Sticking my head out!

I am well aware that I may both deserve, and receive, a slap across the face from several of you after you read my post today. They say that among friends you should never discuss religion and politics. Well so far I have exposed all of you to a lot of religious musings without having been smacked around, so it may be about time.

I am and have always been a proud Liberal, but what I am going to say now, may by some be perceived as if I have joined the "enemy's" camp and become a traitor to my own. I am guilty of neither offense.

I was watching the coverage of Glenn Beck's rally in DC this morning. Personally I think the guy is a blabbering idiot, that really just should be ignored, the more we pay attention to him, the more tickled he will be! But.... what struck me and actually also annoyed me, was all of the liberal people, who were upset that Beck will be hosting a rally at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

This is not an issue about whether or not Beck should be allowed to speak from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. We live in a country with free speech, and therefore as liberals it is our duty to support his right to have his rally. We don't have to like it, but we have no right to fight it!

Two of multiple definitions of "liberal" on Dictionary.com are

1: Favoring or permitting freedom of action, esp. with respect to matters of personal belief or expression

2: Favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.


To me those two definitions represent the essence of what it means to be a liberal to me, just because someone does not have the same values or ideas as I do, does not make his or her ideas less valid!

Yeah, Beck probably could have picked a different time and place for his rally, but he didn't...just like the New York mosque. Did he do it to cause controversy and uproar by doing it in the same location and on the 47th anniversary of King's I have a Dream speech? I don't doubt it for a second, this was all a well thought out plan. Beck wanted to make us come out and show that we are really not as liberal as we would like people to think we are. And guess what? Some of us fell for it!

Let him rally away, we will always have King, he fought to make sure that we all have the right to free speech, even Glenn Beck. If supporting Mr Beck's rally at this inopportune time and place makes me less of a liberal, then so be it. In my mind it makes me more of one!

Enjoy your weekend! I look forward to taking on feminism :-)

P

Contact email keepinghopejourney@gmail.com