THE LOVE JOURNEY

I used to think that the whole "LOVE" thing was more of a stoner mantra than anything else. I respect people as a rule of thumb and I respect whatever their choices are even if said choices differ from my own. I am sure you are probably wondering why there is a picture of a cannabis leaf in this entry. I will explain that in a minute so please hold on to your commentary.

I was at the metro in Amsterdam one night after a night of discovering the treasures of the city. I was fresh off a delicious meal in an Argentine steakhouse and on my way to a pleasant slumber. I remember that night so clearly. The sky was clear and the air was cold, a December night lit up by trees, light, street music and the feeling of Christmas. I remember I felt uncomfortable with my outfit because I hate wearing layers and restrictive style clothing.

As I sat and looked out the window of the metro I was asked if I was a tourist. The person that asked me the question was a brit with a backpack and a look of immense joy. The fella started asking me what I thought about marijuana and I answered as best I could. I remembered saying that I never felt it really did harm to anyone. The man handed me a card with some drawing and the word LOVE on it. I remember the card looked like a mixture of rorschach's work and ramblings of stoner artist.

Curious I asked my British stoner friend what it was and he responded with " It's life and the answer." I recall that I smiled and proceeded to leave without giving it a second thought. The brit offered me the opportunity to smoke some weed with him but I was not interested so i shook his hand and told him to enjoy himself. When I arrived at my destination I looked at the card and every part drawn in black had a line that resembled  a long and winding road. I thought about what the stoner said for a few days.

I realized that what my burnout friend meant was that love can really solve anything and guide you through some of the hardest roads to travel. I know that love is something we like to associate with hippies, stoners, and weaklings. The fact of the mater is that there is nothing wrong with allowing a little love to penetrate our jaded souls because in the end all the material possessions, bitterness, and differences we have do not accompany us to the grave. Love is the universal force that we are born with, live with, and can chose to go on our never ending journey with. Let's love one another people because it isn't a stoner mantra so much as it is the only absolute reality in life.

THE DEBATE

I finally understand the meaning of the red equality sign. To be honest I think this is a sign of progress in the debate over gay marriage. This entry is not to fight fiercely for gay marriage and certainly not to stand against it. I am a firm believer that things should always be talked out in a civilized manner and that this is the kind of debate that's allowing ignorance to reign supreme. The fact is that you have two sides taking extreme views one way or another with not as many people taking a common sense view.

It doesn't mater if you agree or disagree with gay marriage but it does matter how you defend your view. I can't really support the argument against it because it generally cites the bible as the principal source of moral authority. You can read the bible and quote it as often as you want but, how many members of congress and of the bible belt have been caught violating the very biblical principles that they cite? The fact of the matter is that you cannot use one source as the way to firmly stand against an issue.

Let's really study morality for a second and see what we come up with. If you have a gay couple and they lead a quiet and respectful life, and are upstanding citizens, are they immoral on the basis of being gay? Is it okay to have orgies, threesomes, and sex in public if you are straight? I have heard the whole it was Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve deal but once more I say let's all look at the facts. Do we really know that the bible story is true? Everyone has their own set of beliefs from Muslims, to Jews, to Christians, to Atheists but said beliefs are somewhat theoretical and based on more assumption of record than proven and verified.

I think it's also fair to ask if people against gay marriage are living under the assumption that you chose to be gay. It has not been proven if being gay is genetic, a choice, or a matter of conditioning in a specific environment. I think it's fair for gays to want a fair shot at legalizing gay marriage but from state to state it's a debate that's going to vary. In a way I find myself agreeing with Bill O'Reilly's sentiments that it's a state matter and it should be decided as such.

Some places are more liberal than others and I understand that making this a federal issue is more about benefits issues for same sex partnerships, going beyond the whole recognition of a person's chose to openly love with someone of their own gender. Gay marriage, equality, and recognition are all a part of the new civil rights debate that much like the civil rights movement of the 50's and 60's will rage on for a long time to come.

THE POWER OF A TRENDING HEADLINE

Just about everyone that has read a blog of mine knows that I look at trending news the majority of the time. Trending news usually have a headline of some sort that leads the the one million matching articles which for some reason repeat themselves over and over. There was one trending headline that floored the hell out of me today "Bill O'Reilly Gay." I thought for a second that O'Reilly had come out and then I clicked on the headline.

The headline led to articles about O'Reilly's apparent turn on gay marriage. O'Reilly's statement was a strong jab at conservatives that use the bible as their main argument for a ban on gay marriage. I agree with O'Reilly when he says what he says about bible thumping not  being the basis for policy. I still think though that way the trending topic was exposed was absolutely brilliant.

I think that the type of attention a headline like that can get is absolutely incredible and can actually make shinning stars of just about everyone. Trends are something absolutely amazing and as far as Bill O'Reilly, I will get to him soon.