Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose

When it comes to politics I usually try to stay quiet and keep my opinions to myself. Nothing ruins a good talk quicker than getting into a whizzing contest about the Democrats vs the Republicans, UNLESS it involves religion.

It's not a secret to anyone who knows me that I'm a Christian. I don't announce it with a bull horn or carry a 15 pound Bible around 24/7 but I definitely don't hide the fact that I'm a believer.

I'm not a real smart man, and I'll be the first to admit I spend 99.9% of the time thinking more about how the Red Sox are doing than I do about current affairs, but this wing nut in Florida has been the final straw. From the "Ground Zero Mosque" wackos to the Tea Party people, followed closely behind by Newt Gingrich and Glen Beck I've been amazed at the seemingly rational folks who believe whatever comes out of these peoples mouths.

Look, I'm not here to tell you how to think or what to believe. All I ask is that you actually research stuff a little more and get some different perspectives before you blindly go off following a person or a movement or state a fact. 'Cause the guys that founded this country would want it that way.

What got me thinking about this seriously was a conversation I overheard last night where a gentleman gleefully exhorted "The Democrats are on the run and that d****e is too!" I was too stunned to actually say anything, and Trot was sitting in the middle of somebody's table at the time for me to reflect on it much, but the more I did the more it bothered me. Is it any wonder the rest of the world looks at us like we're the Devil incarnate?

I could care less whether you are Republican, Democrat, like Rush Limbaugh or think he needs a lobotomy. This country was based on FREEDOM, not "Freedom if you agree with the majority". And part of what makes this the best country in the world is our ability to agree to disagree.

Anyone ever see the movie "A Time to Kill"? Remember that summation to the jury he gave at the end of the trial? Here it is to refresh your memory.

"I want to tell you a story. I'm going to ask you all to close your eyes while I tell you the story. I want you to listen to me. I want you to listen to yourselves. Go ahead. Close your eyes, please. This is a story about a little girl walking home from the grocery store one sunny afternoon. I want you to picture this little girl. Suddenly a truck races up. Two men jump out and grab her. They drag her into a nearby field and they tie her up and they rip her clothes from her body. Now they climb on. First one, then the other, raping her, shattering everything innocent and pure with a vicious thrust in a fog of drunken breath and sweat. And when they're done, after they've killed her tiny womb, murdered any chance for her to have children, to have life beyond her own, they decide to use her for target practice. They start throwing full beer cans at her. They throw them so hard that it tears the flesh all the way to her bones. Then they urinate on her. Now comes the hanging. They have a rope. They tie a noose. Imagine the noose going tight around her neck and with a sudden blinding jerk she's pulled into the air and her feet and legs go kicking. They don't find the ground. The hanging branch isn't strong enough. It snaps and she falls back to the earth. So they pick her up, throw her in the back of the truck and drive out to Foggy Creek Bridge. Pitch her over the edge. And she drops some thirty feet down to the creek bottom below. Can you see her? Her raped, beaten, broken body soaked in their urine, soaked in their semen, soaked in her blood, left to die. Can you see her? I want you to picture that little girl. Now imagine she's white. "

For those of you who agree with that idiot in Florida and whole heartily endorse his burning of the Koran, I'd like you to do one thing for me.

I want you to picture that Koran he's gleefully told the world he's gonna burn.

And imagine it's a Bible.