Ironically, my first thought when reading your post was, “amen.”
In fact, I agreed with it so much, I could’ve written it myself, if I were a better writer (and a lesbian). Except the part about being from a long line of non-religious people. My mom and her family were very religious. I still remember driving home from church one day when I was 6 years old. I asked my mom where god came from, and she said, “he’s always been there.” I pressed her rather tenaciously for a better answer, but none was forthcoming. I’ve been an atheist since that day.
“If you are liberal, they have a chapter of “Drinking Liberally” in San Diego. You can get on a mailing list and they will send you updates.”
Sounds pretty interesting, I may google that. But I’m not really a liberal. I may be drifting into another subject here, but here goes.
Say a person is for:
lower taxes (fiscally responsible ones, ones for low-income people, not the ones Republicans give away), for tough punishment on crimes, for a free-market-driven economy, against affirmative action, for getting welfare recipients to work and for the death penalty in principle (but against it in practice: it costs too much, it isn’t a deterrent and our justice system isn’t good enough to ensure executing the correct person),
but also for:
gay rights, well-funded public education, strict separation of church and state, keeping government out of morality issues, environmental protection, energy independence, diplomacy backed by brute force rather than just brute force, a guest worker program, and freedom of speech (the proposed amendment against burning the flag can clearly only be backed by people who have trouble thinking, and book banning is a big step towards fascism).
Such a person (me) isn’t a liberal or a conservative. I don’t understand why most people seem to have to stick to one or the other of the major parties’ platforms. Let’s hear from some other free thinkers out there.
