Perspectives: Sam’s Perspective – Choices

In this culture, in this society, in this state, in this nation, we have rights. The founding fathers in all their wisdom, took care of that. If you have any doubts, take a look at the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It’s a big deal and its also the envy of a great many countries and the scourge of some others.

We can make choices based on personal taste and those choices can be fascinating. Action movies or romantic comedies? Pants or overalls. Tennis shoes or boots? Fishing or baseball? Republican, Democrat or Independent? To speak out for or against an issue or not,… We have the right to go either way. What about religion or not? A good book or the internet? Global warming or a snowball on the floor of the U.S. Senate? What about a name for a child? I refuse to use the word kid because generally speaking, we don’t give names to goats unless they are pets. But I digress. Back to the subject at hand. To retire to a life of fishing or golf or continue trying to stay in the saddle and with dented armor and scared lance charge all those windmills?

I picked the latter. So many windmills,… so little time. One could fill a book with choices to be made and not cover them all. However,… some are more important than others and demand our attention. Should it be mandatory for all children to be vaccinated? Should revisionists be allowed to apply their little hatchets to history because whatever they believe is more important than what really happened in the past?

Now, you see,… it starts to get tricky. The difference between personal choices and the choices we want everyone else to make. To think the way we do even if it sets mankind back a few decades.

I’m eight years older than my brother. He is Catholic, I’m Methodist. He is a Republican and I’m a Democrat. Those two areas alone are enough to cause a war. Do we argue? Of course! Do our disagreements ever get physical? No. I love my brother and respect his right to believe whatever he wants. He feels the same about me. We do have clear lines of demarcation,… we never talk religion or politics at a trout stream. Pursuit of the sly Rainbow or Brown always takes precedence over earthly matters you see.

My older granddaughter once climbed up in my lap and asked, “Grandaddy, what is war?” A big question for a then 7-year-old. Years later during a big family dinner, the discussion centered around the rights of gay and lesbian Americans and whether they should be allowed to marry. This same granddaughter made the observation “I don’t understand why two people who love each other aren’t allowed to marry.” This was before the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and she was only 13-years-old.

Out of the mouths of babes. Same sex marriage. The majority of Americans support it. Its always intriguing to me when folks say they are against it, based on their religion since Jesus never addresses the topic. These same folks always say, to be gay or lesbian is a choice. Which begs the question,…when did you choose to be straight?

And that’s my perspective