The Reason I Care Part 1

Let’s Take Back Our Country

I have lost a friend today who fell into despair, he felt that there was nothing left for him in this world, it was because of the dark pit that the government had forced him into. Try as he may he could find no way out. So he took his own life.

I realized today that there is a lot more at stake in the fight against the community notification of past sins. More at stake than the requirement to belly up to the bar and tell “the man” where I live and what I’m doing. The problem is much deeper and has been going on for a much longer period of time. This is a direction that this country is going and somebody must to put a stop to it.

We have grown so large that we have lost sight of what this country was founded upon. That is the right to be our own person, to have our own thoughts, our own lives as long as they do not interfere with others. Our forefathers came to this country for many reasons. Many came to get away from the persecution of others and to live a life as they saw fit.

We are, and have always been a nation of misfits, people which were driven out of their native lands for a myriad of reasons; social, economic, religious, and ideological. Our families came into this country to be free, have a new beginning, a second chance, and enjoy the individual freedoms that the Bill of Rights guarantees people. That is what this country means to the world, the freedom to live your life without government interference.

We like to say that the least of our people have the same freedoms as everyone else in this country. That is no longer true. We, as a country, have always had bigots and we have allowed ourselves to follow them, then later been ashamed of our actions. The most obvious examples are the way we treated blacks, and Asian’s early in the 20th century. Then what we did to the Japanese Americans during World War II, and of course what happened to people black listed during the McCarthy Era.

If, out of your hatred, self-righteousnessness, or bigotry, you believe that these types of laws are justifiable, then you do not understand what it is to be an American. You should consider leaving this country and go live somewhere else for a while. I would suggest North Korea, Pakistan, Iran, or any number of countries in Africa. Maybe then you would understand personal freedoms and how fragile and sacred they are. Any time you pass a law that takes away somebody else’s personal freedoms you are shooting yourself in the foot and eventually you’ll bleed to death.

Our government has said that these laws are necessary for public safety and the personal rights of the people affected are unimportant whether they are similar to a cycle helmet law, a seat belt law, a stop and frisk  law, the patriot act and other assorted laws that allow the government to read our personal e-mails and listen in on our phone conversations or laws stopping same-sex people from marrying, or the community notification laws. The people that say these laws are necessary are the ones that cower in their houses and are afraid to become involved with the wonderful world around them or want them for some personal bigotry or revenge. Normally these are the people that are unwilling to give up their personal freedoms, but are willing to take away others’ freedoms to make themselves feel more safe or justified in their hatred of another group even at the cost of everyone else’s freedoms.
Our forefathers saw, what would happen if individual freedoms were trampled upon.

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Benjamin Franklin

The legislators who create these laws think that they are above the law and cannot be touched by the very laws they make. (e.g. Foley, Weiner, et. al).

I say this, enough is enough! Our government has gone too far and I have decided to make a stand not just for myself but for everyone. Laws which strip away a individual’s civil freedom must be repealed. It is time to take back our country and allow individuals to make their own choices and live their own lives with out the overpowering government looking continuously over their shoulders. The government is not a loving parent and we are not the children. It is quite the other way around, we are the parents and the government is the child, and it appears that the child is trying to run the household.

I say that we should not just look at the laws that affect us personally but at the multitude of the laws that have been and are being passed by our supposed representatives, be they City, County, state or federal, that are taking away individual rights… the right to choose where we live, to choose a vocation, to choose our friends and who we will marry, the right to choose how we will raise our children. The right to choose how we live our lives.

As long as we do no harm to others, the power of the government should not interfere with us.  If we do harm another the government has the right to imprison us, but after the imprisonment that debt has been paid and the government has no right to brand or harass us because of past acts, or the remote possibility of future acts. This is what our forefathers fought, bled and died for, the right to be free to make our own choices. We cannot let the government take this God-given gift away from us any longer.

I believe in the goodness of human nature.  For the most part no matter how bad the person, if they see another in distress it pulls at their heart. Even the most stony of us, when we see a person on the street in need of help, have to look away because we know deep in our hearts if they look we will have to help. How many times has it happened that a person that is considered totally evil will without thinking, run into a fire to help a person they don’t even know. This is the best part of the human spirit! We can’t allow our government to destroy that.

I take up the challenge to fight for All American’s rights to live free from government interference and I’m asking you to join me in this fight for the freedoms for the citizens of this country.

I believe that we start by making our public officials accountable for their actions. Because they hold places of public trust, if they violate our Constitutional Rights, their punishments should not be a mere slaps on the wrist but rather should be set at the maximum allowed by the law.