Why I’ll be at The Rally to Restore Sanity

I’m not a lifelong Liberal.  I’ve always been fortunate/cursed to see both sides to any issue.  Because of that, I often feel paralyzed about making a voting decision.  And, unlike many people, I can’t get past my dislike of a politician and simply vote the party line. But I’ve been around long enough now to become concerned about what I see happening in the political arena.  I’m so concerned, in fact, that I will be at the Rally to Restore Sanity on October 30.  Here’s why:

1. Using what is written in the constitution as a reason for your stand on any political issue is acceptable.  Using the bible isn’t.  And using God is even less acceptable.  God is neither a Democrat, nor a Republican. Nor is God mentioned in the Constitution (Look it up.) If you claim that God is “on your side” in the political arena, you are putting yourself in the exact same category as a jihadist.

2. If you disagree with a political leader, then voice that disagreement. But, unless that person has murdered 12 million people, don’t label that person “Hitler.”  To those whose immediate families have experienced the consequences of what Hitler created, it is an outrageous, bizarre and meaningless comparison.

3. If you doubt that the President of the United States is a citizen, then lobby to have something written into the constitution to make sure that all subsequent presidents are, indeed, citizens.  To my knowledge, we have always accepted birth certificates as proof (It’s in the Constitution).  If you demand more, then lobby for whatever it is that would make you happy.

4. If you believe, in spite of all overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that the President of the United States is a secret Muslim, that is your choice.  Just be aware that the Constitution doesn’t preclude Muslims (or Jews or Hindis or Buddhists or Wiccans) from the Presidency.

5. A government or strong militant political party rooted in the narrow interpretation of one religious dogma is part of the reason why so much of the world is now in upheaval and why so many citizens of the world have been denied their human rights.  It is not that religion, itself, is flawed.  It is that the people who interpret the religion are. 

6. Screaming, provocative, incendiary language may get my attention.  But it won’t change my opinion. To change my opinion, you need to present me with facts, and I have heard precious few of those.

My naïve, but not subject to change belief, is that most people, when removed from listening to those who would divide us, share more similarities than differences.  On Saturday, I hope to be surrounded by people like me.  And by “people like me,” I’m not talking about college educated, latte-sipping Liberals from one of the blue states. I’m talking about anyone who is tired of the dangerous, divisive rhetoric that has been around for the last couple decades, but seems to have gotten worse, now that we have a black President.  If there is any spark of rational thought out there, I’ll volunteer to fan the flame.