FREE LOVE

I am not against religion. I, myself, am a religious person. However, I do recognize the fact that religion and law cannot operate hand-in-hand. Allowing religion to dictate, or even affect, the government's decisions or ability to make decisions regarding the basic rights of the American people, openly displays the downward spiral in which our country is headed if this continues. The Bible has been used as a tool to persuade law for many years, and yet people continue to blindly act out of Biblical ignorance. How is it that people have yet to wake up and realize how this so-called "holy and sacred" text has been warped and used as a weapon by mankind for years? The Bible was used as a standing point to justify slavery and the killing of African Americans. It was used as a standing point to justify segregation. It was used a standing point to justify the silencing of women and the denial of women's rights. It was used as a standing point to persecute alternative religions. It was used for centuries to convince the world that the earth was not round, but was flat, and regarding this, it was used to persecute and permanently imprison Galileo for arguing otherwise. He died, a captive in his own home, for nothing more than claiming that the earth was round. It was nearly 400 years later before religious heads admitted that they were wrong, and yet Galileo was gone. He could not and will never get his life back, and lost it for merely daring to think that perhaps the Bible had been interpreted incorrectly.

Abortion is legal in every state, though legalized through litigation; it is a national law. It is not subject to state dictation or to a public vote of the people. At the same time, abortion is also in direct opposition with many religious beliefs and laws, as well as personal morals. I, myself, do not personally agree with abortion; however, I do support a person's right to choose. If that is the path they have chosen, then that is their right granted them by the United States government. It is also in no way any of my business. Another woman's abortion in no way alters my life or affects my decisions. It is that woman's choice. In the same way, two men or two women who want to be legally married should be entitled to that choice. It in no way alters my life or anyone else's life. It does not alter my decisions for myself or my family, nor does it have this affect on anyone else. It does not change my religious viewpoints, beliefs, or personal morals, nor does it affect anyone else in this way. So, why fight against it? What is the point? To reject our own fellow citizens? To make people feel unwelcome in their home country or their home state? To point and say you are different and as such, you do not deserve rights? All of these are petty desires based in petty and outdated fears. Immigrants can be legally married in the United States, and yet natives of the country cannot if they are gay or lesbian. Those fighting against gay rights are harming their own in ways from which many will never recover, and as such, many will take their own lives. Simulatenously, many LGBT people are being killed all over the country by religious bigots and extremists, and yet no one opens their eyes.