This world of our is populated by all kinds of people, some just like us and some not like us. “Variety is the spice of life”, the saying goes, and it’s what makes things interesting.
Can you imagine if everyone on earth was just like me? OMG, that would be dull place, looking at my mug everywhere you turned and everyone spouting off all my thoughts and opinions 24/7.
Nope, that would be Hell, and please count me out of that universe.
Of course, like most people, I like to think of myself as fairly intelligent, friendly, thoughtful, witty, and open-minded. Handsome, of course, but not vain about it. (Did I mention that I am witty?)
Again, like most people, I have my beliefs and prejudices. For example, I don’t like vegetables; too much work for not enough taste and sustenance. Meat and potatoes, tasty gravies, hot sauces, and anything fried does the job for me. I would rather eat green flies than green beans, to put it bluntly. It’s just who I am.
Just thinking here, but what if the “Green” movement took power in the United States and laws were passed that required everyone to be a vegetarian? That would suck, in my opinion, and I would likely take up arms to protect my right to eat unhealthily. I think that would come under the category of “pursuit of happiness”. For sure, I would be unhappy if I had to exist on farm animal fodder. Ugh, my stomach turns just thinking about it.
Luckily for us, we live in a country where many versions of happiness are tolerated. It’s okay to be a vegetarian, a Yankee fan, a gay person, a redhead (like me!), an unmarried Mom, a Christian, a registered Independent voter, a Star Wars nerd, a bodybuilder or a 500-lb slob.
We’re lucky to live in a place where we can think for ourselves, believe in what we wish, and celebrate the differences that make our country interesting.
Have you ever been on a cruise vacation where the chief cook on board was British? I have, and I’ve got to tell you that the cuisine was bland and boring. Lots of meat and potatoes… with no flavor. That’s the same cooking that the Pilgrims brought to America back in the day. Thank goodness for all the immigrants that later came to this land from other countries, because we now enjoy all manner of interesting food: Italian, Thai, Mexican, Chinese, French, Middle Eastern, Polynesian, Caribbean, Indian, German, etc.
What would we do without pizza?
Speaking of dietary habits, I have a good friend who eats Spam and hot dogs every day. No exaggeration here, he sticks like glue to this eating plan and is a very physically fit 70-year-old guy who can hike ten miles, ride a bike for 50 miles, and plays guitar in a local folk music group. This is his world, it makes him happy, and good for him. He’s also a Hell of a nice guy who is handling our mail while we enjoy our 3-month RV vacation.
My friend doesn’t proselytize his processed-meat-eating fetish to others, nor does he shame others for not following his lead. He’s kind of like me with the vegetable thing: I’ll do my thing, you can do yours, Thank You.
The freedom we Americans enjoy to be ourselves and pursue our dreams is not a reality that all people throughout the world live with. In some other countries, social, cultural, religious, and political forces often proscribe individual behavior. It may be illegal, for example, to speak ill of a political leader, divorce one’s spouse, have an alcoholic beverage, or enjoy sex. Yes, that last one is true in some parts of Africa where the local cultural practice is to mutilate the female genitalia so that only the male partner can enjoy orgasms.
I’m not kidding, folks.
Abominations like this can happen when people with strongly felt beliefs obtain positions of authority.
Unfortunately, it has happened in our country’s history.
Examples include the Salem “witch trials”, the genocide of our Native Americans, the incarceration of Japanese-American citizens during World War II, Jim Crow laws in the South, “Redline” housing discrimination in predominantly White urban neighborhoods, Jews being excluded from membership in country clubs, and a criminal justice system which targets minority citizens with aggressive policing and tolerates abusive behavior by law enforcement officers.
Yes, all of those things and more in “The Greatest Nation on Earth”.
A recent example of powerful Americans imposing their personal beliefs on others is the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade. In a 5-4 vote, the majority of Justices (all raised Catholic) determined that State governments, not women, will decide if pregnancies should or can be aborted. This is clearly a religious position, not medical and not based upon historical legal precedent, and flies in the face of the doctrine of “separation of Church and State”, something the Founders of our Nation felt strongly about.
Our earliest immigrants fled Europe to avoid religious persecution: this was to be a land where people could worship (or not) any way they wished. Our Constitution doesn’t mention the word “God”, “Jesus”, or “Christian”. The Bill of Rights grants us religious freedom, which includes the ability to choose which religion, or none, that we wish to practice.
Gee, if Catholics controlled our country, divorce would be illegal. Poor Charlie would have been stuck with her abusive husband forever and would have never married me. That would have sucked.
The five unelected Christians who make up the current Supreme Court majority have also decided that public monies can be used to support religious schools. These jurists claim to be “Originalists” (i.e. in keeping with the intent of the Founding Fathers), but those original patriots and deep-thinkers did not wish religion to be intermixed with government.
Recent polls indicate that a majority of God-fearing Americans do not attend church regularly, a sizable bloc of the population does not identify as Christians, and about a third of adults profess to be non-religious. The influence of religion upon American society has diminished significantly over the past five decades. Polls also suggest that about two-thirds of voting-age adults believe the exact opposite of the Supreme Court majority, that a woman has the right to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy, not the State.
Ergo, the Supreme Court’s religion-tainted decision on Roe vs. Wade is an affront to our Constitutional democracy and a life-preserver thrown to embattled Catholic Church clergy.
This is just one modern day example of power being used to discriminate against people of different creeds. Some Christians may wish to believe that a fertilized egg is a human being, but that feeling should not be imposed upon citizens of other religious beliefs or without religious beliefs. If a majority of the Supreme Court was Muslim, would it be appropriate for those unelected jurists to declare that all American women wear the hijab in public?
Why can’t Americans of different religions, ethnicities, and political beliefs exist together in harmony without their freedoms being attacked?
It seems that the “Great Melting Pot” that we like to call the United States is being attacked every day from within by individuals and groups who want to homogenize our diverse country into a W.A.S.P. entity, something that it never was and was never intended to be.
Consider that when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, there were probably a million Native Americans living here who were definitely not W.A.S.P.s, and among the very first settlers were Negro slaves, also not W.A.S.P.s All manner of humanity, of various creeds, religions, and colors immigrated to this country through Ellis Island. The transcontinental railroad would not have been built without Chinese labor.
“Red, Brown, Yellow, Black and White, they are precious in HIS sight” goes the song taught to kids in Bible school.
It takes all kinds of people to build a successful enterprise. Lack of diversity promotes stasis and limits fresh new ideas. One only has to look at the credentials and backgrounds of the technology creators in Silicon Valley to realize that non-W.A.S.P.s bring discoveries and innovation to business and society on a daily basis. Their contribution to the greatness of our Nation is inestimable and ongoing.
I worry that certain political forces in this country are focused on re-molding our Nation into a version of themselves, with their religious preferences, their misogynistic views, their racist beliefs, and their anti-democratic tendencies. Adolph Hitler behaved like this, totally messed up Germany, and caused the deaths of millions of innocents.
It is possible that the freedoms that we’ve enjoyed to be ourselves, to speak freely, to worship in whichever way we wish, and to pursue our vision of happiness may not endure? Could there a Hitler in our future?
One only needs to read the daily news to see the future unfolding before us. We have elected officials denying the legitimacy of certified elections, a President who attempted a coup to stay in power, voting rights being restricted in some States, and politicians (and Christian religious leaders) publicly disparaging, insulting, and sometimes threatening individuals who don’t agree with their beliefs.
We have a whole sub-culture of American citizens who loudly profess their desire and intention to rejigger society into some sort of White, Christian entity, by force of arms if necessary… because it’s what they want.
We all agree that the democratic form of government that has evolved in this country certainly could stand some improvement. However, it is still useful to periodically rid ourselves of bad leaders via the ballot box or correct the course of government. Even good leaders sometimes get intoxicated with power and start doing things that benefit themselves and their families more so than the general populace.
With our voting rights intact, we can remedy the problem.
On the contrary, if we let politicians limit our voting powers, or allow non-elected officials to determine when we need to jump, and how high, then we morph into one of those authoritarian states where the freedom and individual happiness of all is determined by one person, one church, or one political party.
Or one group of un-elected ideological jurists.
For my friend’s sake, he’d better hope that they don’t outlaw Spam.