“Support Freedom”

On day twelve of Vlog Every Day April, I reflect on a memory and admit I don’t understand some folks’ idea of freedom.

[spoiler title=”Video Transcript”]

Hello, Earthlings! Today is day twelve of Vlog Every Day April, and you are watching Adam the Alien.

Back when I was in college, I spent a lot of time at this bus stop in a little small town near here. And every time I was there, across the street there would be this white SUV parked there.

it had these bumper stickers that, to this day, I find myself dwelling on.

The first of the bumper stickers was a bumper sticker supporting the one man, one woman Oregon constitutional amendment that was being proposed at the time. It unfortunately passed. Although thankfully, years later, it was struck down. Thank God.

Paired with it, however, was a military bumper sticker that said, “Support Freedom”.

And to this day, I don’t understand how the owner of that vehicle couldn’t see how contradictory those two bumper stickers were.

Something that consistently confuses me is how people can talk about how much they support freedom, and how America is freedom, and how everything is freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom! But then turn around and say, “Oh, but you can’t do that, you can’t do THAT, you can’t do that, you can’t do that, you can’t do that, you CAN’T do that, you can’t do that, you can’t BE that, you can’t marry that person, you can’t wear what you want, live how you want, or be who you want.”

Now, obviously, in a society we can’t just do anything we want. After all, some people want to kill people, and we…we just can’t let that happen rampantly. Obviously.

And we have to be mindful of the way in which our actions affect other people’s lives. That’s all true. However! When something does not affect someone else’s life, why…WHY would anyone care about it? I don’t understand that.

Now obviously, as a queer person I have a lot of thoughts about being allowed to live my life freely and unharassed, but it goes so far beyond that.

I just don’t get why people are so concerned with how other people are living their lives when what they’re doing is harmless.

And you can bring up religion, but I just don’t think that’s a good enough excuse. I was raised Christian. I still AM Christian. And I don’t get how people can take Christianity and use it as something to bash people over the heads with, with hate, and anger, and conformity.

And as much as I try to understand people who live and think differently from myself, I admit that might be a mindset I hope I *don’t* ever fully understand. Because maybe to fully understand it, you have to believe it’s right? And…and I don’t. I just don’t.

It has been many, many years since I last saw that white SUV and its conflicting bumper stickers. And I can only hope that in that time, the owner has learned something about what freedom actually means.

Because it does not mean “you are free to live like me.”

It means “you are free to live in a way which makes you happy, so long as it does not hurt others.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on freedom…and what it means.

Something I find myself dwelling on often, and more and more as I hear more and more people shouting about how they want their freedom and their great America when no one can tell me what that means.

So what does freedom mean to you?

Let me know in the comments. Until next time, I’m Adam the Alien. Fare thee well.

See y’all tomorrow! [/spoiler]