Originally, I was planning on writing about why I enjoy pretending that all of the girls in every show I watch/book I read are secretly together, but I came across a video that made me so incredibly furious that I have to talk about it.
Rick Perry's Strong campaign video
Judging from the dislikes (since the view count itself is glitching), quite a few people have already seen it. The transcript of the audio is as follows for easier dissection:
"I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian, but you don't need to be
in the pew every Sunday to know there's something wrong in this country
when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly
celebrate Christmas or pray in school.
As President, I'll end Obama's war on religion. And I'll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage.
Faith made America strong. It can make her strong again.
I'm Rick Perry and I approve this message."
Perry is shown walking around in a Carhart and a belt buckle that could be considered a lethal weapon in a wooded area in an effort, I can only assume, to bring home his "I'm just a good old boy from a small town in Texas" uh... charm.
I'm not one to belittle people due to their level of education. Some people aren't cut out for it. But when someone who graduated with a cumulative 2.5 GPA with a bachelor's degree in ANIMAL SCIENCE decides they want to be the driving force behind the largest military force and economy in the world, I'm a bit hesitant.
Anyway, the content of the video.
"There's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school."
The fact that he opens the video with this statement gives me heartburn. This is nothing more than religious propaganda. Gays openly serving in the military is an issue? It's funny that this man, a member of the Republican party, has backed DADT publicly and come out with this video. Why is it funny? According to the Government Accountability Office, approximately $52,000 was spent on each investigation and expulsion over six years. In that time, over $193 million was spent in an effort to remove gay members of the military. Aren't the Republicans for cutting costs at every turn?
Money obviously isn't the issue; it's the fact that homosexuality is allegedly forbidden in the bible (I'd encourage anyone reading this to watch For the Bible Tells Me So if they haven't already, it's a wonderful documentary). As for students openly celebrating Christmas and praying with schools, I know firsthand that this is not an issue. The ban on mandatory prayer in public schools, which are funded by the government, is due to something called the First Amendment of the Constitutions, which states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
My friends prayed before lunch at school, there was a Wednesday morning bible study that was steadily attended by over fifty students a week. When it comes to being christian in the public school system, there isn't a problem. The only time people face problems with faith in schools is when they're not christian. At my high school there was a "holiday" door decorating competition, the politically correct word just used not to step on any toes. Everyone's doors were decked out with Christmas trees and stockings and pictures of Santa Claus. My homeroom (the gifted one, because I feel the need to bring that up in a sad attempt to make myself feel intelligent) was the only one who attempted to include other holidays, and we never won, not by a long shot. Obama, along with the rest of the Democratic party, are not attempting any kind of war on religion. It's quite the opposite, in fact. They're just hoping to include more faiths.
As president, I'll end Obama's war on religion.
I find this interesting given the article I recently read by the LA Times. The Air Force Academy recently created a pagan chapel in order to be more inclusive of all faiths. Maybe Governor Perry means "war on ending religious discrimination." If that's the case, I definitely see him ending it. Perry fails to realize that the margin he is pandering to is on the decline; in a survey done by Trinity College, adults identifying as Christian fell 10% between 1990 and 2008, with one out of every five respondents "failing to indicate a religious identity." The ultra-conservative views Perry is reaching out to are constantly on the decline. To further quote the study, "the 2008 findings confirm the conclusions we came to in our earlier studies that Americans are slowly becoming less Christian and that in recent decades the challenge to Christianity in American society does not come from other world religions or new religious movements (NRMs) but rather from a rejection of all organized religions."
Obama is not conducting any war on religion, Mr. Perry. America is coming to this conclusion entirely on its own.
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