Give Me Liberty or ...

I'm not one to usually pontificate on major issues via Facebook. I tend to use my Twitter account as a political voice. (@joeybthinks) Mainly because my Blog & FB are "social circles", appeal to a HUGE cross section of people in my life, and I have seen the vitriol that can spew in threads and lead to "unfriending." I try to be respectful of many beliefs - even when they do not match my own.

But this parody video by Matt Baumes sheds some interesting light on the changing tides currently at play in the country. It is titled a Field Guide for Spotting Sneaky Homophobic Laws. And although that sounds snarky, it transcends far beyond the Gay Marriage agenda. It is more a textbook in discrimination that can just as easily be applied to race issues, civil rights or denominational persecution. It ackowledges catch phrases such as Religious Liberty - which is interpreted as Freedom to Practice your Religion. But this is already instilled in our constitution. What it actually implies, is using your religion to discriminate against others. Businesses are usually the first to jump on this Band Wagon accusing of Tyranny, Commerce Improvement and being forced to service those who have views differing from their own. The dangerous point of these is that while they are initially aimed at LGBT peoples, it could ultimately turn on them and be aimed at Elderly or Veterans or any number of other possible sub-populations. Myself, I think of myself as a discriminate shopper. And if I get bad customer service for a number of reasons, I am out the door and can gladly spend my money elsewhere. Another name for these Businesses are basically Hate Groups. Other instances place government employees caught in the crossfire of mandated decisions imposed upon them - whether or not they agree with them.



It treats the whole Conservative Banner as a species that is going extinct and will either morph into something more tolerant with a younger generation, or an evil beast that will consume itself in a fit of survival when faced with starvation. Sadly, most of these dirt battles are in Southern states and the current strategy is to play them out not in major cities, but smaller communities where several minority groups are less informed and vulnerable to scare tactics, intimidation and bullying. As much as we have forged forward on these issues from everything civil rights to abortion in past decades, this bigotry still rears its ugly head.