In Remembrance...

 Hi!

This weekend, in Canada, we take a beat to honour those who have sacrificed to afford us the fabulous freedoms we have. 

Freedom, as we know, is never free. It requires our armed forces' generosity of spirit, skill, and willingness to put themselves in harm's way. It requires their families and friends to give up time with those they love. It depends on those who put at risk their bodies, mental health, and souls. 

Our freedoms were, and continue to be, hard fought for. They are not something we should ever take for granted. You needn't look far to see that there are those, often under the guise of religion, or conservatism, who are trying to pull back certain freedoms. We have those who have consumed the Kool-Aid about stripping back the rights of women to determine what happens to their own bodies. There are those who are actively trying to re-entangle church and state, forgetting completely that freedom of religion, means just that. It means that any person can choose to worship in whatever capacity they see fit, or not at all, if that's what they so choose. The point is the government has no business dictating law based on any kind of religious doctrine. None. 

To do so is an insult to those who have fought to secure these freedoms. 

Some are trying to claw back LBGTQ+ rights. Trying to cause fear so it can feed division. I mean it doesn't take much to look up stats. More people should. Statistically, your child is much safer hanging out with drag queens than they are with men of the clergy. Facts. Here's one more. The likelihood of a trans person being attacked in a bathroom is a ton higher than the likelihood of them being the actual attacker. 

The queer community represents a very small percentage of our population as a whole, yet represents the highest percentage of people getting attacked. 

The world gets in trouble when entire swaths of society are pushed to fear and hate another. 

It's the foundation of all prejudice. Use fear to create hate, then throw it at a slice of humanity that is already vulnerable. Then comes the arrogance of believing in some type of superiority over said groups. This superiority delusion is usually propped up by false beliefs of moral, cultural, religious, classist, racist bull crap that have no basis in fact to exist. 

I wish those who believe any one human can be more valuable than another could bring themselves to understand...

Morality has nothing to do with religion.

Cultural diversity is incredibly fantastic.

Equity in rights takes nothing from those who already enjoy them.

How someone wants to dress, present themselves to the world, what they like to do for fun, who they marry, if they become parents, how they like to be addressed.... makes no difference in your life... just say a cheers to the joy and move on. It's none of your business. 

So, to those who have, and continue to sacrifice for our freedoms... thank you. A phrase over-used, yet small, piddly, really, as it isn't big enough to carry the gratitude you deserve. 

The best way I can think of to show proper gratitude is to celebrate those freedoms in the best possible way. Sharing them with every human. Period.

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May we all celebrate the freedoms we enjoy, and share them with all of humanity.

May we bring to an end the fear and crazy hatred, and instead strive toward love and sanity.