Opinions by MeThis is where you will come to learn what you think about life and its issues.
Religion: Basically, I'm against it. I don't believe people should allow themselves to be told who they are by a big-brother-like organization. I also don't approve of people turning to who-knows-how-many-millenia-old dead men for a moral high ground, and then pointedly ignoring every single bit of history that might upset them. It's childish and dangerous to the health of anyone with a different point of view. For My sake, STOP IT!
I also fail to understand how some anonymous authors from centuries ago can be taken as the "gospel truth". It's old paper, reinterpreted trillions of times throughout history, costing countless lives in the pursuit of protecting what is conceivably some ancestor's obra maestro of fiction. For all we TRULY know, some old man just thought he would write down all the folk stories he heard, and ended up a rabbi or a monk-priest or something. And these same people who would gladly kill to protect these words, vehemently demand that all other similar works be burned, banned, banished, etc. and cheerfully ignore history as it happens! because the institution they devote their meaningless lives to tells them they ought to see the world from some random-shaded binoculars.Jesus loves me, this I know/Because the bible tells me so.Any amount of thousands of years is a hell of a long time to count on some pieces of parchment that say that one man, killed in the same manner as tens of thousands others, cares more particularly for you than any of the millions of ideologically opposed worshippers.
All religions are hypocritical in some form or another, and they make money by making you feel bad about yourself, then by making you proud to be part of the institution that owns your soul. Anything good that happens in your life, your religion takes credit for, while anything bad that happens to you is a direct result of your own vices, and straying from the doctrine of your Faith.
Basically, I think that you are your own strength, though from time to time you might seek someone to lean on. Devote time to your health, your intellect, your edification. Do not deny yourself pleasure, but neither should you overindulge in harmful or empty amusements. There is nothing in this world that is more productive than being and improving yourself, and thereby availing yourself to the good of mankind. If you do mitzvah, do not put a price on it. If you go overseas to heal the sick, to not also try to save their souls. Do not force your beliefs on others on the contingency of doing a good deed. Do good because it is in your heart to help the less fortunate, not because there is some perception of an Eternal Reward waiting for you to die.
Politics: Basically, I am a Liberal. I believe in a liberal media, I believe in welfare, I believe in free quality health care, I believe that parents are responsible for the behavior of their children in most cases. I believe in freedom of religion, freedom from persecution because of race or beliefs. I believe in art and music and the beauty of the earth. I believe that sweatshops are bad. I believe that White Supremacists and NRA members are both groups of dangerous wackos, but with different levels of media coverage. I believe most large-scale violent crime committed by upper-class white males (re: Columbine) is not so much shocking as a sad example of truth. I believe that animals deserve respect. I do not deliberately step on bugs or insects. I eat meat, because I believe that humans evolved as a meat-eating species, but I only eat fully matured beef or chicken, and even then, I dwell for a few moments on the animals who's lives have been lost for me. I believe that gays and lesbians should have every ounce of rights that straight people do. I believe that women should be the legal and financial equals of men. I believe a lot of things, and for all of these things, I am a liberal.
I am non-partisan, however, for there is not yet a party invented who convincingly represents all of my views.
Columbine: I know it's a little passe, but I want to talk about this. The fact that two white upper-class boys in Colorado snapped and went on a killing rampage was NOT a shocking incident. Rich white teenage males from bigot-ridden states are the most violent of the species that I can imagine. To be white and male and rich in Colorado is to be brought up thinking you can do no wrong, that women are beneath you, that it is O.K. to be a bigot towards anything that is not white, Christian, male, and rich. Ah, but then you go to public high school, with all those people you are taught by your parents and your state government to hate, and...horror of horrors!...you, presumably in your "awkward" stage, are snubbed by every class of being YOU have been taught to snub. You carefully distance yourself from everyone who is popular, because they are all objectionable to you, you are better than them. You find a small group of equally culture-shocked individuals and begin to gripe and feed off of each other's injustices. As the years go on, your group becomes tighter and more distanced from everyone else whom you blame for your ostracization. A few of you have developed a teenagey flare for drama, and you all have begun wearing matching expensive clothes and making overly dramatic, dark statements on the web. You're father isnt home much, but when he is he mostly bitches at you to stop being such a wimp, and your mother keeps telling you that "it's just a stage, you'll grow out of it." You don't feel respected at all, and turn all that anger towards the kids at school you can hate...and there's that guy who approaches you and says he can get you a good deal on guns, if you have the money, which of course you do...
I blame the shooters' parents. I blame the Colorado government for passing all those homophobic laws. I HATE the Republicans for trying to use this as an opportunity to jump-start prayer in school and actually DECREASE the amount of gun-safety laws we have. The whole of it is immoral and irresponsible. It was a travesty that could have been averted, but not any particular tragedy.
Terrorist Attack on D.C. and N.Y.: I know you're all waiting for my opinion on this tragedy. Here it is: Its bloody awful, but anyone who didn't see it coming isn't worth the gray matter they contain. People who think this happened because "Everyone's jealous of us" has no idea what we do overseas.
This so-called "War on Terrorists" is going to get more of us killed. It's going to make us more despised in the end. Bush says he wants to end terrorism world-wide, but what does that entail? Does that mean we will step in to stop the IRA in Northern Ireland? Does that mean we will take it upon ourselves to "re-educate" other countries? Does that mean we will kill off the Palestinians we removed from Israel? Will we make stronger anti-hacker laws, kill our own because they may be terrorists in someone's interpretation? Will we only focus on the dark-skinned as our country is so want to do under Republican regimes?
Bush is not a clear thinker. He was too hasty to proclaim himself the leader of the first war of the 21st century. He wants to go into the history books as much as he wants to follow some pipe dream. He would just as soon reimpose McCarthyism on an international scale as think about logistics for two minutes. If we go to war under him, we may very well have another Vietnam on our hands.
Bush says this is a war against a new kind of enemy. So it is time for a new type of warfare. I would sooner have an Israeli policy of everyone mandatorily being trained in military arts, the better to avoid the possibility of this sort of attack in the future. Yes, I am aware that Israel is bombed every day, but how may planes out of Israel are hijacked?
The last I will say about this is that America needs a gentler approach to the rest of the world. Step up our foreign surveillance, yes, but we also need to honor our treaties, and sign the ones for the betterment of society. Our arrogance, even in the face of this tragedy is staggering. God Bless America indeed. Rome fell from arrogance, and so may we.
Extemporanneous Speech Draft on Teenage Violence: Kids Today