"Courage, then, my countrymen; our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty". -Samuel Adams On American Independence

I love America, I would not want to live anywhere else, I consider myself very patriotic, but I believe that being a true patriot is questioning the actions of our government. It is a government for the people and by the people. I think this whole ordeal with the Dixie Chicks is being blown completely out of proportion. I am not a Dixie Chicks fan; although due to my girlfriend being a fan I do listen to them on occasion. But anyway, I do not know why it is so "wrong" to criticize our President right now. As Americans we do have the right to free speech, the First Amendment to our Constitution does say, "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;" Yes, the Dixie Chicks were not in the U.S. at the time, but that is not the point. The fact that they are being ostracized over what they said, that is down right obscene. I had the same feelings when fellow country music artist Toby Keith was getting slammed for his song "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (Angry American)". We can have sex on TV, the exploitation of women in magazines and music, and hateful words said by our country's leaders about sexual orientation, yet we cannot question the actions of our government, you know, the one that WE VOTED FOR and the one that WE PAY TAXES TO. We have the right to tell the Dixie Chicks, or anyone for that matter that we disagree. But when it comes to threatening those people, or their families that is when we need to realize what is truly important.




Meaningful quote for the day
Re-crucifying Christ
Johann Christoph Arnold

Refusing to forgive is tantamount to re-crucifying
Christ. Instead of seeing stones rolled away,
we throw stones at each other. What so many
people today fail to realize is that forgiveness is
a door to peace and happiness. Forgiving is
not ignoring wrongdoing, but overcoming the
evil inside us and in our world with love. To
forgive is not just a command of Christ but the
key to reconciling all that is broken in our lives
and relationships.