I believe these things to be true...

I have a lot of firmly held beliefs.

I have a lot of beliefs that have changed over the years.

I have a few things that I used to believe until someone pointed out why believing them and believing other things I do were in conflict. So then I had to change one or both sets of beliefs and come to new conclusions.

I believe that right now you have the same problem with sets of beliefs that you hold and you don't even realize it.

I have beliefs that I hold right now that I know in a few years will be changed. I don't know which ones they are but I know there will be some. Because there always are.

What I believe today is different than what I believed 40 years ago. Or 30. Or 20 or even 10.

Life is constantly giving you new information to make your decisions on. If you don't ever change your mind there is something deeply wrong with you. I believe that.

So what are some things that you believe?

Things in my head lately because of posts online...

Looking around my house I have a lot of things. Some of them really nice things. Some of them I'm quite emotionally attached to. But nothing that I own is worth someone else's life. Nothing. Not even the china doll that my mother played with as a child. Not my father's belt buckle. Or my father-in-law's book. Or my computer which holds all of my stories and C's baby pictures and a multitude of memories. Nothing. But I think I must be in the minority on that one when I read news stories about break ins and see all of the comments about how "They should have owned a gun!" "Anyone steps foot in my house and touches my shit and I will blow them away." Really? Your TV is worth their life? Don't care if he is stealing from you. Really don't. TV does not equal life.

But I also know that if someone were hurting someone I loved I wouldn't hesitate to hurt them back.

Things aren't worth protecting that fiercely. They are just things. People are greater than things. Even if they are your things and not your people.

And still on the gun thing...why is it that Chicago is always trotted out as the disaster on gun control because everyone is armed anyway and look how high the crime rate is while at the same time people are saying if we were all armed crime would actually go down? There is even a story out right now trying to tie the concealed carry increase with crime rates going down in Chicago because now people don't know who is carrying. Didn't we already not know who all was carrying in Chicago? Wasn't that the argument being made before that the huge influx of illegal guns meant that everyone was armed even though the gun control laws were so strict? So which is it, are we safer when everyone carries or are we less safe when everyone carries?

I don't want to carry. Concealed or open. I don't see the need. I don't hunt. I don't live in a dangerous area. I'm not worried about kidnappers breaking in to my house and whisking me away for ransom. So I don't need a gun at all really. But I don't have a problem with you having one if you feel that strongly about it. Though if you do I want you licensed, tested (as part of the licensing procedure) and insured. (Gun control, yo) And also I will probably think you are a little silly and probably slightly delusional if you live in my neighborhood and feel the need to go to the store armed. It's just not that dangerous at the QFC. Even on Wednesdays when the new specials start.

I've written about guns before and I am sure I will again. But right now those are the bottom line things that I believe. I believe my things aren't worth your life. I believe people frame the gun arguments to fit their own personal beliefs no matter if it makes sense or not. And I believe that if you want to carry a gun you should take a few safety classes and get some insurance and a license. And I believe that my beliefs are fluid and will probably change over the next few years.

And that's really the crux of it. I don't know how people can get so fully entrenched in their belief systems that this entire blog will boil down to one or two lines about gun control. But it will.

I should probably talk about equal rights for a bit to give people something else to focus on...