Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Film Making…

Roe v Wade, two names that became one of the most divisive rulings by the United States Supreme court in history and remains a hot button topic even today. Ruled 7-2 as a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14^th Amendment, women were legally given the right to ownership of their own bodies. Yet women continue to face scrutiny and their autonomy remains threatened as lawmakers seek to overturn the decision and give constitutional rights to a nonviable fetus housed inside a living breathing person.

One could even argue that forcing a woman to be pregnant and give birth is a violation of the 13^th Amendment as stated by Andrew Koppelman; “When women are compelled to carry and bear children, they are subjected to involuntary servitude… even if the woman has stipulated to have consented to the risk of pregnancy, that does not permit the state to force her to remain pregnant.”

The right to life entwined with the overall debate of when life actually begins, continues to be debated among leaders and voters, often pitting neighbor against neighbor. The barrage of defenses gets more radical with each election cycle as myths, rumors, urban legends and out right lies are mingled with the facts. The accusations of killing babies in a back room after they have been born to repeated untruths that tax dollars are funding it, leaves everyone with an unbalanced sense of what is really happening.

The long standing Hyde Amendment of 1976 barred all federal funding of abortions (accept in the cases of rape, incest or threat of the life of the mother) yet it has gotten lost in the crossfire as Pro-Life megaphones attempt to change the narrative with false information and outright lies.

To add fuel to the fire Georgia has introduced and passed the HB481 bill, also known as a ‘heartbeat bill’. Georgia is not alone as many other states have attempted to pass or have passed such legislation in recent years. Of course, it includes verbiage for exemptions in cases of rape, which will also require a police report that will only allow for further legal red tape as her accusation is weighed. The oppression of women continues and its mind boggling to me that in 2019 we are still fighting for equality in a country founded on the ideology of freedom.

Numerous unions and individuals from Hollywood have spoken out against this bill and threatened to withdrawal the film industry from the state, taking with it the millions of dollars it generates in taxes. The opposition, demanding these ‘elitists’ save their performances for the screen, don’t seem to grasp what the fiscal impact of this decision will have on them and their state. Governor Kemp doesn’t seem to care either, and why should he? This is a man who sought to suppress the vote of thousands in his state in order to steal an election from a woman. It’s no surprise he would support a bill that indeed oppresses women and suppresses their constitutional rights. The party of 'less government' doesn't seem to understand what LESS actually means! 

I stand with Hollywood and applaud those with a global, national and influential platform for using it for the greater good of ALL! Women must not allow their bodies to become the property of any government! *The Handmaid's Tale ring a bell to anyone?

Abortion is a medical procedure for a medical condition. Believe it or not, pregnancy is a CONDITION, one that like others is treated by a doctor until which time the condition is no longer present. All people should have the legal right to make their OWN medical decisions in regards to their own medical conditions. You can call it whatever you want, but until you have been forced to be pregnant, forced to give birth and forced to become a parent you really need to sit down and shut up!

No where in these unconstitutional bills does it ever include all factors leading to the condition. Women get pregnant and the burden falls to them. The men that participate in causing the condition are not held in any level of accountability. They are not required to put their bodies through the trauma of pregnancy and birth, or the financial hardship of child bearing and rearing. They do not face any legal or financial implications for their participation beyond an order for child support which many states don’t enforce. Pregnancy is a woman’s problem, period. If you are pregnant you are solely responsible, which is exactly why a woman should have the legal right to decide how to treat her condition.

If we are going to punish women for expelling a potential life, then men should have equal legal ramifications for every sperm they expel that does not result in a human life. Their sperms ‘potential’ is no different than a nonviable fetus’s potential after all, yet men continue to dictate the rights of women while keeping their own intact.

Let’s not forget that the same megaphone squawkers demanding women be forced to give birth are often the same radicals screaming against affordable health care, food assistance and subsidized housing. Reverberating to the masses the standard message of “We don’t want to assist you in raising a child but dammit you WILL have one!” and somehow that seems right and just.

Equality looms in the balance every day in this country and the battle is wrought with hatred and fear. When we as a society cannot accept our brothers and sisters unconditionally, how can we expect to raise another generation and ensure love is at the helm. Freedom remains an ideology that is as fluid as any ocean, one never knows what form it will take or how we will all survive the storms it brings, but one thing is certain it has never come easily or free.

May we all rise up and greet this ever winding road with peace in our hearts and freedom still outside our front doors.

America Bleeds

The blood that flows from America runs thick and chaotic. The land of the free no longer so brave. I can not even wrap my head around the barrage of violence and hatred, that filters through every sound bite, of every media outlet, of millions of social media meme’s; but I’m sure there is someone I can ask, who will explain it all to me.

A persons character was once judged by their ability to face their adversaries, head on, strong and vigilant in their beliefs; willing to die for their god, their family, their country. Always lending a hand to help a neighbor, a family in need, a community. I grew up in a world where one didn’t have to pass a litmus test before they were loved, cared for and protected. Sure racism and bigotry has existed, probably since the beginning of time itself, but these were the things that I was being taught to reject, to cleanse our world of. I was being instructed to lift my fellow man up, that no one was beneath me and that we all are responsible for one another.

For a decade now, people stopped speaking up, stopped asking questions, stopped helping their brother an sisters. They no longer stood in the light of day, ready to defend their rights, they instead chose to hide behind a keyboard, held up in some obscure room in some remote place not found on a map. Tapping out hatred and bigotry. Relieving themselves of all the pent up judgments and discourse filling their hearts. Filling blog after endless blog with their conspiracies and theories of a government trying to control them, trying to obliterate their rights and stall their pursuit of happiness. Why they didn’t just demand term limits and transparency from the very government they were electing into office escapes me, but I am sure there is a politician I can ask.

Now the pot is boiling over, the steam has risen to the skies and a darkness has rolled in.  The have reappeared, slowly they have crawled from the darkness and safety of their homes and they are now running rampant on our streets, in our cities and towns. They are carrying the pitchforks of propaganda signs and spewing the rehearsed rhetoric of the day. Most have no idea what it is they really believe, but they are certain their beliefs are being trampled on, and they are looking for a leader to point the finger for them, to name a target, to give them the sacrificial lamb that will bring back what they perceive they have lost. I’m not sure what it is they have lost, but I’m sure there is a newscaster I can ask.

I do not advocate violence, though I can understand the knee-jerk thought of throat punching someone who has just spit on me. Though I am of the make love not war mindset, I have also found myself on occasion curling my fist and wishing to pummel another human being. I am after all human.  I am someone who believes in protecting all that is good in this world; our children, our elders, our freedoms and our country.  I believe that being the loudest voice in the room doesn’t make you the right voice. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m sure there is some psychologist on television I can ask.

I don’t understand the deep rooted hatred that is spilling over our country and ensnaring our citizens, like a serpent in the night. I do not subscribe to any specific religious order, but I know many who do. My favorite Aunt was born and raised in the southern vein of our country. She fiercely believed in her Christian god and prayed for me a time or two. She was never heard speaking ill of anyone, nor would she turn her back on someone in need. I’m sure there were people she didn’t particularly care for, and am certain there were many ideals in this world she would have never subscribed to though she never said so. She was of the belief that if it did not serve her god it was not worth her time. She didn’t live as though she were above anyone, nor would she ever accept she was less than anyone else. If you were of a different belief she still prayed for you and she still embraced you. After all, the son of her god regularly embraced thieves, prostitutes, adulterers and liars. It was not her job to change others, it was merely her calling to live life in such a way as to emulate the god she worshipped.

When I see Christians today chanting for the death of someone they don’t even know, or advocating for violence against anyone who does not believe as they do, I am baffled and confused. This is not the example of Christianity I was raised with, and I can not begin to comprehend whom this serves; I wish she were still here so I could ask.

There is this one cousin of mine, she and I are a lot  alike. We help those in need, advocate for peace and love our families fiercely.  I have never heard her utter a word against America. She doesn’t dribble the remnants of hate from her lips nor does she plot against anyone. She was born and raised in this country, she comes from a family of strong women. She also happens to be Muslim. I know there are radicals in this country and in others, that use their religion like armor and stand behind it in some twisted, unrealistic way to justify their need to murder. The Muslims I know, are not like that. Just as all the Christians I know are not bigoted. I am not sure why some are, but I’m certain there is a conspiracy theorist I can ask.

My daughters are young adults, they are strong and independent in their own ways. They know and believe in hard work and sacrifice. They aren’t sitting around waiting for the government to hand them a life, they were raised better than that. Yet they, like so many others,  are tired of the status quo in this country. They know that when government began subsidizing college it gave the Universities free reign to jack their tuitions up. With guaranteed funds from the government ensuring anyone could go to college, the schools had nothing to lose. Now the costs are so exorbitant the only way, our children can further their education is to submit to a life time of debt, for a degree that no longer guarantees them a job. 

I know people believe this group of 20 somethings have no clue about life, working hard and building a life for themselves. Yet those that came before didn’t leave them a piece of the American Dream, we left them with a crumbling government, no industry, no decent paying blue collar jobs, and no paths to pave to greatness. They face a country that is forcing them into suffocating amounts of debt, into purchasing health care that they will never benefit from, all so those that refuse to work can have complete health care coverage at no cost to them.  They know that working hard doesn’t mean rising up. They know a system that rewards the lazy and punishes the self-sufficient. They are facing neighbors that recite hate on a daily basis, they can’t escape the constant machine of the 24 hour news cycle. As they sit in a classroom trying to learn, they are made to practice drills in case of a shooter. They know more than any other generation how quickly things can change, how swiftly their lives can be over. They have no idea why things are like this, but I’m sure there is a political party they can ask.

I grew up shooting guns, working hard, making sacrifices.  I have many life experiences with which I can learn from. I have never believed America owes me a thing. I have watched this country go from great respect around the world to a laughing stock, and I don’t believe a single President caused that. A country is made up of millions of people, each of us representing what it stands for, and more importantly what it stands against.  No President has ever taken my guns, nor threatened too. I have never lost a job I wanted to an immigrant, legal or otherwise. My life has never been minimized because of someone else’s marriage, or choice in life partner. I have never been denied the right to have children or not, nor have I been forced to worship a particular god or sect. I have never raised my voice in hate toward my fellow man , while standing behind religion to justify my own failings. Everyday it seems the relentless back and forth of blame, discontent and loathing need only a shot of whiskey to be the next hit country song. I don’t know why people are proclaiming the things that make us different, will be the downfall of America, but I’m sure there is a songwriter I can ask.

You need only turn on the television, open your laptop or tap your phone to know that America is in trouble; and its not going to be saved by dividing it further. Building walls and dictating change won’t make it happen. Greatness has never been built when hate is your foundation. I can only deeply hope and pray that when this upheaval is over, we all awaken along this winding road with freedom still at our front doors.