Passionate Reprieve

This has nothing to do with porn. If that is what you are looking for ... GO AWAY.

Saturday, December 31, 2005

Freedom or "Patriotism"? Why must we choose?

Well, the U.S. Congress has not yet permanently signed us over into a dictatorship. They have allowed 5 more weeks of the Patriot Act so that the civil liberties of our country can be reviewed and determine whether or not this act infringes upon them needlessly. Bush is asking that it be instated permanently.

I understand the push to fight terrorists. I really do. But, this goes directly against what the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is set up to protect us from. Without this law having been put in place so long ago to protect us, the citizens of the United States of America, we would be subject to being treated like citizens of any other "police state" - you know, those guys we fight against and condemn for their political and social practices.

Conservatives, take this into account, if this passes potential terrorists will not be the only people who are infringed upon. This gives the federal government the power "to conduct secret searches, obtain private records, intercept telephone calls, among other activities, to hunt for suspected terrorists." This means anyone's privacy can be disregarded-even yours.

Oh, and to those who support racial profiling, this is only the first step. It wouldn't take much at all for those in charge to think, Hmm.... Not all terrorists are dark-skinned or from other countries. We have had our own internal terrorist incidents in the past. You now say that if these people who are being profiled have nothing to hide, then they shouldn't mind. They should understand the situation and just deal with it. I kind of doubt that you will be so kind when you are being cavity searched and your belongings being pulled out for all the world to see. Your support of things like these will only allow that we, as a nation, have fewer freedoms.

People have to fight for freedom. Blood has to be shed. EVERYTIME. Many who supported the Patriot Act in the beginning were heard saying something like, "It's temporary, and it is for our own protection." Well, Bush now wants to take those freedoms away permanently. Who is now going to have to bleed to get back the freedoms that our forefathers fought, bled and died for us to have? I think those who supported this nonsense should be the first to step up to the plate. What? No takers?

Oh, and you know what else burns my ass? (And, maybe this should be a completely different post.) The fact that people keep telling me that if I am not patriotic or if I don't like the way the country is right now that maybe I should leave. Now maybe, as a teacher, I should not be upset with the ignorant. That, after all, is a correctable condition. But, for goodness' sake: shut up and listen upon ocassion, pick up (and read) a G.D. history book before you rattle off at the head, and, oh yeah, BITE ME.

1. Don't call me unpatriotic when you "patriotic" types are making a mockery of what our ancestors, or forebearers at least, sacrificed for. The founders of our nation were tired of being forced to support and worship a religion they did not want or believe. They came here, many loved ones dying along the way, for a fresh start.

2. That leads me to separation of church and state. That is another thing that is CLEARLY set up in our founding documents. (The reason? See #1 for simplified explanation.) And, now to be dubbed "patriotic" you have to support legislation that is clearly and blatantly UN-Constitutional. How the hell does that work?

3. I have been told that my issue in #2 is unfounded because our country is based on Christian values. Bullshit. Thomas Jefferson, the guy who wrote the Declaration of Independence, 3rd president of our great nation, was a deist. He wrote the bill establishing religious freedom that was enacted in 1786. Today we would probably call him an agnostic. Deists believed in a god, but were not necessarily convinced that it was the Christian god -- or that there was more than one god at all. It was kind of a "great clockmaker" idea at the time, at least as I have been able to find. It is believed that many of our founding fathers were of this stint due to their beliefs, or lack thereof in Christianity and/or its superiority. (See www.deism.org)

4. As a teacher, and competent human being, this entire ordeal makes me want to cry. I teach literature and writing. My students also take history and science. This movement has made it nearly impossible to help them become independent thinkers who can analyze, explain and logically justify. Or is that the point?

As far as literature and writing are concerned, this new American attitude causes our young adults to not be able to put themselves in the place of others, to see things from another's point of view or to put evidence together in a formal paper to come to a proven logical conclusion. History? Well, that is just shot all to hell isn't it, if teachers are only teaching the parts of history that fit in with what the current religious guidelines approve of? And, science? During a recent class discussion, one of my more liberal seniors, who is usually pretty logical and level-headed, spouted out to me that "party line" nonsense that evolution and ID are both only theories and that one theory is not better than another -- that until one of them became a law, both should be taught on equal footing. Coralius recently had an excellent post on this subject in The Scientific Method In Layman's Terms .

I can only hope that this development is a temporary regression in our intellectual evolution.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Cancerous Invasion -- Support Relay for Life

The fight against cancer has always been important to me. Several members of both my family and that of my husband have been diagnosed and killed by cancer in its various forms.

I learned about lung cancer when I was 5. My grandfather died of it 2 years later. As I grew up, I learned the hard way about many of the various types of cancer as those I loved were diagnosed and struggled with them. A cousin died of an inoperable brain tumor. A good friend's older brother was bested by leukemia. Those are only the starters. I could needlessly list several more.

Programs like Relay for Life are essential to improving the quality of life for cancer patients and their loved ones. Through these programs research has been conducted and treatments developed that saved my aunt from breast cancer years ago. And, the treatments are only getting better.

Cancer has recently played yet another unfortunate role in my life.

I am a teacher. During the past month, I have been to the funerals of two of my former students. They were both still teenagers. One had leukemia, the other brain tumors. Both had been treated, successfully it had seemed, and then gone into remission only to have the disease come back with a vengence. To this day the count of my students I have seen buried is 7. I have been teaching for less than 10. It really makes one think.

An even more difficult issue deals with my family. Between funerals for students, my father was diagnosed with cancer of the larynx. It was caused by smoking for more than 30 years. Thanks to treatments and technology that have improved greatly since my grandfather's time, my father's oncologist feels sure that he can be successfully treated with radiation and chemotharapy. That process in itself will not be pleasant, but it is a better prognosis than surgery or ....

Support Relay for Life or similar programs. Everyday people need you. This isn't a celebrity benefit, and you won't have some great recognition for contributing. But, every time you hear about a cancer success story, remember that you helped that happen.

Testing...

This is my first post. It is a test. More later.