I was born at an early age...

To two wonderful parents. I was very lucky with both of them. The gods smiled down upon me, if you will. If you are Rick Santorum, than maybe you would say God, Jesus, and Mary. Maybe some of the saints. Hey Rick, Fuck Your God. Anyway, when I was young, my mom introduced me to me. She would tell me all the time to be who I was. Not to be her son, or someone's brother, but to be ME. My dad reinforced that idea and taught me the lessons of hard work and respect for myself. Work hard, do a good job, and you can sleep at night and feel good about whoever you are.

I am truly glad that both of those people, who had tremendous influence on me, taught me such valuable lessons. I am reasonably well adjusted with a fairly good reputation. Not without my share of enemies, mind you, but a fairly good reputation.

The reason for all of this has to do with religion and god in politics. I realize that separating your spirituality from secular beliefs can be quite hard. Much of who we are depends on how we were raised and what god we believe in. This forms alot of our moral character. That will form much of how we believe society should behave. But there is something we must keep in mind as well. Not everyone believes in the same god as you or me. Not everyone adheres to the same religious dogma. If we are truly to belong to a country that welcomes diverse religious beliefs and allows a freedom to worship as we feel is right and just for ourselves, how can we impose Judeo-Christian beliefs across the board? It seems unfair to those who don't adhere. Much of the spread of the early colonies that became this wonderful country was the secesion of a religious group to other areas so that they could worship freely. Pennsylvania, Maryland, Utah. All to go and worship a god they felt was right. And now we wish to squash that right, that freedom, and that spirituality with laws and rules that would only cater to current Judeo-Christian beliefs.

Are you paying attention to the likes of Rick Santorum, and GW Bush? Have you really looked at Pat Robertson and James Dobson? These are people that want to moralize you according to their belief system. They want you to become Stepford citizens and only think as they do. Well, I find that stifling to my spirituality and moral code. I find that offensive to my person. And I find that in contradiction to both the founding of this country and the Constitution that says I am created equal. By whomever that creator may be.

Chuck