62 Percent is Pathetic

I read this article this morning: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100825/ap_on_re_us/us_nyc_mosque I liked what Bloomberg has to say. The part that got me all fired up was about 2/3 of the way through. There they were talking about a recent poll and I read this:

"The poll of 1,003 randomly chosen adults was conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center and showed that a majority, 62 percent, also said Muslims have equal rights to build houses of worship."

Where do I start? Perhaps with the fact that the writer seems excited about this number?

No, let's go with the obvious. 62 percent? 62 percent? Now I have been out of school a while now, but I am pretty sure that means 38% think that Muslims DO NOT have equal rights. That so many people want to make an entire religion pay for the acts of a few just makes me so mad!

Throughout this battle I keep thinking back to one of my favorite things I saw on the West Wing EVER. It was the first episode back after September 11^th. Aaron Sorkin wrote an episode about terrorism that broke from the longer story lines of the show. In the episode, Josh is stuck in a room with high school students that had been on a tour when the White House went in to lockdown. A frank discussion of the nature of terrorism ensues. At one point Bradley Whitford delivers the following line, “You're juniors and seniors. In honor of the SATs you're about to take, answer the following question: [writing on dry eraseboard] Islamic extremist is to Islam as "blank" is to Christianity.” His answer? The KKK. Every religion has extremist groups. They always have. They always will. Few topics can force humans to extremes, but religion has shown to be one of those topics, century after century.

We are supposed to be a land of freedom. Dr. Laura may have lost her radio show, but she isn't in prison for the rest of her life. We can say what we want. We can own guns. We can practice any religion we want. That is what makes us unique as a nation. If we are to embrace that, we need to embrace those who live here, no matter their race, religion or sexuality.

There are many other points in this article that bear discussion, but I am doing my best to stay close to the topic I started on. I already have ideas for at least three more blogs now!

Continue thinking for yourself.

Don't Know Much About Politics

So I have opinions. I want to share them. I like to share them. However I do not like splashing them all over Facebook and annoying friends with them. So I have started this blog so I can still put my thoughts into the universe. If people want to read them they will, if they don't- I won't be killing anyone's Farmville buzz.

As the title suggests, I am not an expert. I am writing my opinions as I see them from my little corner of the world. I will do my best to see both sides of an issue, but we all know how hard that can be! 

Usually my feelings (rants) come from articles I have recently read or news clips I have just seen. I will link you to those as often as possible so you can form your own opinions too! I love discussion, so hit up the comments if you want to cheer along with my rant, or even if you want to respectfully disagree! But wherever your opinion falls, I want you to be respectful. This blog's goal is not to pick fights, it is to express my personal opinions.

If you don't like what I write and don't feel comfortable commenting, you do have one other option. It is quite revolutionary, and many people don't know about it. This handy tip is good for anything on the internet you don't want to see. Take your mouse (or position your finger on the track pad) and move the cursor to the upper right corner. There is a little “X” there. Click on it and I will never bother you again.