Liberty And Justice For All*

America is tearing itself apart, and it’s a whole lot more than blue vs red. Now that the second Republican debate has come and gone, it’s becoming more and more apparent that America is hitting its head on a brick wall, going over the same petty issues without ever stepping back to see if what we’re fighting for makes any sort of sense in the first place.

// One Nation, Under God

Whatever happened to the First Amendment? You know, that little sticky note on the Constitution that says all Americans have religious freedom? Well, it’s been thrashed about by politicians to take on a new meaning. America is no longer (if it ever was) a place of true religious freedom, and has become a place where anyone outside of a Christian sect is an outsider, and has their voice silenced.

Separation of church and state should be absolute, because it keeps these petty arguments at bay. The ‘politicians’ who stood on stage for the debate and proudly stated that Kim Davis’ protest was in any way comparable to Dr. King’s voluntary inprisonment is sickening, and should prove just how important those five words are. When she took the job, she knew the law. If the law changed in a way that interfered with her personal religious beliefs, she should have accepted it or quit. Being an asshole and ‘protesting’ for your right to be homophobic isn’t a congratulatory affair. It’s embarrassing, to Davis and to America as a whole. Religion is between you, whoever you believe in and your place/community of worship, and that’s it. We cannot allow religion to be used as a scapegoat for personal prejudices, and then have said prejudices passed into law. Believe whatever you want out of a dusty old book, but do not think you have any right to use those beliefs as a platform to deny me or anyone else access to marriage, contraception, abortions, citezenship or anything else. That is not religious freedom, that’s religious elitism.

Thinking your beliefs above all others can influence laws instantly disregards any other beliefs people may have, and says loud and clear that you have no respect for anyone outside of your own belief system. We don’t all believe in your god, and we don’t all believe in a god at all. Let’s keep it that way, and live our own spiritual lives without pushing them onto others. If you want to fight access to abortion based on facts, then we can talk. But quoting a book that only a portion of society sees as valid is not the way to do so.

// All Men Are Created Equal

Remember that? That’s a neat little line from the Declaration of Independence, one that I would think states itself quite clearly. Except, we seem to forget it whenever it becomes convenient. Deeply-entrenched racism, xenophobia and homo/trans/etc phobias, they’re all here and it’s all still going strong. For a nation founded on the idea that it would be a place of ‘liberty and justice for all,’ it seems to have quite the footnote at the end of the page.

Trump wants to deport over 11 million people from the US. Before I even get into the logistics, let me remind you that in reality, ‘Americans’ stole this land from the natives. So right off the bat, we kind of have a false sense of entitlement by way of xenophobia to land that was taken by force. Next, I’d love to know how Trump plans to deport 11 million people. We build a giant water slide and push them all back into Mexico, I suppose? Besides the fact that many of them have legitimate families, jobs and communities that would have to be stripped of them in the process.

I’ve already discussed the religion vs human rights issue above, but it’s important to remember that despite equality being the law of the land, we actively discriminate against people of color, women, people of the LGBT+ community, foreigners and those with disabilities. We parade ‘The American Dream’ as a way for anyone to have a stable life, but we forgot to add the line ‘for white, straight men’ underneath. Women still aren’t paid on par with men for equal work, LGBT+ people are still legally able to be refused service based purely on who they love, and people of color are still at a gross disadvantage when it comes to police response and use of violence, let alone their myriad of other issues.

Officers arrest a Muslim high school student because of his homemade clock, but calmly take Dylan Roof out of a black church in which he shot and killed nine people, later even openly stating it was based on race (though Fox would have you believe “it’s not a race issue”). In fact, after stating he was hungry, the police officers brought him to a Burger King and bought him lunch for god’s sake.

Muslim hate crimes have absolutely skyrocketed since the events of 9/11, and show America’s knack for finding an excuse to distance themselves from human tragedies. Every time we see how the ease of obtaining a weapon in this country can lead to violence and shootings, we categorize the killer as insane, mentally inept, or just ‘troubled.’ As long as we can pretend they were anything other than one of us the day before the event, we can sleep at night.

// Conclusion

America is a land built on hypocrisy. We pledge freedom and acceptance, but give none to anyone who looks, loves or believes differently than us. We think personal beliefs can influence law, and that being told your beliefs can’t impede on basic human rights is discrimination. Religious freedom is nothing more than words on a page, and the separation of church and state even more so. Everyone’s a good, law abiding citizen until they’re forced to see that society is changing, and all of a sudden they become a martyr fighting for ‘traditional’ (read: archaic) ways of living.

Sure, I get it. If you grew up in a world where being anything other than straight or cisgender, white and Christian was basically seen as freakish by everyone from kids in school to the President, it might be weird to see all these things ‘coming up’ all of a sudden. But in reality, all that’s happening is that these social/human rights issues can finally come to light, now that people live in a world where being different doesn't guarantee being mocked, tarred and feathered, or worse.

We still have a long way to go. These prejudices are still deep in our society, and it may be another few generations before kids learn from the start that being different doesn’t mean you’re not human, and thus don’t deserve the rights and respect that everyone else does. It’s ironic that those who protest gay people are ‘a poor influnce on future generations’ think teaching kids to be homophobic and close-minded is a more intelligent alternative.

I can’t wait for the day I can go to class without worrying about keeping part of myself from those I know would hate me. I can’t wait for the day imigrants and people of color can feel safe around the police, or even walking down the street. I can’t wait for the day we can stop calling it ‘gay marriage’ and we can stop asking ‘who’s the wife wife in the relationship?’ I can’t wait for the day people in their fourth marriage can stop using ‘sanctity’ as an excuse for discrimination.

And I can’t wait for the day ‘liberty and justtice for all’ truly begins to mean something for a country founded on those words.