Thoughts on July 4th (almost)

Well, in just over 2 hours it will be the 4th of July (yippie yippie yeah) and what am I doing? I'm sitting on my bed, typing a blog entry while listening to "Steel Magnolias" for the um-teen-millionth time and yet, I still have a good time with it.

For those who may not live in the United States of the Corporation (oops sorry, of America), we are supposedly going to celebrate the freedoms that our founding fathers fought and, in some cases, died for. I sometimes wonder what they would think of what has become of their great political experiment.

One of the three best selling books of the 19th century was a book called "Democracy in America" by Alexis de Tocqueville. It's a book that I think every American should be required to read. Not only does it give an amazingly accurate picture of what this country could become, it also gives many warnings about the possible pitfalls that the country could avoid if watched for. As with any author, I don't always agree with everything, but it's definitely in the right ballpark. Strange that people almost never heed the warnings of those who give good advice.

Not just in politics (from the Latin poli meaning many and ticks being small blood-sucking creatures) but our religions do likewise. We have these great and noble teachers who say they have knowledge that will help us find salvation, our true nature or just a better way of doing things in general, so what do we do? We kill them, pervert their teachings till the truth in them is nearly indecipherable and then run around killing anyone who might have a clue to what they are all saying in the first place--strange breed we humans are aint we?

So what does all this have to do with the 4th of July? We are living in an age where the freedom of speech is slowly being whittled away at in the name of Political Correctness (PC) which I definitely do NOT believe in. It's one thing to be considerate of the feeling of those around you, but the idea that you have some right to never hear something you might find offensive or unsettling is laughable in its ridiculousness. The fact is that there are times when you need to be completely rattled and hear something you are going to hate, but need to hear.

While it's not there yet, we are being guided in a direction that could very easily turn into a Christian theocracy if we are not careful. I'm not a harbinger of doom,so I don't worry about it, but as Jesus warned his disciples, know the signs of the times to see what's happening around you (ok, it's a questionable paraphrase of Matthew 16:2-3 but you get the point). Now why would I worry about a theocratic state since I am a spiritual student? (You ever see "John Carpenter's Escape from L.A."? A particular view of Christianity becomes the law and any other sects and religions are banished to a prison island. Yes, I'm quite aware that it is only a movie, but the point is obvious in its outlandishness.) As the ability to express differing opinions is slowly diminished, people like myself may find our outlets decreasing. What and who's truth will be allowed.

It's not possible? I hope you are right, but in the new world of conglomerate news, how many differing opinions do you hear? There are a few that tell a different side of the story but little by little, there voices are being made to carry the "official party line."