Are You Willing To Take a Stand?

NOTE: The following is OPINION. It is the Point of View of the author and his alone. 

A very good friend of mine sent this to me, and I felt compelled to share it, so that (hopefully) you will each get a chuckle out of it.

Either that, or I guess I can expect to be burned in effigy, again.

(Please get a permit for burning in effigy from the Fire Department)

If you ever wondered which side of the fence you sit on? Well, if so, this is a great test! 

If a Conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.  Simple as that. If a Liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed. 

If a Conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat. After all, he respects personal choice. If a Liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone. 

If a Conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life and goes about his daily living pretty much the same as everybody else.  If a Liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect and seeks to drive his views down everyone’s throats. 

If a Conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.  If a Liberal is down-and-out he wonders who is going to take care of him, and how to increase government spending to do so. 

If a Conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.  A Liberal demands that those they don't like be shut down. 

If a Conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.  A Liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced, for everyone (unless, of course, it’s regarding Islam, which simply must be respected and adhered to, by all). 

If a Conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for the best he can afford, or may choose a job that provides it.  If a Liberal decides he needs health care, he demands that the rest of us pay for his. 

If a Conservative reads this, he'll recommend it so his friends can have a good laugh.  A Liberal will flag it as ‘inappropriate’ because he's ‘offended.’

When did we get to this state? When did we quit respecting the views of others, simply because they differ from our own? When did it become ‘All or Nothing,’ leaving no room for open, honest discussion of the issues?

It’s not a new phenomenon, of course, but it seems the fine line between open discussion and outright argument and personal attack has narrowed to the point that many people are no longer willing to share their views on a public forum, for fear of being attacked.

People on both sides of the political fence have become closed-minded toward their opposites so much to the point that nothing, I mean nothing, gets resolved. You doubt me? Take a long, hard look at both the House and Senate.

It’s well past time for We, the People, to once again have open, honest discussion about the issues that face each one of us, and those facing our nation. It’s time to quit taking sides simply because of the initial on our voter registration.

It’s time to stop fighting one another and start sharing our views without fear.

I know that some of you that read this will brush it off as the insane ramblings of a Conservative (or apply for that aforementioned permit), but I urge each of you to think about this:

A People Divided against themselves are a People Conquered.

Let’s turn the tide against those that wish to divide us. It’s no longer about Conservative or Liberal, Republican or Democrat. It’s about the most important thing of all:

We, the People.

Si vis Pacem, Para Bellum