Totally counts...(National Poetry Month #20)

FEAR

Focused

Entirely

Against

Reason

Okay, that makes it count towards National Poetry Month. And also I am using the work of a friend at the end of this rant to double down. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it's fast and loose with the rules but HELLO! I made the rules so you know they were squishy to begin with.

AND as this is a rant it's disorganized and ranty as rants are wont to be.

People are worried about silly things right now. Like where other people pee. I want to break this to you as bluntly as I can. You have already shared the bathroom with a person who is transgender. You just didn't know it. Because it wasn't a big deal. They peed. You peed. You both washed your hands (please tell me you washed your hands) and then you left. If you even noticed their face long enough for it to stick with you I would be shocked, let alone tried for a peek at their genitals.

Because we all know that trying to look at stranger's genitals isn't okay. We actually even call them privates or private parts because, well, they are private.

Now here is the other argument I keep hearing. "I'm not worried about transgender people, I'm worried about perverts who will now use this as an excuse to use the women's restroom." What? Do you even hear yourself when you talk? Why in the world would you think this would happen? Honestly? You think that there is a large contingent of people just waiting out there for an excuse to go peek in washrooms? Let me let you in on something, there aren't. You know it. If you just stop letting some fear of it drive you and look at it logically for just a moment, you know it's not true.

"Oh I am concerned about the women and girls in my family being raped or molested." Okay, well, again, this isn't going to change that. Rape and molestation are already illegal. And a bathroom bill that makes it illegal to use a women's bathroom if you are male on your birth certificate won't make anyone safer. Transgender does not equal rapist. It doesn't. They are much more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrators. Violent crimes. Like getting beaten up because some idiot is pissed that the very attractive woman has a penis. Which he wouldn't know if she was allowed to use the bathroom like every other woman.

You are giving transgender adults two options. Out themselves thereby exposing themselves to potential violence OR break the law and use the bathroom they identify with.

"If you are born a male you are a male!" Okay, well, no. And let me blow your mind again. You can actually get your birth certificate changed. So you are no longer identified as male (or female as the case may be) on any document and pee freely. Oh sweet pee freedom!

So stop and think for just a minute about all of this before you start spouting your opinion based in fear. Why are you afraid? If you say it's not that you are worried about actual transgender people but just perverts, rapist and molesters, why do you think this will change their behavior? If you are afraid that men are just waiting around to sneak in to women's restrooms ask yourself again why? Why would a man suddenly feel the need to don a dress and sneak in to a bathroom? Do you really think men are that out of control? Are you of the belief that all men should be watched extremely closely because they are just rape machines waiting for the right trigger? Or would you think that was ridiculous? Because it is.

If you are worried about the safety of those around you. Then watch them. And more importantly teach them to watch out for themselves. I'm 47 years old. The only penis I have seen in a women's restroom I brought in there myself. Which, by the way, would be illegal under these laws. I would have needed to send my 3 year old in to a men's restroom all by himself. Not going to happen. I'm 47 years old. I've never seen a stranger's genitals in a bathroom. We have stalls and doors and privacy. I'm 47 years old. I live in Portland, OR, I've traveled to a few major cities, I'm sure I've shared a restroom with a transgender woman. It's not an issue.

The only time I've ever come close to being raped was by a good Christian boy, that I happened to be dating at the time. It wasn't in a bathroom. It was in a car. If I had waited for my father or my brothers' to rescue me I wouldn't say "close" to being raped. As it was I introduced his testicles to his stomach and the contents of his stomach introduced themselves to the ground. Teach your daughters to protect themselves. Teach your sons to protect themselves. Teach your daughters and your sons that rape is wrong. When they are too little to look out for themselves look out for them. Don't pretend the boogy man is a stranger in a dress in the bathroom stall. It's your clergy. It's your coach. It's your neighbor. It's your relative. It's your friend. Those are the odds.

Stop letting fear guide you. Listen to reason. Realize that you are victimizing an entire group of people that are already victimized at a high rate. And you are not making anyone any safer by doing it.

And here is the bonus content I promised to make this really fit with National Poetry Month.


Lyrics by Malcolm Risk
To be sung to the tune of "There are Worse Things I Could Do" from the musical Grease

There are worse things I could do
Than go for a number two
Even though the bathroom bill
Implies I'm there to rape or kill
The simple fact is that's not true
And there are worse things I could do

I could hide my wealth offshore
Pay zero tax for-evermore
Strip rights from low paid employees
Squeeze them till they're on their knees
Then still refuse to pay what's due
That's a thing I'd never do

I could go out on the stump
Wave a flag for Mr Trump
Support a guy whose mind's so small
That he wants to build a wall
Cause if you're different - fuck you

I could hurt those in my care
Steal innocence while no-one's there
I don't hate, I don't abuse
But I can suffer for your views
Although, to some of you, that's news...

But to pee next door to you -
THAT'S? The worst thing? I could? Doo???

It's a good day...

The first blog I ever wrote was in reaction to Oregon Ballot Measure 36 which amended our state constitution to define marriage as being between one man and one woman. I was sick to my stomach when it passed. Just so sad and upset. So I wrote a quick blog. It was on another platform and has long been gone, but it was the first ranty blog I ever did.

I can remember thinking there was no way it was going to pass. How could it? Nobody I knew was going to vote for it. And yet, it passed. And the state I lived in put wording in to our constitution that some citizens were less than others. I was sick. I cried.

That was overturned last year and I was so relieved. It spent almost 10 years on the books and it was finally gone. And I cried again. Relief and joy.

Today was even better.

Today it doesn't matter what state you live in, where you were married, what your neighbors think or the church down the road believes, you can get married. Freely. Openly. With all the rights that brings with it. Marriage equality.

I was in the car when the news came out. When the first reports of how SCOTUS had ruled hit the air. And the tears started. I am really glad that I was pulling in to the parking lot of the gym as I heard because I couldn't have stopped crying if I wanted to. Tears of joy this time instead of sadness. Relief that the ruling was on the side of more rights, not fewer. Joy that friends who were married in states where it is legal now didn't have to worry about job transfers or even out of state visits. That their marriage was now legally recognized no matter where they went.

My Facebook feed has been filled with joy today. People sharing the news over and over again. It's huge. It's amazing. It's important. I have liked so many status updates I'm afraid Facebook will think I'm a spammer and deactivate my account.

A few years ago talking to C I told him that I didn't see this happening in my lifetime. That the bigotry was too entrenched. I am so glad I was wrong. The sea change that has occurred over the past decade is astounding. And the changes will keep coming. People will see that everyone is the same. That we all strive for the same dreams. The same hopes for our future and the future of our children. We will get to the point where it will be odd to think of a time that this was even an issue. I am so looking forward to that time.

Now, I'm not naive. I know this ruling isn't going to change hearts overnight. Hell the murders in Charleston and the debate over the Confederate battle flag this week should show us that deep held bigotry doesn't just go away. But the shock over the murders and the call to take that flag down do show us that change keeps rolling. It keeps coming. We just have to keep pushing.

But today? Today I am just happy. I am smiling. I am crying. I am filled with joy.

Equality.

Blogger beginnings...

I wrote my first blog almost 10 years ago. Brent had been trying to convince me that it would be something I would be good at and I would like to do. But I really didn't think I had anything to say that anyone would be interested in reading. But he kept trying to convince me to try my hand at it and he set one up. We shared a blog at the beginning. And at first it was just him writing here and there and encouraging me to do the same. I kept pushing him off. I read a few different blogs and they were all interesting. People who were smarter than I was sharing ideas and perspective. I just didn't see it for myself.

And then came Oregon Ballot Measure 36 which amended our state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. When it passed I was devastated. That's not an overstatement to how I felt. I was just stunned. I remember crying when the results came in. Fifty seven percent of the people in the state I called home, the state I was SO glad to return to after our exile in conservative land, voted to legislate discrimination. I cried.

Then I wrote my first blog. I wish I had it. Not because it was anything special. Just me writing about how shocked I was that it passed. How hurtful I found it to be. But it was still the first thing I put out there. It took me a long time to really get more in the swing of writing more. After that I wrote maybe a few more things on the joint blog, but life was busy. I was working full time and then working full time and going to school. I got back to writing more in 2009. Little bloggy bits on MySpace. How is that for how long ago it was? And then I set up this page and moved those MySpace posts here and started writing more. This will be the 460th blog I've published on this site.

And it all started because I had no where to put my feelings about that amendment.

Today, almost 10 years later, I had tears about it again. This time as a federal judge ruled it unconstitutional and struck it down. I knew it was coming. The judge's ruling was to come at noon. And I sat in front of the TV waiting. I knew it would be the one I wanted to hear. I knew it. But I still worried a little bit because I knew ten years ago that there was no way it would be passed. No way that people would legalize discrimination. No possible way. But this time I was right. And the tears came again.

And so I'm writing again. Nothing big. You all know where I stand on this issue. It was my first blog and it's probably the one political issue I have written about the most because it's the most personal to me. My family. My friends. My loved ones. I feel deeply about this issue. And today I am so happy that a ten year old travesty has been set to right. And happy that the momentum is still swinging toward equality. And now I'll stop before I start crying again.



Oh wait one more thing just as an extra little tidbit. My first reader is still reading my blog today. I will never forget the day after I posted that blog seeing that I had a comment on it. That moment of, "wow, someone actually read what I wrote!" So thank you, Raquel, for sticking with me for the past decade and still reading what I put up here. It means a lot to me.

What I did today....

So for those of you that are friends with me on Facebook you saw my profile picture change today as well as my banner picture. I used the new red equality symbol to show my support for marital equal rights. For those of you that don't I will add them here along with how I captioned them so you know what I am talking about.

It's not special rights, it's equal rights.

How could I say that my right to a marriage and a family was any more important than yours? How could I deny you the same things I have always just taken for granted that I could have? 

The answer is I can't.

Now I know that changing my profile picture and my banner art isn't going to influence the Supreme Court's decisions over the next few days. And I know there are more than a few people out there in world who see these changes and snort derisively about slacktavism.  But I also know that I have liked seeing the symbol pop up in my feed through the day. I've seen it from the usual suspects but I've also seen it from a few people I wasn't expecting to. And that made me smile. Because that for me is what this is about. Saying in a quiet way, "I stand with you."

And of course for me I've been saying it in a not so quiet way for a long time. I know that in my lifetime I've helped to change the minds of two people about equal rights in general and equal marital rights specifically. I know about these two because they told me it was my passion, what I felt, and how I presented the issue to them that swayed them. Now you say, two people? That's it? Well I don't know if there have been others.  I hope there have. But I do know there have been these two. And just like the old shampoo commercial from the 70s if these two people tell two people and they tell two people and they tell two people...Well then you get a feed full of red equality signs.

Do I know how the Supreme Court is going to rule? I don't. I wish I did. I can't guarantee that there won't be another set back on the road to equality. But what I do know, what I do see is that we are reaching a tipping point in America. A place where people are starting to understand that equality must be for all not just for some. That there is a light at the end of what looked to be a very long dark tunnel. That more and more people are saying, "I stand with you."

And for this I change my profile picture.

And I cross my fingers.

And I send a wish for more change out in to the world.

And I say a thank you for how far we've come. Because sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the road we've already walked when we see what's still in front of us.

Okay, I'm not done after all....

So yesterday when I posted the link to this wonderfully written blog I said it was the last I was going to talk about CFA. My son told me, "No it's not." He knows me very well. But I feel like I need to clarify something. I'm not going to talk specifically to the CFA brouhaha anymore. I've said my piece on that and the blog I linked to earlier put it even better than I could, but that doesn't mean I will stop writing and speaking my mind about equal rights. The issue right now is that the CFA discussions are still going strong and so sometimes something I've read or heard or been asked about that subject is going to spark another round of my ranting. This is one of those times...

So as the whole CFA thing is still simmering and people are still talking about it I had someone I know ask me what my nephew thinks of the whole thing. I told them I had no idea as we hadn't talked about it. They couldn't believe it. They were shocked. And then asked me how I could be so offended by the whole issue when he might not even care. My only answer for them was that I honestly don't care what he thinks about this issue. Okay, well that's untrue. I would love to know what he thinks only because I love him and I love talking to him and if he wanted to share with me what he thought about this whole deal I would listen and be thrilled for the conversation. But what I mean is what he thinks about it has absolutely no bearing on what I think about it.

See here's the thing, the last time I checked Brian wasn't the card carrying spokesman for the entire homosexual population. People do this thing where they think they have the pulse of a group because they asked their, "gay friend" or "black friend" or "female friend" or "republican friend" about it and so they obviously know what every one in that group thinks. Why do they do this? Why do people assume that every group with one thing in common has everything in common?

During my sister Susan's first marriage her husband regularly hit her. So when Rihanna had the shit knocked out of her by Chris Brown I guess I should have first called my sister to see what she thought about it all before I formed my opinion? Is that the way this logic works? Or is it that when you see something that is wrong, you know it's wrong. And even if other people aren't bothered by it (my sister stayed with her husband for a very long time, Rihanna reconciled with Brown) it still doesn't make it okay. Even if they have something in common with the person that the injustice happened to.

I know how my niece feels about it, since she posted about it. I know how my sister Ann feels about it since she posted. But I don't know how my nephew feels about it. I know how some of my gay friends feel about it. I know how some of my straight friends feel about it. I know how some of my religious friends feel about it. I know how some of my non-religious friends feel about it. Everyone who has weighed in and posted about the issue I know how they feel. And even the ones with one thing in common don't all feel the same way on this issue. And none of these opinions change what I feel about it.

I've had an opinion on this issue and issues relating to other gay rights and equality for all for a very long time. Before Brian ever came out. Before he ever knew what being gay was. My position has evolved and changed over the years but from the time I was 16 and the realization that what my church had taught me about homosexuality was just wrong (religion blog way back here) I have known that the way our society has treated gay people in the name of religious freedom is wrong. Since I've felt this way for as long as I have I have a lot of arguments and counter arguments to make. I can keep my calm for the most part and I can stand my ground. Part of that is because the people I have fought the hardest over issues like these have been family members. And when you are arguing with family members over dinner you have to learn how to make better points than, "you are an idiot" and you have to make them calmly enough that nobody gets disowned by dessert.

I want to share with you all the story of my nephew coming out to me because there is a lesson in there for all of you who talk about your "gay friend feels this way so it must be true."

Like I said in the blog I linked up there about religion I knew from the time Brian was 4 that when he reached the age where he was starting to think about dating it was going to be boys, not girls he was interested in. Sometimes there are stereotypes for a reason and my nephew has been stereo-typically gay since he was too little to know what gay was. Now this actually worried me quite a bit. I know what it's like to hold a different opinion about religion than your family. I know what it's like to completely disagree with them. I know what it's like to have your mother tell you that she is praying for you so you don't go to hell. Because I chose to leave the church because I didn't believe a lot of the teachings anymore. But what worried me is that Brian was going to be raised in the same church. And it wasn't going to be him realizing that he disagreed with the teachings they had about other people, it was going to be him listening to teachings about how who he was was wrong.

Long before the "It Gets Better" movement, long before the media coverage of gay teen suicides there were gay teen suicides. Growing up gay in a conservative Christian family is difficult at best and heartbreaking at worst. And all I knew about it was from the outside looking in. I knew how hard it was for me to leave and to be honest about leaving the church. But it was my choice. Brian was who he was by birth. There is no choice there. And he was going to have to deal with it all. So I did my years of telling him that he was great no matter what. That who he was was perfect. That he didn't need to change for anyone. But I did all of that never mentioning the word gay. The church and family he was being raised in said being gay was a sin so I wasn't going to force him to come out to me until he was ready. But I was definitely going to try my hardest to let him know that he was great, just the way he was, and hope he got my not so subtle code.

So fast forward to him turning 18. We were emailing each other and I was telling him about my 18th birthday. I spent part of it with a friend of mine who I share the birthday with and who happens to be gay. I told Brian he was gay because it's part of the very funny story about the birthday, a cake, a case of mistaken sexual identity and being friends with a couple who share the same first name. So anyway, after I tell him the story he emails me back and tells me that he is proud of me for having gay friends. I had a choice to make right then on how to handle that statement and I went with what I would have said to any other member of my family or my friend circle who said it. I emailed him back and told him that unless he was proud of me for having straight friends or any friends at all that he shouldn't be proud of me for having gay friends. That friends are friends and sexual orientation has nothing to do with it.

He then emailed me back and let me know that I was right, and that he was glad to hear me say that and he let me know that he was in fact a gay man. I emailed him back that I was thrilled he finally felt like he could tell me but that I had known since he was 4. And then we talked about why I felt like I knew that, we talked about how he had actually been the final piece of the puzzle for me to see that people are born the way they are born. That there is no choice that is made in which sex you are attracted to, that it's part of you from birth. I think we were both very relieved. Me for finally not having to bite my tongue and him for having a family member not only be fine with the fact that he is gay, but not be shocked or even phased at all by it. His coming out to everyone else didn't go as smoothly and we talked about that as well. Now that people have had quite a few years to get used to the idea they are starting to come around.

But even though he is gay, though I knew that he was gay, I couldn't sit back and say, "Yes, good for me for having gay friends!" Because that's just silly. I have friends. Some of them are gay. Some of them aren't. It doesn't matter to me. And it doesn't mean that I need to consult with them on issues about the gay or straight community before I form my opinions on them. So when you tell me that you talked to your gay friend and they are fine with CFA or you talked to your black friend and they are super cool with getting rid of the NAACP or you talked to your female friend and she thinks Planned Parenthood is a scam please know that the first thing I am going to think of is your posing like Stephen Colbert with your said friends and the second thing I am going to think is I wonder if I am your liberal friend? Or am I your ridiculously good looking friend? Or your OMG she's totally a genius friend? Hmmmm....probably your snarky friend....

And yes, C won. I'm not done. Not even by a long shot. Sadly. Because I'll only be done when people are given the same rights no matter who they are attracted to. Even Rihanna....

You knew it was coming...

So everyone has their "things", their "issues", their lines in the sand and you all know this is one of mine. So you won't be shocked at all by this blog. But it doesn't mean I don't feel the need to write it. You can skip ahead to the end if you want, since you know where I stand, but this saves me from going on a rampage on Facebook and pissing off a lot of people in little doses. I will piss them off in one fell swoop this way instead.  We're going to start this blog out with few definitions because it seems to me that people use words and phrases without understanding what it is they are saying so we are going to clear things up right at the start.

hypocrisy- Noun
1. a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc. that one does not really posses.

2. a pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude.

3. an act or instance of hypocrisy

intolerance- Noun
1. lack of toleration; unwillingness or refusal to tolerate or respect contrary opinions or beliefs, persons of different races or backgrounds, etc.

I wanted to start with those two because they are the ones that are starting to make the rounds right now. For those of you living under a rock you know that this past week the debate in social media has been about Chick-Fil-A's president's public statements that he is against gay marriage. He believes that it is arrogant of this generation to try to redefine the biblical definition of marriage. So then the shit storm started. People that were unaware of his opinion (though I'm not sure how you could be) were made aware. People that felt passionately about what he said made plans to either 1. Boycott the restaurant or 2. Eat there more often. And now we have moved on to the part of the debate where people start calling each other names.

My stance on this is really solid. Has been for years. I don't care that Mr. Cathy believes what he believes. I think he's wrong, he thinks I'm wrong. Don't care. What I care about is if I am someplace with a Chick-Fil-A and I stop in for a chicken biscuit and some waffle fries part of the dollars I spend there end up in his pocket and he donates to support legislation blocking things like gay marriage rights. He does it personally and according to reports the company also does it. Because well companies are people too, don't you know. So for me the choice is crystal clear. I don't eat at Chick-Fil-A. And I am vocal about why I don't eat at Chick-Fil-A.

Same stance I took on the Boy Scouts of America years ago and has been reinforced just recently. BSA promotes that old nugget of an idea that homosexuality is not only a sin but is equal to pedophilia. So when C reached the age where they were recruiting I told him that he could not join. Then I told him why. Explained how they don't line up with our values or beliefs and exactly why they don't. He understood and that was the end of the discussion. Why join a group that preaches a message you don't believe in? I also don't buy their popcorn, Christmas trees, or anything else that financially supports the organization. And this is where I get in trouble with friends. "Oh the BSA do so much good! They help make sure boys are raised with strong morals and skills! How can you deny a boy over something like this?" Over something small like saying that people I love are child molesters because they are gay? That's not really small. Over something small like saying that because they are gay (and thus potential child molesters) they aren't welcome to join this organization? This isn't small to me. It's insulting. You call that raising a boy with strong morals? I call it teaching them that institutionalized prejudice is okay.

You will notice on both of these fronts though what I am really clear on is that these are my opinions and my choices. I don't eat at Chick-Fil-A. I don't contribute to the BSA. What you do is up to you and your choices. But people get really upset about these sorts of stands. And then they start getting insulting. And calling names. And getting irate. And calling people who hold the beliefs I do hypocrites because we are intolerant of intolerance. Well let me make this really clear for you. I'm no hypocrite. I'm not intolerant of intolerance. I'm intolerant of you forcing your intolerance on me. I'm intolerant of people preaching hate and couching it as a religious belief and then telling me that makes it okay. I'm very consistent in my intolerance.

If I said NOBODY SHOULD EVER BE INTOLERANT OF ANYTHING! Then have at it. But I think we should all be intolerant of things that go against what we believe. That's not hypocrisy, that's conviction. If I said that I was anti-gay rights while at the same time soliciting sex from a woman, that would make me a hypocrite (see Ted Haggard). Hypocrisy is stating one belief while practicing another. Or even stating a belief because you think it's what the people around you want to hear while you believe something else. Mr. Cathy from Chick-Fil-A isn't a hypocrite, he believes that gay people don't have the same rights as straight people and he will do what he can to make sure that stays that way. He's an idiot (in my opinion) but in that area he's not a hypocrite.

Now, his idea that the biblical definition of marriage is clear makes him like most Christians, and that is woefully uneducated about the book they base their own religion on. The bible has a lot of things in it that we don't follow now. Including marriage definitions, you hear these a lot during these sorts of arguments, polygamy, marrying your brother-in-law if your husband dies before you have had a son, how much a man needs to pay the father of the woman he raped to make the marriage then binding. There is also the talk about homosexuality being an abomination. Well so is wearing cloth of two different fibers and eating shellfish. So if Mr. Cathy eats lobster and wears a cotton/poly blend then we could probably call him out for a touch of hypocrisy considering he is taking his views on homosexuality from the same passage as the shellfish and fabric.

But we don't. We say that it's silly to hold people to these odd passages. And really we should all be grateful for these touches of hypocrisy because the bible also states that disrespectful and disobedient children should be taken out to the city limits and stoned to death. How many of us would have made it out of our teen years if we had a truly biblical upbringing? Not me, that's for sure.

Now here is the thing, keep your faith. Keep the parts of it that make sense. I don't have an issue with you doing so. I don't even have an issue with you raising your children to believe what you believe. But when you start to try to actively legislate your beliefs I have issue. I have issue with the fact that you pick and choose which of your "sins" you decide should be laws. You think homosexuality is a sin so you say no gay marriage. Well, buddy, adultery makes your top ten list of sins yet it's legal. Those bible verses you like to quote about a man leaves his parents and clings to his wife, but you say it's about man and woman marriage. Know what? They are about divorce. SIN. Big one. Unless one of you is an adulterer (remember top ten list) you don't get a divorce because it's a sin. But still legal. So why aren't you out there proposing that divorce should be stricken from the books? Or that adulterers should go to jail? Why? Because that would affect too many of YOU. It's easy to say it's a sin and it should be illegal if it doesn't affect you personally.

So Mr. Cathy speaks out against gay marriage. I speak out against Mr. Cathy and also stop going to his restaurants. Mike Huckabee speaks in favor of Mr. Cathy and urges other people to go to his restaurants. J.C. Penney hires a gay spokesperson and Million Moms call for a boycott. J.C. Penney hires a gay spokesperson and I go shopping there as often as I used to. This is what living in freedom is. It's not hypocrisy to say I don't agree with you so I am making my opinion known, that's freedom. It's not hypocrisy to say I find your stance intolerable to me just because their stance is intolerance of someone else.  Again, I'm not saying it's wrong to be intolerant of everything, I am saying I don't agree with who you are being intolerant of. It's a definite distinction and one people would do well to pay attention to or else they just look stupid.

And while we are on the subject other things that make you look stupid are bringing other religion's beliefs in to the argument, "Why is it that Christians are the ones getting blasted for the anti-gay message when Muslims believe the same thing? And you know that they want us all living under Sharia law!" I don't care what your religion is, keep it to yourself and out of my law books. Why is it that people who are the most paranoid about Sharia law coming to the States are also the ones who want to legislate based off of their religious beliefs?

Heard one today about stopping driving my car because the Leaders of OPEC kill homosexuals. Really? Which ones? Or is it that you are stating that some of the people in some of the countries that are members of OPEC hold a religious belief that says that they should? Because you really don't want to wade in to the waters of what Mr. Cathy's religious beliefs have led people to do in his god's name. Or even what is a kill-able offense in the bible (remember that disrespectful children part).

Here's the deal. Mr. Cathy made his personal religious beliefs publicly known. People reacted. They either agreed or disagreed or didn't care. From those reactions to what he said and what he does with his money people were left with other decisions that they made. Either they changed their behavior (no more CFA, more CFA) or they didn't. As much as anything he gave a lesson to other companies, be very careful in today's day and age of instant media sharing what you say. If you don't want your company involved in hot topic political discussions then keep your private opinions just that. If you want to take a stand for your beliefs, then feel free. But don't expect everyone to agree with you. And it could affect your bottom line.

My friends, this is not what hypocrisy looks like.

This is what freedom looks like.

(puts soap box back in closet until next time)