Find Me Serenity

I have been trying to find a way to put my thoughts into words. It has been a difficult task, because everything I am about to talk about is complicated.

Here’s the thing. I am pro-life. Now, before you get the wrong idea, let me explain what that means, to me.

I am pro anything that prolongs the life of others. That includes not allowing access to guns to people who intend on using them for nefarious reasons. That means using humans and animals for medical research. It means not going to war or bombing other countries without regard for the innocent lives that this might affect.

And that’s where it all gets complicated. Because I am also pro choice.

I am pro anything that results in consequences for actions. The death penalty. Attacking the right people for the right reasons in countries that have attacked us. Every choice has a consequence. This is not the wild west. Even the wild west had jail cells.

These complicated issues come to a collision a lot. As fanatics attack in other countries and our news media treats them as if they are the worst thing imaginable, as fanatics continue to attack in our own country and are treated as anomalies.

After the attacks in Paris many talked of the Quaran and the fact that there is nothing in it that asks its followers to kill others on its behalf. And I wondered how, as a nation of folks who have been re-writing the Bible to meet our own needs for hundreds of years, we were surprised that other religions have the same types of people following them.

There are radicals in all aspects of life. The issue right now is, those who claim to be “not like them” are not doing enough.

That excuse is getting old quickly. And it does not wipe your slate clean because you don’t condone the behavior of others in your sect. The thing is, all of you, even you, the proper Christian that you are, for just a moment, had the thought that the Planned Parenthood attack was warranted. That split second, that thought, makes you just like them. Just because you didn’t pick up the gun and point it at the people doesn’t mean you are not guilty of perpetrating the crime.

Your rhetoric, your agenda pushing, your support of the public figures who feed this monster, makes you a part of the problem. Makes you THE problem. We are a nation of people who need chaos. Our news is filled with destruction and death and failure. The bad always outshines the good. And we accept that, because we are taught to.

It is time for the good to stand up and stop the bullshit. And until you can honestly say that you did not even for a moment, a split second, think that the terrorists, whether they be foreign or domestic, might have had the right idea, you are the problem. And you do not have the right to complain when your side takes a beating.

Choice. Consequence. Life.

Some final thoughts.

It is possible to be pro-choice and not pro-abortion. There are many reasons why a woman might need to make the choice to end their pregnancy. Until you know what that feels like, you don’t have the right to pass judgment or take away the rights of those who may need to make these decisions. You have no idea, in reality, what you would do in any given situation. May you never have to.

It is possible to change your mind depending on the situation and the facts once they are presented to you. What is most frustrating is to watch people who claim to be good Christians and who value human life, disregard the life of others when it comes to things they do not believe in. In one breath you can fight hard to save the life of a “fetus” and in the same breath deny that “fetus” the right to love or live freely as – non Christian. Transgender. Gay. May you never know what it’s like to feel unwanted because of who you are.

One day I would like you to look me in the eye and tell me to my face that you do not believe that the legal use of human tissue, which has been proven to be the case and you just don’t want to hear it, is wrong. Tell me to my face that my life as a disabled person is not worth medical research. Tell me to my face how valuable you think I am and then tell me that you don’t believe I deserve to be cured because that cure might have come from a source you’re not comfortable with. May you never know what it’s like to rely on extensive medical resources for any reason.

May you continue to live your life in a soft cushy bubble where guns don’t kill, where all unborn fetuses are born just like you, where disease and disability do not exist. May you never know what its like to live in the real world.