Angry Birds

I admit that I am not posting this from the kitchen. I also admit to thinking, sometimes plotting, and acting without the direction of anyone else.

In light of the most recent broken wave of gender oppression in America, I guess I have to finally stand up and yell... or blog, as it were, how this feels to me.

The rash of bills being passed by individual states regulating abortion doesn't surprise me. This is, after all, quite a passion-filled subject. We're talking about right and wrong as defined by those who follow various teachings in the Bible. Spiritual good and spiritual evil. This will always be a very loaded, very touchy subject for a whole lot of folks. Why? Because it is about the intangible, faith, and we were taught our ways from day one of our lives. Faith, or lack thereof, is a part of each person's very framework.

What does surprise me, also offends me, is the resurgence of Inquisition type belief in needing to either convert or cleanse the surrounding population. To this, I say you (you being anyone who decides that it is alright to legislate against my  values in a hurtful way) are not welcome and it is now my duty to make this as difficult and uncomfortable for you as I can because I do not believe in you and you are hurting me.

Who are these people of both genders (but whom are currently predominantly white men) who sit with an obligation in hallowed spaces to represent the people fairly and equitably and decide to turn that obligation into an opportunity to force and oppress? And what the hell is the end product supposed to be? Am I understanding correctly that there are people out there who would see me crucified for my different beliefs? Yes. I see the words "This is a Christian Nation; if you don't like it, get out" paired violently with "kill the atheists and let God sort 'em out." Seriously? No, really. Do you really mean to tell me that you would, indeed, stand in a circle around the sinner and pick up those stones and hurl them with rage and hatred until that person died of internal hemorrhaging? In a fervor, I see those people saying that Yes, they would do that. In the name of God.

I am appalled at those people who would dare say they are good Christian folk while picking up those stones and preparing to hurl them. You are not of Christ. You are misguided in the worst of ways. I've gotten in trouble so many times for "taking the Lord's name in vain" simply by speaking a name in a frustrated or angry sort of way. Has it occurred to these people that acting in intolerance while saying they are acting in the name of God is the true meaning of using His name in vain?

Another thing... quoting Old Testament scripture extolling the virtues of a wrathful God and acting on those edicts while claiming a Christian faith is beyond hypocrisy. That's just plain bullshit, as Jesus himself said (with far less vulgarity, I'm sure). You are Christian? Did Christ Himself not tell you that you needed to know only two things in life? Let me remind you what those two things were: Honour Thy Father (God) and honour everyone as the children of thy father, As Thy Father Himself. You do harm to others, you're doing harm to God. Simple as that. Even in Old Testament terms, doing harm towards God is the biggest no-no.

How does this all relate to the "war on women" in America right now? It relates as an undercurrent, a glowing angry thread through a very complex tapestry of society. It takes all kinds of thinking to reveal how to live with one another. If you must make it all black and white, then you must be willing to leave the group entirely. Only in solitude will any individual find complete agreement with their beliefs and values. Think about it. We can't even agree how to arrange living room furniture; something that makes little impact on daily survival, let alone the word of God or whether there is a God. That thread, that insistence on a single set of beliefs come hell or high water, is setting up a resonance of agitation. And, as we're people, agitation causes that fight or flight feeling... which in turn means identifying an enemy. Then you know what you're supposed to be either running from or battling.

So, who is the enemy? Apparently, whomever disagrees with your point of view if I am to believe what our so very sensational media would tell us. It just depends on which channel you subscribe to.   Unfortunately, no matter who this anger is directed at, the consequences are falling heavily on my gender (for the moment) in the form of dismissal and control.

Limiting the discussion to the opposition of abortion (for the sake of a blog entry as opposed to a book), I'm forced to look at this from my gender's point of view instead of my individual point of view. Putting legal limitations on procreation (or the choice not to) and the like, you are naturally excluding men from the direct physical consequences of these laws. Why? Because men do not have babies.

Now we're in the territory of making legislation for only one sex. It affects only a portion of the population, it binds only a portion of the population... sure looks like discrimination to me. When the laws of the land get all tangled up in the laws of religions, things get dangerously close to allowing glaring instances of discrimination. This is happening now. And the ones paying for it? Women.

I certainly do not know how to reconcile the abortion debate entirely. My only recommendation is to understand that all people will not agree and thus we must compromise in some way. Here's the fun part: in a solid compromise, everyone loses a little in order to gain a lot. And oh boy do people hate to lose and give up! But when one part of this discussion, that is an entire gender, is losing far more rights and dignity than the other, the compromise is a failure.

I guess it has to come down to this: the selfish, self-serving behaviour that allows for intolerance with harmful action has got to stop. True, we cannot make everyone realize that, but if we can recognize selfish behaviours, we can minimize them as a society. If someone is pulling selfish behaviour on you, call 'em on it! They might be so accustomed to looking only within their circle that they don't even realize they're doing it. It's likely they're going to throw a small tantrum. That's when you get to walk away and let them come to the realization on their own. Conversely, look at your actions. Find the overly selfish bits and get over them. Worry about your own troubles. Decide not to have an abortion for yourself, decide that some people may just be going to Hell and understand that it is not your place to make that happen or create some of it for them right here on Earth.

Also, know that if you keep being a secular control freak, you're going to keep running into people like me and it's only going to get less pleasant from here on out. After all, we're Godless monsters. You never know what wicked, underhanded thing we'll do next.