The Morning After
today is the morning after the holiday where we celebrated our nation's birthday. and i have the same feeling that i did on friday. on saturday. on sunday. and yesterday. not very patriotic in the least.
i was talking with my grandmother sunday evening and she said that she missed the family bbqs the most. as a kid, the 4th of july was all about being on summer vacation, swimming all day, being with my enormous family which consisted of cousins i saw once a year and having a competition with the neighbors as to who had the best neighborhood display of illegal fireworks. being the nerveous nelly one of my aunts was, i was only allowed to hold the sparklers as i sat and watched my older cousins set off the big stuff. the neighbors across the street may have had the pig roasting in the backyard, but we always had the more lofty display. as the years passed, the number of family started to decline. people died. people got married. began families of their own. some moved away. i eventually moved away from home and coming home for the 4th was no longer a priority. it was all about attending other people's bbqs and getting liquored up with my friends.
for my 28th 4th of july holiday, a reality set in. i have sort of figured out why this years holiday meant nothing more to me than just an extra day off from work. i honestly feel that this year i have no reason to feel patriotic. why? let me tell you.
i am living in a country which i feel is the greatest country on this planet. america is by far, the land of opportunity, freedom and hope. however, we are also a nation who only have a 45% approval rating for the man a majority of this country chose to lead us into the great unknown. not to mention that this is a man who has had drug and alcohol problems, comes across as a complete idiot when speaking, has 2 uncontrollable children and tried to impliment an ammendment into our country's constitution that out-and-out discriminated against the gay community.
not to mention the fact that we been fighting a war now for almost 4 years in which i can honestly say i do not see any results from. do not get me wrong, i respect the people who enlist in the armed forces and defend this nation, including the people in it. i just don't agree with their job. one of my best friends is in the navy. i respect her motivation and drive. and of course, i respect her for doing something i never would. i just do not support the reasons we need to have it. millions of dollars are being wasted every month to support a war which has not had a positive influence on anyone when this country lacks in education, medical advances and employment opportunities.
this saturday was the live eight concert to raise awareness about poverty in foreign countries and put pressure on the upcoming g8 conference. now this is something i admit i have never understood even when i was back in grade school. i have never understood why america feels the need to be everyone else's older, protective brother. we stick our noses in the business of countries who never ask for our help. and let's be honest, it is only for our personal interest that we do it. we have thousands of people dying from AIDS everyday in this country. we have an outrageous unemployment percentage. we have homelessness. people who are hungry. shit. we were attacked on our own soil less than 4 years ago. thousands of innocent people dead. who is coming to our aide? i understand we are a super-power, but even the super-power bleeds from time to time and needs support.
seeing the movie 'crash' yesterday did not help my current state of mind. great movie. but very intense and it makes you think. makes you think, because unfortunately, in 2005, most of the issues this movie deals with are still true. there is still an incredible amount of hatred among people within this country. hatred among people of different color. hatred among people of the same color. in a country of 'limitless opportunity' people choose to grab onto that in different ways. and that causes hatred among one another. bitterness and resentment.
it still amazes me to see how cruel people can be to one another. in a time where we have overcome so much as a nation and as a people, there are always some constantly adding to the struggle. in a land of opportunity, there are still some who look to take that opportunity and use it as a tool against others to hold them down. why would we try and hurt our own advancement? we should be joining together as a nation to cushion, help and advance our own people. no matter their background, skin color or beliefs.
look at me. i am a caucasion, 28-year-old, educated, professional male. i am still a minority. i still cannot legally marry the man i choose to spend the rest of my life with. kinda hard for me to get all excited and celebrate a nation in which the people running it are trying to deny me the opportunity i was born with, but did not choose. i have voiced my opinion and i exercise my right to vote. unfortunately, i am outnumbered and ultimately have no say as to who is in charge.
so, my faith in this country continues to plummet. as does my faith in people.
i was talking with my grandmother sunday evening and she said that she missed the family bbqs the most. as a kid, the 4th of july was all about being on summer vacation, swimming all day, being with my enormous family which consisted of cousins i saw once a year and having a competition with the neighbors as to who had the best neighborhood display of illegal fireworks. being the nerveous nelly one of my aunts was, i was only allowed to hold the sparklers as i sat and watched my older cousins set off the big stuff. the neighbors across the street may have had the pig roasting in the backyard, but we always had the more lofty display. as the years passed, the number of family started to decline. people died. people got married. began families of their own. some moved away. i eventually moved away from home and coming home for the 4th was no longer a priority. it was all about attending other people's bbqs and getting liquored up with my friends.
for my 28th 4th of july holiday, a reality set in. i have sort of figured out why this years holiday meant nothing more to me than just an extra day off from work. i honestly feel that this year i have no reason to feel patriotic. why? let me tell you.
i am living in a country which i feel is the greatest country on this planet. america is by far, the land of opportunity, freedom and hope. however, we are also a nation who only have a 45% approval rating for the man a majority of this country chose to lead us into the great unknown. not to mention that this is a man who has had drug and alcohol problems, comes across as a complete idiot when speaking, has 2 uncontrollable children and tried to impliment an ammendment into our country's constitution that out-and-out discriminated against the gay community.
not to mention the fact that we been fighting a war now for almost 4 years in which i can honestly say i do not see any results from. do not get me wrong, i respect the people who enlist in the armed forces and defend this nation, including the people in it. i just don't agree with their job. one of my best friends is in the navy. i respect her motivation and drive. and of course, i respect her for doing something i never would. i just do not support the reasons we need to have it. millions of dollars are being wasted every month to support a war which has not had a positive influence on anyone when this country lacks in education, medical advances and employment opportunities.
this saturday was the live eight concert to raise awareness about poverty in foreign countries and put pressure on the upcoming g8 conference. now this is something i admit i have never understood even when i was back in grade school. i have never understood why america feels the need to be everyone else's older, protective brother. we stick our noses in the business of countries who never ask for our help. and let's be honest, it is only for our personal interest that we do it. we have thousands of people dying from AIDS everyday in this country. we have an outrageous unemployment percentage. we have homelessness. people who are hungry. shit. we were attacked on our own soil less than 4 years ago. thousands of innocent people dead. who is coming to our aide? i understand we are a super-power, but even the super-power bleeds from time to time and needs support.
seeing the movie 'crash' yesterday did not help my current state of mind. great movie. but very intense and it makes you think. makes you think, because unfortunately, in 2005, most of the issues this movie deals with are still true. there is still an incredible amount of hatred among people within this country. hatred among people of different color. hatred among people of the same color. in a country of 'limitless opportunity' people choose to grab onto that in different ways. and that causes hatred among one another. bitterness and resentment.
it still amazes me to see how cruel people can be to one another. in a time where we have overcome so much as a nation and as a people, there are always some constantly adding to the struggle. in a land of opportunity, there are still some who look to take that opportunity and use it as a tool against others to hold them down. why would we try and hurt our own advancement? we should be joining together as a nation to cushion, help and advance our own people. no matter their background, skin color or beliefs.
look at me. i am a caucasion, 28-year-old, educated, professional male. i am still a minority. i still cannot legally marry the man i choose to spend the rest of my life with. kinda hard for me to get all excited and celebrate a nation in which the people running it are trying to deny me the opportunity i was born with, but did not choose. i have voiced my opinion and i exercise my right to vote. unfortunately, i am outnumbered and ultimately have no say as to who is in charge.
so, my faith in this country continues to plummet. as does my faith in people.
posted by notfornothin at Tuesday, July 05, 2005
1 Comments:
For what it is worth... and speaking as a divorced-and-since-remarried hetero woman...
Granted, save for the few legal aspects of "marriage," (i.e. medical insurance etc) is not all that it is cracked up to be, and does not make your love any more "legitimate" because you signed a little piece of paper, binding you to your loved one, legally.
Some other legal aspects of your relationship might fall under the definition/s of a Palimony Agreement. Perhaps this might be something that would interest you.
http://www.lawdepot.com/contracts/cohab/index.php?pid=google-cohab_us-palimony_c&a=t
Personally, I support the idea of legal/civil unions; religious acknowledgement is not for me to determine. That's up to each individual religious group; however, I do know that some liberal Episcopalian congregations and Unitarians do solemnization of vows.
I will tell you what the hold up with our government acknowledging same sex unions is, and it is something which the First Amendment was created EXPRESSLY FOR: Separation of Church and State. Unfortunately, because "Scriptures" (allegedly--I don't have the quotes handy for purposes of this post) state that it's an abomination--that's what's prompting some in our government to balk at the idea of legalizing it.
Unfortunately, in the course of teaching history in our schools, when the school systems removed all religion from the curriculum regarding the formation of our government after the Revolutionary War, the school systems also removed America's legacy of SECULARISM, too.
This is not a Christian country, it is a Secular country. It's unfortunate that the powers that be, who are supposed to be preservers of our Constitution and our legacy, seem to be doing just the opposite.
All men are created equal. 'Nuff said.
Here endeth the sermon.
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