I had a rather somber day yesterday. I used to get so excited as a kid on the 4th. Of course, then I lived in the country and could set off fireworks, and now I live in a city where it's banned, except for sparklers and the little snakes. It's just not exciting anymore.
I've always pretty much been patriotic, even before I joined the Navy. I've always been proud of my country. I've always assumed that anyone who lived in the United States of America, would feel blessed and honored to do so. If they didn't, I wondered why they didn't just move.
I see all the people complaining about what I grew up thinking were great virtues of this nation, and it makes me sad. Yes, we have freedom of speech, so you can say and feel anything you want to. But why would a nation let a small minority of people control the majority? Why do atheists get to tell us we CAN'T believe in God, or tell us we have to keep it a private thing? There are statistically about 10% atheists, how do they get off telling us what to do? Why is it we're labeled bigots when they hate everything not atheist? Our tolerance will be our downfall.
Why is it that the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered) community can tell us we have to accept their lifestyle as normal, when it's less than 10% of our population? Why is it they get to determine that my child loses his innocence in the 5th grade when they start teaching how to fist? I'm 48 now, and I didn't see two men kiss until I was in the middle of high school. And that was only because my high school was on the campus of a very liberal college. I also had the experience of meeting an actual African-American (meaning from Africa) who was the most polite black man I had ever met.
Why is it that there are people who actually hate our founding documents, and yet will use them to further their own agenda? Yes, I firmly believe that you have the right to say anything you want to, but so do I. It doesn't make your point of view any more valuable than mine. I don't believe the government knows better than me how to raise my child. If I'm not breaking his bones or beating him, or starving him, you have no right to be in my business. You certainly don't have the right to teach him things I don't feel he's ready for. The public school system has an obligation to teach him reading, writing and arithmetic. I'll teach him my morals, thank you very much.
I believe the government has absolutely no say in what I believe spiritually. I can be Hindu, Muslim, Native American Spirituality, Christian or Atheist. Our country was founded on Christian-Judeo principles. If you don't want to participate in a prayer at a sporting event, graduation, or whatever, then don't, but don't make the rest of us only have a "moment of silence," because you're offended. If a Muslim wanted to stand up and pray to Allah, I would bow my head in respect of his beliefs. As long as he doesn't want to break my bones or pick my pocket, he's entitled to believe what he wants to.
I started watching the show about America yesterday. I figured it would be really slanted left, but it wasn't. It got me to thinking. I sort of feel like they must have felt back in 1776. When they got together in the first Continental Congress, it wasn't to declare independence. They wanted to address their grievances. They wanted to remain British citizens.
The hardest thing I had to fight when Barack Obama started running for President was that my Commander in Chief hated America. I thought, how could anyone run for the office of President of the United States, and not be a patriot? How could anyone run for the highest office in a nation known for capitalism, and hate capitalism? I also had to fight the realization that the Democrat Party of my father had run to the left so far that they no longer liked America. We, as Patriotic Americans, are once again fighting a tyrannical government. Only this time it is our own.
The problem is that as Americans we all used to have a common bond. Yes, we are a country made of immigrants, but they all came together to form something unique and different. We are the UNITED States of America. When the 13 colonies finally accepted that the British only wanted them to obey, and weren't going to allow any freedoms, they decided that an attack on one colony was an attack on them all. We as Americans need to realize that again. An attack on Catholics is an attack on us all. An attack on white men who are perceived as being too rich, is an attack on us all. An attack on women who have the audacity to be conservative, is an attack on us all.
Our President missed growing up with these ideals. He spent his formative years in either a foreign country (Indonesia) or a state that half wants it's independence. I know, I spent 4 years in Hawaii. They HATE the military, they HATE America, or most of them. Of all the states I've lived in, it's the MOST liberal. I've lived in Missouri, Florida, California (though only for 5 months), Connecticut, Rhode Island, Illinois, Hawaii and Texas, and the foreign country of Bermuda. Bermuda doesn't hate Americans as much as Hawaii does. You do realize that he's trying to transform our government into a guided democracy, just like Indonesia, don't you? Look up guided democracy sometime when you have a little extra time on your hands. It basically means that it doesn't matter who is in office, nothing ever changes. Ever wonder why all the good candidates dropped out of the Republican primaries? I have nothing against Mitt Romney. He's a perfectly good moderate, and it seems to me that he's patriotic, so I'll vote for him. At least he loves America. But, he's a moderate. They drove out all the conservatives. I wanted Herman Cain. I originally thought that it was the Romney campaign that drove out Cain, so they could claim to be the only businessman on the ticket. But now I think it was the Obama camp, so they could use health care against him.
I guess the biggest reason yesterday made me so sad is because I finally came to the realization that we are about to fight our own government for freedom. As patriotic Americans, the first battle ground is the ballot box. I some how get the feeling it will go beyond that. And that saddens me so much. But, I am prepared to defend my family and mine.
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