Wow…just wow! It never amazes me what people think they know about the Constitution! While I might be the first to admit it isn’t perfect, if the lawyer/politicians would quit jacking around with it, and people understood it, it would be alright. A few days ago on the dreaded Facebook, I read a post having to do with a protest of Target, because they are friendly to the Gay community, and, their dressing rooms are gender neutral, as are their bathrooms, oh, and Target is apparently trying to redefine the First Amendment.
I will be the first person to tell you that you have a right to protest a business for any reason, as long as you do it peacefully without physical harm to the business or its patrons. That being said, I find this protest, for the most part, laughable.
Isn’t it interesting, though, that people (in general, political parties, specifically) claim we are a free nation? Ultimately, though, the freedom they speak of is freedom within the confines of their definition, which usually isn’t real freedom. It’s a small, predetermined set of choices with limits from which you can choose.
Our own Declaration of Independence is a masterful piece of work. I wonder how many people have truly read it? I wonder if anyone truly understands it? Well, it tells us we have the RIGHT to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…period. AND, the document tells us that “to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” The government’s job is to protect our rights.
Before the lawyer/politicians messed with the Constitution, adding and limiting freedoms (yes, they did…), the freedoms and rights remained with the people first, then the states. Remember, our founding generation had just fought a war for freedom. They weren’t about to give that up. One of the main purposes of the Constitution was to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” (The abuses foisted upon the Indigenous and the Blacks will be the subject of another post, another time.)
Look more closely at Amendments Nine and Ten of the Bill of Rights:
Amendment Nine:
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment Ten:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
And, to understand these, you must first know what, exactly, the enumerated powers of Congress were. That would be Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution. I encourage you to take the time to read it…carefully.
Let’s take the first offense by the Target protestors, redefining marriage. How many people actually know why marriage licenses are required in this country? Yeah, I didn’t think many…well…look into it! Back in the day, the government required a marriage license so that the government could keep up with interracial couples…now, they require you to GET PERMISSION to marry…after all, isn’t that what a license is? Asking permission to do something? Your right to marry isn’t a right. If it were, you wouldn’t need to ask permission! (I never really understood why the Gay community wanted this, except for the spousal benefits…I do get that!). Look back at Article 1 Section 8. Nowhere in there does it say the government has the right to oversee your marriage to another! The states actually govern that, but still…should they have the right? People should be revolting rather than turning over their right to marry whom they want. AND, we act like it’s too late to take back our right to marry whomever we want…it’s not!
The second offense is in the gender neutral dressing rooms. Have you ever shopped at Goodwill? Yeah, they have dressing rooms on both sides of the store, but I’ve seen women go over and use the “men’s” dressing rooms when the women’s are filled up…on more than one occasion! I guess we don’t care about that…AND, it’s not like all the dressing rooms don’t have doors on them, with locks! Who cares whose in the dressing room next to you? If you can lock your door and you can dress in privacy, who cares!
As the mother of two girls, I will and do take offense to gender neutral bathrooms. I’ve heard stories from reliable sources of men who prey on boys and young men in public restrooms. Ever heard of NAMBLA? I would and could never allow my son (had I had one!) to go into a men’s bathroom alone! But now, we are finding that pedophilia is way more common than we thought. Are we going to trust grown men in bathrooms with our little girls (or vise versa?)? We also have the elderly, who were reared in a much more modest time. Just because we feel the need to be more sexually free, are we going to subject our grandmother’s (and grandfather’s) to that? I simply don’t see the need. If you have girl parts, use the girl’s restroom; if you have boy parts, use the boy’s..but that’s my opinion!
And, as for the last grievance on the website for the protest organizer, a friend pointed it out, how in the world is Target trying to undermine free speech? Just a question that needs asking! I’m sure Target couldn’t care less what you say because they are going to do what they feel is best for them, anyway. Please…
Protest if you will…because one the very best ways to get your point across is through withholding your hard-earned dollars from offending businesses. But, as for you offended “Christians,” I need someone to tell me how marriage equality hurts your way of life? No one is forcing you into a marriage you don’t want. No one is withholding your right to join in union with whomever you choose. SO, explain to me how this affects marriage for YOU personally?
And, while we may not agree with each other on what constitutes happiness, it is our right to pursue happiness in this country. If we live in a truly free country, no one person’s happiness should be more important than another person’s. Remember, though, with freedom comes responsibility, so as long as you are not forcing me to apply your definition of happiness to myself, I, quite frankly, support your happiness. As long as you are not harming another person, be happy! And just a reminder to the “Christians” reading this, just remember, Jesus said the two most important commandments are Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself…these two are the sum of all the commandments…AND, it doesn’t say, love your neighbor when he agrees with you…it simply says love your neighbor as yourself…just sayin’!
Debbie Lewis 