Today, America remembers those who sacrificed everything to defend life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. May those who never made it home from war be honored, every day, freedom ringing for everyone. On this day, let us be mindful of those who did come home and face the daily struggle with the trauma and constant violence of war.
I am a white, Anglo-Saxon, protestant from the United States and I am so tired of white, Anglo-Saxon evangelicals telling people what they can do or not do with their own bodies. Also, I grow weary of them making life really, really hard for LGBTQ people who did nothing to bother them. Their brand of morality is intrusive and goes against life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. My goodness, no one asked them to get involved in the private lives of others. This is not being a good neighbor in the sense of live and let live. What happened to freedom in America?
Justice in my mind is about helping to right wrongs done in society. It’s not an instrument of revenge or something used as a weapon. A crime committed years ago must be answered eventually.
I am not a lawyer, but I imagine what we see in the Trump cases is not about harming him as a political candidate but bringing him in front of a court of law and being judged by a jury of his peers.
It’s plain to see the crimes Trump has committed and I believe he will do again. He must never hold high office again. Justice for Trump is him in federal prison.
He is not hurt much in the polls as a candidate but he has been indicted for crimes against democracy. As a country, the United States is founded on the principle of liberty and justice for all. So that is what I have to say about that.
We have a world where being different is not cool in reality. Conforming to ideals and ideas that come from cruelty and hate seems to be expected. People who you thought were your neighbors are the ones wanting to harm you instead. Waving a flag just because you are expected to or obeying the words of leaders who seek to cause people more harm than good is not what some folks signed up for well they were born into it so they don’t have much choice in the matter.
My friends, my homeland lies elsewhere
I dream of a place where people are allowed to be their authentic selves. Space so they can breathe and dream and hope and love with passion. A time where they can live long days and nights with little cares in the world. Where people will do no harm and legislate how we are to live our lives. May we find this place sooner rather than later. May it come in our day. No matter our gender, sexuality, religion, politic, ethnicity, race and all the other labels may everyone have a home to call their own and a seat at every table. This is where I want to call home.
On this the 241st birthday of The United States of America I am a firm believer that every American (and everyone around the world) should have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as prescribed by the Declaration of Independence which was bravely signed by some very wise men during the early days of this nation.
I think if you are believer, non-believer, LGBTQ, immigrant, refugee, male, female, everyone should be afforded the rights to be who you were created to be. Our racial and ethnic diversity should be celebrated too. I also think that globally people should have the freedom to be, to be. There are too many people trying to make decisions about how people are to live and that’s not right.
In America people from all places on Earth have come to this place to find a new home, new opportunities and shelter from oppression. It is my hope they will never find America a new place where because of who they are they are not welcome.
It has been said that America is an experiment and it is still true. However let’s hope the results of this experiment result in a place where people are indeed free to be. May the world take note and may places where people aren’t free be encouraged to seek out a new path where they too have the rights to life in abundance, liberty to be who they are and happiness where they can have joyful participation in all of what life has for them.
“Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” is a well-known phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence. This is also something that I feel should be extended to every human being around the world.
No matter who we are or where we come from everyone should have the right to a life of their choosing, the liberty to work for it and the freedom to pursue Happiness. One thing I would say is that no human being should prevent another from being able to be who they want as long as its legal, ethical and does not impact others in a negative way. So that means you can’t go streaking naked through a movie theatre yelling fire, fire!
No matter who you are, you should be able to dream big, achieve big and to do good things that can make a difference for your friends and neighbors. America is great when life, liberty and happiness are accessible to everyone no matter creed, orientation, race or ethnicity. It’s my hope no matter where you live in the world you have the opportunities to be who you choose to be in the place where you are now.
Be happy and make the world a better place by being yourself and living well.
The Tony Burgess Blog 