Religion and politics

Why is it impolite to discuss religion and politics?  Is it really just to keep Uncle Bob and Aunt Susie from screaming at each other during a birthday party?  That's a really stupid reason to shut down intelligent discourse.  We have so many who simply swallow the Party Position or the Church Tenets without question, without thought.

My father was a Republican and a member of the NRA.  According to him, everything wrong with this country is the fault of the "damn liberal Democrats".  Barack Obama is going to kick down your door at any moment and take your guns.  Personally.  Never mind that the Founding Fathers made sure that no one person or branch of the government has that kind of power.  The fact is, we are at fault.  We need to learn, to think, and to act. Don't freak out because the Senate passed a bill you don't like - that bill still has to get through the House and the President - but do remember who voted for it.  On Election Day.  Don't blame gas prices on one dude, no matter where his office is.  Economics is something few people understand, but I am pretty sure no one is the God of Gas Prices.  (And if you're driving a Hummer towing a speedboat or huge camper, you are part of the problem, so shut up.)   The only wasted vote is the one that isn't cast!

As for religion - pretty much every religion teaches us to respect others.  The debates over gay marriage and abortion are prime examples of swallowing dogma blindly.  Whatever you believe, it isn't automatically applicable to others.  If you are Catholic, that doesn't make Pope Benny the boss of me.  It isn't your place to judge others - if those things are sins, they will eventually answer to God.

A truth pertaining to both subjects - contrary to popular belief, the USA was not founded as a Christian nation.  Don't believe me?  Look it up.

Welcome to my world.

I am one of Those People.  You know, the ones who draw Disability even though you can't see anything wrong with them.  The ones everyone knows are just plain lazy.  The "beer and cigarette" people.    I have a sense of humor about it - thus the name of my blog. 

  

I live with a nephew, his wife, and their son.  I earn my keep mostly through housework and child care.  I don't smoke or drink.  My main addictions are books and Barbies.  If they ever make a Star Trek political party - based on the Prime Directive and "The needs of the many" - I might join it.  I'm an environmentalist, but hardly a fanatic.  If we don't go green, Mother Nature will bite us in the butt and it will be our own fault.