If we are all not free, then how are we brave?

Liberty raises her arm lighting the way for Freedom, wanting to call out but knowing all men are still not equal. Right now there is an illusion of Equality and Freedom in this country. Selfish pride blocks the way for all, although it is created by few. The largest blockade was color and then religion because we can see the color of skin and people see where you do or don't worship. Sexuality has been a tricky one but the ones who were different, those not straight, kept themselves separate, raised the walls of protection until that protection caged them in. And what is the real problem anyway? Fear of love. The love that you have for another making you feel wrong instead of free. How does that harm? Perhaps how some feel less in the face of it - diminished. Or perhaps that others love is more genuine - that if people who they deem "lesser" have something that they themselves cannot attain they need to right it no matter what it takes. Even by taking others rights from them. By making the minority suffer indignities for their perceived flaws.

 The bigots are hedging their bets because Ignorance is the banner they wave and it is actually quite easy to rally those troops. Fear of anyone different - whether color, religion, politics, illness, sexuality or even intelligence - drives the fear that they perceive as bravery.

Please Stop with your Passive/Aggressive attitude

What is your problem with me? I know there is one (or a combination) as you have expressed issue with a litany of what makes up my life without directly judging me. Being gay(I may have said lesbian but it's actually bisexual - tired of people thinking I'm always up for a 3 way), Liberal/Democrat, Atheist,  I understand Evolution is Science (contrary to what the religious may think) and my being Bipolar is a real illness, a mental illness.

Hate the sin, love the sinner. Umm, no thank you. I'm not a sinner. I love how you love just different persons.

Liberal/Democrat - I walk the walk - Love thy neighbor as thyself - sort of like the Jesus you profess to follow.

Here are a few tidbits for you to mull over. Being Atheist does not mean I hate or don't celebrate Christmas. In fact I have celebrated secular Christmas my whole life. The co-opted Pagan symbols, the Christian songs and secular Santa Claus and gifts all make up my Christmas and, I'm sure, yours as well. If you plan on not giving me a gift that's fine but to not do it after years of giving me a gift so that it is awkward to my family - that's just rude. With that said giving me a token, cheap gift is just rude and embarrassing on your behalf.
Then comes the piece de resistance - the handwritten thank you note, listing all the gifts received (whether for Xmas or birthdays), and addressed only to my Mother. It's a joy knowing you're raising your children in the same tactless way you live.

Evolution is Reason. Evolution is Science.
Creationism is Religion NOT Science.

Bipolar does not discern but I try to. I stay away from people when I am depressed. My depression flips rapidly to anger - something only a few people have been privy too and they haven't enjoyed. My longest stretch of not bathing has been 2 weeks. And 20 hrs in bed during a 24 hour cycle is the icing on the cake to self-loathing. These are not things I'm proud of but when you are depressed for months on end and the other side of the coin is being happy but at the price of self-destruction… I tend to be choosey about who I surround myself with. My Bipolar tends to make me sensitive in my other aspects of life, so if life's cruelties don't roll right off my back… well pardon me

"A" is for Abortion and Arbitrary and Asinine

Question for today: isn't it kinda interesting that everyone that was ever in favor of abortion was at one time a fetus?... 

(A question posed by a friend on Facebook)

It's also kind of interesting that not every abortion is because "some dumb bimbo didn't use birth control and now has to 'fix' her mistake". 
Abortions happen for many reasons but the most important one is because it's a personal decision made by the woman, whose body it is, and her doctor. 
Girls as young as 11(and in some cases younger) are victims of rape/incest and become pregnant, babies form only a brain stem and no brain, some have severe birth defects that would allow the baby to live for minutes after birth, babies die in utero and for whatever reason are not naturally aborted, sometimes the life of the mother is at stake, sometimes a woman is raped (sometimes gang raped) but whatever the situation it is the woman's choice. It is the woman's choice not a politician, not a religious institution, not a parent/spouse/relative, not a group of concerned persons fighting for the right of the unborn and most definitely not anyone who is not the pregnant woman or her doctor. 
A medically sound decision made by the woman and her doctor is the only intelligent and viable decision.

[EXCERPT] "Numerous examples of lethal fetal anomalies detected after 20 weeks include, but are not limited to:

• anencephaly, which is a lethal fetal anomaly characterized by the absence of the brain and cranium above the base of the skull, leading to death before or shortly after birth
• renal agenesis, where the kidneys fail to materialize, leading to death before or shortly after birth
• limb-body wall complex, where the organs develop outside of the body cavity
• neural tube defects such as encephalocele (the protrusion of brain tissue through an opening in the skull), and severe hydrocephaly (severe accumulation of excessive fluid within the brain)
• meningomyelocele, which is an opening in the vertebrae through which the meningeal sac may protrude
• caudal regression syndrome, a structural defect of the lower spine leading to neurological impairment and incontinence
• lethal skeletal dysplasias, where spinal and limb growth are grossly impaired leading to stillbirths, premature birth, and often death shortly after birth, often from respiratory failure

For many families who have never dealt with the trauma of fetal anomalies, it may seem difficult to understand why third term abortions are necessary. But when abortion care is restricted at 20 weeks, women are often forced to carry nonviable fetuses, often to term. In the case of lethal fetal anomalies, this requirement means countless appointments, treatments, tests, and conversations about the imminent death of their fetus, inflicting preventable trauma on families who want to carry a healthy fetus to term."

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

Fetal Anomalies, Undue Burdens, and 20-week Abortion Bans

By Lisa M. Corrigan | Thursday, May 23rd, 2013

A mere speck nestled in the eye of a needle, a five-day-old embryo (photographed using an electron microscope) contains controversial stem cells.

Photograph by Yorgos Nikas, M.D.

4 out of 5 dentists approve

There are few things in life that upset me. One of those things happens to be Creationism. Well, actually, the people who promote it as correct and true. How anyone in todays modern world could possibly believe that the Earth is only six thousand years old, that man walked with dinosaurs and the bible is an accurate source for historical and scientific information? Using religion to prove or disprove anything is a dangerous road. Especially if you are unwilling to look at any evidence beyond "God did it"

Family Can Be Such A Bitch