Self-righteous indignation
Senator Barack Obama continues to catch heat for a series of campaign events that included someone with alarming personal views about their own sexual orientation. The great thing about America is the freedom we have to express ourselves. Certainly, we do not exercise the freedom often enough, and we take it for granted that everyone must either think just as we do or have some severe learning disability, penchant for cruelty, or just plain simple ignorance. I truly believe that the spirit of the first amendment should never be forgotten in our rush to define ourselves, answer our critics, or express our views.
Some of the people who slapped on the bumper stickers and began wearing the t-shirts months ago for Obama's campaign are upset. Some of the people currently contributing to Obama's campaign are upset. My personal beliefs on the subject are simply my own, and no matter how fervently I hold on to them, they may never shift another person to my way of thinking. It doesn't invalidate them. They are my personal beliefs.
I live with the alienation from my atheism every single day. In a lot of ways, it makes me more tolerant, which is probably a kind of masochistic failing on my part. I deal with the world around me in all sorts of quirky ways, and I go on about my brief life with as much happiness as I can find.
I didn't like my preferred candidate going on a gospel tour to raise money for the campaign I support, but I'm pretty sure Barack doesn't think the world is only a few thousand years old like Governor Huckabee. I don't think the office of faith based initiatives is going to last under an Obama presidency, and I don't think I'll see the world in the same light as every single member of his cabinet, should he be so fortunate. Still, I believe in the audacity of hope beyond my own indignation.
Some of the people who slapped on the bumper stickers and began wearing the t-shirts months ago for Obama's campaign are upset. Some of the people currently contributing to Obama's campaign are upset. My personal beliefs on the subject are simply my own, and no matter how fervently I hold on to them, they may never shift another person to my way of thinking. It doesn't invalidate them. They are my personal beliefs.
I live with the alienation from my atheism every single day. In a lot of ways, it makes me more tolerant, which is probably a kind of masochistic failing on my part. I deal with the world around me in all sorts of quirky ways, and I go on about my brief life with as much happiness as I can find.
I didn't like my preferred candidate going on a gospel tour to raise money for the campaign I support, but I'm pretty sure Barack doesn't think the world is only a few thousand years old like Governor Huckabee. I don't think the office of faith based initiatives is going to last under an Obama presidency, and I don't think I'll see the world in the same light as every single member of his cabinet, should he be so fortunate. Still, I believe in the audacity of hope beyond my own indignation.