What I Believe

Since I've picked up writing in my blog again after a hiatus of about nine months or so I've gained a few new followers. To save those new followers the time of looking through my past seven year's worth of entries to find out what my beliefs are - and to refresh the minds of my old fans who may have forgotten - I thought I'd take a few minutes and put them some of them down here. Besides, one or two of them may have changed in the past few years; my viewpoints tend to do that as I gain experience in this big world of ours and as new information becomes available.

So here they are. Not in any particular order, but the most important ones will be closest to the top of the list.

Gun Control To me, "gun control" means hitting what you're aiming at. As my bio says I am a firm believer in and a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, but it actually goes deeper than just that. I am a believer in the literal definition of the Second Amendment, which means that any and all "gun control" laws are unconstitutional. "SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED" means just that, and ANY law that you pass to control, limit, or deny my right to purchase a firearm is, IMHO, unconstitutional. I do believe in and support the laws which prohibit convicted felons from purchasing and/or owning firearms, and with good cause. If that sounds contradictory to you, well, I can't help that. That's what I believe, and that's all there is to it. Besides, if I have to explain to you why a convicted felon shouldn't possess a firearm, well...

Same Sex Marriages I'm okay with the idea of two people of the same sex engaging in a civil union; after all, why should anyone be denied spousal survivor's rights and benefits because their late spouse was of the same sex? I do draw the line at calling it a "marriage," though, as that conflicts with my religious beliefs. And before anyone wants to start lecturing me on what the Bible says or what it doesn't say, just save it - I'm not going to change my mind so please don't waste both your time and mine by engaging in such useless dialogue.

Homosexuality Personally, I find homosexuality to be morally, spiritually and physically wrong, but on the other hand to a certain degree what other people do with their lives and how they choose to live their lives is none of my business. For that reason - and for the reason that I was taught to treat people with respect and dignity no matter what and to judge them by their actions and not skin color or sexual orientation - I treat homosexuals just as I would any other person, with respect and dignity. Think I'm lying? Ask my sister in law. Ask the former partner of my late uncle by marriage. Ask one of my wife's best friends. Or not; either way, that's the way I am. Treat me with respect and dignity and you'll get the same from me. It's not my place to judge in this aspect, so I won't.

The Confederate Flag I'm a Southerner, born and bred, as was my father before me, his father before him, his father before him and so on, all the way back to 1790 Nelson County, Virginia. I have three ancestors who fought for the Confederacy, none of whom owned slaves and all of whom were fighting to defend their homes. I fully and unequivocally support the display of the Confederate flag as a tribute to the men of the Confederacy who fought and died for what they believed was right, and I fully support the display of the Confederate Battle Flag at the Confederate Soldier's Monument on the State House Grounds in Columbia, SC. I fly the flag as a symbol of pride in my homeland, said homeland being the South, and I'm just as proud to fly that flag as I am to fly the American flag. Both flags represent governments who have both done some bad things, yet both are dear to me because both represent the good people of both areas. Both flags represent the courage and sacrifice of the men and women who leave behind all that they know and love in defense of their land, and in many cases those sacrifices include their very lives. Yes, I am fully aware of the heinous way the KKK hijacked the beloved symbol of the South, but there's nothing I can do about that. That's not why I fly it, and I make no bones about it.

Hyphenated Titles I'm referring to titles such as African-American, Latin-American, Italian-American, etc. I despise them and don't use them for one simple reason: to place ANYTHING in front of the term "American" infers that you deem that word or term of higher importance than that of being an American, and to me NOTHING is more important than that. I could refer to myself as a Scottish-American, but I don't; I could refer to myself as a Southern-American, but I don't. I could also refer to myself as an Irish-American, but I don't. I'm an American, first and foremost, and nothing is more important than that. I'm an American who was born in the South and who is of Scottish/Irish ancestry. That's it, plain and simple.

Homosexuals in the Military There was a time in my life when I was staunchly against this, but after gaining a little age, experience and most of all maturity, I came to the logical conclusion that no man or woman should be denied the right to serve their country in military uniform based on their sexual preference. And the past few years have proven that the massive collapse of moral and discipline that was sure to take place if homosexuals were allowed to serve isn't going to happen - just as the massive shootouts and killings in the streets didn't happen when Florida and a whole bunch of other states enacted "right to carry" laws.

The Death Penalty This is something else that my opinion has changed on, too. I used to be a firm supporter of the death penalty until I came to the realization that our justice system isn't perfect, and that until it becomes perfect it's far better to keep a hundred or a thousand guilty men alive and in prison for 50 or 60 years rather than to execute so much as one innocent man. And there's no such thing as a "foolproof" or "perfect" justice system, not even with the advancements in science and DNA that we've made. No, if you start making exceptions to the rule, saying that it's OK to execute a man for this but not for that, you set up a slippery slope that will eventually lead to everyone being executed - and then you're right back where you started from. No, the only logical thing to do IMHO is to not execute anyone; that way you never have to worry about killing an innocent man.

Abortion Something else I've changed my mind on. I'm Pro Life, and I believe that life begins with conception.

Illegal Immigrants No, they're NOT "undocumented aliens." They're in this country illegally which makes them criminals, and as criminals they should be deported. We already have a process in place by which an immigrant can legally enter the country; it may be slow and not the most efficient thing in the world, but it's there and anyone who wants to come to our country and live needs to go by it. Period. As for the "anchor babies" and children who are brought here illegally by their parents, well, it's like this: I wouldn't want to separate a child from its parents, so if it's an "anchor baby" then the parents should have a reasonable time period to become an American citizen, say, five years. If by that time the parents are not American citizens then both them and the child go back where they came from. In the case of children who are brought here illegally by their parents, again, I wouldn't want to separate a child from its parents so they're all gone. Blame the parents who brought them here in an attempt to remain here on the sympathy of the bleeding hearts who run the government, not me.

Pressing 1 for English This is America; why the hell should I have to press 1 to hear the instructions in English? You come here from a different country to live, you need to learn to speak, read, and write English - and do it within 5 years or you're gone, just as Teddy Roosevelt said more than a hundred years ago.

Benefits for Illegals Not only NO, but HELL NO! "CRIMINALS," remember? We have military folks who are denied benefits they literally gave their arms and legs for while illegal immigrants are given benefits beyond their wildest dreams. This is a glaring inequity and failure on the part of our Federal government, and it needs to be fixed yesterday.

The Kennedy Assassination No way Oswald did it alone. To fire three shots from a bad angle at a target which is moving away from you and getting smaller by the second with a bolt action rifle and get two hits, one of which is a head shot is next to impossible. I just don't think Oswald was that good a shot. Besides, there's too much eyewitness testimony supporting the second gunman on the grassy knoll theory, and I just happen to believe in that. As to who ordered the hit and organized it I have no idea, but they sure played Oswald for a patsy.

Ford or Chevy Chevy, hands down.

And that's about it for now. It's getting late and 3:30AM rolls around kind of early, so I'll close for now and hit the sack.

Y'all take care, and thanks for reading!

IHC