Do you believe?

I just got finished reading a number of online posts about homosexuality and religion(and 
communism, for some reason), and my head is honestly spinning. Things *hurt*, and I think I 
need to get up on a soapbox and bitch at my own personal views on several heated topics.

Going in no particular order:

Abortions. Gee, what a touchy subject. There are extremists on both sides, and I fall 
somewhere in the middle. I think that having abortions legal and state-funded is simply 
begging for people to be irresponsible. Of course, having no abortions is worse. If you deny 
everyone abortions, you're taking away a basic fundamental choice - the choice *not* to have 
a child. Now, before you go to your e-mail and fire off an angry letter saying "The stupid 
sluts shouldn't have gotten pregnant if they didn't want children," let me cover my ass. I 
do not believe in third-trimester abortions under any circumstances. I don't even really 
think second-trimester abortions are that great a deal. However, if a girl has tried 
everything - the pill, condoms, spermicide - and still managed to get pregnant accidentally, 
or if she was raped or otherwise forced, she deserves to have the choice of what grows in 
her body. All in all, it has to be the *woman's* choice. I certainly don't think that men 
should have any part in this legeslation. It's the woman wose body has to go through 
pregnancy, it's the woman who has to make the decision about her body. Sorry, guys, you 
can't protect us from the facts of life.

Another thought: for about the first half of its lifespan, an embryo isn't a baby. It's a 
nub of cells growing on the womb. In other words, it's a cancer. I don't care about issues 
when the soul enters the body - until the child has a formed brain, it isn't a child. If the 
embryo has to be removed for the good of the mother, so be it.

(Another bit of personal thought: I really, really, really would rather people adopt kids. I 
mean, it's just a good idea. But pro-choice means pro-choice... it's your choice. Don't try 
and make rules for someone in a situation you can't imagine.)

Next inflamatory subject: homosexuality. Look, I don't care what your religion says about 
two consenting people of the same sex making love. You don't have to go poking into people's 
homes. If you want to abstain from homosexuality, great. If you want to participate, be my 
guest. If you're asking me, let me talk to you for a while and I'll see if I like your 
attitude. But seriously, comparing homosexuality to a number of crimes is horrendously 
faulty logic. When you perform a crime, someone gets victimized. There is a victim. When you 
perform a homosexual act with a consenting partner - no, let's make it broader. When you 
perform a *sexual* act with a consenting partner, nobody is a victim. Nobody gets hurt. 
(Unless that kind of thing turns you on, but that's your business, not mine.) Again, you 
can't make laws for someone you can't understand! I live in America, and this is a country 
based on freedom. What freedom do we have when busybodies poke into people's homes and tell 
them what they can't be doing with their free time because someone said so? If you're making 
decisions based on religion, you better be sure that the person you're making decisions 
*about* also subscribes to the same set of beliefs.

That gets me going on religion. I don't care what religion you are, either(I don't care 
about a lot, you notice? ;) ) If you want to impose your views on me, understand one thing: 
I don't subscribe to mainstream beliefs. I am personally *offended* by the thought that 
someone tried to take the responsibility for my sins away from me. My sins are my own 
business. If I hurt someone, it's my responsibilty and mine only to put things right. If I 
can't in this life, I'll have to make it up later. But no matter what, it's still *my* 
responsibility.

Any religion that is based on helping people instead of hurting them is fundamentally good. 
The only problem is when people who use religious creeds want to hurt people, they can 
suceed by calling on Higher Authority. I have no problem with Christians in general, but 
these few score idiots who use general beliefs to hurt specific people get on my nerves. I'm 
not Christian, your rules don't apply to me. That's why we have a seperation of church and 
state; so that people who have different paths for their lives can co-exist on a set of 
rules that doesn't interfere with their worshipping. If you can't comprehend this, go 
re-read the first amendment a few times.

My personal beliefs? There are two planes of existence; that which can be explained by 
science, and that which can't. On the first plane exists stuff like the Big Bang and 
evolution. On the second exists the Goddess and the Powers That Be. It's a co-existing 
realities sort of thing. If it means I'm insane, so be it. It explains the universe for 
*me.*

I said I was going to rant about communism, didn't I? Well, here goes. Communism doesn't 
work. At least, it doesn't work on a countrywide scale without people being miserable. 
Communism works in small communities(or semi-small communities) where everyone knows each 
other. Maybe if we were all telepaths and Knew each other, we could set up a global 
communist system where everyone was truly equal. Of course, that assumes we don't go postal 
with shock whem we all link up into a giant telepathic network. Do you *really* want to know 
what your neighbor thought of that shirt your bought last week?