liz_marcs | I'm taking my own advice...

Current Mood: determined

I'm taking my own advice...

On much thought and after reading my FList...

Upon being most upset with the overwhelming show of homophobia nationwide last night...

And looking deep in my soul and realizing what my biggest concern about what a second term of a Bush presidency and an overwhelmingly Republican government will give us...

I've printed up a volunteer application for the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. I've filled it out. I plan to send it in.

I hope to get a call to discuss what they need volunteer-wise. I'm thinking of focusing on these specific interests:

separation of church and state [huuuuuuge one for me]
due process rights
privacy rights
reproductive rights
gender and sexual preference equality
freedom of speech

Hopefully they'll accept maybe 8 to 12 hours a month (not sure I could volunteer more time). We'll see when the state chapter gives me a call.

Okay, hardly manning the barricades and not exactly the most helpful thing I can do in building the Donkey Rising network, but truthfully, these are the things that most concern me. I think I'll be worried about these issues for the next four years (minimum).

*fingers crossed*

The application gets mailed when I get home.

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Girl, you rock. This is exactly the response we need. If the 49% of the electorate that didn't want Bush gets active, gets involved, gets up off the couch and tries to make a difference, this won't be a total loss, just a temporary setback.

Yay you!!

Personally, I'm more annoyed at the people who wanted Bush out and didn't bother to vote.

*weeps*

At least I have the time to give. If my time was more crunched due to family obligations I'd probably only just write a check.

Umm what szandara said! turning a disappointment into action is a form of victory!

Thanks!

Here's hoping more people decide to keep fighting instead of giving up on the process. They had 30 years to build their fundamentalist machine. We almost toppled it in four. I want to see Congress stolen from Bush in 2006.

BRAVA!!

I think that is a very fine and noble thing to be doing. And I grin in glee thinking of all the psychic and legislative enemas you'll be personally responsible for.

Hell, makes ME feel better anyway.

Course, I'll probably be answering phones or licking stamps. Heh. Maybe I'll give someone intent on grinding us down germs.

Can I just say how much I respect you? I mean, you don't know me. I read your LJ constantly, though. Originally it was just to get Living History updates, but I also just love your political entries, too. As a fellow Massachusetts resident (Massachusen? Massachusettsian?) I am pretty disheartened by the election results. As an 18-year-old who was hoping and praying that her generation would have a huge turn-out and that she'd be able to really feel like her vote made a difference... I am pretty devastated. I think everything you posted to help you LJ friends make sure nothing got in the way of their votes was great, and that you're amazing for fighting back by volunteering.

I want to help, too. But I don't know how. I mean, I don't have a lot of time, because I'm in school. And I don't have a lot of gas money to drive places. And those are just excuses, really, because the truth is that I'm really, really shy and I just don't know how I'd get out there and do anything. I mean, I'm too shy to even join any clubs or groups at my school.

I just feel so helpless, though, like I should have done more and now I need to do something. Anything. Do you have any ideas? Or should I just get over myself, and help out where help is needed despite my fear of people?

I might not even send this, because... well, too shy, really. No, what the heck, it can't hurt, right?

Actually, when I was 18 I went to school full time and worked full time so I here you on the crunched time. Really, before this election I was pretty politically aware, but I never did *anything* about it. If nothing else, the 2004 election really is what kicked me in the pants.

And, strangely enough, LJ. Trust me, I was not this outgoing a year or two ago. :-) Getting a blog and meeting a few of the "real faces" behind the names has been a huge help.

The thing is: don't give more than you can spare. There's no point in driving yourself crazy because then you're helping no one, least of all yourself.

Just MHO.

I guess I'd say do what you're comfortable with, but you have to take care of yourself first. Give yourself a little time, too to think about it.

I've admired the ACLU for a long time, and had been thinking of volunteering at the House of Seven Gables in Salem for awhile. I've just decided to volunteer for the ACLU instead of for Hawthorne. I'll probably be just licking stamps, but it's something, right? :-)

Maybe try getting an LJ yourself and break out of your shell that way. Or maybe you need to concentrate on school first. Sometimes the most useful thing we can do is learn.

But thanks for putting up with my ranting. I swear I'll get a new Living History part up before the end of the week. Then it'll be a smooth run since the story is finished. It's just this one connecting scene I have to do and it's done.

Good for you. So good for you. What a great idea.

The application's in the mail! Given the little enough amount of time I can volunteer, it's more likely I'll be licking stamps, but it's something.

Separation of Church and State has always been a difficult topic in my country. It says in our constitution that we are separate but if you live here you can't really tell. Maybe it's because we were a colony of Spain for 300 years and only been free for about 107 years (even counting the years under the Japanese)that we are very religious in so many matters. I think we got used to priests being busy bodies that we don't really think twice or question when they interfere with government matters.

I agree that the church should step in certain matters. It really helped that our Archbishop spoke up when we were trying to kick out Marcos. But I really do think that they should leave the policy making to the law makers.

Right now we are having a problem with our population control. Why? Well the church keeps on discouraging people from using birth control. They believe that all people can help themselves and should practice abstinence. That's ideal but that's not reality. And that is just one of the many issues that are propagating because of church interference. Don't even get me started on the fact that we do not have divorce here.

I didn't use to have a beef with the church. Funny enough I developed my issues in church in school, catholic school. They made us read a novel by our national hero titled Noli Me Tanghere (for those who know this book, forgive me if the spelling is wrong). Anyhoo the book was basically about atrocities committed during the Spanish Colonization and a big part of that are the abuses committed by priests such as the following: land grabbing, extortion, child abuse and rape. I didn't really do that well in the class that made us read this book but it did make an impact. It made me think and question if what the church is doing is really in the best interest of the people or the institution of the church. In the past few years, specially with the sexual abuse cases that erupted there in the US, I started to believe that it's the latter.

I am sorry for the fact that people in your country now need to have to fight this issue. I don't believe that you people really had to before and I always like that about your country. I commend you for fighting this fight. Not a lot of people will like what you may say about this but it's the right thing and you know it.

Best regards,
Eli

Raised Catholic here, too. Oddly enough, I was taught by a very liberal order of nuns, so the problem was they were big on letting us think for ourselves which kind of encouraged cafeteria Catholicism.

We had a joke actually in high school:

"I used to be Catholic."

"Used to be? What happened?"

"Twelve years in a Catholic school."

Problem was when I graduated into a more conservative Catholic Church it got, well, a little weird because I didn't recognize the religion at all. I went from sex ed in high school biology that was not abstinence-based to "sex? what sex? bad!"

I just remain shocked that the Catholic Church in the U.S., which is a lot closer to Kerry's position on many social justice issues, supported Bush on basically two issues: stem cell research and abortion. WtF?

Hopefully the Philippines isn't getting too backlashed. I heard your country was finally pulling your people out of Iraq (not too sure that's a bad move for you guys, even if it hurts us). Although I surprised when I heard today the Philippines *had* people in Iraq given the Muslim insurgency in the southern islands (Mindanao, right? Is it still going on?). Goes to show you learn something every day.

The thing is, the U.S. was sort of lucky because the founding fathers (regardless of what the fundamentalists would like you to believe) were not so much "good Christians" as they were deists. They believed in the existence a god, but they believed in the physical world and the power of reason more. Still, the U.S. does have a history of these religious upheavals and it does happen in cycles. All you can do is try to contain the damage and ride out the storm.

Strange. I also spent 10 + years in a sort of liberal catholic school. Actually it was more like an activist training camp since they always encouraged us to participate in rallies and we would always be on top of current events.

The Iraq war would have no doubt caused a huge hoopla in my former school and I wouldn't be surprised if our nuns were actually part of the rally against the war. But still it happened and there we are, cooking for troops in Iraq.

Iraq. I don't really know what to think about it. For one thing Saddam is an ass that should be taken down but there really was no real evidence in this instance. My country went to war because we are allies of the US. Actually it's more like we really need to support the US because we need them to support us against the Abus here which is, unfortunately for all of us here in the islands, a problem we cannot solve by ourselves unless we blow up the whole of Mindanao. And yes it is still going on. Two years ago they planted a bomb in one of the stations of the train while I was riding the train. Good thing it was a dud.

What do I think about pulling out our troops? Another thing I'm torn over. I don't think we're doing a whole lot there. But we made a promise, a vow, a pact. Damn it, that means something to me. It hurts that we would back down in the face of bullies. Sure heads would roll if we don't but consider this: the first guy who was kidnapped went to Iraq illegally. He wasn't even supposed to be there. It's not that I wished him decapitated. I just wish we didn't have to compromise our political stand to save him. As for the guy who is kidnapped now. He went there legally. He was really helping out but its the same deal. But sacrifices have to be made and we choose not to sacrifice him.

The economy is stagnant, if not declining. Jobs are still scarce and unlikely to become more plentiful. We're stuck in a debacle in Iraq that shows no sign of ending and will likely claim the lives of many more U.S. troops (and Iraqi civilians). More people than ever before are living below the poverty line, and the gap between the rich and the poor has increased in the last four years. And the budget surplus left to Bush has been squandered on tax cuts, ineffective homeland security measures, and the aforementioned debacle in Iraq, leaving us with a skyrocketing deficit that will likely persist for decades.

But if gay people are allowed to get married--THEN the country would really be in trouble.

Oy. Can people really be this narrow-minded?

Like you, Liz, I am reaching the conclusion that the most productive way to deal with my disappointment, anger, and trepidation about what the next four years will bring is to become more involved. I haven't decided how yet, but I'm going to follow through on this impulse. 2008 may be our best shot yet: The Republicans are likely to be embroiled in conflict over how to persuade Cheney, who almost certainly expects to be the nominee but has the charisma of a cinder block, to move aside for a more appealing candidate. Who will it be? I'm expecting a big push to repeal the Constitutional amendment banning foreign-born citizens from running for president--because if Ahnold decides he wants to run, he's a shoo-in for the nomination. But I've also got this nagging suspicion that the Bushes think they have a political dynasty going. And that means it's Jeb's turn.

Because heaven knows if two guys kiss it's the end of the world!

Seriously, though. They're polling voters today and they're finding out that the fundamentalist vote is really what put Bush over the top. *headdesk*

The religious hysteria was actually dying down by the time 9/11 happened. Now everyone things the Rapture is upon us. Okay. For those of us who would rather have a peaceful life than an afterlife, can you please stop screwing it up for us?

People forget that this machine has been thirty or so years in the making. The fact that we got so close in four short years is nothing short of a miracle. But if we're going to win the country back to sanity, we have to start now and steal Congress away from Bush in 2006. I'm just going ACLU because I think civil liberties is the biggest challenge. I know other people are going to be joining MoveOn and other 527s.

Bush sounded pretty in his acceptance speach, but four years of hearing lies makes me truly doubt he's at all sincere.

The Republicans are likely to be embroiled in conflict over how to persuade Cheney, who almost certainly expects to be the nominee but has the charisma of a cinder block, to move aside for a more appealing candidate.

Actually, Cheney has said publicly and many times that he has no further political aspirations. They had to persuade him to take this job. And nobody who knows the man thinks he wants the presidency. Thank God.

I'm expecting a big push to repeal the Constitutional amendment banning foreign-born citizens from running for president--because if Ahnold decides he wants to run, he's a shoo-in for the nomination.

Interestingly... no. Arnold is a Republican, yes, but a moderate one. He's made some tough decisions in California, and went against the party line to support a $3 billion bond for stem cell research. The ultra-conservative wing of the Republican party (read: the people in charge) are hell bent against moderates gaining ground in the party. This is why they push-polled against McCain in S.C. in 2000. This is why they won't support Arnold for president... something that many moderates in both parties could do.

And it probably is Jeb's turn. God help us all.

-me

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I'm taking my own advice...

Go YOU!

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Seperation of church and state

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