laugh in their face and say that I don't agree.
I have the RIGHT to curse and I take full advantage of it, though I have the RESPONSIBILITY to know when and where to use that right of free speech. For example, I do NOT have that right around someone else's child if they say they don't want their child hearing it. My rights are not being DENIED me in that situation. I am just being asked to go and exercise that right SOMEWHERE ELSE. This is a very big country geographically speaking. If you cannot find a single other place to go and curse, that's when your rights are being denied. As it is, there are places where gay people can get married, so they're rights are not technically being denied, merely limited. Everyone's rights are limited. We have to deal with limitations sometimes. It's good to have limitations because if someone had the right to do WHATEVER they wanted, we would all be in trouble because that would mean that they have the right to go and shoot whoever they want, rape, kill, torture, whatever.
Should gay people have the right to be married ANYWHERE? Say, for example in Texas? Or at the bottom of the ocean? Of course they should! Geographical region is a silly thing to limit someone's rights. A marriage should not be void just because you cross a state line. However, a state government does have the right to determine things like what constitutes marriage, and in this glorious system that we have, people have the right to take that to the supreme court and contest it should they choose to spend the time and the effort. It doesnt' mean they'll win, but they do have the right ot pursue it.
We have the right to the PURSUIT of happiness. No one gives you the right to happiness.
So yes, they should have the right to marry wherever they want. If they think being married will make them happy, they should have the right to pursue it.
Unfortunately, not everyone agrees that marriage should be defined as "two people who love eachother."
Now let me explain my views of homosexuality and gay marriage because I think I'm confusing people.
I am a conservative woman. To ME that means that I go by very traditional views of CERTAIN things. Not everything. Just some things. To ME, marriage is a man and a woman. However, I do understand that not every woman in America likes men. Therefore, I can understand how it would feel to feel so limited, as if they have to choose only from men as who their life partner will be when they want to choose or have already chosen a woman.
Therefore, while I do not LIKE homosexuality, while I do not want homosexual SEX around me, while I don't entirely agree with it, I don't have a problem being friends with homosexuals, becuase it would make me very sad if one day my homosexual friends said "Well I can't be around you because I can't stand straight people," and I also don't have a problem with marriage being redefined to more loose terms to make those friends of mine happy, since they seem to feel that it would make them happy. To me, it's not important that the STATE has the same definition of marriage as my CHURCH does. Because my Church marriage to ME will mean more than what a civil court says, because in the light of my beliefs, what my God says is more important than what my State says. Now, to some people what the STATE says is far more important than what the local church or mosque or synagogue or temple has to say, and for those people, marriage should be redefined from it's former Christian based definition. Like it or not, this country was largely founded on Christian beleifs and doctrine because the people who settled it were either religious fanatics, pilgrims escaping cruelty, or convicts. Therefore, it should be redefined to include a more diverse friendly view, or have a more universal definition rather than just the Christian. I would like for everyone in the world to be a christian and believe what I do but I also know that's not going to happen.
So we might as well adjust what we consider our borders to accomodate people who are very different from us because otherwise there's going to be a lot of friction in this country.
Now I said I don't have a problem with marriage being redefined. Let me clarify. Like I said, what the STATe says about my marriage isn't very important to me. What I meant when I said marriage being redefined is the STATE definition. If someone tries to come to me and tell me that I have to redefine my Church definition or my religious definition, I'm going to become very angry. I shouldn't have to redefine my religious beliefs for anyone. If they want to go and make their own religious definition that's fine with me. But I'm not going to stop viewing religiously as I do because someone else thinks that I should. See, that's their fist colliding with my face. They need to remember that my religious territory is my face and they have their own religious territory to do as they please and I shouldn't have to accept religiously what someone thinks I should, because that would be infringing on my rights.
WHEN YOU ARE TELLING ME WHAT TO BELIEVE IS RIGHT AND WHAT TO BELIEVE IS WRONG, you are infringing on my rights as an American.
I would accept gay people in my church anywya, because I don't believe that God would keep them out of heaven for being gay. I think of it this way; I view homosexuality as a sin. Like any other sin. No sin in my opinion is worse than any other sin. Homosexuality to me is like lying or cheating or killing. God is not going to keep me out of heaven for my sins if I love Jesus. Therefore, in my opinion, if a gay person is a christian, when they die, they go to heaven regardless of waht they did sexually, because what they believed was more important. The same way that when I die, I will go to heaven, because what I believed was more important than the fact that I was a hypocritical person or that I lied or stole or cheated.
I know gay people don't like my views, because they think ti makes them seem like horrible people. I'veh ad people say to me "Well it doesn't really make me feel good that you view me the same as a murderer." All I can say is well I view myself the same as a murderer, if that gives you any comfort. I view my having sex outside of marriage, my lying, my cheating, my hatred and evil the same as a killer's sin. There are a lot of reasons why people kill. The killing of war to me is a sin, even if you feel that you did what was right. Even if you feel that killing a terrorist is fine, in my opinion it's still a sin because you still killed someone. It was the right thing to do yes, but it's still a sin before God and as a christian you should do what's right and repent for the blood on your hands.
Might seem like strange logic but if you just hold hte principal in your head that Christ forgives all sins if you repent for them, it's not so strange. :)
God can forgive murder just as quickly as he can lying. In my opinion if you say that murder is worse of a sin than lying you're saying that something is more of a big deal for God to forgive than another, and to say that anything would be difficult for God is to insinuate that an Almighty God has some kind of limations and you therefore make him Un-Almighty, because you're defying the purpose of An Almighty, All-Forgiving Father in Heaven.
I don't know. It would just seem to me that an Almighty God could forgive one thing as easily as another.
Just me thinking out loud sort of developing thoughts. You can disagree in a comment, fine. But please don't shout at me or tell me i'm stupid. if there's anything that makes me less inclined to listen to someone it's being shouted at or told i'm ignorant or stupid because I know I'm not.