BY STACY PETTY:
I don’t think my story is different than many. It’s been my observation that most of us end up the religion, and political beliefs of what our parents raised us in. Not inherently bad, but the hurdles in challenging those precepts are far beyond the surface. More, biologically prescribed, with the “You’re going to Hell” addendum attached. I continually try to remind myself that we all come from somewhere, for a reason. That we all believe our opinions, our ideologies are correct, and of value. But where does that leave us? What grounds for a society, a culture, a country; do we build our foundation on, and adhere to; when our variables are seemingly infinite? What do we, as occupants of this country, have as a commonality? That question, takes me to one answer. Our founding documents.
I was the typical religious, right wing Republican, twenty years ago. Jesus, a pledge, a flag. I can’t pinpoint the moment I started questioning if what I had been told was true, or not. Maybe it was my love of history, maybe it was the grinding in my gut that something just wasn’t right. Or maybe I was seeing that I was doing to my own children, what was done to me. A noose I very much disliked, a noose that did not represent freedom, or Free Will. I honestly don’t know what set that wheel in motion.
That wheel pushed me to reading a variety of historical opinions that I wouldn’t have considered earlier in my life. Some of that history aligned with my ideology, some of it challenged me. If a person, or even an entire country, can be conditioned, how far fetched is it to believe that perhaps, you’re one of them as well? Our American ancestors arrived here for a variety of reasons. Some religious, some feudal, some prosperity. Their efforts to escape that conditioning need to be honored. Their efforts to escape that conditioning, are what resulted in our Declaration of Independence.
When I contemplate how quickly this nation adapted to the ideals contained in that document, it really is astounding. Have there been challenges to freedom, self ownership, and civil rights? Yes. Indeed. It has been a joy to witness in my lifetime, civil rights granted to a group of people who have been long discriminated against by a country that claimed we were all equal. And when I ask myself honestly, what party platform best represents the philosophy of our founders, the answer for me is the Libertarian Party.
What does the Libertarian Party stand for? What should an American electorate that’s unfamiliar with this third party anticipate? What does the platform contain? That’s something that I plan on exploring piece by piece in coming days. Exploring that, and exploring the biggest name in the party right now, Gary Johnson, who I have been critical of.
I will make no promises on timing of content. I’m quite the curmudgeon as of late, and commitments just aren’t in my wheelhouse.
