Friday, August 4, 2017

Sweet land of liberty

It is way too late for me to be up writing, so I am posting this totally unedited.

I love America.
I love living in a country based on the principle of freedom,
Freedom to be who I want to be,
Choose my path,
Speak out about things I am passionate about and against what I think is unjust or unfair.
I love that I have solid values
Instilled in me by my parents and also through life experiences,
Things that happened to me as a child
That taught me about people
Taught me about myself
And helped shape my sense of right and wrong.

I love America.
I don’t always love what I see America becoming.
I don’t like seeing hatred and fear
In the voices and eyes of young children,
I don’t like hearing and seeing adults treating other human beings as lesser beings
Based on color, gender, sexual orientation, political party, opinions on abortion and guns
Based on anything.
We are flesh and blood,
People.
We may not have the same beliefs,
But we are flesh and blood
We bleed, we hurt, we grieve, we get scared, we want to believe in something, we want to be loved.
We want.
We need.
 
I love America.
And I am not Christian.
I don’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus
My definition of God is personal to me.
I don’t belong to a church or synagogue or temple.
Does that make me a pagan?
A non believer?
If so, what do those labels mean?
Many times I am the only non Christian in the room,
Which at times I have felt uncomfortable
When everyone bows their head to say grace at a public event.
Or everyone assumes I can’t do something on Sunday because I have to go church.
Nearly every day someone tells me “Have a blessed day.”
I’m not sure what that means
Or why people say that instead of “Hope you have a good day.”
Is a blessed day better than a good day?

I love America
But some days I feel like I am in a foreign country,
  A land where if the people around me knew my beliefs
  just because I say I love America, it wouldn’t be enough.
My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.