I have grown up in some very strange times that confuse me about what freedom is all about. I was born in the mid-50s and I'm still kicking as they say, but I must tell you not as high as I used to. 

I remember when if a girl got pregnant out of wedlock she was ostracized by the community and abandoned by her family. Now it's not only preferred by the masses that she keeps it, but they try and legislate her right to choose.  I have never thought killing an unborn Child should be used as a form of birth control so I'm not confused about why people feel so strongly about abortion, but what I am confused about is the changes in what is considered right and wrong in this case. I am also highly confused about why someone's right to choose to keep a baby or not keeping a baby is considered so horrible. I would understand it if they gave a better alternative then Abortion to the poor girl who is going through so much emotion and heartache. I have never heard of a group of the right to life organizations building orphanages or making adoption organizations for this specific purpose. I see people so profoundly entrenched in a faith that would condone the murdering of doctors that perform abortions and not give alternative choices to those that seek abortions because they think it is their only recourse to an unwanted pregnancy. When you give someone a choice you have to give them a better choice than they are looking at. You have to give them a choice that gives them dignity in that choice and you have to make it readily available to them without any consequences otherwise you don't give that person a choice.

I also don't understand the phrase that guns don't kill people. Yes, I agree that a gun on a shelf never touched will hurt no one. The thing that I don't understand is how you can’t see that if there was never a gun on the shelf we wouldn't be having this conversation. I do however believe in the privilege for everyone to own a firearm if they are law-abiding and mentally competent to do so. The other thing I don't understand is all of those people who rightly owned guns and have no malice in their hearts for anyone want absolutely everyone in the world to own a gun. I know people that I am glad that they own a gun most of them are police officers and law enforcement personnel. I also have appreciated and love the right and privilege to hunt however I have never been a sports Hunter, when I go hunting it is for food and not the thrill of killing. As a matter of fact, I pray and give thanks to God for the animal that I harvest and also feel some anguish for killing one of God's creatures. Yes, you can call me a bleeding heart because I do have one and I intend to defend my family because they are my heart. We have seen too many mentally ill people obtain guns legally I feel that this must stop. My right to owning a weapon does not trump any one's right to safety however I personally feel that my right to own a firearm is not the problem I feel that our laws are not being enforced properly and if you are on a terrorist watch list you should never be able to legally purchase a gun in the United States. If you are not mentally stable enough to own a firearm you should not be able to legally purchase a firearm in the United States. The excuse that criminals can find a gun illegally is not only absurd it is inhumane to use such an excuse to justify anyone killing someone in a country that is free minded people can come together and create the proper solutions without taking away anyone's freedom.

I also believe in the right of choice of just about anything and everything. Yes, I do believe you have the choice to be stupid, but I believe the only stupid choice is to close your mind down and not consider everyone and what they have to say. I don't think that our government is perfect and I definitely don't think the candidates running for president are our best choices. I do however think that they represent what our country has come to in these days of no compromise and no compassion. It's okay to be hateful to one another in a political campaign and its okay to call your neighbor stupid or ignorant or uneducated because he likes the opposite candidate to your choice. I see a country and a great division and the choices that we may have made this rip in the fabric of America, not to leave out those of you who say I don't vote so it's not my fault, it's more your fault that it is those that vote. A wise man once said that no one from a foreign land could set foot on this nation and destroy the ideas and the democracy that we have created, he said that it would have to come from within the United States itself, if we were to lose this great country that we have made and fought for these many years. The divisions in our country have always been this wide and we have been able to build bridges of compromise across the divisions of political ideology, religion, and philosophy to keep this country running straight and narrow toward a positive future. Every time someone has put obstacles in our way we have been able to remove those obstacles because we work together and compromised and made this country a better place for every single human being occupying our land. I see just as I did in the 60s people of color feeling as if they are being targeted by the very government that we instituted to protect them and no one should ever have that feeling. I am a white male and definitely over 21 and 

I have felt discriminated against my entire life because I did not come from an affluent family, no my family didn't have money and they didn't have power so everyone thought they could roll right over the top of me without any opposition. Those of you that know me know that's not the case. I tried to stand up for what is right and that doesn't mean that I think that everything is in black and white everything has a colorful story to its core and I try to see the entire picture before I make my decisions.