So... where do I stand on politics... kneeling in silent protest... cotton... liberal... conservative... Quite frankly, I feel a bit like Alice in the Looking Glass!
I am a quiet country girl... with opinions.. that don't always fit in the Southern born and raised Baptist genre..
But for prosperity and for the record, in case generations from now some great great grandchild wonders what their great great awesome grandmother thought, here is what I think.. about everything.
On God. Very easy. I believe.
On Jesus ..also very easy . I believe.
And because I do it greatly influences what else I think.
I think we were created by God with free will. This is where it gets complicated and where I see things a little different.
To me it seems that God causes the rain to fall on the just, and the unjust, the Christian, the sinner, the Hebrew, the European; on all of us. He is no respecter of person. And in accord, follow the path of wind, water, sun, health and sickness. Birth and death come to the rich and the poor. Even Salvation is for all people, but forced not ; only offered of free will. None of the before mentioned happenings to man depend on his salvation.
Civil liberties are for each human. They should be afforded to each human on earth, but in the very least it should hold true in this country. Liberties should be granted not because of political or spiritual beliefs, but because it is right. It is just . It is what God has set the example for . And if you are truly a conservative, you would want to follow God's example... right? Because according to Conservative Right Wing America... God is a republican. ( That's another paragraph.. later)
And all this foundation set to bring everyone along my complicated thinking to this :
It is not our job to decide if our neighbor is disrespecting the flag during his silent protest while bending his knee. White America is not hearing the Black Americans Cry for Justice. There is some damning statistics out there to validate the black communities concerns.
There are some religions that prohibit their members from saluting flags. Does that mean they do not appreciate their freedoms? No. It just means they think differently than you.
And here is another news flash. It does not mean God loves them less than you. It does not mean they are your enemy, white America. It means that they are trying to find a peaceful way to say, " We need to work on this. Our young men are being killed" And I think if their message was heard, there could be some point of communication that says, " our police officers are afraid" And someone else , ( Chris Rock kind of hit on this point) needs to address, " If we don't run from the police and resist arrest, we greatly decrease our risk of being shot" ... and one has to wonder... why does everything have to be so complicated.
Abortion... Horrible subject. And to be honest, I don't know exactly how God sees the unborn. And yes, I know , He knew you in the womb... but was he speaking about everyone or just to that one guy... this subject is really complicated and I am not sure how I feel about it, except to say I think Men get a bad deal with unborn children they father. They have no say and that does not seem right. Also the problem happens way before the pregnancy. If you have young women not commanding their lives and not valuing their bodies then the rest ensues. Lastly... I will never judge anyone for their choice in this matter. Mainly because that's not my job... and really its not the far right republicans job either.... js.
Gay--- Lesbian---- or what ever... Why is this a subject for politics? Why does this make someone a liberal or conservative? What possible reason should anyone come up with to deny anyone for any personal lifestyle choice their civil liberties. That is amazing to me anyone put this on a platform. It's flat out arrogant. Civil liberties to governments are akin to those aforementioned things like air, water, sunshine etc that is for everyone. God gives humanity with no prejudice the substance of life, just as we as a country ought to allow for all peoples any civil liberty that any enjoy. I believe that either we all are free or none of us are.
Gun control. Everyone needs a shotgun for the critters... or for protection. NO one needs a automatic machine gun type of apparatus that can kill 50 people in 5 minutes. That's not a gun. That is a weapon of mass destruction. So why do the two parties have to be stupid. No, you should not ever keep the citizens from owning normal guns. Who knows? We might have to protect ourselves from our government one day... And no, Outlawing owning huge ridiculous assault automatic repeating rifles is going to turn our country into Nazies. Sometimes our parties sound like 13 year old's arguing. Honestly, this is the one subject that is not complicated...Politicians just make it that way.
And that brings us to the Republican Party... When I was young, the Republican didn't own God. They were the party for rich folk.. and business. Now, they present themselves as the Church of England... but for United States. If you are a Christian, then you must be Republican and never support any civil rights for non heterosexual beings. Also, if you do live in a alternative lifestyle then you must not be conservative, and you are going to hell.
You know what I think? I think none of us know who is going to heaven and God didn't ask us our opinion. I think all of that is between God and that person.
So what about Democrats. I remember when that was the working class party. Oh the joy of my youth .. when party affiliates were about economics and not personal beliefs and culture. When Democrats and Republicans both were allowed to be Christians... or athiest... or what ever they wanted to be. But not anymore... Its so very complicated.
Seems like we do a lot of pointing fingers at each other across party lines and a huge amount of judging. I am sick to death of it. I do not appreciate such a detailed platform with no wiggle room for individualism. It makes me feel tied down, or even more to the point; it makes me feel like my wings are clipped. Where is the freedom in demanding everyone stand in one box or the other? Am I the only one who feels this way? I've watched people I thought were loving Christians hero worship an arrogant, misogynistic, rich boy like he was God's right hand man. Before that, I saw them judge a President by his color and judge his salvation by his party affiliation. I am truly lost on where I fit in where platforms are concerned. I am planning on looking into the libertarian party. At this point, what do I have to lose?
I am not even going to go to cotton. That was a part of many peoples past. Poor Southern thing. Share croppers and migrant workers come in all colors. Also-- there is a huge difference in "offensive" and "oppressive" I am not thinking that a decorative stalk of cotton qualifies for the latter. On the other side of the fence... my goodness all the white folk were offended... that one lady was offended and posted it to social media. I think thou dost protest too much. This country has even managed to make cotton complicated.
In putting all of this to paper and pen; well... keyboard to blog, the one thing that comes to mind is the old saying... The road goes both ways. Both sides of every issue bares careful consideration with an open mind and willing heart. If none of us come to the table with those two things, then there can be no middle ground, no compromise and sadly, no solution. Too bad it's so complicated....
- picture is from internet. dreamtime.com