Love your neighbor

There are a lot of blogs I want to write at the moment. But the most pressing is my own opinion (we all seem to have them, don't we) about all the debating going on about chicken, apparently. Honestly, I don't care whether you ate a chicken sandwich yesterday, or whether you will never eat one again (go ahead, judge me how you want for that statement), but I don't.

I, honestly, care more about what you do every other day of the year.

Let's take religion out of the equation. For some of my friends, this is hard to do. For others, you'd rather religion be off the table forever. Whatever your personal beliefs, let's leave them at the door and wipe our feet before we come to the table. No shoes are allowed at this table. No remnants of prior adventures. Today, we all wear new clothes of white and come unmarked to the table. The table - the ultimate symbol of serving and being served; a place of welcome.

All are welcome at my table.

Let's go back to 1776, to the founding fathers, who also sat at a table, and who drafted our Declaration of Independence. They, too, wanted to leave religion off the table (please don't try to argue this point, their words were chosen very carefully just because they knew the debates we are having today were going to come). The declaration (2.1) says:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

 "Their Creator." Not God, not Jesus, not Mohammed, not Allah, not Shiva. Just "their Creator." So whatever, or whoever, created us, we (ALL) are created equal. All of us. Every single one of us. Even if you believe in the big bang, what does that mean for the created (in this case, created by biological systems) embryo in a womb? The same thing that created your life, created that life. Just a thought. 

But not only are we equal, but we have the right to life. All of us have the right to life. That means the children, the poor, the rich, the straight, the gay, the tall, the short, the disabled, the sick, the homeless... I could go on. We all have the right to life. This means that no matter your religious belief, you have no right to take away someone's life in this country. NO REASON. 

We are all endowed with liberty. What did our founding fathers mean by this? This means that you have your free will. You can live your life as you choose. To some, this refers to the social contract of life: How do you view your life within the society where you live? We make our choices and live within our communities. Your choices come with the weight of responsibility for those actions on your shoulders. Not on whatever person gave you your beliefs, not on the god you chose to believe in. No: the weight of the decisions you make land on your shoulders. Personal responsibility: something we are losing more and more in our world today. 

And we are all endowed with the pursuit of happiness. It seems like many people are too wrapped up in trying to live the life we are endowed with to pursue happiness. And that is unfortunate. But again, this gets down to the fact that we are ALL endowed with the right of the pursuit of happiness. All of us. Even the people you don't like. All of us. 

And all of this is just from our Declaration of Independence. How does the Constitution begin?

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

 Wow. They establish Justice. Is that what you are doing with your time? Are you seeking out justice for your fellow American? By beating up, or ignoring the plight of your neighbor are you helping to insure domestic Tranquility? It says we are going to provide for the common defence. This means defence for everyone. Our troops do not fight for special interest groups, they fight for every person on American soil, and every American overseas. Just sayin'. General Welfare again refers to everyone. Every person. And the Blessings of Liberty are to the founders, their generation, and ALL their children later. ALL of them. Not just some of them. With this document, no American is to be disowned by their country, or denied its rights. No matter what. 


So, what were you doing today, and what will you do tomorrow, that upholds what our country was built upon? Are you making decisions that are allowing your neighbor, your fellow American (your fellow person!) to their inalienable rights? Are you allowing them their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness? Are you allowing them Justice, Tranquility, defence, general Welfare, and the Blessings of Liberty? Are you, today, being a good American, a good person? 


Even Jesus said "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." In this case, aren't they the same thing?

Love your neighbor. 

I mean, is it really that difficult to love the people around you?

Hate accomplishes nothing. Apathy accomplishes nothing. But love, well, love conquers all.