Contradictions

Today I'd like to talk about contradiction. This was originally inspired by a Google+ post by a friend of mine, who often comments on political issues. Lately, he's had a lot to say about the new proposed SOPA and Protect IP bills. He linked to this page: http://boingboing.net/2011/11/11/stop-sopa-save-the-internet.html

Though I love my friend dearly and respect his opinion, I think a combination of fatalism and an 'oh, it will all be ok' feeling keep me from achieving quite his level of "We must tell everyone!" outrage, especially when I hear about things from a less-than mainstream media source. So, here's what wikipedia has to say: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protect_IP_Act

And the Atlantic Monthly: http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/248573/

It's obviously censorship. For a nation that purports to hate censorship, we certainly do toy with it all too often. But - contradictions.

As I stood in the shower (sorry, too much information? - at any rate, as I went about my morning routine) pondering my friend's post, and why, if it concerns me so much, I'm not writing a letter to my congressman - why I can read his Occupy Wall Street posts with equal interest and not the slightest urge whatsoever to go downtown and Occcupy my own city with the 20-or-so ragtag protesters who are currently doing it. And I think a lot of my ambivalence stems from the fact that it would then put me in a box.

You see, we've become a nation of boxes. I wouldn't be me anymore, Annie, free to take whichever side of a debate I choose. I would be a LIBERAL. And I wouldn't fit in with the liberals either. Everything is either black or white, and I feel like I'm nothing of the sort. For instance:

I'm a Catholic who believes that, while no one should be forced to have a child against their will, there ought to be another option. Specifically, if you feel you cannot raise a child, it should be just as economically feasible for the government/an agency/the same types of groups who sponsor abortions now to pay you a living stipend while you have a child, and then find someone to adopt. Many people want babies. Many people don't, but have them anyway. Let's get these groups together, so everyone will be happy. I also believe that most people know what unborn babies look like, so showing them pictures of fetuses accomplishes absolutely nothing for one side or the other. It just makes people mad/righteously angry, whichever applies.

I believe you should have the right to worship whoever you choose, be it God, Allah, the goddess or Ganesh. This includes wearing headscarves and religious symbols, but does not include getting angry when others don't want to join you. Again, getting angry accomplishes nothing. Setting a good example does.

Yet, I believe that I had good reasons to choose a Catholic church and don't see how my conceding that you might not be wrong makes me any less right. Isn't faith supposed to be a mystery? Maybe that's the trouble. Mystery went the way of compromise, to make room for two groups of people on different sides of a fence, each convinced of their own rightness.

I believe that soldiers are brave and self-sacrificing, and deserving of our care packages and support when they come home. And not all wars are unjust. Regardless of how you feel about a war, when you look at a soldier, you are looking at a man (or woman), who felt so strongly about protecting his country, his family, and your family, that he would fly across the world and risk his life to do it. That isn't something you do lightly.

On the other hand, even the most just war can cause destruction that wasn't intended, and more needs to be done to combat this, and to acknowledge it. The longer you keep fighting in one place, the more you grow to view those people as the enemy. I'm not sure what the solution to this is, but it makes me sad to see it.

So you see, if I started protesting now, I would have to choose. You can't hold all of these opinions at once in good company. The moment you start to put your thoughts out there, you are expected to choose: pro-life or pro-choice; pro-war or anti? There are only two camps, which means that you can only hold two sets of opinions - no picking and choosing. I just think if you're going to be pro-life, then you should be pro-life - meaning that as much as possible, people should have the chance to live a good life, with peace, and ample food to eat and places to sleep, and freedom to enjoy it. Why isn't that a position all its own?