Thoughts about the world in general...

Hi Stephen,

I haven't written seriously about things in awhile.  Sorry about that.  Sometimes I get carried away with the frivolous stuff, like everybody else.  But this afternoon, and evening, I've been discussing things that are vitally important with your friend, Moyes Lucas, on Facebook.  It is REFRESHING to have a very intelligent conversation!  He actually started the whole conversation, and I've been replying, and he's been replying back.  This has really got my brain dusted off and churning, which I have missed a lot.  It's rather difficult to have this kind of conversation with a 90 year old woman who doesn't remember anything from minute to minute.  We had many heart-to-heart's, but none that really stuck with her, and it is sad.

I won't post the entire conversation here, but he's struck a nerve with many people, by expressing his opinion about the gay marriage issue.  His main complaint is that the LAWS that exist are contradictory, and if gay people can get married, what's going to stop INCEST relationships (brother & sister) from getting married in the future?  Now, I personally think that it's quite an alarmist reach to go there, and I cited some examples about how Hitler thought the same thing about the Jews, and I'm sure many white people thought the same thing when the Civil Rights Movement was going on...."give these black people an inch, and what's to stop them from becoming PRESIDENT someday?!"

Do you see the irony?  It's really just a matter of perspective.  I view it as a GOOD thing, as a symbol of SUCCESS of the Civil Rights Movement, that we have an African-American President.  Some people, however, do not view it that way at all.  I am actually quite glad he has finally taken a stand on this gay marriage issue.  And ya know what?  SURE it took him awhile to form an opinion, because he STUDIED IT, he RESEARCHED IT, he did some HOMEWORK about it, and did some THINKING about it FIRST.  That's what we all should do, right?  Instead of just jumping to incorrect conclusions and basing them on falsehoods and exaggerations, or convoluted "facts" from history, that cite no sources whatsoever, no statistics, no evidence....

I like that Obama thinks different.  Just like Apple computers said to.  I like that he THINKS at all.

Now, I'm one of those "rose-colored-glasses-wearers," a typical "bleeding heart liberal" type of "pacifist namby pamby feed the poor types."  So, I apologize in advance for all that I'm expressing, because I do realize also that #1, I am young, and I have led a rather sheltered life for the most part.  #2, I don't like politics.  #3, I have a simplistic way of looking at things...and part of that is because I'm an Adult Child of an Alcoholic, who often sees the world as "black or white," with very little grey area.

I am realistic enough to know that I am NOT always right about things I express my opinions about, but that's what makes an OPINION an OPINION.  There is room to evolve, and to change that opinion as more information and education is gathered.  Mostly, I tend to lead my life by my GUT instinct, and my HEART, so that's really how I am, and there's not much I can do about it.  But, I'm glad of it.

Love is love.  Every religion on the planet would agree about that statement, I would assume.  Hate, by contrast, is HATE.  And that's as simple as it gets, really.  The HUMAN RACE is one race of people, we're all animals to some extent, and we're not the brightest crayons in the box either.  I just read a story about how zoo animals, Orangutans, are using IPADS now, to communicate!!  They not only know sign language, but now they can identify pictures when asked, and type words!  I know the ABC's of sign language, and a few of the other hand signs, but not many.  So, they outrank ME in that area!

I see the issue as this:  People are people.  We ALL have the capacity to love, and to hate.  We all NEED love.  We all NEED someone to spend our lives with.  We all NEED to feel accepted, and understood. Every one of us needs to feel safe, to feel validated, to feel empowered by our own self-actualization.  Like you wrote in the song "Colors of the Spirit," when we close our eyes, we all see the same thing.

I've known many AWESOME LGBT people over the years.  In fact, I taught about the pink triangle that homosexual Jews were forced to wear in the concentration camps, for six years, at the Museum.  They were just as oppressed and persecuted as the Jews were, by the Nazis.  They, like the Jews, have ALWAYS been the scapegoats of our society.  Over the decades, those scapegoats evolve too, but there is always at least ONE group of people that people decide to scrutinize, victimize, and oppress.  We currently have several of those groups being targeted right now, in our country.  Muslims, to name one...and African Americans STILL get racism thrown in their faces daily.  Moyes said that "Nothing was accomplished with the Civil Rights Movement."  I just mentioned Obama's name, and left it at that.
Sure, racism is rampant, it's tearing our country apart, and the stupid thing is, the differences in people are what CREATED this country in the first place.  Melting pot and all that jazz.

The laws that he worries about, regarding whether or not incest couples can marry, can only be changed by being proactive.  However, I pointed out that a lot of this stuff can be blamed on the 2-party system of government that we've had.  It just doesn't work anymore.  It's old, outdated, and inaccurate to represent most Americans.  So are some of those laws.  You can BET that nobody in the Congress or Senate will vote to allow brothers and sisters to get married, EVER.  So I think Moyes is overreacting about that.  But, I respect his opinion, and we are adult enough to agree to disagree.

Gay people love just as fiercely, just as passionately, and just as deeply as everybody else.  Some people claim that "they (and I really LOATHE the "us vs. them" mentality), THEY, are having SEX with 500 people a year, promiscuous, spreading DISEASE to others...." as if they were VERMIN, which is exactly what Hitler called them too.  My one word answer to that bullshit is: AIDS.  Remember AIDS??  Does anybody remember HIV??  That kinda slowed down the whole promiscuous thing quite a bit, and I'm sure doing some Google searches would prove that fact as well. So, next theory:  "it's against the Bible."  Okay, well, guess what...the Bible is INTERPRETED by many people in many different ways.  Nobody knows for SURE what the true meaning behind ANY OF IT really is...or was...and like many of our outdated LAWS, perhaps some of those things written in the Bible are actually inaccurate to the "here and now," too.  I mean, the Bible also says that if you marry and the woman is NOT a virgin, she should be killed.  Sooooooo....we don't do THAT, do we??

I see both sides of most issues, but on this one, I lean towards LET GAY PEOPLE GET MARRIED.

Well, anyway, I know it may not be the POPULAR way of thinking, but then again, when have I ever given a rat's ass about being POPULAR???  Uhhhhh....well, NEVER actually.  I think for myself.  I don't just get spoon-fed bullshit from Faux News channels, I actually go to LIBRARIES and READ BOOKS and all that old fashioned crap, to research and do homework about shit, I talk to other people who know more about it than I do, as well, before I open my PIE HOLE to start spewing things about topics that most people know little or nothing ABOUT.  Call me crazy, but that's how I was raised.

That's why I love John Stewart and Stephen Colbert so much.  They analyze EVERYTHING that these talking heads on news channels spew daily, and they throw shit back at them that they cannot deny or ignore.  "Why, Obama is using the death of bin Laden as a "slam dunk" in a football game," when HELLO, GW Bush flew to an AIRCRAFT CARRIER in the middle of the OCEAN to claim that the "Mission was Accomplished," when it hadn't even BEGUN.  Sooooo, really, do people in this country TRULY have an inability to remember things from longer than a week ago? Do they just accept what they are told, without looking it up, without asking questions, without trying to dig a little deeper than the 2 minute blurb they receive in between a dozen commercials??

I love Moyes, and he's awesome, no matter what he believes or expresses as his opinion.  He gave me a breath of fresh air today, things to think about, concepts that I don't know all that I should know about, and it really made me feel like "This guy is PASSIONATE, and that is COOL."  I love passionate people, even if I don't SHARE in that passion.  I feel like they are the most ALIVE people on earth.

Well, on that note, I'm going to bed now.

Don't know where you stand on this issue, but if someone loves another person, male or female, love is just plain love, and that's it.  Would God really HATE somebody for loving another human being, regardless of whether it's male or female, or would God actually get even MORE pissed at the person who just HATES the total stranger that they've never even MET, for no good reason???

Love you babycakes.  Sing in your dreams tonight, and make it a comeback reality tomorrow.  The world needs you, Stephen, more than ever.  You have a way of singing that calms the savage beast.  We all need that magical, vocal balm of yours to heal all the world's wounds right now, I think.

No pressure!! hehehehehe   SMOOCH!!!

Love Rebecca