I Didn't Even Know There Was a Bigotry Party

So this has been out for a while and most of you have seen it but just to refresh your memories, here it is again:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PAJNntoRgA&noredirect=1

I happen to agree. There is something wrong in this country when we extend equal rights to all its citizens and doesn't allow people to force their religion on others!

The truly sad part about this is that I don't think that he thinks he is saying anything wrong! He actually seems to see equal rights for all citizens as a bad thing and forcing your religion on others as a good thing. I guess he worded it the way he did because "Fuck you, faggots and non Christians!" would be too obvious.

The idea that children in schools are not allowed to openly pray and celebrate Christmas is ridiculous at best. There is no law preventing children from praying in school. What is not allowed is taking up class time and the school itself having official prayer time. There is that whole separation of church and state thing that he seems to have forgotten about. As far as celebrating Christmas, what exactly is it he wants? Again, this seems to be him wanting to force his beliefs on everyone else. Now, at the end of the ad, he says he will end Obama's "war on religion" (there will be bitching on the whole "war on" thing later), yet he doesn't specify which religion. Does that mean he wants the same rights for all religions? He would be fine with state-sponsored prayer for Jews? Museums? Scientologists? Wickens? The practitioners of VooDoo? Satanists? Worshipers of the Invisible Pink Unicorn or the Flying Spaghetti Monster? What about the state-sponsored celebration of their respective holidays? If that is the case, when would their be time for actual education? Oh, wait. What was I thinking?!? He was talking about public schools! There hasn't been any actual education going on in those for many years. Never mind. Somehow, though, I have a sneaking suspicion that he had a specific religion in mind. What do you think?

Also towards the end he makes the statement that "Faith made America strong." This is just plain inaccurate. You know what made this country strong? Nukes, lots and lots of nukes. That and money, lots and lots of money.

If he meant "strong" in the more abstract sense of the word, then he is still wrong. Freedom is what made this country strong. Remember freedom? I know government and corporations (like they are actually two different things anymore) have been doing their best to turn the idea of freedom into a distant memory. We still have some but if things keep going the way they are...

The thing that really upsets me about this ad is that he will gain quite a few votes because of it.

Ok, in order to try and get the horrible taste of bigotry out of our mouths, here is Stephen Colbert:

http://gawker.com/5866582/stephen-colbert-defends-rick-perrys-anti+gay-campaign-ad


Rant Over... for now

WAR, HUH!

Now is usually the time of year when various people who seem to really like the sound of their own voices love nothing more than to spout off about the liberal media/various politician/anyone who is not Christian’s war on Christmas.

Ignoring the idiocy of “declaring war” on an abstract concept, what exactly do they mean by war on Christmas? To those of us that immediately think of Santa with a rocket launcher or Christ with a flamethrower the actual meaning is no where near as awesome. They usually mean that someone has the temerity to not believe in the same things and express them in the same way.

On example that I hear the most is that a great many people and places have started saying “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas”. This is a move that was obviously made to express a deep seated hatred towards Christmas and Christians on general. It was in no way made to acknowledge that not everyone in the country is a Christian. As opening salvos go, it is not the most interesting.

Ok, let’s move on to an even bigger shouting point, the government! Many of these people point to the removal of nativity scenes, Christmas trees and decorations from public buildings and the withdrawal of public funds to pay for them as a huge slap in the face to Christianity. Well, last time I checked, there were provisions in the constitutions to keep the government from sponsoring any religion. Yes, even if that religion is Christianity. As of this point I have yet to hear of any law banning any individual from putting up trees or decorations and celebrating as they see fit.

Now, one might say: “There were Christmas decorations and greetings when I was a child.” And? Your point is…? When someone was a child, women didn’t have the right to vote. When someone was a child, slavery was perfectly legal. When someone was a child, Adolph Hitler was Time’s man of the year! Just because something happened a long time ago, doesn’t mean it was a good idea and just because it took a while doesn’t automatically mean it is a bad one.

The fact that someone doesn’t share your belief system or that pieced of the country are actually starting to follow the rules set down for it (countries will do that sometimes if you don’t keep a close eye on them) doesn’t constitute a war against your belief system or a particular holiday contained there in.

In short, relax. If your belief system can be destroyed by someone not sharing it then it probably wasn’t that good a belief system anyway. I mean, do I get all upset when no one wishes me a happy Loganisawesome day with the traditional orgy and gummy bear feast… Ok, I do. But that’s totally different!



Rant Over....for now