So.
Here is my politics post because I just have to get this off my chest.
Please don’t hate me. I thought long and hard about not posting this but I just had to say it.
Here’s the thing. It makes no difference to me what you believe, really. I don’t care if you think abortion is murder or that gay people shouldn’t be allowed to get married because Jesus is coming to visit next week and he wouldn’t approve or that dirty books make you nervous.
The only thing I care about is that you understand this, because this is the foundation of our government, America, democracy, and freedom.
Your right to believe in whatever you want is only protected by my right to believe in the opposite of all of those things.
I would never force you to have an abortion because of what I believe. I expect you to never force me not to have one because of what you believe. And that’s how it works. That’s the ONLY way it works.
You (yes, YOU!) and your democratically given right to believe whatever the heck you want to believe exists ONLY because I have that right as well. When you begin to hedge your bets, to tell me that you know better than I do, that you are going to decide what my kids can read in school, what I can do with my body, when I can buy booze, what god I should believe in or who I can marry, you are viciously eroding your own rights. My rights and your rights are inalienably tied together. You only get to believe whatever you want because I do too.
America means that you don’t get to be in charge just because you believe in God and I don’t. We don’t make decisions for the whole country based on your religious beliefs or my religious beliefs or ANYONE’S religious beliefs. You do that on your own time, in your own home. With your own body.
You may believe that life begins at conception. I don’t. And so abortion is legal and we each decide what to do with our bodies, based on what we each believe, because our country says that your religious belief is no more correct than mine, and isn’t what we use to make our laws.
You may believe that The Catcher In the Rye is full of dirty talk and scandal. I don’t. And so we all have access to all the books, and you don’t read the ones you think are smutastic, and I do. Because your moral stance on smut doesn’t get to influence what I read, in this country.
You may believe that gay people are going to hell. I don’t. And so we should all have the right to get married, because what you think god says about it isn’t what determines the law. It’s what determines who YOU marry, but not ME. And you can feel free to not marry all the gay people you want, to never have an abortion, and to leave all the fun books for me to check out.
That’s how America works, and when it breaks down, that’s not America anymore. You must leave me alone to believe what I believe, whether or not you agree with it, if you want to be left alone to believe what you believe. Simple.
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I’ve never thought of it that way; interesting (and brave!) post.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to explain this precise thought to so many – basically, I believe in the right of everyone to believe what they want. it’s such a simple concept, but so few seem to understand it. Thank you for stating it so clearly – I think I might print this out and use it as a crib sheet for discussing politics.
Oh, Elizabeth. You and your wacky reasoned thoughts based on logic and fairness. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, wanting to allow people to make their own choices? Like that would ever happen.
But yeah, I would link to it, but I’m at work, but I posted a brilliant video by Rich of FourFour, which is a spliced together video of people spouting homophobic rants and at the end he says the ultimate solution is to mind your own fucking business.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Here it is:
http://www.slynnro.blogspot.com/2008/06/like-everyone-else-on-internet-i-love.html
The video.
http://www.slynnro.blogspot.com/2008/06/like-everyone-else-on-internet-i-love.html
Right on!!! Seriously that was great!
Another good post.
While I have different views than you do, I whole-heartedly agree that others shouldn’t be forced to make the choices I have made. Opinions are drawn from convictions, which are drawn from our own unique experiences. I would love it if everyone saw things the same way I do, but I know that isn’t how we were created… and that isn’t why this country was created. I believe the harder we push our opinion of right and wrong onto others, the harder we push them away.
LOVE this post!!
Thank you!
Very well put, Elizabeth. Bravo!
I need to have my mother read this post…
Never heard it put so well. I’m floored by this. And am linking, of course, because when you can’t say anything better, may as well just link to someone smarter and say “THERE, THAT’S WHAT I THINK TOO.”
I have a lot of people that I thought were friends that believe opposite of what I believe, the fact that they believe something different never stopped me from being their friend, them talking down to me because I DO is what has made me think that maybe they aren’t my friend after all.
I guess a lot of people have forgotten that this country was formed by a bunch of people ESCAPING the tyrannical rule of the monarchy and the church of England, eh?
I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t think it really makes sense if you think about it. Obviously we can’t allow the KKK or some modern plantation owner with hundreds of Mexican workers decide who has rights and who doesn’t, based on their own personal beliefs. It’s not possible for a country to respect everyone’s beliefs — just the ones that can’t hurt other people. The definition of “other people” is where the political debate comes in — whether that includes minorities, GLBT, the unborn, illegal immigrants, refugees.. or not. So how do we know which beliefs are criminal and which ones are worthy of respect?
I agree with all of your points.
And if I completely and totally disagreed and thought you were INSANE?
I would still agree that you have the right to believe them.
Can I quote you on this entire post? That is the most air-tight debated logic I have read in a long time. I wholeheartedly agree with your political leanings (even though that is and isn’t the point) but my husband is far more right-leaning – and he also thinks your post is brilliant! You are a bi-partisan debater!
Great post!
Hey!
You were one of the first people I saw to not give a robot answer of not stepping on toes on Jess’ post of 5 q’s last week (you know, the one that also had a thing about waxing?) and I was like hells ya sista, this is no time to avoid stepping on toes. In my husband’s corny words, Ba – rock the vote. So that’s what I am doing, running around the internet trying to do my bit to get Barack elected from Northern Canada.
Awesome, fantastic, perfectly perfect! And simple too…I wonder why, then, it’s so damn hard for people to understand???
You should run for office. Elizabeth ’16 has a nice ring to it (let Obama have two terms first…)!
Good for you darling! What a great post.
You are SO correct in stating this. Why don’t more people get it? It’s just basically, live and let live. That’s all.
this is fantastic. YOU are fantastic. incredibly well said.
Agreed.
And in terms of what tangle says up above – for me, I believe my rights stop when they start infringing on another person’s rights. To me, it seems obvious, the KKK terrorizing racial groups infringes on the victim’s rights.
So that’s definitely opening a can of worms, with that definition I just posited up there. And it seems likely that tangle’s retort would be to take my logic and turn it around on me, applied to abortion. Is my right to choose affecting a fetus’ right to live? That’s where I agree with what you say – it’s my prerogative to believe that a fetus becomes a life. That could be when it’s viable to live outside the womb, and so I might believe that the mother’s right to choose doesn’t infringe on the fetus until that point. But that’s for me, personally. That’s what I think. And I have no intention to ever force those beliefs on anyone else, like you also say above. If you don’t agree with me, and think life starts at conception, then I won’t ever tell you that you HAVE to get an abortion, and if you don’t agree with me that the cut off point for calling a fetus a “life” happens when it becomes viable, then I won’t tell you you’re wrong.
Besides, can’t we all just get along?
And that about sums it up.
Thanks for not keeping your mouth shut, much appreciated by those of us not quite as eloquent. I will be sending friends this way to read up :
This is so, so right. And this is why I’m not a one-issue voter. Because this exact concept underlies my beliefs about so many issues. This is really what it all boils down to.
So, thought experiment: What if I believe I have the right to kill people with green eyes? You say I don’t. But I tell you: that’s ok, because if you don’t believe it, then just don’t kill people with green eyes. I then tell you that I am actually going to kill my green eyed friend. You decide that you should try to stop me, but I argue that you shouldn’t impose your values on me.
My point is that pro-lifers aren’t trying to “impose their values” on you. Rather, they believe that abortion is the equivalent of murder. No moral person could stand by and allow murder to occur. No moral person could witness a murder and say “well that’s their belief.”
I’m not trying to be a jerk or a troll or anything (mainly I’m just a lurker on your blog and have really enjoyed it) but I feel like I needed to try to express how I see the debate. Pro-lifers’ intent isn’t to limit people’s freedom, but they don’t believe they can stand by while innocent lives are taken.
‘My rights and your rights are inalienably tied together’
- this is one of those things I will always remember! thankyou for the unique light you shed on this issue!
I LOVE this post! It’s so well written and thought out. Great job. Of course, I adamantly disagree with one of your beliefs but I won’t bother to tell you which one since it doesn’t matter.