Things We Fight About

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Photo Credit: David Erickson (link below post)

As a middle-of-the-road kind of guy, at times I feel like I am surrounded by nut-jobs of every stripe. Far-left, far-right, religious zealots, hateful anti-theists, anarchists, anti-capitalists, etc etc etc. The list is endless. And me? I just wanna get through the day with as little drama as possible. I’ve been an Atheist most of my life, but it wasn’t something I announced to the world. I didn’t become vocal until the Christian right became so determined to inflict their mental poison upon our schools, our legal system, and our culture in general. So I spoke up. The backlash within friends and family was at times harsh but I had the advantage of knowing all the evidence proved me correct. And I’ll humbly admit that I’m a damn good debater.

But as I have watched the conflicts grow, I’ve become genuinely alarmed. I am forced to wonder what kind of world my kids and grandchildren are going to live in. It’s like every issue, regardless of how minor, becomes a bone of contention. Not just divisions over religious beliefs. It’s everything. Let’s take a look at some of things humans find to fight about these days:

Gay Marriage – Gay Rights – Minorities
How is it that something as innocuous as sexual orientation has become such a divisive topic? For the most part, it’s the backwards, uninformed, stuck-in-the-past religious right. It’s old white people clinging to their bibles. They’re scared to death of Divine retribution in some cases, while in others they just think same sex relationships are “nasty” and don’t want to come in contact with them. Pastors, mainly televangelists, have actually claimed that various natural disasters are the result of God’s wrath for tolerating homosexuality. Unless the Trump-appointed right-wing SCOTUS undoes the progress made in Obergefell v. Hodges, same-sex couples finally have the right to marry. But the far-right is outraged by this. Why? Partly because their holy book says homosexuality is “an abomination” and partly because humans, when working in groups, tend to look down upon anyone who doesn’t fit their mold. Bigotry, pure and simple.

Historically, white Christians have always needed someone to look down upon. In America, it was those native “savages” who were already here when the colonists arrived. Add to them the slaves that came mostly from Africa. After slavery was abolished it was still another century before blacks were awarded (legislatively speaking) equal rights. But blacks are still treated differently. Some of their current problems are their own doing. But old habits die hard and white bigotry still exists, though greatly reduced. The Native Americans, after being decimated by war and white man’s diseases, were shuffled off to reservations to live in poverty. Things have improved for them in some geographical areas, but overall there is much to be done. Early white settlers seriously screwed the Native Americans.

But before you say it… NO I do not suffer from “white guilt.” But facts are facts. Non-whites have been treated like shit in America. But they keep swimming the Rio Grand and braving the Atlantic in homemade boats to get here. So I can only assume it’s worse elsewhere for them than it is here.

Gender Confusion
Christ on a cracker people, what a mess this is. I was watching a call-in show on YouTube last night (not naming names here). Both co-hosts were transsexual. One was a man who became a woman, one was a woman who became a man. Now let me say up front that they’re good hosts and I enjoyed the show. They’re knowledgeable, polite to callers, and for the most part fair-minded. But I will never understand why some people feel the need to swap genders. But ya know what? It is not necessary for me understand or approve. It was their decision to make.

But…
That does not make it OK for school teachers to be exposing youngsters to this stuff. This is especially true since at least some schools try to prevent parents from being aware of it. Parental rights must always override school policy except in cases where parental abuse is proven. And it is NOT abuse for parents to protect their young children from topics inappropriate for their age. In these cases it is the schools, not the parents, who are guilty of abuse.

And…
If you have a penis you do not belong in a public Ladies restroom. If you get your ass kicked for trying to enter while a protective husband or father is waiting outside, it’s on you. The world does not owe you any special privileges. And by the way, I could not care less about your preferred pronouns. I’ll take my best guess, but if I get it wrong you’d damn well better be polite in correcting me. You made the choice to screw with your identity. I’m perfectly willing to respect your life choices. But don’t expect me to change my choices to accommodate yours. Your circus, your monkeys.

The Environment
The far left started years ago telling us an ice age was coming because of human activity. But it didn’t happen. As Earth’s natural climate cycle headed into a warming trend, they began using that instead, calling it global warming. And then they finally settled on the term “Climate Change.” Does human activity affect the climate? Of course it does, given the amount of pollutants we’ve pumped into our atmosphere over the last 150 or so years. But is the warming trend all humanity’s fault? Of course not. Earth will warm and cool regardless of human activity, cow farts and whatever else.

The anti-capitalist views of the far-left are at the heart of the Climate alarmism that often dominates the news cycle. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to be good stewards of the environment, but without all the political bullshit spewed from the left. Less pollution in our air, water and landfills is a must. But we must find solutions that don’t leave humanity living in caves. Electric cars are not a solution, btw. So-called “renewable energy” cannot keep up with the demand that will occur if use of EVs becomes widespread. The only way to reliably generate sufficient electricity to meet those demands is the use of fossil fuels, mainly coal. As such, EVs don’t lessen emissions. They just send them elsewhere.

Abortion / Female Bodily Autonomy
Another mess. And it will never be resolved to the satisfaction of all parties involved. Viewpoints on this matter are wildly divergent. Some on the far-right contend that abortion must never be allowed regardless of the circumstances, even if the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy. This is mostly rooted in the “Life is a gift from God” myth. On the opposite end, there are those who believe that a woman should be able to abort the pregnancy right up to day before delivery. Thankfully, these two viewpoints are both in the minority. Most people understand that there are circumstances where an abortion, regardless of how painful the decision might be, is the right decision.

I ask you: If it becomes obvious that the child will be born with a hideous and painful deformity, who has the right to prevent the mother from saving the child from such an existence? If the child has a fatal disease, should it be brought into the world just to suffer and die? Or, what if the pregnancy is the result of a sexual assault? Must the mother be forced to live with carrying the offspring of her assailant for nine months? If she decides to protect the life of the child in spite of such a horror, I tip my hat to her. The child is not guilty of the crime. But still, it should be the mother’s decision.

I believe life begins at conception and I hope that any and all healthy pregnancies go to term. At the moment of conception, that is a little human growing in its mother’s womb. It is not just a glob of cells and certainly not a “parasite” as some on the left have heartlessly claimed. I hope the mother chooses life. But it should ultimately be her choice to make. Roe v. Wade should not have been overturned.

Police Misconduct
OK first, these so-called “First Amendment auditors” who stand on a sidewalk outside sensitive installations (police stations, military bases, power plants, etc) and film with their cellphones are nothing but troublemakers. If I’m standing outside a city’s main water plant on a public sidewalk, I’m not breaking any laws. But if I am pointing a camera into the facility and recording, that merits questions, even though it’s still technically legal. And if/when the cops arrive to ask those questions, what’s my response? I could claim to be an independent journalist, but that’d be horseshit. I’m a retired truck driver with a blog, not a journalist. Or I could answer honestly and say, “I’m just being an asshole so you’ll get angry and throw me on the ground. Then I’m going to sue you back to the Stone Age and get filthy rich. Oh, and I need your badge number, please.”

The above said, we also have incidents like those involving Breonna Taylor, Rodney King, George Floyd and Justine Damond. Police all around the USA have been guilty of various levels of violent misconduct. This happens at the federal, state, county and local levels. Law enforcement by and large is out of control. Police, especially local cops, too often are ignorant of the law (or just unconcerned). Civil rights violations abound, and hundreds of lawsuits have sapped city budgets and hurt the very taxpayers these incompetent departments are supposed to be protecting. And then they wonder why people (especially minorities) mistrust law enforcement.

But there is another dimension to this. I keep seeing politicians and activists claiming that law enforcement disproportionately targets blacks. I hate to say it (even though blacks already know it’s true), but blacks (especially younger males) are committing a hugely disproportionate amount of thefts, murders, carjackings, and assaults. Blacks represent about 13% of the US population. But they’re committing around half the above-mentioned crimes. But this does not justify local redneck cops who automatically treat innocent blacks as if they were already tried and convicted. All too often we see cases in the news where some young black guy is thrown to the ground and cuffed just because he’s black. It’s a two-way street folks.

Note however that if you’re a black man younger than 30, you’re far more likely to be killed by another black guy of similar age than by a cop of any color. This is an issue neither cops or politicians can solve. Black communities must resolve this from within.
Christian Activism
I’m really tired of self-important, uninformed Christians claiming America is a “Christian nation” (it isn’t and never was). I’m tired of them trying to weasel their way into our schools and trying (successfully at times) to pass laws rooted in their foul religion. They even try to say there is a “controversy” regarding the truth of evolutionary theory (there isn’t). Christians want Creationism taught alongside (or instead of) evolutionary theory. Never mind the fact that the evidence for evolution is overwhelming. Never mind the fact that there is zero credible evidence for Creationism. Our biological and medical sciences are rooted in evolutionary theory.

These people know that a well-educated, well-informed society is far less likely to embrace the ludicrous stories in the Bible. They need gullible, uninformed people to fill the pews at church and to fill the offering plates. Christians need to STFU and allow their sick religion to fade into obscurity where it belongs. Mind you, I absolutely respect their right to believe as they will. But I do not have to respect what they believe. Show me some evidence, Christians. Then we’ll have something to talk about.

War And More Wars
Where does it end? It’s as if humanity can’t help itself. We have to fight. Whether it’s somebody’s holy war, a war over territory or just some petty tyrant getting his feelings hurt, the world has constantly been at war since the dawn of humanity. Will it ever end? Sure it will. As soon as someone pushes their Big Red Button and sets off a global nuclear conflict. Once humans are extinct, whatever life that remains will slowly rebound. And as long as the evolutionary tree doesn’t spawn another failed species like humans, perhaps Mother Earth will endure. For nature’s sake, we can hope.

Sources And Related Reading

Police Misconduct In Louisville, KY

More Police Misconduct

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