I hate to harp on the same subject, but I won’t hesitate to do it if I feel it is necessary. Every time I hear a religious leader say the words, “I don’t agree with…” or “I don’t believe in…” I cringe. Because in this day and age what it invariably means is, “I think we should control people who don’t agree with me, and force them to comply with my own personal beliefs.”
Here’s the thing. One of the 458 million things I am sick and tired of is the conservative right claiming to be for “less government” all the while accusing the liberal left of being for “more government.” To put it very bluntly, it’s just a load of crap -- and I’ll tell you why.
The liberal left will stand up and create government agencies and programs and pass laws to protect the individual, the little guy, and people’s personal rights and freedoms. Does this expand government? Only if, at the same time and on the other hand, they fail to strip out the laws and regulations that go against these very things, i.e. reducing other parts of government. One would hope they can do both so that we, the people, do not become strangled and choke on restrictions of personal freedoms, rights and choices.
The other side -- the conservative right -- is no different. There is no mere attempt on their part to “reduce government.” It’s a fallacy. At the same time as they make that claim, they act to pass laws (i.e. growing government) to restrict rights of those with whom they do not happen to agree. And, of course, they will reduce government by removing restrictions such as those against corporations which protect the individual, the environment, etc. (Just watch what Dubya’s administration has been up to at the eleventh hour…)
Both sides will alternately grow or reduce government as they see fit -- it’s just a matter of the emphasis on what or who to govern, protect or restrict. I fail to see how any individual (which, at the end of the day, we all are) can support the type of government growing and reducing that happens from the right. People don’t win; non-sentient entities win.
And here’s another thought. At least the liberal left doesn’t make the thoroughly hypocritical and misleading claim that they are reducing government.
Here’s an idea. Let’s say that the conservative right decided to stop trying to tell everyone else how to live their lives. Let’s say that religious leaders actually followed the doctrine and teachings of He who they supposedly represent, and stopped trying to control the actions of others, leading instead by example. Don’t agree with gay marriage? Fine, don’t participate in it. But don’t use government, i.e. don’t grow government, to remove freedom of choice from those who believe differently than you.
You can feel free to condemn, argue, and point out -- you should have the freedom to express how you feel. But when you begin to restrict, control and force, you become tyrannical. And that was not the example set by He whom religions claim to follow. If people are to come around to your way of thinking, it should only be -- must be -- by their own free choice and decision. Not because you forced them there.
Someone wise (and anonymous) once said, “Because you have silenced a man does not mean you have converted him.” Telling others that they can or cannot live a certain way does nothing to help your case. It drives people into desperation, underground attempts to act freely, and breeds resentment and contempt for you and your causes.
In short, it works against you and accomplishes nothing other than to make you feel better at the expense of another. And shame on you if you do.
The Emerald Quill
Here’s the thing. One of the 458 million things I am sick and tired of is the conservative right claiming to be for “less government” all the while accusing the liberal left of being for “more government.” To put it very bluntly, it’s just a load of crap -- and I’ll tell you why.
The liberal left will stand up and create government agencies and programs and pass laws to protect the individual, the little guy, and people’s personal rights and freedoms. Does this expand government? Only if, at the same time and on the other hand, they fail to strip out the laws and regulations that go against these very things, i.e. reducing other parts of government. One would hope they can do both so that we, the people, do not become strangled and choke on restrictions of personal freedoms, rights and choices.
The other side -- the conservative right -- is no different. There is no mere attempt on their part to “reduce government.” It’s a fallacy. At the same time as they make that claim, they act to pass laws (i.e. growing government) to restrict rights of those with whom they do not happen to agree. And, of course, they will reduce government by removing restrictions such as those against corporations which protect the individual, the environment, etc. (Just watch what Dubya’s administration has been up to at the eleventh hour…)
Both sides will alternately grow or reduce government as they see fit -- it’s just a matter of the emphasis on what or who to govern, protect or restrict. I fail to see how any individual (which, at the end of the day, we all are) can support the type of government growing and reducing that happens from the right. People don’t win; non-sentient entities win.
And here’s another thought. At least the liberal left doesn’t make the thoroughly hypocritical and misleading claim that they are reducing government.
Here’s an idea. Let’s say that the conservative right decided to stop trying to tell everyone else how to live their lives. Let’s say that religious leaders actually followed the doctrine and teachings of He who they supposedly represent, and stopped trying to control the actions of others, leading instead by example. Don’t agree with gay marriage? Fine, don’t participate in it. But don’t use government, i.e. don’t grow government, to remove freedom of choice from those who believe differently than you.
You can feel free to condemn, argue, and point out -- you should have the freedom to express how you feel. But when you begin to restrict, control and force, you become tyrannical. And that was not the example set by He whom religions claim to follow. If people are to come around to your way of thinking, it should only be -- must be -- by their own free choice and decision. Not because you forced them there.
Someone wise (and anonymous) once said, “Because you have silenced a man does not mean you have converted him.” Telling others that they can or cannot live a certain way does nothing to help your case. It drives people into desperation, underground attempts to act freely, and breeds resentment and contempt for you and your causes.
In short, it works against you and accomplishes nothing other than to make you feel better at the expense of another. And shame on you if you do.
The Emerald Quill
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