Gods, Guns, and Gays.

The new Democratic Party is not about leading or following: it's about being honest.  We can't continue to hide away our beliefs every time a "Republican" walks into the room.  I don't want elections based on God, guns, and gays but that doesn't mean I don't have opinions on them.  And since I have no intention of ever running for public office, but do plan on voting for Democrats this fall, I thought I'd share my beliefs on issues I just wish would go away.  I'm so sick of reading all this "red-state/blue-state" formulaic columnist crap.  There comes a point when as someone who grew up in an "urban-blue" area can't but help who the fuck does David Brooks think he is?

God
I am an agnostic which the American Heritage Dictionary defines as:

1a. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God. b. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.  2. One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something.

If you were to press for my opinion on the Bible I would say that I think it's a great story, but to be honest I'll probably never interpret it literally (especially Genesis and Revelations) barring permanent brain-damage.  But unlike what some conservative columnists might lead you to believe, I do believe in right and wrong, I just think it's much more complicated than most Evangelical Christians would lead you to believe.  In fact, I think it's so complicated that no one individual human can always be right, which is why people have religious beliefs in the first place!

I don't hate "God" or feel any need to change the Pledge or strip "Christ" out of everything public.  Would I technically oppose new monuments or bills that are implicitly Christian, yeah probably.  But to all the people clogging our courts with this I say "Uh, you do know there's a war going on and stuff, don't you have something better to do?"  I had to go to church on-and-off until I was 18, and I'm not going to lie, I hated it.  But I also went to a week-long Christian summer-camp through grade-school and those were some of the best days of my life!

Now back to the Bible just being a collection of stories or myths.  Some people think that makes it less meaningful, and in a certain way it does; but honestly, to take a book that's a recording of oral history so seriously, on top of being translated an untold number of times, strikes me as crazy.  How could one possibly believe that all the world's animals were crammed inside of one boat?  Societies always form stories about their past, which is why the flood-myth is so common among societies living on waterfronts: of course they have stories about floods and those that survive them.  I think anyone who was involved in the "blogosphere" during Hurricane Katrina can understand the mythology massive floods can inspire.

Abortion.  All policies should be directed towards reducing the number of abortions in this country to zero: by addressing the issues that cause "unwanted" pregnancies.  But criminalizing abortion only turns it into a class issue because if history is any guide women will always seek them.

Guns

Guns, Guns Guns.  I bet 1/3rd of the nightly news is probably always going to be about guns (whether local crime or war).  It's enough to drive anyone as crazy as Frued.  One way to reduce all this gun-talk would be for Democrats to realize there are many more important things for the Federal Government to worry about, because Americans are educated and so guns do actually deter more crime than they create.  Again I think this is a result of public education which is why it's very important to replace this President with one who actually values learning instead of taking it for granted (judging by all his partying) like George W. Bush.  

I think it's different in Europe because their populations are so dense, which is also why it's such a seemingly inflated issue to rural voters getting their made-in-urban-areas news.  I've gone clay-pigeon shooting, and let me tell you, it's great fun!  But even my Dad who is as safe as can forgot to turn off the safety on a couple of times.  Yeah, it's unlikely anything bad would happen but if you're paranoid like me, why create "what-ifs" when we could be at home playing foosball instead.

Gays

I haven't even seen Brokeback Mountain, and it's not something I would go out of my way to see at a theatre unless it was with a girlfriend.  I just don't see what the big deal is.  Are there aspects of "gay-culture" I find as offensive as Jerry Falwell, yes: that's why I support removing the stigmatization that makes it such a taboo (and thus alluring) topic in the first place.  I support any politician who advocates for legal equality between same-sex and hetero marriages.  Marriage is a commitment of love, and I would dare conservatives to say same-sex couples don't love each other.  And I would also say any one who's never fallen a little in love with a friend, probably has never had real friends.  I would also support the restricting of financial benefits of partnerships to those with children (edit: this is definitely a point I'm not sure about, it seems to me the theories behind many of the benefits for those that get married versus those that don't is the assumption that they will have children), but to deny the right of ones partner to visit an emergency room is just wrong.