Well it has been a long damn time since I have done this. Oh I'v meant to but you know how it can be when you are trying to graduate, work and still have time for a life of some type. Well, I saw some stuff today that made me mad enough to sit down and rant again. Now that the flood gate is open, expect this Democrat to start spewing forth about our President-elect, but we'll get to that in due time.
So I was watching an Mtv special today which more or less ticked off a list of racially motivated hate crimes and discussed the hate crime issue. I just know I am not the only one in this country who is having trouble with the fact that it can be 2001 and we still have this bullshit going on. To me, not beating and killing and raping each other seems like a no-brainer but evidently there are still people out there who believe that it is okay to drag a black man behind a car for several miles. Of course that was in Texas so the bastards probably got a trophy. Now, now don't think that I am bashing Texas there, I'm not. I am bashing President-elect Death Penalty. Anyway, it is further apalling to me that things such as sexual orientation and gender are not included in most of the state legislation regarding hate crimes...that is if you can find a state with such legislation, which is just slightly easier than finding someone who liked 'Battlefield: Earth.' If you look for federal legislation on the topic, you may as well be looking for a unicorn.
To discuss the gender/sexual orientation thing for a moment, I don't see how it can be denied that if a group of guys beats a gay man and carve the word "faggot" into his chest and arms (which actually happened by the way) then that shit is a hate crime. How can it not be? Any thinking person has to realize that the attack was motivated by a hatred for what the person was. Now I am not going to try to argue whether or not being gay is a choice...actually fuck it I am. Here's how I break it down: there was a high school kid who was catholic and gay. He struggled with the notion of this particular contridiction because in that faith, homosexuality is a mortal sin. I am not sure if it affects the rest of the family but he was so ashamed of what he was that he went with an altogether different mortal sin and killed himself. Now, my question is this: if homosexuality was a choice or preference then do you really think he would choose to be something he viewed as so disgraceful that he had to kill himself to avoid? Fuck no. Now, all you Christians out there who are bemoaning me and calling it an abomination (and wondering where I get off fronting a Christian band and saying things like 'fuck') ask yourself this: Does God make mistakes? NO, so if there is no choice and God makes no mistakes it follows that God made gay people and he is just as upset when some fuckhead decides to torture and hang them. Not to belabor the point but all of my fellow straight people who are reading this and thinking ill of my point, think about how you feel about the opposite sex and how comfortable you are with that choice. Think about how certain you are that the opposite sex is the way to go. Okay now you know how gay people feel about people of the same sex. Its that fucking simple so don't tell me that calling someone a faggot isn't just as bad as calling someone a nigger. Think about that for a second. I hate having to write either of those words. They are vile to me in everyway but if the comparision is needed to realign the way people think about this then so be it.
Guys like Emminem can say that they don't mean anything by calling people faggots, but it doesn't matter what he means. The words are poison and the people who use them are the worst kind of ignorant. If you need to use that terminoligy to get your point across, then your message is not one I am interested in hearing and any point at all you make after that will be rendered meaningless.
So how do we let this crap continue? How can we let this shit go? Complacency. Fear. Indifference. Henry Rollins once said that if we make allowances when someone displays predjudice or racsim then they win and he is right. If your brother or father or mother makes some offhanded comment about hating jewish people, don't just let it go because of who they are or out of fear of confrontation. You need to tell them, in no uncertain terms, that you will not tolerate that sentiment and that if you ever hear it again the relationship will end. Period. If you let it go, then what are you doing? You are agreeing with them. You don't have to speak to commmunicate and if you let it go it is the same thing as agreeing. Is it the same as joining a Neo-nazi rally or a KKK cross burning? No, but it is one step closer than I would like to come. And Christians, remember how shitty Peter felt when he said he didn't know Christ just after Jesus was arrested, it is the same thing. It is distancing yourself from your beliefs to avoid injury or discomfort. And that isn't good.
So what can be done for this? I think that kids need to be taught to love everyone equally and we as adults have to stop putting up with racists. I have heard the argument that the tag hate crime is penalizing someone because of what they believe and that that is unamerican. Fuck that. Hate has no place in government, and to try to defend murder by saying someone was following their beliefs is like a big get out of jail free card and a big middle finger to any decent person. The way I see it, if you commit a crime and it is based on what the victim is then you are attacking that person and the entire group they represent. I am talking about sending out a statement that this sort of thing won't be tolerated. The bottom line is that people need to cease to play party to racism and we need to be aware of each other and respectful. Hate is a cycle and all cycles can be stopped.
If you want to comment on the above rambling feel free to do so...unless of course you are a racist. In that case I don't give two fucks about what you have to say. Have a nice day.
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