Why do conservatives use the word “Entitlement” as if it was a bad word.

They’re called “Entitlements” because the people who receive them worked hard for and earned them as part of an agreed upon contract with the United States government. Money is taken from our paycheck each week as insurance until such time as we either retire, become disabled and cannot work, or the worst case scenario, a disaster happens and we need help.

Entitlements are not handouts. Entitlements are not charity. Entitlements did not tank our economy. Corporate greed did. So why do you want to punish the least of us just so the wealthiest can have tax breaks?

Conservatives claim to be for limited government and keeping government out of our private lives.

How does amending the constitution to ban same-sex marriage limit government or keep the government out of our private lives? How does one person’s marriage affect yours? Is the foundation or your marriage so fragile that it would crumble under the weight of another couple’s happiness?

Conservatives claim to be for fiscal responsibility, yet they are largely against paying for birth control. Does it not occur to them that tax payers will undoubtedly foot the bill, through welfare, for eighteen plus years of childcare for many of the children that result from unplanned pregnancies? Compared to that, contraception is cheap.

There’s nothing wrong with conservative ideas. Personal responsibility is important. Responsibility to our community is even more important.

Ensuring that companies provide a living wage so that families don’t have to rely on food stamps is the responsible thing to do. A family that can’t afford food isn’t self-sufficient. Isn’t that what conservatism is all about; being self-sufficient? A family that’s not self-sufficient cannot contribute to the economy.

If families aren’t contributing to the economy, the economy doesn’t grow.

One more thing.

As our country experiences extreme weather powerful enough to bring about the destruction of whole communities, more and more people are going to find themselves in need of some kind of assistance, be it food stamps or welfare. These people are not deadbeats. They aren’t looking for handouts either. Yet many conservatives want to reduce these life saving safety nets because of the cost. Are these the “family values” that conservatives claim they hold in such high regard?

The United States of America is a vast and wealthy country populated with people of many different faiths and from every walk of life. In order for us to have a strong country we must look out for one another. United we stand. Divided we fall.

“Some Serious Questions For Conservatives” first appeared Friday 6/6/2013 on ADignorantium’s Wordpress page. It is re-posted here because I believe it is important.

Why Isn’t There a War on Easter?

I choose “Happy Holidays” because not all of my friends celebrate Christmas. Some observe Hanukkah, some Kwanzaa, and others nothing at all. When I say Happy Holidays, I’m respecting the religious beliefs of the person to whom I am speaking.

Isn’t that what the holidays are all about? Aren’t we supposed to be generous to one another during that time of year?

The following is excerpted from “The Gentle Indifference of the World,” as posted on Against The Grain: Non-Mainstream Observations by John T. Marohn

The Christian Soul and American Culture

In my Christian tradition, I was told that every human being has a soul. That soul, I was led to believe, is created by God and is comprised of a mind and a free will. And that soul, I was also taught by my church, would live on after I died. (I was not taught that, since I have a free will, I could choose the after-life habitat I wanted. That decision would be made for me based on my earthly track record and an omniscient God’s foreknowledge—a very tricky combination.)

Using that philosophical and theological model, Hitler, Stalin, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey Dahmer also had souls. According to that same paradigm, they also had minds and free wills and therefore were to be held accountable for their actions (Christian theologians, to my knowledge, do not accept paranoid schizophrenia, psychosis, or bi-polar disorders as viable excuses for getting off the hook on the final day of judgment).

The American culture I grew up in led me to believe that I could be anything I wanted to be. That I could be my own person. That I could live out any success-story dream I fantasized about. If I just put my hand on the plow of my life, worked hard, and persevered, the world would be my oyster.

Except for the built-in fatalism of the omniscient-God paradigm, I had been well-schooled in Optimism 101. My culture told me I could succeed. My religion taught me that I was morally responsible for all of my actions. That everything was just up to me. That God, through no innate goodness on my part, would intervene, on my behalf, and zap me with favors and grace, if I lived up to His expectations by leading a good life.

But I had no excuses for moral, or even professional failure in life. After all, I was graced with being alive and had a mind and free will—a soul, remember?

Read more here… http://johntmarohn.com/blog/cultural-values/the-gentle-indifference-of-the-world/

Conservatives say they don’t want Tax Dollars to pay for Safety Nets for the poor; Specifically, Food Stamps, Child Care, WIC, and Welfare

Conservatives also don’t want Tax Dollar funded Contraception; Specifically, Women’s Contraception.

Using the Conservative model of thinking, where everything is reduced to Dollars and Cents, their logic is flawed. Doesn’t it make fiscal sense to pay for contraception? Contraception is cheap, compared to eighteen plus years of food, clothing, housing and healthcare for mother and child.

Education would be cheaper still, but conservatives don’t like to admit that sex exists. For centuries there has been this failed battle to force morality on the populace.    Even at the height of the AIDS crisis, when people were dying at an alarming rate, conservatives pushed ‘Abstinence-Only’ education. In the face of a deadly disease, Conservatives refuse to consider Sex Education and the proper use of Condoms.

Here’s the thing…

• If you’re not going to pay for contraception, you’ll have to pay for child care.
• If you refuse to teach reality, you will have to pay for healthcare.

It’s a matter of National Security. When poverty and disease spread, the economy and health of the country fails.

Rest In Peace Arlen. I will truly miss you.

Senator Specter was a decent politician and a really good man. He was one of those rare politicians who actually listened to his constituents. He didn’t tow the party line, which is why this Liberal Democrat voted for him in every race.

But this isn’t about politics. This is about the loss of a man who followed his calling and did what he thought was right, not necessarily what was popular.

RIP Mr. Specter. Best wishes to his family.

From Arlen Specter Dead: Former Senator Dies From Complications Of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma -> http://huff.to/QlSGtj