Different

Every human being is different. This goes without saying I know, but I am saying it anyway because it intrigues me. From the moment of birth are differences are there. A baby may look similar to it’s parents and even as he/she grows that may hold true, but they will not look just like their parents, nor will they think just like them or act like them. I believe if you locked to babies in a room together and made sure they experienced and saw the exact same things you would still have two totally separate, completely independent individuals. This fascinates me to no end.

Is our differences controlled by DNA or is it a more subtle means. I don’t know and I don’t really care too much about that. Although I am sure that whatever it is, is at the root of all that I am about to say.

Two undecided people, as in a political election, are presented with both sides of an argument and they may make completely different judgements. Two different judgements with the same information. I know this goes deeper, becomes more primal. People make decision on what is important to them, but there we are back to differences. The two people will have a different measure of what is important to them.

I find this simply amazing. Today more than any other time in our history we live in the information age. Of course we also live in the misinformation age too, and that is a culprit of differences in a negative way. Almost every piece of information, every fact, every statistic is available to every individual of this country and most of the world. We have the ability to learn everything there is to know about anything we are interested in. All it takes is time and patience. The sad truth of the matter is that most people don’t even bother to look at a fraction of the information available, I myself am guilty of that on more than one occasion, but then again I rarely profess to be an expert on anything.

Our country is divided on nearly every topic. Sometime not even divided in two, but into many pieces. Some say there should be no capital punishment, some say we should use capital punishment in only the most heinous crimes, and some say we should use it in all murder crimes. Given the same information, or at least with the ability to get the same information, people have divide on everything, gay rights, prostitution, alcohol, flag-burning, we can’t even decide if Miller Lite tastes great or is less filling. Given all the information that every other citizen either has seen or has access to I have decided that I am an atheist and that there is no higher power. People all around me have decided differently some being agnostic, some being baptist, cathlotic, deitist, buddhist, hindu, and jewish. So many different groups and all with access to the same information, but all with different interpretations and conclusions from that information. That is astounding, is in not?

It is amazing this capacity for difference. The only thing that amazes me more about this is how oblivious many people are to others differences. There are many times during a week or month where someone will starting making comments or jokes to me that are racist or homophobic. They do this because of an assumption that I as a straight, white male am like them. That I share the same likes and dislikes and have come to the same conclusions about life and people that they have. People that believe in a higher power can not fathom how someone can not believe in a higher power, and atheist can not imagine how some believes there is a higher power. We understand inherently that we are different form others, but we set up limits on differences and suddenly become oblivious to those that are different from us. A lot of this probably comes about because once we recognize what makes us different we immediately begin to seek out like minds. Once we find a group of like minds we associate and become one together molding our beliefs and ideas together. Somewhere in this we forget that it is our differences that brought us here, then we begin to believe that others are wrong. We forget that they are just different from us.

I know I have presented more than a few radical ideas in the past and I am sure I will shock you with more in the future. Please just remember I am different from you and you are different from me. We don’t have to agree, and I would be flabbergasted if someone agreed with me on everything. And while I don’t understand how anyone can not come to the same conclusions I have, I do understand that is the case. And I do realize and appreciate life is so much more interesting with the differences.

What Makes an American?

There has been a lot said lately about illegal immigrants, and it has left me to think just what is it that makes them less American than me.

So what exactly is it that makes an American, or a citizen of any nation for that matter. Is it simply the random chance of the origin of birth? Is it decided by this factor in conjunction with the color of one’s skin, the accent in one’s voice, and one’s firm grasp of the language of the land? Am I an American simply because I am a white man, fluent in the English dialect, who happened ,by luck of the draw, to be born in Bossier City, Louisiana? I would like to believe that what makes me a citizen of our great land is my love for this country and the ideals that it holds to. I know I may complain quite a lot about things that happen here and decision that are made. I have on more than one occasion uttered the phrase, "I am moving to Canada." But I know that my love for this land will always remain and I will die under the red, white, and blue.
So, should we as a country have an open door policy? Should everyone that wants to be an American be allowed to become one? Do we have a responsibility, in our effort to spread democracy, to allow individuals that live under a system that they deem unworthy to ours become citizens of our nation? Is someone that sneaks into this country, not to terrorize it, but to enjoy all the benefits that naturally born citizens enjoy a criminal? Do we send these people back to a government that might look unfavorably on them as deserters? Do I have any answers to these questions?

No, not really.

There is no simple answer, but I do know one thing. We should not look down on these peoples as thieves. I ask you to put yourself in their shoes, you look at America and see a land of opportunity, a land of freedom, a land of love, kindness, and tolerance. Wouldn’t you want to be there? These people in many case risk life and limb to escape and seek out freedom and opportunity. Is that not the very embodiment of American, or at least what we think America should be?

If you go to see an Ozzy Osbourne concert, you may get to see an event that is similar to our past immigration laws. People at these concerts try and try to get on stage with Ozzy. Security Guards are positioned all around the front of the stage and almost all the time they manage to stop the concert goers from getting on stage, but every once and a while someone gets through and makes it on stage with Ozzy. I saw this happen myself, and Ozzy's reaction. He threw his arm around the guy and let him sing part of a song with him and when the guy was ready he dived back into the crowd. That is a lot like what we have been doing. We guard our stage and stop most of the body surfers on their way up to our microphone and spotlight, but when one makes it. For the most part we throw our arms around them and let them mow our lawns and pick our fruit, sing in this democracy that we love. When they are ready, they dive back into the crowd they came from, which a lot of the time they do. But that does still leave the question, if they don’t dive back into the crowd, do we let them become part of the band?