all words, no pics

one of my favorite peeps, erin o'brien, has been writing some really thought provoking pieces about political stuff that i am too lazy (or possibly indifferent) to write about. so go read EOB's blog, and check out this link for an interesting take on sarah palin.

i used to love talking about politics. i cared about things. i registered as a democrat in high school and really cared. i even thought about majoring in political science at OSU. ah....OSU..... a very bad choice of college for a girl who should have been at a small liberal arts college. 2 years at OSU amongst the jocks and conservatives really broke my spirit. 2 things stand out from my time there:

1. the first gulf war happened. it was apparent that we were going to war to protect the rich oil reserves and not the people. on the OSU campus, students held rallies. not the kind you'd think of. these kids were not hippies staging sit-ins for peace. at OSU, the protest were more pro-war rallies, with drunk white guys running through campus saying things like, "kick saddam's ass!!!" i saw a lunk-headed jock carrying a sign that just said, "go war!!!"

2. i lobbied for permission to take an upper level "philosophy of religion" class and got in. the professor was really bright and funny, and you could tell he loved talking about religion. he was respectful to all religions, but his topics were considered controversial by conservatives on campus. he discussed all world religions and tried to give perspective that the bible and Christianity weren't the only things to consider. we read about ancient religions with stories of virgin births (predating christ) and talked about how many stories in the bible have been around for thousands of years. we talked about pagan holidays that were taken over by christians (like winter solstice.) i loved this class, but a handful of other students did not. they would constantly fight with the professor, and their only argument was that they were raised catholic (or lutheran, etc..) and that what he was saying was "just wrong!" people ended up walking out of the classes and the "you're just wrong!" and "you're not supposed to say that!" arguments soon took over. i watched the professor finally give up, and the bright and funny man lost his spark. depressing.

wow, this is turning into a long post! i guess the upcoming elections and EOB have me thinking about things like politics and religion. john mccain is really old and not in the best of health, and his choice of VP scares me. she's a tina fay knockoff, without the sense of humor or warmth. mccain is scary for his own reasons. i think i've gone from democrat to libertarian, and just want as little government interaction as possible. as far as religion goes, i try very hard to respect a person's religious beliefs, and don't engage in debates about what i may disagree with about their religion. that's not my business, unless they are trying to shove their beliefs onto me or what i do with my body.

ok, enough of this ramble. i'm gonna go back to being apathetic and let EOB and anthony over on yazoo street handle the important stuff, while i go back to discussing what i ate for lunch, or if a hamburger is a sandwich.